//------------------------------// // Echo of Sins - Part 1 // Story: The Shadow Bolt // by JackParker123 //------------------------------// It was another sunny day in Equestria. Canterlot has recovered greatly from its destruction. Cloudsdale was having a race, between the young the fillies and colt pegasi. Princess Celestia went through her daily routine. Apple-bucking Season had started, and Big mac and Applejack were hard at work getting all of the apples in. But all was not as it seemed... Deep in the Everfree forest, strange things have been occurring. Animals have gone missing. Entire sections of forest have been rearranged almost overnight. Nopony thought this as strange though. The Everfree was home to that sort of thing. Hearing reports of this strange activity, an adventuress unicorn, named Silver Sword, decided to look into it. As he moved towards the heart of the dark forest, he heard strange sounds coming from nearby. He sneaked ever so closer until he came to a bush. He hid in it, and peeking out, he saw a hole, swirling with a purple mist, and humming with energy. "What in Celestia's name is that..." said Silver Sword. Mercy the ranger, who spent more than most of his time in the Everfree forest, recognized Silver Sword as an old friendly face. The two colts had met before and in fact knew each other. Mercy took notice that he was sneaking. Not willing to blow Silver's cover or startle him, Mercy also hid and waited for Silver to stop hiding before greeting him. Curious of what Silver Sword was looking at, Mercy sneaked a peak at that direction as well. Silver Sword, intently watching the hole, didnt notice Mercy until he heard him step on a stray branch. He drew his sword and turned around, nearly poking Mercy's eye out, until he noticed who it was. "Oh, it's just you Mercy. Nice to meet a friend out here. Are you here to investigate this as well?". "Not really, well kinda " Mercy began a long monologue "Lets just say I spend most of my time here. The forest has been acting strange lately. I know my way around these parts and its creatures, and I do want to know whats going on, so I guess we should stick together." Silver Sword thought on this for a bit. He usually was a lone wolf on these sort of things, but with these happenings and all, he could use the company. "Okay. We need to figure out what to do. Either we investigate this portal, or we take what we found to somepony with a higher authority. What say you?" "Hmm what would the higher authority do?" Mercy thought aloud. "Its a portal in the Everfree forest, its not like this place isn't weird already. We can take a quick look inside it. I'm sure it goes both ways and it seems relatively permanent. So I don't think it will disappear on us." A sudden strange noise is heard, like a small thunder, but muffled, and coming from underground. It is accompanied with a brief flash of purple light. The noise is quiet, yet drains every other sound, then fades away. The two ponies stopped and looked at its source for a moment. It was the strange portal, covered with mist. Slowly, one by one, three dark figures emerged from inside. Their movements were calm, and very deliberate. They were ponies, but unlike any other seen before. It wasn’t because they were colored dark, or because their eyes shined bright purple, in sun light. It was because their bodies were transparent. There was one other detail. One that was visible only at a very close look. All three of them were completely identical, to the very last detail. All looked completely, almost unnaturally the same. A strange, disturbing aura was emanating from them, as they slowly stepped out of the portal. They stood in half circle, around the portal, then in unison lifted their heads, and all looked in the same direction, somewhere beyond the tree line. A strange rippling sound filled the air, and in a moment, it formed into their voice. They all spoke in unison. The only words their heavy voice carried were : "... Find them...." They said, as they stared into space, past all who gathered close by. They didn’t seem to notice those standing so close to them. Silver and Mercy were thrown into action, with the appearance of theses newcomers. They drew their weapons, and charged theses strange translucent ponies. Swing after swing did they slice and cut, but to no avail; their weapons moved through them as if they hadn't swung them at all. "What the hay?" Cursed Silver as the strange ponies drew nearer. They passed through the companions, and as their ghostly bodies mingled with their earthly ones, they felt all