//------------------------------// // All Dreams of Success Have Been Dashed // Story: The Element of Hate // by Shadow Bolt //------------------------------// "How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it." - Marcus Aurelius "Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything onto which it is poured." - Anon "Where there is anger, there is always pain underneath." - Eckhart Tolle Chapter 7: All Dreams of Success Have Been Dashed After a few hours of partying everypony was getting tired and started leaving one by one until it was just Twilight, Pinkie, and Shadow. Twilight decided to call it a day and Shadow agreed saying he was starting to get exhausted and wanted to return home. Twilight and Shadow thanked Pinkie for the party and started their way back to the Everfree Forest. Shadow’s thoughts were filled with the events of today’s experience. So much as happened today, it’s hard to process everything. Met some interesting ponies, had a party in my honor. And I even got a present from someone. He rubbed the top of his head when he realized that his glasses were gone. I must have left them at Sugar Cube Corner. I'll have to go back tomorrow and get them. They were now in the outskirts of Ponyville almost close to the entrance of the Everfree Forest, his thoughts were interrupted when Twilight asked, “Did you have a good time today?” Shadow thought about it for a moment and then said, “I can honestly say, that today was the best day I’ve ever had in a very long time.” Twilight smiled from Shadow’s response and said, “I'm glad you had a great time." “I usually don’t go out much since nopony likes me, so I just spend my days at home. But today was different, I don’t think I’ve never felt this kind of happiness in a long time. Twilight was now feeling good about herself. Her plan had gone off with a rocky start but now it seems that she has succeeded with her mission. “Tomorrow I’ll show you the sights, give you a tour of the library, and maybe find a better place for you to put your house besides in the Everfree Forest. Tomorrow? She’s already making plans for tomorrow? Shadow wasn’t prepared for the thought of doing anymore plans. I thought this was just a onetime thing, I didn’t think that we were doing anything more. He once again processed over what he experience today. Although, maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. Ponyville is different from all the places I’ve been, sure there are some ponies who still judge me like the others have, but there are some who actually are nice and treat me just like everyone else. Shadow decided that he will go along with Twilights plans, “You know that sounds like a goo-” He was interrupted by a voice, “Hey Twi, what’s up?” He looked around but he didn’t see anypony until he saw Twilight looking up and saw a pegasus in the air. He couldn’t get a good look because the pegasus was in front of the sun. I wish I had those glasses right now. Twilight responded, “Hey Rainbow, I’ve been looking for you. Come down here, I got someone here I want you to meet." “Be right down,” she said as she was floating down to the ground. Her voice… why does it sound so… familiar? He still couldn’t see her well until she had landed on the ground. His eyes now focused on the pegasus standing in front of them. He saw a female with a cyan coat and a short rainbow mane, her cutie mark was a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt. Wait a minute. That voice, her mane, that cutie mark. Why do I feel like I’ve seen her before? Shadow thoughts kept processing on where he knew this mare, until finally he remembered. The realization of how he knew her brought great anger within him. He said only one thing towards the pegasus in an angry tone, “YOU!” In an instant the red aura returned bigger and brighter than before. Twilight was surprised by its sudden appearance, what’s going on? Why is the aura back again? Twilight was so close to Shadow Bolt, that she could feel heat coming from the aura causing her to take a step away from him. I don’t know what went wrong, he was just fine a minute ago. What could’ve have set him off? Twilight looked at him and noticed how he was staring at Rainbow Dash. How can Rainbow Dash be the cause of this? She hasn’t even done anything yet, why would he be angry to somepony that he hasn’t even met yet? Wait unless... Twilight turned to Shadow Bolt and asked him a question that she hoped was wrong, “Do you know her?” He stood there still staring at Rainbow Dash as she started walking towards them. After a few deep breaths he replied with a harsh voice, “Yes.” Rainbow Dash was now in front of them when she said not noticing Shadow Bolt, “So Twilight who did you