//------------------------------// // Today’s Forecast: 100% Chance of Hate with Scattered Rage // Story: The Element of Hate // by Shadow Bolt //------------------------------// "Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.” ― Maya Angelou "To be angry is easy. But to be angry with the right man at the right time and in the right manner, that is not easy." ― Aristotle "Anger is one letter short of danger." ― Eleanor Roosevelt Chapter 9: Today’s Forecast: 100% Chance of Hate with Scattered Rage While waiting for her friends to return, Rarity was sitting in the library sipping some tea that Spike had made for her. “Spike, this tea is simply marvelous, you’ve really outdone yourself.” “Aw geez Rarity, it was nothing,” said Spike as he was blushing with one claw scratching the back of his head. “This is exactly what I needed after finishing that order. You must give me the recipe, this will help me relax the next time I’m up to my horn in orders. “I’ve got some cookies to go with your tea, if you want some.” “That would be splendid Spike, I would love to try one of your cookies.” “Be right back,” he said as he dashed away to the kitchen and back in less than five seconds with a tray of cookies. “Here you go.” “Thank you my little Spikey-Wikey,” as she levitated a cookie. She was about to take a bite when she heard the door slammed opened, breaking her concentration causing the cookie to fall on the ground. “Don’t you know it’s rude to barge into somepony’s home like that?” as she turned to see the perpetrator. Her eyes were open wide when she saw who it was. It was none other than her friends, and from the looks of them, they weren’t in good condition. “Oh dear heavens, what happened to you girls?” “It’s a long story,” said Twilight as she started towards her stairs. “Twilight, what is that’s covering your horn and mane?” she looked closer at Twilight’s horn and mane. “If didn’t know any better, I’d say that was…..blood?! Twilight what happened?” “There’s no time, I have to send a letter to the princess,” she ran up the stairs to her room. “Will somepony tell me what is going on?” “I tell you what’s going on,” said Rainbow Dash, “did Twilight introduce you to someone today?” “Why yes, his name was Shadow Bolt. He was kind of shy and a bit handsome if I do say so myself.” “Yeah well, that shy handsome pony did this to us,” she pointed her hoof at her blood cover muzzle. “What?!” Twilight was now staring in front of her desk with her quill hovering above the piece of parchment that she would send to Princess Celestia. She concentrated on what to write exactly to her, the events in the Everfree Forest still fresh in her mind. After much time staring at the blank parchment, she began writing, starting with the words that she hoped she would never have to write in her life. Dear Princess Celestia, I’ve failed. I failed at showing Shadow Bolt the magic of friendship. At first, I wasn’t getting through to him, but then it seemed like it was working on him. Then through events that I couldn’t have predicted, it all went horribly wrong. I found out that the mysterious aura he was emitting was coming from a necklace that looks like our Elements of Harmony. I gathered my friends to confront him and tried to persuade him into handing it over. After some arguing and one of my friends attacked him, we were forced to engage him in combat. We weren’t able to stop him, as it showed that his element was too powerful for us. In addition, he is now heading towards Canterlot to destroy the elements. I urge you to make whatever preparations you need to defend Canterlot, I know that it might seem a bit extreme, but since I have no way of knowing how powerful he is, I wouldn’t take any chances. My friends and I will be on the first train to Canterlot, hopefully will be there before he arrives. I’m sorry that this is happening, I feel that it’s my fault for putting everypony in danger like this. I will see you as soon as possible. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle Twilight let out a big sigh. She hated the fact that not only she failed at showing Shadow Bolt how wonderful the magic of friendship is, but now Canterlot is in danger because of her failure. She rolled up the parchment and started walking towards her door. She stopped and looked at herself in the mirror, she was shock at her reflection. She was covered in dirt, she had a few bruises, her mane was a mess, and her horn was blood red, with a dark stream of it running down her mane. She remembered where the blood came from. “You stabbed me?” “I was just trying to defend myself, I didn’t mean for that to happen.” “If that horn was any longer, you would have killed me. After all my years of traveling, nopony has ever tried to kill me before.” “It was an accident, I swear.” The thought of what she did caused her to gag, she quickly ran to the bathroom to clean herself up. After washing out the blood from her horn and mane, Twilight