light and warmth get sucked out. But these entities didn't seem to notice, and they continued on their way, leaving Silver and Mercy shivering in the humid air. "Mercy," spoke Silver, finally feeling warmth once again, "if I ever had a reason to get help, now is the time. See if you you can get the Wonder Bolts around here. I know what I need to do." And with that, Silver left for Ponyville, hoping to meet Twilight Sparkle, in an effort to find out what was happening. Silver burst into the tree house with amazing vigor, but Twilight Sparkle barely noticed. She looked as if she was glued to the book itself. Silver frantically waved his hooves at her face and pushed her around. But to no avail. Suddenly, a harsh *clank* rang out in the back room. Silver frantically turned about and drew his sword, expecting the ghostly ponies that had emerged from the misty portal. The door burst down in a cloud of dust and ashes. "Holy Discord" muttered Silver as he went inside. There was no signs of recent life. Every shelf, every book, and every table was covered in an inch of ash and dust. The fireplace burnt lazily in the corner. "What in Equestria happened here?" Silver stuttered as he pulled his cloak around him. The room was unnaturally cold, and a slight draft came from upstairs. Carefully, Silver trotted up the stairs to the second floor. He heard a pony whispering a devilish spell, and an unwavering light seeped through the door at the end of the hall. Silver slowly stepped to the door with a creaking clop every time he put his hoof down. As he reached the end of the hall, he understood the words better. There was a harsh rasping voice coming from inside. It sounded exactly like the hard whispering of the three transparent ponies, and a shiver coiled down Silver's spine. He counted to three, and hurled the door open, drawing his sword expecting to see a few ghosts sitting in a circle, chanting... * * * "This is Wonder Bolt Recon 4-1, beginning another fly by over the forest, over" A sky blue pony streaked over the horizon, and sharply dropped altitude, to hover just above the trees, as he continued to fly towards the center of the forest. A small, yellow glowing crystal, strapped to his neck, flashed once and a voice came out of it. "Roger that 4-1, keep to planned course and report any new anomalies. HQ out" The pony kept flying over the tree's, carefully studying every detail on ground. A moment later, something flashed in his peripheral vision. He immediately twisted his head there, but saw nothing. He made a sharp turn and flew into that direction. A second later, three shadows flew up from the ground, and dispersed, each flying in a different direction. "What the ...." the pony muttered. Something about those three was wrong. It took him a moment to understand, he could see through their dark figures. "...C-Command, I got something..." he began. Before he could finish his words, more figures rose up from the trees... "What do you see 4-1 ?" the crystal lit up again. "U-uhh... some...ponies... flying.... they're transparent!" the blue pony was starting to gasp for air as fear slowly took over him. "How many ?" said the voice coming from the crystal. "Uhh... 10.. no 15! .... 20!!!" the pony stopped and hovered in place, stunned, as he saw more and more shadows rise up from over the trees. They streaked towards the sky like a tornado, then dispersed in every direction. "COMMAND THERE'S OVER 50 OF 'EM!!!! I CANT COUNT, THERES TOO MANY!!! ..... Celestia... MOST ARE HEADING TOWARDS THE VILLAGE! YOU'VE GOT TO – AAAAAAAAAH" His voice was cut off sharp, and only static came through the crystal. A room full of ponies, monitoring air activity, in the Wonder Bolt headquarters, fell silent. Each one of them turned pale. Just before the crystals signal broke off completely, the HQ heard one more phrase. Its cold deep voice sent a chill down their spine ".... He 's oNe oF ThEm........". It was another minute of silence before one of the ponies at HQ snapped out of the stupor. "Get me Commander Brown!" * * * Silver's eyes widened as he opened the door. Four transparent ponies stood, forming a square. One more in the middle. There were strange signs, painted on the floor around them, in purple ash, that shined somehow. The one in the middle, made a crackling sound that filled the air, and became a ripple of noise so deafening, it was probably heard at the end of the village. The same second, visible strings of purple light rose from the floor, engulfing the one in the middle. They hid him for a moment, then all light shot upward through the