want me to meet.” Rainbow then turned to look at the pegasus that was standing right next to Twilight. She looked at him for a few seconds before she started laughing, “So it’s you? I haven’t seen you in years, small world I guess. I can see you still don’t have cutie mark. I never thought I’d see you again after what happened.” “Rainbow, do you know him?” “Of course I know him. He’s used to live in Cloudsdale until he ran away from embarrassment. I guess I shouldn’t blame him after what he did.” “What did he do?” “He didn’t tell you? Only that he caused the worst racing accident in Cloudsdale history.” “He did that?” Twilight looked at Shadow who still hasn’t said anything. He kept staring at Rainbow Dash with fiery eyes, while the aura was slowing growing and heating up around him. “Did you do that?” Once again he didn’t say anything. “Sure did, it was his fault that 15 racers almost fell to their death.” “It was your fault and you know it!” Shadow finally broke his silence and responded towards Rainbows accusation. “You’re still going on with that after all these years? Just let it go and admit it. You’ll feel better about in the long run, after all look at me. I got over that incident, if I didn’t I wouldn’t be talking to you.” “Of course you would feel better about it since the blame for your actions was placed on someone else.” “As I said years ago, noponys going to believe you, you don’t exactly look like an upstanding honest pony.” “WHY YOU LYING LITTLE -” “ENOUGH!” Twilight tried to get the situation under control, especially with Shadows aura glowing brighter and brighter. She looks at Rainbow Dash who wasn’t showing any sense of concern. Why can’t she see the aura? It still seems like I’m the only one who can see it. “Okay, would someone please tell me what you two are arguing about?” “I’ll tell you the story,” said Rainbow Dash. “Oh no you don’t, you’ll just change it to make it sound like it was my fault. I’ll tell you the honest truth about what happened.” "Whatever, go ahead and tell your version. Twilight won’t believe you anyway once you finished.” “Fine, this is what happened.” Years ago, in the city of Cloudsdale, was once home to the young pegasus, Shadow Bolt. He was a very lonely pegasus, never had any friends. Nopony seemed to even notice him, acting as if he didn’t exist, but today that was going to change. One of the most popular things to do in Cloudsdale was racing. It was a chance for pegasi to show their flying skills and everypony wanted to show off their skills, especially the pegasus with the rainbow mane known as Rainbow Dash. To her, racing was her passion, it was the very reason of how she got her cutie mark. Her dream like many pegais one point in their life is to be a member of The Wonderbolts and today was a step for both of them to reach that dream. The Wonderbolts were stopping by Cloudsdale for a visit and the city decided to put on a race in their honor. Since so many wanted to race, contestants went through qualifying rounds to see who would participate in the big race. In the end 20 pegasi were selected to compete, two of them being Shadow Bolt and Rainbow Dash. Both were excited that they would be in the race, especially Rainbow Dash. To her this would be a huge step in her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt. “Once they see my awesome moves as well as me winning this race, they will be so impressed with me that they’ll make me a Wonderbolt on the spot. I can be the youngest mare to ever join the Wonderbolts. I can hear it now, Rainbow Dash, the youngest Wonderbolt in Equestria! This is going to be so awesome.” For Shadow Bolt, this race was the opportunity to finally be noticed. This would also be his first race, since nopony would ever let him race with them. Because of this he always practiced alone, “This is my shot to show what I can do. After this race nopony will treat me like I don’t exist. Once I win this race and The Wonderbolts congratulate me, everypony will be talking about me and they’ll be lining up just begging to be my friend.” They walked with confidence and determination as all the racers arrived to the starting line. In front of them was a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane standing on top of a little cloud with a checkered flag in her mouth. Spectators were sitting in their cloud bleachers as well as The Wonderbolts in their own private seats. The yellow pegasus was feeling nervous with all the racers and spectators watching her, waiting for her to wave the flag that would start the race. She raised the flag, all racers started getting ready. Every racer was mentally preparing themselves. Rainbow Dash looked at the private seats where The