went downstairs to get her friends ready to depart for Canterlot.” As she was walking down the stairs, she could hear Rainbow Dash’s voice, “Then afterwards, he headed towards Canterlot, saying that he was going to destroy the elements. I tried to stop him, but I got hit by another one of his lightning bolts.” “Oh my, I can’t believe that he did all this to you,” said Rarity. “Ya better believe it Rarity, he almost killed us,” said Applejack. “So what happens now?” “I’ll tell what happens next,” said Twilight as she walked up to her friends. “We’re going to Canterlot and stop him before anypony gets hurt. I already inform the princess of the situation, so we need to head towards the train station.” “But Twilight,” said Spike, “the train to Canterlot won’t be leaving for another hour.” “Then we’ll just have to wait then.” “Twilight?” started Rarity, “Can you tell me why he did all this? He wasn’t behaving like that when I met him?” “I know, he was starting to feel fine after we left the boutique. Afterwards I took him to Sugarcube Corner.” “Then I put on a Welcome to Ponyville Party for him,” said Pinkie Pie, “There was music, cake, and games. It was so much fun, wished you guys were there.” “Yes, thank you, Pinkie,” said Twilight as she continued, “and it seemed that Pinkies party really helped him, he was smiling, talking to anypony that walked up to him. He was having a great time, he even said that today was the best day he’s ever had in a very long time.” “If he was so happy, then where did it go wrong?” “Well we were walking back to his place, I was discussing what we could tomorrow. That’s when Rainbow Dash showed up and everything went all wrong.” “What does Rainbow Dash have to do with this?” “Apparently they knew each other a long time ago, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience.” “That’s right, ah remembered from da way they were talkin,” said Applejack, “It did sound like they knew each other. He kept tellin Dash to apologize for sumthin.” “Apologize for what?” “Does this have to do wit that long story that ya mentioned, Twilight?” “Yes it does.” “Well since were waiting for da train, why don’t ya go ahead and tell this story.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, clearly she didn’t want to hear the story again. “Okay, it all started years ago in Cloudsdale.” “I’ll show them, nopony tries to kill me and gets away with it,” as Shadow Bolt was pushing his home towards Canterlot. He knew that he should never go there. From what he heard in his travels, the citizens treated everypony badly that wasn’t a resident. The city was full of rich snobs, that believed that they were better than everypony else. Anypony that wasn’t in their class was treated like they were beneath them. Shadow was already treated like that wherever he went, he couldn’t imagine how he would have been treated if he were to walk those streets. If it wasn’t for the current circumstance he wouldn’t even bother going. But now he was in a race for his own life, trying to prevent those who would try to destroy him. The element around his neck was glowing as his head was flooded with the memory that was the reason why he was flying to Canterlot in the first place. “If we had our elements you’d be toast in ten seconds flat.” “And what is that supposed to mean?” “Let’s just say, nopony will be missing you.” “We only do that for whoever tries to endanger everypony in Equestria.” “Like you.” “If we don’t stop him, then he’ll just go blasting at anypony that pisses him off.” “Is that what you really think of me? You think that I’m some type of rabid animal that needs to be put down?” He never thought that when he woke up this morning that he would be defending his life from the Elements of Harmony. All his life ponies thought of him as weak and defenseless, which seemed to give them the reason to treat him badly. How they would chase him around, throw garbage at him, sometimes even rocks or whatever they could get their hooves on, and of course the beatings he suffered. They thought that because he was weak, they could walk all over him and wouldn’t worry about the consequences. Well no more! It’s time to show Equestria that nopony will walk all over me and get away with it ever again. No more will they think that I’m weak, no more being the outcast, no more being treated like scum, and no more being treated like a monster. It’s time to put them in their place, and what better example than the ponies of Canterlot. Once I put those rich snobs in their place nopony will think I’m weak ever again! He started flying faster, as the power of the element powered by his hate was making his home bigger and bigger. “And that’s when he was kicked out of Cloudsdale,” said Twilight, as she was finishing telling the story that Shadow told her earlier. Everypony else was silent, except for Pinkie and Spike who were both eating popcorn. “Since then, he’s been traveling Equestria trying to find a