roof and disappeared from the room completely. Silver looked up, but there was no damage or trace that the light even came through the ceiling. The dark ponies smiled, all in unison "You are too late, the dome around the village is already up. No one will enter... and no one will leave... until we find those... we are looking for...". Shadow Wind watched the skies with fear, as he witnessed the purple dome rise up to the air, and engulf the entire village just before his eyes. He was standing on a green hill, just outside the dome. Stunned, shocked. Not knowing what to do. "Get down!" Someone pulled his hoof and dragged him behind a rock. As Shadow looked back at the dome, he saw ponies inside, run up to its borders and bang their hooves over the dome. But nothing happened. They couldn't leave. He noticed some kind of small dark and transparent pillars, surrounding the dome, in regular intervals. As he looked closer, he understood it was actually, transparent ponies, standing right outside the dome. Purple energy, streamed away from them and into the domes shell. Shadow looked at the one who dragged him to cover, and recognized Mercy. "Look" Mercy said, pointing his hoof at the sky, and Shadow saw a whole cloud of transparent ponies, fly towards the village. They entered the dome, unhindered, and disappeared behind it from view. Moments later, some of them came back out, carrying village ponies in their hooves, and flew back in the direction of the forest. But only very few came out. They weren’t taking everypony. Just a select few... "...We have to stop this" Shadow Wind muttered. * * * Astra Starshine was peacefully shopping in Ponyville square with her cousin Cherry Petalsnow, for supplies for their journey, when she saw Lucky Cloverfield and Savannah running over to them. "Forest, ghosts, glowing portal, heading this way" Lucky said quickly. After seeing her friend's face, she told her the full story. "Lucky, we're best friends, but you couldn't have chosen a worse moment to go completely bonkers," Astra said. Just then "LOOK!" shouted a pony. A dome was spreading over the village, enclosing it completely, immediately panic ensued, some ponies ran for their homes, while others stood still in shock. Astra knew she had to get Cherry back to the inn, or risk her having another one of the magical outbursts that occurred often in young unicorns. "I have to get Cherry back to the inn, find Mart and meet us there," she said. She expected Cherry to protest, she normally wanted to prove that she was an adult, but today she simply stared open-mouthed at the carnage around her and gave a meek, "yes... return," at her request that they return to the inn. Some minutes later, Mart Caramel was banging his hooves against the dome, wishing he had Astra's incredible strength when Lucky approached and told him "We should get back, goodness knows what those ghosts could do". Suddenly, they heard shrieks of fright and looked up to see the transparent ponies carrying some of the townspeople! "I told you so!" Lucky said, "now let's get out of here." and they ran back to the hotel. A pony ran up to the dome from the outside, and desperately banged at it, trying to get it. Right in front of him, on the other side, was his loved one, trapped. A ghostly figure appeared outside the dome, just behind the pony. He spun around angrily and charged at it, swinging his hoof "WHAT DO YOU WANT!" He screamed as he threw the punch. But his hoof went right through the shadowy figure, as if there was nothing there. As he stared at this in confusion, the ghostly pony grabbed him by the throat, and lifted in the air. "...What?!" The pony muttered. "We cant touch them... but they can touch us?!" The ghostly pony stared right in his eyes, and released a rippling sound, that slowly formed into words. But when this figure spoke, so did every other ghostly figure, even those high in the sky, or those looking into completely opposite directions. They all said in unison "....The ones who call themselves Bolts.... where are they..." The pony scowled as he grasped for air. He finally managed to inhale enough to mutter "Behind you...." The ghostly figure slowly turned his head, as a squad of eight ponies streaked down from the sky and landed behind him. Lisa Brown stood in the lead, her best fliers forming a line behind her. She looked determined, angry, and very dangerous. "YOU WANT THE WONDER BOLTS?! HERE WE ARE!!!!!!" She shouted in a dangerous voice. The ghostly pony released the one he was holding, and slowly turned around to look at Lisa and her squad. There was but