Wonderbolts were sitting and saw the Wonderbolt Spitfire, looking at her. The thought that the captain of The Wonderbolts was looking at her gave her a big boost of confidence as she faced Fluttershy waiting for her to wave the flag. Shadow Bolt felt he was being watched and looked around to see and noticed one of the Wonderbolts seemed to be staring at him. Is she looking at me? With that look his determination to win was raised, his eyes now focused on the yellow pegasus. What’s taking her so long, hurry up and start the race. The nervous Fluttershy was feeling the pressure, Come on Fluttershy, you can do this. She started raising the flag, as the flag was up, both Rainbow Dash and Shadow Bolt had the same thought in their heads. This is it, time to prove myself! Fluttershy lowered the flag and the race had begun. All racers took off at incredible speed that as they passed her by, Fluttershy was spinning out of control. It took some time but she finally stopped spinning before it caused her to fall off the cloud like the last time. Rainbow Dash didn’t waste any time as she flew past the other racers with all her might to first place. “This is such a breeze, there’s nopony that can catch up to me. That winning spot is as good as mine.” She kept flying fast to keep anypony from catching up to her. While she was keeping her first place spot another racer was using a different strategy. Shadow Bolt instead of trying to fly to first place, he stayed behind in last place. Even though this was his first race, he’s watched others race before and noticed something. All the racers go all out in the beginning of the race. Then later on when the race is almost over, they start getting tired. The flaw is that the racers use a lot of energy trying to get first place that they run out of energy when their in the final laps. So Shadow Bolts strategy was simple. Stay behind while saving my energy, then during the final laps past them all while their all running out of energy. He had a smirk in his face as he watched the others try to get to first place using up all their energy so early in the race. He had a bigger smirk for the one in first place trying to keep her place. This is going to be a long race. The race track was big and long, the starting/finish line was the only place for spectators to see. There were clouds lined up to the sides to show where the boundaries are. In some parts of the track were clouds that were placed to be obstacles for the racers. Some were small and some were big. The racers could go under, over, around, or even through them. This would be a test for precision and agility. By the 7th lap some were feeling the effects of flying too fast too soon and one by one Shadow Bolt passed them without having to speed up, his tank still full. For Rainbow she was still keeping her first place spot, she still had plenty of energy in her tank. Every once in a while she would look back and see how some of the racers were falling back. This is almost too easy. To keep the spectators especially The Wonderbolts entertained, she would perform tricks as she passed them. Tricks such as loop de loops, twirling, zigzags, she even flew backwards to impress everypony, and the crowd ate it up. She was oozing with confidence. Shadow watched as the cyan mare in first place was showing off to the crowd with her moves, by the 10th lap he was already in 12th place. Look at her, she’s so full of herself. She doesn’t realize how much energy she’s using entertaining the crowd. That’s going to bite her in the flank later on. By the 15th lap Rainbow Dash was starting to feel the effects of her excessive flying as she maneuvered around the clouds. She was breathing hard and she felt that she was flying slower, the gap between her and the second place pony was getting closer. There’s no way I’m letting anypony take my spot! With that thought she flapped her wings harder as she was slowly speeding up. Looks like that mare is finally paying for her mistakes. With the beginning of the 17th lap, Shadow Bolt was already in 6th place. He saw how the mare was struggling with keeping her first place spot. Looks like it’s time for me to make my move. Shadow with plenty of energy sped up passing the other racers who were feeling the effects of the lack of energy they had. In no time he was already in 2nd place as he tried to close the gap between him and the cyan pegasus. Rainbow turned back and was shocked to see a red pegasus quickly gaining up on her. Whoa! Where did this guy come from? He wasn’t there a second ago, and now he’s catching up. Rainbow flapped harder knowing that this guy was closing in on her tail in a matter of seconds if she didn’t go any faster. But she was almost