place for him to settle down.” “Oh dear, it must have been terrible for him to be on his own for long,” said Rarity. “And from what’s he’s been telling me, he hasn’t been treated well no matter where he goes.” “Goodness.” “He just recently told me during the fight that he was beaten multiple times from his travels.” “If… I was… treated like that, I would live in isolation too,” said Fluttershy. “And because of this, he blames Rainbow Dash for what’s happened to his life.” All eyes were on Rainbow Dash from Twilight’s remark. “For the last time, I didn’t cheat! You guys know me more than you know him. You should be defending me instead of the other way around. And besides, I’m Rainbow Dash. I don’t need to cheat to win, that’s how awesome I am.” Twilight turned to Applejack and gave her a nod. Applejack knew what Twilight was asking and nodded in return. She then walked right up to Rainbow Dash. “Alright Dash, ya look me in the eye an tell me that ya didn’t cheat.” “I already said that I didn’t cheat,” she said not even looking at Applejack. “An ah said ta look me in da eye an say it.” She turned her head facing Applejack and said, “I… didn’t… cheat!” Their eyes were locked staring at each other. The others could feel the tension between the two ponies. Applejack being the Element of Honesty, has the ability to tell if anypony is lying. As if her eyes could dig deep down a pony’s soul and find out the truth. At least that was what Rainbow Dash was feeling with Applejack staring at her with those eyes. She started sweating as she was losing her confidence and her poker face was starting to crack. In the end she couldn’t take it anymore and took her eyes off Applejack. “Oh my Celestia,” said Applejack in disbelief, “Ya did cheat!” Everypony gasped at Applejacks statement. All eyes were now glaring at Rainbow Dash’s dishonesty. “ALRIGHT FINE, I ADMIT IT!” she shouted, “I cheated, but I only did because he cheated first.” “Rainbow Dash, I’m very disappointed in you,” said Rarity, “I thought you were better than that.” “I can’t believe it,” said Pinkie Pie with a shocked look on her face, “you were being a cheater mccheaterson.” “As I already said, I only cheated because he cheated first,” “That’s no excuse,” said Applejack, “just because somepony cheats, doesn’t mean ya have ta stoop down ta their level.” “Um…. I didn’t hear anything about him cheating,” said Fluttershy. “Oh please, you think he’s going to admit that he cheated, Fluttershy,” said Rainbow Dash. She couldn’t even believe that even Fluttershy was on everypony’s side. “I don’t know if he cheated or not,” started Twilight, “but when it came time to confess, instead of telling everypony the truth, you denied it and put all the blame on him.” “Hey, I was going to tell the truth,” she said defensively, “but once the Wonderbolts showed up, I couldn’t do it. If they found out I cheated, then they would never let me become a Wonderbolt.” “So you let an innocent pony take the blame for your actions, all because of your pride?” asked Twilight, “does that seem right to you?” Rainbow was about to say something, but stopped after letting Twilights question sink in her head. She looked down in defeat and said, “No, it doesn’t seem right saying it like that.” “When we get ta Canterlot, yur gonna apologize to him just like he wanted,” said Applejack. “Maybe wit that, he won’t try ta destroy Canterlot if he accepts yur apology.” “Alright fine, I’ll apologize.” Pinkie Pie started bouncing around, “And then, when he accepts your apology, well have an I’m Sorry Party to celebrate. Then you two will make up and then be the bestest of friends.” “Before you start making the preparations, we first need to get to Canterlot and hope that he’ll accept Rainbow’s apology,” said Twilight. “Can’t you teleport us to Canterlot?” asked Rarity. “To teleport all of six of us would take too much magic, and I haven’t practiced teleporting long distances enough for all of us. I don’t want to you girls teleported in random locations.” “Well… I guess we should head to the train station then,” said Fluttershy, “unless… you want to stay here a bit longer I understand.” “No your right, Fluttershy,” said Twilight, “Let’s go girls.” Before the girls were able to walk out the door a blinding white light appeared blinding the girls and Spike. Then the light dimmed down and vanished as quickly as it came. Spike opened his eyes and saw that he was alone. The girls vanished out of thin air. Where did everpony go? At first Twilight couldn’t see anything but a bright blinding light. Once the light disappeared she noticed that she wasn’t in the library anymore, but in Canterlot, more specifically she’s in the castles throne room. She turned around and saw that her friends were with her. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were rubbing their eyes, Fluttershy was shaking a bit, Rarity was looking at her surroundings, and Pinkie Pie was removing a pair of sunglasses from her face. Applejack asked still rubbing her eyes, “What happened? What’s going?” “We were teleported, we’re in Canterlot,” Twilight replied. “How did we get here?” asked Rainbow Dash, “I thought you said you couldn’t teleport us all to Canterlot.” “I didn’t do this, It must have been somepony else.” “If you didn’t do this… then who did?” asked Fluttershy still shaking from the unexpected experience of teleporting. As if on cue, the doors opened and a familiar voice said, “It was me,” everypony turned to see that the voice belonged to none other than Princess Celestia. Everypony bowed, except for Twilight, who ran up to her mentor and nuzzled her chest. “It’s great to see you again, Princess.” “It’s great to see you too, Twilight,” she returned Twilight’s nuzzle, “although I wished it was under different circumstances. She walked towards Twilights friends, “You don’t have to bow for me,” after hearing that, the rest of the girls stood up. Celestia gave them a simple smile and faced Twilight, “Now what can you tell me about this threat that you mentioned in your letter, Twilight?” “Yes Princess, as I mentioned in the letter, Shadow Bolt, the pony I tried to show the magic of friendship, is on his way to Canterlot and he is wearing a necklace that looks like one of the Elements of Harmony. This element of his has a lot of power. It’s because I don’t know how powerful it is, is the reason why I think we should prepare to defend the city. I know I’m asking a lot to put Canterlot on high alert on the account of one pegasus, but there’s no telling the type of damage that he can do with that necklace.” “I do admit, it does seem a lot for one pony, but I’ve come to always trust your instincts, Twilight. I have already made the preparations for Shadow’s arrival.” Twilight looked out the window and saw the guards patrolling the castle, the pegasi guards were flying over the city. She can see that everything was as if it was when she and her friends arrived to Canterlot for Shining Armors wedding. Speaking of whom, Twilight noticed that something was missing. “Where’s my brother? Why hasn’t he put the barrier up?” “Shining Armor, isn’t here Twilight,” replied Celestia, “he’s still on his honeymoon with Cadance.” “Oh, well what do we do? Without a barrier who knows the damage Shadow can do to the city.” “Those innocent ponies,” said Fluttershy, “They’ll be helpless against him.” “Not to worry my little ponies,” said Princess Celestia, “before Shining Armor left, he taught me the barrier spell in case he wasn’t around or if he wasn’t able to perform his duties. He wanted to make sure that he didn’t want a repeat of what happened during the invasion. To prove this Celestia walked out to a nearby balcony. Her horn started glowing, and then a gold beam shot out of her horn towards the sky. Once the beam was high in the sky, it spread out covering the city of Canterlot in a golden bubble. Twilight was amazed seeing once again, the power that her mentor wields. Princess Celestia then walked back towards the others. She was breathing a bit heavy, “I haven’t had much time to get used to the spell, so it takes a bit out of me, especially since I must maintain perfect concentration or else the barrier will weaken.” “I know what you mean princess, said Twilight, “I know the amount of magic and concentration its takes to put up a barrier. I get a little tired just making a barrier for myself. I can’t imagine the strain it must take to put a barrier over an entire city. Hopefully this will keep Shadow from getting inside and terrorizing the city.” “Speaking of which, I also have brought you girls something to help. Her horn started glowing once again, and a small light appeared in front of her. When the light vanished there was a small blue chest covered in gems levitating in front of the princess. “I believe these belong to you,” she opened the chest, revealing the Elements of Harmony to the six. “Thank you, Princess Celestia,” said Twilight using her magic to give the elements to her friends. Now that the elements were worn by their rightful bearers, the mane six were ready for whatever Shadow has planned. “So tell me Twilight, what is your plan for stopping Shadow Bolt?” asked Princess Celestia. “Well princess, we want to avoid a fight with him, unless we have to. So my plan is that we wait for him to arrive, he’ll see the barrier and most likely will try to break it. Since you’re more powerful than me Princess, the barrier will hold off his attacks. Doing this will most likely tire him out, and once that happens we will try to talk him into stopping his attack and try to persuade him into giving up his element.” “You mentioned in your letter that you tried this already, but you weren’t able to get through to him. What makes you think that it will work this time?” “Well, this time he’ll be more persuasive once Rainbow Dash talks to him,” she pointed to Dash, “once she tells him what he wants to hear, I believe