a moment of silence before it replied "No..... " his rippling voice filled the air. "Shadow Bolts...... I want the Shadow Bolts" Lisa's eyes widened, as she only now realized, every pony that was taken so far, was a former Shadow Bolt.... before their group was disbanded. "Mercy," Shadow Wind whispered. "Look, around the dome. Some of those transparent ponies formed a circle around it. They're all standing outside, and haven't moved since the dome appeared. They may be the ones powering it.... if we take some of them out, it might weaken the dome... maybe enough for it to fall” "But we cant touch them, I already tried," Mercy replied. "I know..." Shadow nodded. "But we need to try something... if physical contact does nothing.... maybe something mental... like magic ? If we could find a unicorn.... " "Earlier they stole some of mine and Silvers energy" Mercy replied "When they came close to us, so maybe thats how we can effect them. We need to see if we can hurt them with lightning or fire." * * * "TWILIGHT, RUN!!!" Silver yelled, finally getting Twilight's attention. "Yes, I am quite busy so-" She said, and noticed the mess that had been caused around her. "What in the name of Celestia HAPPENED!?" She roared at Silver, who was very impatient. "No time, just RUN!" With that he pulled Twilight from her place, and started to gallop towards the crowd. It seemed everyone in Ponyville was there already. Silver explained the situation as they ran. All she did was nod or shake her head, focused only on what to do. As they reached the boarders of the dome, they suddenly saw Mercy, with an entrenchment tool in hoof, poking out of a newly dug hole, just inside the dome. "Follow me, I know how to get outside" Mercy said and quickly disappeared from view again. Silver and Twilight looked at each other, and jumped into the tunnel, right after Mercy. The tunnel lead just under the dome, and after a moment, they appeared on the other side. When they emerged outside, Silver went straight to his friend Mercy, who stood next to Shadow. "I've got Twilight. What do we do know?” Mercy began to speak "The ghost ponies are only taking former Shadow Bolt members, and ignoring all others. They can't be physically harmed, so we can't reason or fight them. And they stole energy from me and Silver through contact so, maybe energy can effect them. So maybe we need to use magic or something like that. Twilight was staring intensely at the dome for over a minute, in complete silence. She finally blinked and turned to the group and said, "I think I got it. You said these transparent ponies emanated some kind of repulsive energy ? What was it ? Hate, anger, spite ? And we cant touch them, but they can touch us ? Maybe its because they are the very embodiment of these emotions. Their visual form... We cant physically hold these emotions, but these emotions can hold us, physically hostage... Is that what this is about?" Shadow Winds eyes dimmed for a moment. A strange expression formed on his face. "You're saying some ponies hate.... gave birth to this ?............ I see,” He said quietly, more to himself. Twilight stared at him for a moment, before she continued on "If these indeed are the embodiment of the emotions of hate, all we have to do is give embodiment to our opposite emotion. I think I can make a spell that will surround our bodies with a type of mental armor, made out of your emotion. Physically non existent, but visually and mentally there. When I cast the spell, it will take form of whatever emotion you will have at the moment. Make sure to feel the exact opposite of hate. If successful, you will be able to confront these beings of hatred." "But what emotion is directly opposite to hate? " Some pony asked "I cannot answer that question" Twilight looked at him "For that answer is not absolute, and varies greatly between ponies. Each may have a different understanding, of what that feeling should be. Use it, and it will become your shield and your sword... The rest will be up to you,". * * * "GIVE ME THE SHADOW BOLTS!!!!!" The ghostly ponies roared so hard, their voices shook the ground. "There ARE no more Shadow Bolts!" Lisa shouted back "The group was disbanded! Celestia pardoned all of them, after they helped stop that monster!" "I DONT CARE!!!!!" the transparent ponies roared, sending miniature earthquakes throughout the land "BRING THEM TO ME!" "WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH THEM?!" Lisa shouted, trying to overcome the sound waves the ghostly ponies were making. "I WANT ?!" The transparent ponies froze in complete