out of energy and trying to speed up caused her more difficulty to breathe. In a matter of time Shadow Bolt was flying side by side with her. Shadow looked at the shocked expression on the mares face as he flew right next her with ease. They were side by side with the beginning of the 19th lap, the crowd was at an uproar as the two racers competing for 1st place flew past them. Once they passed the first cloud field Shadow finally thought that the right time was now,Okay enough playing around. Shadow Bolt gave Rainbow Dash a wink, which gave her a surprised look on her face. What does that mean? She wondered why Shadow Bolt winked at her. It didn’t take long to figure it out what it meant as he passed her with little effort taking 1st place from her. Rainbow Dash was shocked as this pegasus left her in the dust. The shock caused her to slow down, other racers saw this as an opportunity as they used up whatever energy they had left to speed up. Rainbow Dash was able to snap out of her daze and sped up trying to reclaim the spot that was hers since the beginning of the race. Shadow didn’t look back as he kept his mind on winning as he maneuvered around the clouds ahead of him. He went around, over, and under the small ones. Then he saw a big one in front of him, it would take a little bit more time maneuvering in any direction from it. He didn’t want to use up the time and energy to do this, so he decided, I’m going through it. He closed his eyes and sped up to get the momentum he needed to go through the cloud without any difficulty. In an instant he went through it with incredible speed that it caused the cloud to disperse in multiple directions. He opened his eyes knowing that he went through the cloud with ease, well that was easy. It took awhile, but Rainbow Dash was finally catching up to Shadow Bolt. Think you could get rid of me that easily? Guess again. She was right on his tail, until they entered the cloud field. Rainbows greatest strength is speed, but her weakest was agility. All that maneuvering slowed her down and once again Shadow Bolt was getting away. Come on Rainbow, Focus. She tried her best to maneuver around the clouds as quickly as she could. Eventually there was a bit of clearing in the field that she was able to use her speed to finally catch up to Shadow Bolt. She was catching up on his tail that she could touch it. Now all I got to do is simply pass him once we get out of the field, and it will be smooth sailing from here on ou- before she finished her thought, Shadow Bolt sped up leaving her in the dust. He must have known that I was behind him and he’s trying to lose me again. Not this time, she quickly gave chase. She was trying too hard to catch up that she didn’t noticed the big cloud in front of Shadow. She wasn’t prepared as Shadow blasted through the cloud leaving bits of it all over the place. A piece of the cloud hit her in the face that blinded her that caused her to spinout. She tried to recover which took her a few seconds before she was able to see again. That jerk! He did that on purpose. He knew that I was behind him. Well fine, two can play that game. She once again gave chase, with the rest of the racers not far behind. Shadow Bolt had just crossed the line that would be the start of the final lap. Okay, this is it, one lap to go. Got to give it all I got. Shadow was feeling a little drained after using the energy to burst through the cloud. He also felt that he was slowing down a bit. I guess I must have overdid it with that cloud, but it worked and I’m still in first place. He kept his speed at a pace that wouldn’t burn up his remaining energy. This gave Rainbow Dash the opportunity she needed to catch up. In a matter of time she was flying side by side with Shadow Bolt. Well what do you know, she’s back. Got to say I respect her perseverance, she doesn’t give up. Got to admire that, but that doesn’t change a thing, I’m winning this race. The crowd cheered as they watched as the two ponies were neck and neck until they were out of their sight. They kept both their eyes on the track as they entered the first cloud field. They carefully maneuvered around the clouds as quickly they could, waiting for the other to screw up and give them the edge they needed to get ahead of the other. Unfortunately neither of them screwed up or slowed down as they both came out of the cloud field stilled tied for 1st. Well that was fun. She is putting up a good fight, this race is getting more exciting and challenging by the second. Shadow Bolt had a smile on his face as they both dashed ahead trying to pass the other before the next cloud field came around. Look at him smirking, he think he’s better than me. I’m gonna