that he’ll be more cooperative with us.” “Why is it going to be Rainbow Dash that will persuade him to cooperate?” “They seem to have history when they were younger,” she said. Her face showing signs of concern, “she did something that resulted in something bad that happened to him. Once she apologizes to him, he should more cooperative.” “And what if he isn’t?” she asked. “Then if that doesn’t work,” her face showing sadness, “we’ll have no choice but to use the Elements of Harmony on him.” “Why do you look so sad Twilight?” “It’s just…I don’t really want to harm him more than I have already done.” “You’ve defeated others before, what is the problem? He’s on his way to destroy the elements and from what I’m hearing about him, he doesn’t care who gets in his way.” “But he’s different from the others, Princess Celestia. He’s nothing like Nightmare Moon, Discord, or Queen Chrysalis. He’s just an angry pegasus who’s just lashing out. I believe his element is responsible for that.” “That reminds,” spoke Rarity, “Where did he get an element of his own?” “That’s what I’m wondering too,” said Twilight, “there’s nothing that I read that mentioned any other elements but the Elements of Harmony.” She looked to Princess Celestia, “Have you heard of any other elements before, Princess?” “A long time ago, when my sister and I discovered the Elements of Harmony, we found legends of the possibility of there being other elements. But we never found any proof that these other elements existed. In the end we dismissed the possibility that these other elements where nothing more than a myth.” “Well it looks like them legends were true all along,” said Applejack, “cause one of em is coming this way.” “It still doesn’t answer the question, where he got it?” said Rarity. “Actually Rarity,” said Twilight, “from what he told me, he didn’t even know he had it. It’s as if it just appeared out of nowhere. That element has so much power, there’s no telling what else it could do.” “Wouldn’t it be simple to just remove the element from him by force?” asked Princess Celestia. “I already tried that Princess,” Twilight lowered her head as she said this, “but I found out that his element is actually burned into his skin. “It’s burned into his skin?!” Celestia was shocked from hearing this. “Yes, I saw it up close with my own eyes. Trying to remove it by force will only caused him great pain. From what I’m able to determine from observing him, the more pain he’s in the more his hate builds up, and the more hate he has the stronger he gets.” “I see, while it’s terrible for him to have that thing around his neck, we can’t allow him to cause any havoc towards Canterlot. I hope that your idea works Twilight, the fate of Equestria lies in your and your friend’s hooves.” “Don’t worry Princess, we won’t let you down.” All her friends were now standing beside her, “As long as we have each other and the power of friendship by our side, nothing will stop us in bringing harmony all over Equestria.” “You said it Twilight,” said Rarity. “Yuperuni,” Pinkie Pie was bouncing excitably. “Way to go girl,” said Rainbow Dash. “Woo hoo,” whispered Fluttershy. “We’re behind ya all the way,” said Applejack. Twilight blushed a bit from her friend’s confidence in her, “Thanks girls,” then they all shared a big group hug. “All long as were together, there’s nothing that can stop us.” *BOOM* Everypony was slightly startled over the loud noise, except for Fluttershy. She let out a loud scream and tightened her grip around Pinkie Pie and Rarity, squeezing them in the process. Strangely, Pinkie Pie started squeaking like a rubber duck. “F-Fluttershy…. Darling…. Cant…. Breathe,” Rarity tried to escape from Fluttershy’s killer grip. Fluttershy then realized what she was doing and quickly released her grip, letting Rarity and Pinkie Pie go. “Oops…. sorry Rarity,” she looked down in embarrassment. “I hope you can forgive me.” “Of course I forgive you Fluttershy,” Rarity said trying to cheer Fluttershy up. “I know that didn’t mean to, it was just an accident.” “Thank you,” was all she said. *BOOM* “What in tarnation was that?” asked Applejack. “If you ask me,” started Rainbow Dash, “it sounds like… thunder?” *BOOM* “Oh dear, if I knew that it was going to be raining I would have brought my parka,” said Rarity. “Now my mane is going to be wet after all this,” everypony rolled their eyes from Rarity’s comment. “Did you schedule for rain today, Princess Celestia?” asked Twilight. “No I did not, Twilight.” *BOOM* “Then if you didn’t schedule for rain today, then…..” Twilight couldn’t finish her sentence when the gears in her head started turning. After a few seconds of concentration, her face bore one of fear. Oh no! “Twilight, are you alright?” asked Rarity. Twilight looked over at Fluttershy. She only had to nod to confirm what Twilight was thinking. *BOOM* She started running towards the balcony to confirm her assumption. Once she was outside she looked