silence for a moment, their expressions becoming increasingly dangerous. Their voice still echoed of the mountains for a while. "I want...... THEM DESTROYED!!!" The transparent ponies screamed, all at once. A wave of sound so hard washed over the horizon, that it knocked down every pony from his hooves. The wind was blowing fiercely. Lisa struggled to get back on her hooves. "Thats what this is about ?.... You are... the embodiment of hatred towards them ?" "Hatred ?" The transparent ponies repeated, with a grisly smile. "No... I am – JUSTICE!!!!" “They were pardoned !!! " Lisa said in a firm voice, standing up "I wont let you do this!" "Then.......... I will destroy you with them" The transparent ponies scowled at her. Their suddenly quiet voice, indicated that the talking was over. Twilight stood a little more straight, pointing her horn as high as she could. "Understand your emotion.... and focus on it" she said as her horn began to shine brightly. "You are the ones who will stop hatred today.... that emotion alone, will save you, and those you care about" a yellow strip of light slowly came out of her horn, and began to engulf everypony around her. "Arm yourselves with your will.... defeat the ponies surrounding the dome, stop the ponies being taken away.... find and save those already taken.... that is your mission.... I will wander over the land, and give this power to as many as I see.... Go now.... and don’t let hatred wander anywhere else on this land" The yellow strips of light fully engulfed every pony standing near by. "Especially... in your heart" Shadow Wind felt a strange energy engulfing his body, washing over him. He focused his thoughts, and looked in the direction where Lisa was standing. At the same moment, he saw a transparent pony charging at her... with a sword. "LISA!" Shadow screamed.... then everything went white before his eyes. Lisa tried to dodge the attack, but the transparent pony moved with unnatural speed. As she jumped to the side, she saw him already carrying another strike, with his sword right at her.... She will not have enough time to dodge. It was over. Her eyes dimmed for a brief second, as a full wave of emotions washed over her. She failed.... the one's she swore to protect, as a Wonder bolt...because she wasn't fast enough, all of them will perish... all of them will... A picture of a pony flashed before her eyes... she looked at him with sad smile... She failed to protect him........ And now he, and the others will............. he will.......... “NO!" she shrieked in anger. " I WONT LET YOU DO THIS! I WONT !!!! " Emotion washed over her body, taking form of a wave, and shot outward into the transparent shadow. A flash of light, and the transparent pony flew off, thrown away by the force, that seemed to emanate from inside Lisa "....what ?..." she looked at herself in surprise, to find that her body was covered in shining, transparent, gold colored armor. "LISA" Shadow Wind shouted, as he flew right into another one of the transparent ponies. The ghostly figure screamed out in agony, and vanished in thin air, with a trace of dark smoke. As Shadow ran up to Lisa, she noticed he was wearing this transparent golden armor as well. ".... what, is that" she asked in surprise. "Are you alright ?" Shadow asked coming closer to her "I thought the spell couldn't reach this far Twilight ?" he asked, turning his head and looking over his shoulder. "It cant..." Twilight nodded her head, as she came down the hill towards them. "She must have triggered it on her own somehow.... but such a thing never happened before.... otherwise every pony would have it .... Why now ?..... maybe the energy of the transparent ponies, brushed off on us, giving us this ability ? I wander.... " Twilight said, looking up to the sky. "N-no time to loose!" Lisa said, trying to shake of her shock. "If we can fight them now, we have to hurry! We can't let them carry on what they're doing!" Shadow Winds expression suddenly became sad, as he looked at the sky. Lisa noticed this and immediately stepped closer, putting a hoof on his shoulder. "Don't think like that Shadow! They're wrong! They're not making justice, they're just crazy! Look at this!" she pointed at the dome "They will hurt Everypony if we don't stop them! This isn’t justified, so don't think for a second any of you deserve, what their trying to do to you !! " "....yeah" Shadow faintly nodded his head "I understand..." the guilty expression still did not leave his face. Twilight still looking at them from the side, took this moment of silence to speak. "...Come on guys, we need to stop them,”. Mercy put his hoof on Shadow Wind's shoulder and looked him in the eyes saying “Remember, forgiveness is the real end of the fight". It didn't seem to give Shadow very much inspiration. * * * Cherry was sitting in the inn's washroom along with several other ponies, suddenly a transparent pony busted through the door, causing everyone to scream, it scanned the crowd, and left. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have not been taken, when suddenly they heard a ghostly voice "The Bolts... where are they" "Oh my Celestia" said Astra "They're after Telissa! Come on! We have to go find my friend!" dashing out they heard "No..... Shadow Bolts...... I want the Shadow Bolts" Astra gave a sigh of relief, her friend was safe. Lucky looked up at the sky and saw Lisa, she smiled. Lisa had been her idol ever since she went to a Wonderbolts show with her mom. Suddenly the ghosts roared "GIVE ME THE SHADOW BOLTS!" sending tremors beneath their feet, Mart yelped and Cherry ran behind Astra in fright. "I DON'T CARE" the ghosts roared "BRING THEM TO ME!". Cherry began to tremble while Astra tried frantically to soothe her, she didn't want her to have a magical outburst, especially because it was crowded, she could hurt someone, or herself. In the chaos Mart thought he heard someone shout, but he wasn't sure. "I WANT" the ghosts said, then went silent, their words reverberating over and over throughout the town. And then they screamed "I want... THEM DESTROYED!" in the chaos that followed, several things happened, first, Cherry's eyes rolled back into her head and her horn lit up with energy, firing lavender beams everywhere. Second, Mart panicked, and ran off screaming like a little filly with Lucky, after checking on Cherry's condition, chasing after him shouting "Don't loose your head you pansy, they're not after you!" Third, Astra flies up into the sky to assist Telissa, who's trying to keep the ghosts from taking anyone else. Fourth, Savannah tries to calm Cherry, which results in her gravity being reversed and her having to cling to the ground with her vines, it would have been funny, if not for the dire circumstances. Mart ran and ran and ran, he wanted to be safe, he wanted to wake up and find it was all a dream, he wanted Astra to- Wait, he thought, "I left Astra, I left her all alone in the square!" with that he turned around and almost immediately slammed into Lucky, who said "What in Celestia's name are you DOING!" "I have to get back, I left her alone!" he responded frantically. "Cherry's beyond help at the moment, I checked before running after you," "Not Cherry, Astra! I left her alone!" he replied "Astra can care for herself, what I'd worry about now, is that these people are in danger, let's see what we can do to help everyone” * * * Silver felt the power course over him. He thought of his dad, of his family, and he felt warmth flow into his heart. He glowed with the power of his happiness. But the transparent ponies were still winning. Even if Twilight could run at her fastest, there were to many ponies to cover. Ponyville was by no means small, and even then the dome also contained other surrounding places. If only they could bring some backup... At that moment all breath was taken from him. The transparent ponies wouldn't draw power off of you, but they could still touch you. He was tackled and thrown by the ponies, and he hit the dome with a dull thud. He swung his sword, and found that it now also could touch these monstrosities. The sword sliced into the pony, turning him into dark smoke. He got up and thought, even though he can effect them now, there are too many to deal with. Again, if only... He looked behind him. In the place he had been, a crack in the dome had formed. He had a brainstorm. Calling out in his loudest voice, he yelled. "ALL PONIES WITHIN THE SOUND OF MY VOICE. THE DOME, IT CAN BE BROKEN! GO AFTER THE TRANSPARENT PONIES, SURROUNDING THE DOME ! THEY ARE POWERING IT !!! PUT ALL YOU'VE GOT INTO YOUR STRENGTH, AND DESTROY IT! " Mercy stared into the eyes of 13 transparent ponies, all at once and they stared back into his. They stared into each other until they were all one. Transparent ponies all spoke at once inside his head. "Give into the hate, to the rage, and get revenge.” the transparent ponies voice's echoing in a raspy whisper. “You saw what they did to so many innocent ponies, doesn't that just make you burn with hate? Didn't you care for those ponies that were put through such pain?" Mercy looked up and said out loud, but in a calm voice. "Yes