smack that smirk off his face when I win. Rainbow Dash was trying to get ahead of Shadow as they came to the final turn which the only thing between her and the finish line was another cloud field. The same cloud field that cost her 1st place spot. This is it, if I don’t stop him here, then I won’t be able to win. Just got to wait for the opportunity to pass him and this race is mine to win. They once again entered the cloud field. About halfway through the field they came across a large cloud. Shadow thought about what to do this time. I don’t think I have enough energy to burst through this one, and I can’t take any more risks or it could cost me the race. With that in mind Shadow decided what to do and flew under the cloud. Rainbow saw this as an opportunity and flew over the cloud. This is it, the moment I’ve been waiting for. She flew faster hoping to cut off Shadow Bolt when she got to the other side. She picked up speed going down as she came to the end of the cloud. Shadow picked up his pace knowing that Rainbow Dash would try the same. As he came to the end of the cloud, Rainbow Dash quickly appeared in front of him, which caused him to suddenly stop so he wouldn’t crash into her. Rainbow Dash saw this and quickly flew ahead taking her 1st place spot once again and leaving distance between her and Shadow Bolt. Oh, no you don’t. Not letting you get away. He quickly gave chase. Rainbow saw that Shadow was catching up and thought of what to do. Got to do something or he’ll take my spot again. She then noticed a small cloud coming close in front of her and got an idea. Heh, it’s payback time. She flew over the cloud with ease, as she passed the cloud she turned to see Shadow Bolt coming up fast and smiled. She gave the cloud a small buck, not strong enough to dissipate it but only to give it some momentum. Shadow was closing the distance between him and Rainbow. Almost there, just a few more seconds and I’ll be close to pass her. He picked up speed as he saw Rainbow Dash flew over a small cloud. He saw Rainbow turning back to see him catching up and he saw the smile she gave him. Why is she smiling? It didn’t take long for the answer as he saw Rainbow kicked the cloud at him. The momentum of Shadow and the cloud were too fast for him to dodge it and the cloud hit him right in the face blinding him in the process. “My eyes! I can’t see!” He wiped his eyes as he kept flying at a slower pace, but without being able to see he couldn’t control his direction. That mare! She did that on purpose, She’s gonna pay for that as soon as I can see again! By this time a few of the other racers passed him, not knowing what happened to him. Still blinded he heard the sound of wings passing him by, he also heard the sound of the crowd meaning he was close to the finish line. I can’t let her get away with that, I have to keep going. My sight will return eventually just have to keep flying forward and hope I recover quickly so I can catch up to that cheating mare. He tried as he might to fly straight, but he couldn’t without being able to see and fly at his rapid pace at the same time. It was only a matter of time before disaster happened. With his out of control flying he accidently crashed into another racer that caused that racer to collide with another racer. One racer tried to avoid the crash, but he didn’t pay attention to where he was maneuvering and caused him to hit another racer who spun out and caused the racers behind him to crash into him. This started a chain reaction as racers crashed with other racers trying to avoid the racers in front of them. This caused some racers to get knocked out or lose their balance which resulted with them falling without being able to recover. The crowd was shocked as they saw all the racers falling. Rainbow Dash was wondering why she heard screams instead of cheers as she was getting close to the finish line. Why aren’t they cheering? I’m about to win this race, and those don’t sound like screams of excitement? She turned and saw the chaos behind her, which caused her to stop in her tracks. Oh my Celestia! What happened? The emergency pegasi rushed in to rescue the falling racers. What’s going on? Why does my head hurt? What happened to me? So many questions in Shadow Bolts head as the last few moments were a blur. Okay so I was hit by a cloud, lost my sight, I tried to keep going, then I remember crashing into something, and then I felt a blow to the head. I guess I was knocked out a bit. I wonder how the race is going. THE RACE!? Shadow Bolt realized what was happening and immediately opened his eyes. What he saw was the sky and it was getting farther and farther away. He realized that he was falling, I got to do