over the horizon. “Oh no, it can’t be! This is not good." “What is it Twilight?” asked Princess Celestia. She turned to face her mentor and friends and said two words that sent a shiver down their spines, “He’s here!” Coming towards Canterlot, was an enormous storm cloud. But this was no ordinary storm cloud, it was a storm cloud made entirely of hate. And inside was the pegasus who created it. Shadow Bolt poked his head out to see the glorious city of Canterlot for the first time in his life, “Finally here.” He then noticed that the city was covered by a large golden globe. “Twilight must have warned the princess of my arrival and put up a barrier to keep me out,” He smirked at their attempt. “No matter, with my power, it will be like breaking through glass.” Everyone was now standing outside the balcony as Celestia’s sun was slowly gobbled up, covering Canterlot in darkness. Then bolts of red lightning started striking the force field trying to penetrate through. Celestia kept her concentration up from the barrage of lightning bolts. “I can feel this power. It’s nothing I’ve ever felt before, but I should be able to keep the barrier up.” “If anypony can do it, it’s you, Princess Celestia,” said Twilight. Celestia didn’t respond due to her concentration, but gave Twilight a comforting smile for her praise. I wonder how much longer I’m able to keep the barrier up. What’s taking so long? Shadow kept shooting lightning at the force field. Maybe it’s time for a direct approach. He flew out of the cloud and headed towards the barrier. Twilight could see something coming out of the storm cloud. “There he is!” she pointed to him. Everypony now could see him hovering in front of the force field. He started punching and bucking the barrier. When that didn’t work he blasted it with his elements energy beam. He started attacking from different points hoping to find a weak spot, only to meet with failure, causing his hatred to boil hotter and hotter. THAT’S IT! TIME TO FINISH THIS! He flew high into the sky with a new strategy. “He’s leaving?” said Twilight. “Well that was easier than I thought,” said Rainbow Dash. Princess Celestia was happy hearing this, her breathing was slightly hard and she was sweating a little bit. I don’t know how much longer I could have lasted. “Even though he broke ma trees with all his strength, there’s no way he could break the Princess’s force field,” said Applejack proudly. “Uh…. Applejack,” started Twilight, “he told me he was holding back.” “HOLDING BACK?!” Applejack couldn’t believe her ears. “Um, girls?” said Fluttershy. “Twi, what if he was holding back this whole time?” “Girls?” Twilight was shocked. If he was holding back, then… “GIRLS!” Fluttershy shouted. “What is it, Fluttershy?” “He’s coming back.” Shadow flew up high until he reached enough altitude, and then nose-dived back to Canterlot. He concentrated his power to his hooves and angled himself so that his hind legs would impact the barrier. His hind legs landed so hard that he felt the vibration, then he immediately stomped his fore hooves on the force field. The combined impact caused a big crack in the barrier and was growing larger. Satisfied he flew back to the cloud blasting the cracked spot with his energy beam. That should do it. The blow was too much for Celestia as Shadow’s attack knocked her out, breaking her concentration. Without Princess Celestia, the barrier started breaking apart. Twilight and her friends watched in horror as cracks were appearing all over the force field, until finally the barrier protecting Canterlot shattered into pieces. Immediately a barrage of lightning bolt struck the unprotected city, all Twilight could do was watch the devastation of Canterlot. Lightning bolts were striking all over the city, the streets, the shops, and the home of its residents. Ponies were running all over the city, trying to escape the chaos. The residents outside were running for cover while dodging the red lightning bolts. Some of them were almost hit, but the bolts missed them at the last possible second. Others tried running towards the nearest building, finding sanctuary from the hate storm, only for the walls and roofs to be struck by the lightning making holes in the buildings. This proved that no place was safe from Shadow Bolts wrath for the residents of Canterlot. He could see them all running in panic and he was enjoying every second of it. He saw a stallion all dressed up trip and landing in a puddle of mud, dirtying his expensive suit. He laughed at the stallion’s misfortune. It made feel so good knowing that this was happening all over the city. “Not so high and mighty anymore, are you, you snobby stuck up rich scum?” he kept on laughing as he continued his assault on Canterlot. Twilight could hear the screams all the way from the castle. See could also see the towers of smoke coming from the city. She looked to the sky as the pegasi guards were flying to launch a