I do care for them, but they forgave the Shadow Bolts. I know we never got to say that at the pardoning, but we do, all the ponies of Ponyville and Canterlot do, we forgive the Shadow Bolts. And now we forgive these embodiments of revenge, we forgive you too." With that the transparent ponies that tried to possess Mercy were nowhere to be seen or heard. It was as if they faded away quietly, and gently when Mercy let go of the hate. "I know why they're really here now. The transparent ponies are whats left of our hate, anger and rage for the Shadow Bolts. While we pardoned them, it still lingered inside us. We have to let go of these feelings for real. "TWILIGHT GET READY!" Lisa shouted, as Twilight jumped into place, raising her horn. A strip of gold light flew out of her horn, and formed a large circle, hovering vertically, high in the air. Wonder Bolts beyond count, that just arrived from Canterlot, flew right through the hovering circle, shining with light, and when they emerged from its other side, they were covered in gold, shimmering armor. "FOCUS ON THE DOME! GIVE IT EVERYTHING WE'VE GOT!" Lisa roared as she pointed her hoof at the purple dome, surrounding the village. Again and again, did the Wonder Bolts slam against it. Slowly but steadily, cracks began to appear. But some of them were starting to slowly close back up. "THE TRANSPARENT ONE'S SURROUNDING THE DOME!" Shadow Wind shouted "THEY'RE GIVING IT POWER! TAKE EM OUT!" Indeed there were transparent ponies, standing around the dome on the outside, at regular intervals. The purple energy leaking out of them and into the dome, became much more visible now. They all scowled and roared. Every single pony, every one of them who could fight, charged forward, and even with the slightest of their touch, the transparent ponies disappeared with a puff of dark smoke and a roar not from this world. A very large crack appeared in the dome, it grew larger rapidly and shot up from the bottom, so high up the dome, it almost reached the top. "EVERYONE! NOW!" Lisa screamed "GIVE IT EVERYTHING WE'VE GOT!" They all charged forward, tall and small, in air and on ground, from inside the dome, and out, all at the same time, they slammed at it again and again. The dome shook in response, almost roaring in defiance as countless cracks filled its surface. The transparent ponies stopped and looked in anger and a little bit of sadness, at the ponies working together, as one, to bring down the dome that separated them all. With one final shout, they pushed forward, and the dome gave way. It roared, and shattered into small tiny fragments you could barely see in the sun, and shining purple, began to silently fall to the ground. The ponies rushed inside hugging their loved ones, and hurrying to help their friends.  The transparent ponies stood very still and not one of them moved, as they watched this. A very strange expression was on all of their faces. Not anger, or hate. But sadness and envy. A single transparent pony, marched down the street, in the center of the village. His movements were sharp and solid, but it looked as if he was all shaking with barely contained anger. "Im so sick of you... " He muttered. "Shielding them with your lives.... trying to smooth my anger with your emotion, and your love, and you Mercy. Giving every last bit of your soul.... protecting these... criminals. You are so big on forgiveness when something was done directly to you.... But what... IF IT WAS DONE TO SOME BODY ELSE! AND YOU ARE THE ONE LEFT UNSCARRED! CAN YOU FORGIVE FOR WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO YOUR LOVED ONES AS WELL!?" "Please, lets just end this" Shadow Wind stepped out in the street "After everything I have done... the only thing left for me now, is to take responsibility for my actions.... I'll do whatever you want... I'll let you do what you want with me just... leave the others alone" The transparent pony froze and glared at him, with anger, never seen before. "You........." Every transparent pony looked at him, from every direction, in unison. "The one, solely responsible for orchestrating the events of that day .............Shadow Wind" the transparent pony spited those words. "........ I will..........END YOU!" The transparent pony roared and charged forward. Shadow Wind didn’t move. He opened his hooves, and looked back, in shame "This has to be done" Shadow whispered, and closed his eyes. "Stop!" a tiny voice shouted nearby, and the transparent pony pulled a sharp stop, just a few meters from Shadow. The transparent one stared in surprise, at the small filly, that stood between him and Shadow, protectively spreading her hooves. "I wont let you hurt Shadow... Its wrong!" she said bravely in defiance. Shadow was stunned, he recognized the young pony as his student from so long ago, it took him a moment to remember. He snapped back to reality and gasped. "Lily ? What are you doing?! You need to get out of here!" Shadow tried to shield her, and pull her away, but she wiggled her way out of his hooves, and took place again between him and the transparent pony. "I wont let you bully him!" She said in a defiant voice "It's wrong!" "You............" the transparent pony muttered as his face became distorted with anger "JUST YOU TOUCH THEM!" Lisa shrieked as she landed between them, spreading her wings wide, to shield them. "JUST YOU TRY!!!!" The transparent pony took a step back, anger catching his face more and more. "We wont let you do this!" more and more ponies stepped in, shielding Shadow and Lily from the transparent body of hate, that stood before them. More and more came, until they formed a solid wall, all spreading their hooves in a protective manner "You wont hurt another" they said "Not one other" as they stared at the transparent pony, with unshakable resolve. The transparent pony looked down. Dark wings materialized on his back and spread out. "Enough........ If you shield a criminal....... then you are a criminal too. I will end all of you" The transparent pony said, and streaking into the sky. He stopped high above the village, spreading his hooves. A sharp spark of purple light appeared in between his hooves. It grew larger and began to roar, first quietly, then quickly becoming louder. All remaining transparent ponies froze, and purple light shot up from them, turning them into dark smoke, as the light from their bodies shot up, and into the glowing spark, between the hooves of the pony, high above. "I will erase this village... and all of its sins... I will erase all of you" The transparent pony muttered. Pegasi jumped upward, towards him, trying to smash into him, but a sphere of dark light materialized around the transparent pony. The pegasi smashed right into it, and fell back to the ground. "What?" "Why cant we pierce it ?! It worked before!" The transparent pony looked at them, down below. "My desire for justice, is far greater than any emotion you could through at me. Nothing will stand in my way.........The Shadow Bolts will pay...... one way or another" The spark in his hooves grew brighter by second. In a few moments it became as bright as the sun. Ponies tried to stop him but to no effect. They could not pierce through the barrier. Shadow looked at Lisa and she looked back at him. "Its my fault..." Shadow whispered. She shook her head. "It is..." Shadow insisted "I made this possible, everything that happened, everything thats happening now, is a result of my actions.... it is because of me" "No Shadow" Lisa was shaking her head. "If it wasn't you, that alicorn monster would have found somepony else, and manipulated him just in the same way... these events would have happened. Whether you had been a part of them or not... You joined her back then, because you thought she was Luna. You believed you were doing the right thing, making a revolution in a country that did not function properly... you wanted what was good, you loved this country and everyone in it... You meant well" she smiled and Shadow looked at her with sad eyes. "River!" a pony shouted, as he ran through the street "River what are you doing ?" he shouted in a faint voice. His back was bandaged and it was visibly hard for him to walk, but the wound looked old, long before the attack of today. The pony looked at one of the transparent ponies standing in the street, right in the eyes. "River, what are you doing?" he asked the transparent pony again. The transparent pony froze.... all of them froze, even the one in the sky. All the transparent ponies stopped and looked at him, in shock. Stunned. The spark in the hooves above ponyville, started to slowly dim, until it disappeared. "River.... please stop." the pony asked the transparent one again. The transparent one took a step back, frightened. It took another, then began to slowly back away from the newly arrived pony. "...River! ...w-wait!" the pony said, but as the last words left his mouth, all transparent ponies disappeared. All of them. All at once. And quiet appeared over Ponyville. Shadow and the others rushed to him, looking in shock. "D-do you know those ponies ?" Lisa asked "Yes!" The bandaged pony answered. "That is my brother"