something. He tried to control himself but he was in a free fall spin to which he couldn’t get himself out of it. The next few seconds went by quickly as one second Shadow was falling, and in the next second he was rising again. He turned to see a pegasus pushing him back to Cloudsdale. He looked around and saw other pegasi were also being lifted towards Cloudsdale, some were unconscious. Soon all the racers were back on solid cloud as the officials were looking into what happened. The incident caused the race to be called off without naming a winner. Shadow was lost in thoughts processing what happened moments ago. His thoughts were interrupted with someone saying, “That’s him, he’s the one responsible for all this.” He turned to see a pony pointing at him, next to him was one of the racing officials. “Me? Why are you saying this is my fault?” “Because I was flying and then all of a sudden you crashed into me. You made me crash into someone else and that started a chain reaction.” By now there was a crowd of racers and spectators surrounding them. The official asked, “Is this true? Did you cause this to happen?” “No I didn’t.” “Yes you did, you purposely crashed into me.” “That not true, it wasn’t my fault, it was an accident.” “How wasn’t it your fault?" “I couldn’t see, I was blinded by a cloud that hit me in the face.” “How did this cloud hit you?” the official asked. “It hit me because somepony kicked it at me on purpose.” Rainbow Dash was walking off her frustration, the incident cause the race to be called off without declaring a winner. “If that thing didn’t happen I would have won. Now how am I supposed to become a Wonderbolt?” Her walking led her to a huge crowd, “What’s all the commotion here?” She entered the crowd to get a better look of what was going on. As she got closer she could hear arguing going on between three pegasi. It sounded like they found out how the incident happened, she was now at the front of the crowd, and she could now hear what was going on. “How did this cloud hit you?” Someone got hit by cloud. “It hit me because somepony kicked it at me on purpose.” Someone kicked it? Wait a minute. She now had a look at the pegasus that seemed to be defending himself. She recognized the pony, Uh-oh. “And who was the one that kicked it?" I got to get out of here. She started backing up, trying her best not catch attention. Unfortunately Shadow Bolt noticed her in the crowd trying to back away. He pointed his hoof at the crowd and said, “It was her!” Upon his accusation the crowd backed away from Rainbow Dash, all eyes were on her. Even though she loved to be the center of attention, this wasn’t the case as she wished that she was invisible right now. The racing official walked up to her, “Is this true? Did you kick a cloud at him on purpose?” She didn’t speak at first, as she tried to think of what to say. She was about to say that he cheated first, but if I say that then I’ll be admitting that I cheated. She kept her mouth shut. The official was getting impatient for her answer and said, “I take it by your silence that what this guy said is the truth?” She was trying to think of an excuse, but she couldn’t. She was about to admit until she saw that The Wonderbolts were standing in front of the group looking at her. If I tell the truth they’ll never let me join. Quickly she thought of something and started laughing, “Yeah right, this guy is making it up. I never did anything to him.” “You Liar, you know you that you’re responsible and now you’re just trying to save yourself by denying it.” “Don’t listen to him sir, He’s just angry that I was beating him and now he’s making excuses. I bet there was never a cloud in the first place.” “Of course your gonna deny it, you’re just covering for yourself. You know I’m telling the truth, just admit it.” “Don’t tell me your gonna listen to him. I mean come on, look at him, he doesn’t exactly look trustworthy.” “You got a problem with my appearance?!” “I’m just saying who’s he going to believe a colt that looks like a thug or me?” The official stood there listening to the two pegasi arguing with each other. He couldn’t decide who was telling the truth, but after Rainbow Dash’s comment he was leaning that she was telling the truth. He decided to see if there was any truth the colt’s story. He turned to the group of spectators and racers surrounding them, “Did anypony see what happened? Did anyone see this mare kick a cloud to this colt? There was discussion within the group, a racer said, “I was in third place but they were too far ahead of me that I couldn’t see them." Most of the spectators said they couldn’t see that far, but one said, “I was able to see with my binoculars.” She lifted her hoof showing them. “And what did you see ma’am?” “All I saw was the rainbow mare was far ahead and the other was flying then all of a sudden he collided with another racer.” With that testimony everyone stared at Shadow Bolt with anger. He could hear what some of them were saying. “The nerve of him lying to save himself.” “I knew that guy wasn’t being honest.” “Of course you could tell he was lying, just look at him.” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, I can’t believe that they would rather believe her than me just because of what I look like. He looked at the official, “I’m telling the truth, you got to believe me.” But the official didn’t listen to him, “The jig is up kid, you got caught. Now you got to own up for it.” Two security guards stood next to Shadow and carried him away. He kept pleading his innocence, “I swear I’m telling the truth, she’s the liar. You got to believe me, SOMEPONY BELIEVE ME, PLEASE BELIEVE ME!” Twilight was sitting down as listened to his story, his aura slowly disappeared when he started, but now that he was finished it was back and growing. She stood up once he finished, her thoughts were in a spin processing his story, she looked at Rainbow Dash to see that she was yawning. He didn’t say anything for a few moments with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes with the looks of anger and sadness behind them and said, “After that I was banned to ever race again in Cloudsdale as punishment. He gave a light chuckle, “It’s pretty funny, my first race was also my last race.” All she could muster to say was, “I’m sorry.” She wasn’t sure if he heard her as he continued, “What made it worse was after that everypony in Cloudsdale knew me and hated me. Some started rumors about me such as assaulting ponies, robbery, breaking and entering, and selling drugs to kids. They were all false of course, but everypony believed them. I couldn’t even walk around without being confronted by somepony thinking that these were all true and wanted to bring me to justice.” Twilight stood there not sure what to say to him after that, she turned to Rainbow Dash and saw her snoring. “RAINBOW!” She woke up and said, “Is he finished yet? His boring sob story was putting me to sleep.” “Rainbow Dash, didn’t you listen to what happened to him?” “You know what I heard? I heard a story about a guy who couldn’t handle a little bullying and because he was such a wuss is the reason he ran away.” Her comment seemed to struck a nerve at Shadow Bolt as he stared at her with anger in his eyes and said, “Is that what you think happened to me? That I just ran away? Well let me tell you something Skittles, I didn’t run away from Cloudsdale, I was kicked out!” Twilight was shocked about he just said, “You were kicked out?” “Yes, apparently everyone got fed up with me and decided to take action. I remember that rainy day when I was flying to get away from the mob as they ran me out of town. They told me to never come back or face the consequences.” That was the first day when I realized how cruel the world is. Afterwards I tried to settle down somewhere but once again I was shown the cruelty of the world. Like the others, everyone assumed that I was some sort of monster, even the rumors spread out of Cloudsdale as I heard about that fateful day from ponies that couldn’t have been there. You already know the rest of what I learned from my travels. “That’s terrible. I’m very sorry for the hardships you’ve suffered.” His eyes were filled with sadness. “I only wished that someone took the chance to get to know me before judging me.” The sadness in his eyes were replaced by anger, “And it’s all because of you!” his hoof pointing at Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, is what he saying true? Did you really do that to him?” “Come on Twilight, you know me. Do you think I would do that? You’ve known me way longer than him, don’t tell me you believe him?” She does have a point, Rainbow’s been one of her dearest friends. They shared multiple adventures and saved Equestria more than once. But what if Shadow’s telling the truth? She knew how competitive Rainbow is and also add that with impressing The Wonderbolts for a chance to join, she would do anything to win. Her thoughts were interrupted by Rainbow Dash, “I can’t believe your even thinking about this. After all I’m The Element of Loyalty remember? “You’re one of The Elements of Harmony too?” Shadow asked after hearing her. “Yup, The Element of Loyalty. I’m the most awesomeness and loyalist pony there is.” “Ha, your loyal alright, loyal to yourself is more like it.” Apparently Shadows comment seemed to have offended Rainbow Dash. Her face was in a state of anger, she responded