counterattack. Unfortunately they didn’t get far as one by one they were struck down by Shadow’s lightning attacks. The unicorn guards started blasting the cloud hoping their beams could stop the storms assault. Some were hoping that their beams would also hit the pegasus who was hiding in the cloud. Their attempts only awarded them with pain as lightning bolts struck them. One lucky guards beam seemed to hit his target. He wasn’t feeling so lucky anymore when he was hit by a red energy beam instead of a lightning bolt. Twilight couldn’t stand it anymore, she needed to do something to stop this madness. She started nudging her mentor’s unconscious body, hoping to wake her up. “Princess Celestia, you need to wake up! Canterlot is in danger and only you can protect it from this chaos.” The princess started groaning as she was stirring. She slowly opened her eye, to see her student and friends standing in front of her. “What happened?” “You were knocked out Princess, the strain of the barrier was too much for you.” She started remembering what happened before she lost consciousness. She stood up immediately, “What about Shadow Bolt?” *BOOM* That was all she needed to hear to know what was happening. She looked over the balcony and gasp as she saw the devastation of her city. “This is terrible.” Twilight walked next to her mentor, “Princess, you need to put up the barrier again. If the force field isn’t up, Shadow will destroy Canterlot.” Princess started concentrating to put up another force field, but she was still feeling the fatigue from the last one, that she was having trouble with the spell.” “LOOK OUT!” screamed Pinkie Pie as she was pointing up. Everypony looked to see a lightning bolt coming right at them. They all quickly ran back inside the castle. As soon as they were inside, the lightning bolt struck the balcony they were standing just seconds ago, destroying it in the process. “Oh my, that was a close one,” said Rarity. “We need that barrier up now!” said Applejack. Princess Celestia started concentrating again. Her horn started glowing as the spell was charging up. Almost there, I have to protect my little ponies. *BOOM* Her concentration was broken again when a lightning bolt struck the roof of the throne room, leaving a huge gaping hole. Before Celestia could start concentrating again, lightning started striking from the hole in the roof making everypony run to avoid them. Celestia saw Twilight and the rest of the element bearers running around the throne room, trying to avoid the lightning strikes. One lightning got too close to Twilight as it grazed her leg, causing her to fall to the ground. “Twilight!” Celestia tried to get to her, but was stopped as a lightning bolt struck right in front of her. She looked at Twilight, she was still lying on the ground. She was pinned down by lightning bolts striking around her, preventing her from getting away. Celestia could see Twilight’s scared face, making her furious. “ENOUGH!” she shouted in her Royal Equestrian voice. Her horn was charging as a gold globe was forming at the tip. It grew and grew until it was the size of a giant beach ball. She shot the globe to the sky and into the storm cloud. Once the energy ball entered the cloud, it started expanding and then blew up with the power of the sun burning away the cloud. The cloud dissipated immediately causing the sun to break through blinding everypony, except for Pinkie Pie, who once again had her sunglasses on. With cloud destroyed Princess Celestia ran to Twilight, to check on her. “Are you all right, Twilight?” “I’m fine, Princess,” as she was slowly getting up, she winced in pain from the burn mark from her leg. “It’s just grazed me, nothing to worry about.” “Are you sure?” “Of course, it’s nothing compared to getting hit by one of those bolts.” “You were struck before?!” Celestia was showing concern for her student. “Yes Princess, and let me tell you, it really hurts.” “Wow, did you see that ball the Princess shot in the sky? It went up and then BOOM and then the clouds went POOF.” Pinkie was bouncing up and down from excitement. “That was so AWESOME!” said Rainbow Dash, “I’ve never seen a storm cloud that big get taken out so quickly without a herd of pegasi.” “Eeyup, only someone like Princess Celestia could do somethin like that,” said Applejack. “Thank you, everypony. I’m just glad that everyone is alright.” “Not that that’s over, we should clean this place up,” said Rarity observing the damage to the throne room. “This is no place for a princess of Equestria to be addressing her subjects.” “G-G-Girls?” said Fluttershy, for some reason she was shaking. “What wrong, sugar cube? You’re shakin like a rattlesnake on a hot date,” asked Applejack. Fluttershy was looking up as she was pointing her shaking hoof to the sky. Everypony looked up, and the fur on their necks was standing up. Because right above them was the pegasus Shadow Bolt and his face was showing nothing but pure rage.