in a threatening tone, “Take that back!” “I will, but first I want you to admit that you lied all those years ago.” “I don’t have to admit nothing. You should be the one fessing up.” “I’m not the liar here, you are.” Rainbow scoffed at his comment, “Too bad your special talent isn’t lying, cause you seem to be the master of lies.” “ENOUGH!” shouted Twilight, she had enough of their arguing and wanted it to end. Too bad Applejack isn’t here, she would be able to tell who's the liar here. “Come on Twilight, let’s leave this loser with his delusions.” “Don’t listen to her Twilight, she just doesn’t want to admit the truth.” “No you should just admit it, you have no one to blame for the misfortunes of your miserable life but yourself. After all these years not one pony has believed you. You’re in denial, WAKE UP! As I mentioned before, no one is gonna believe a word from a stallion like you.” Shadow didn’t say a word, he just stood there with his hate boiling and his eyes closed. The aura was getting brighter and hotter with each passing second that Twilight slowly step off to the side to get away from the heat. This is bad, its seems like he’s about to explode in his anger. I don’t know what to do, what can I do? Her thoughts were interrupted by Rainbow Dash, “Um, Twilight?” “Yes?” “What’s going on with him?” “What do you mean?” “Well it looks like he’s covered in some red light.” Twilight was now in a state of shock from Rainbow’s comment. “You mean you can see it too?” “Well duh, of course I can see it. What pony isn’t gonna see a guy covered in a red light.” “I’ve been with him all day and nopony has been able to see it but me.” “What do you think it means?” Trouble “Nothing good.” After all these years she still denies it. What’s worse is now she’s putting the blame of what’s happen to my life because of her on me. It’s all her fault, It’s because of her my life has been disaster. His head was now filled with the memories of all the ponies that treated him bad over the years. His hate kept growing and growing with each passing second and insult. “Scum!” “Ugly!” “Demon!” “Criminal!” “Loser!” “Blank Flank Freak!” “Filthy Creature!” “Monster!” The insults kept repeating in his head over and over, faster and faster. He couldn’t stop it, the flood gates of his mind were fully opened and there was no way to close it. The insults kept going and going, till the point that he swore he heard something snap and he opened his eyes. There was a bright flash that Twilight covered her eyes to shield them, she also heard what sounded like an explosion. After a few seconds she opened her eyes and was surprised of what she saw. Shadow Bolt was standing there his body was covered by what looked like red fire, his eyes were glowing, and where his flank was blank now had a cutie mark. It had three storm clouds combined with two red lightning bolts striking from two of the clouds. Then she saw his neck, he was wearing what seems to be a necklace. Further looking at the necklace left her speechless, it looks just like one of The Elements of Harmony. The only difference between the elements and Shadow’s necklace was that his necklace was black instead of gold. In the center was a red lightning bolt gem similar to his cutie mark and Rainbow Dash’s Element of Loyalty. The gem was now glowing and a ball of red energy was now forming. Just what in Celestia’s name is going on here? Where did that necklace come from? Why does it look like one of The Elements of Harmony? “Twilight, what’s going on?” Rainbow was in a state of confusion and concern just like Twilight. The ball of energy was getting bigger. Twilight, turned to Shadow and asked him, “Shadow, are you alright?” It seemed he didn’t hear her since he didn’t respond, he just stood there staring at Dash with hate in his eyes. The energy ball was now glowing bright. What going on with that ball? It looks like it charging for something, but what? Oh no, “DASH, GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Shadow finally spoke, “It’s your fault, it’s all your fault.” The ball seemed to be fully charged.” “DASH, MOVE NOW!” “YOU RUINED MY LIFE!” He released the charge and an energy beam was heading towards Rainbow Dash. Rainbow froze, the beam was too fast and before she could move the beam hit her. The beam blasted her a few feet away, her body skidding to the ground collecting dirt from behind until the pile of dirt stop her. The blast left her unconscious. Twilight couldn’t believe what just happened. She stood there in shock, she looked at Shadow Bolt. He was breathing heavy for a few seconds and after he was breathing returned to normal he looked at Twilight with a grin on his face and said, “That felt good.”