//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Return Of The Shadowbolts // Story: Abstracted Spectrum // by Abstract Spectrum //------------------------------// *AUTHOR'S NOTE: I apologize for this chapter being so short, but I didn't want to get into too much detail. I'm saving a lot of it for the chapters ahead.* Arriving back at Ponyville, Rainbow Dash headed home, since it was pretty much the only place left to hide. Upon unlocking her front door and opening it, Rainbow's face turned from panic to horror, as all her friends stood before her. She looked at all of their faces. Fluttershy was horrified, scared, and crying. Pinkie was busy comforting her. Rarity's was awkward, Twilight's was disappointed, and Applejack looked lawful angry. Rainbow's expression became nervous. "Uh-" "How could you?" Twilight said angrily. "AWW C'MON! You guys too? Look, I told him I was sorry!" Rainbow complained. "Oh yeah, that makes everythin' all better. I might jus' go out and kill somepony and say I'm sorry, that'll make it okay!" Said Applejack sarcastically. "Listen Rainbow-" "NO... no Twilight. I don't... I don't want to deal with this right now." Rainbow Dash sighed, turning around and leaving her home again. As she flew away, ponies around town slammed their doors, or shunned her. While looking down at the town, she suddenly got hit in the face with the latest newspaper, which of course had this whole situation written all over it. Rainbow Dash groaned angrily, and threw it behind her, and flew faster away. She wasn't going on another flight of self interrogation, instead she just flew, flew far and flew fast, her tears flowing off of her face and with the wind. She tried hard to keep it in, and find a better place to let it all out first. Rainbow decided on the Everfree Forest. It was dark, secluded, and nopony went in there unless they were looking for Nightmare Night ideas. Though she didn't just go into the plain ol' Everfree Forest, but rather a place that meant something more to her, in this case, it was the place where Rainbow and her "friends" originally found the Elements of Harmony. She sat in front of the rock formation that had originally held the elements whilst they were still encased in stone. Rainbow Dash laid down, and stared deeply into the night sky. She was hurt; badly. But no matter how much she wanted to cry, she couldn't. She was about ready to just start smashing her head against the ground; maybe pain could squeeze out her feelings. Ooooohhhhhhh Daaaaaaaaaash.... Rainbow Dash sat up quickly and looked around. She knew this voice from somewhere, and where she was sitting remind her even more. She couldn't place her hoof on it, though. It'd been so long. Raaaaiiiinnnnbbbboooowwww Daaaash... She looked around more, but said nothing. Suddenly she began to feel a chill down her spine. Standing up, she began to sweat nervously. "H-h-hello?" Dash said, moving her head quickly back and forth. "Who... w-who's there? Is somepony around? You'd better watch yourself, I ain't foolin' around!" She was becoming angry. "C'mon, I ain't afraid a' you, SHOW YOURSELF!" She shouted angrily at the sky. Suddenly a cloud darker than the night itself pushed her down on her back. She became nervous again as the voices around her were chanting her name in wispy monotones. When Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, she saw figures. The dark silhouettes moved closer to her, as they pushed Rainbow closer and closer to the wall. With nowhere else to go, the mysterious ghoulish figures revealed themselves. "It's good to see you again... Rainbow Dash. It's been a long time... how have you been? Heard you lost some friends, your job, your life. Well guess what; we're here to help..." "PFFT, yeah right. The last time you shadowjerks tried to help me, you tried to take me away from my friends!" "Your... friends? Would you care to remind us, who these friends are, exactly?" Rainbow Dash realized she had no better comeback. "How do I know I can trust you?" She asked, placing her hoof on her chin. "How can you afford not to? You've got nothing else to lose. We're your last remaining option." Rainbow had to give this decision deep thought. She could spend weeks, or even months attempting to re-build her reputation in Equestria from the ground up. Or she could join The Shadowbolts and be their team captain. And then what? Was that supposed to be it? "No way. I've got a better chance of redeeming myself, by myself than I do with you curs." Rainbow Dash said angrily. "Fine, have it your way. The offer remains, if you change your mind, come find us here again. Otherwise, don't say you weren't warned." The Shadowbolts finished, fading back into the dead of night. "Why would they do that? I already said no the first time. Well, maybe it's just the current situation I'm in that made them think I was vulnerable. No way!" Rainbow Dash said to herself, sitting up and dusting herself off. "At this point I'm sure Ponyville won't welcome me back, let alone let me stay. Though maybe I could sneak into my house, and live the rest of my life in secrecy. Meh, sounds legit." said Rainbow Dash to herself, walking out of the temple ruins. Rainbow continued walking through the dark forest, not afraid of anything that may surprise her. She began to talk to herself more. "It's a weird thing, this feeling. I was really sad a second ago, what with the whole town including my friends hating me. But for some reason, I can't help but think that... maybe I deserve this, yet I don't feel too bad about it. Odd." Rainbow Dash sighed. Her cheeks began to puff at the deeper thought of what she was getting into. "But... I may never go back home. I guarantee the word of my killing him has already spread through Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, and every city and town in between. If I try to go back, it may not turn out so well..." she thought. She thought deeper into her future. If she goes back to Ponyville, she runs the risk of injuring her reputation there even more. If she were to go anywhere else, there'd probably be several angry ponies who'd kick her out of town. And if she stayed here, she'd probably die young, considering the fact that she'd never been stranded out in the Everfree Forest with nowhere to go before. She finally settled on an option. Rainbow Dash decided to return home. Hopefully at least a few ponies still didn't think much of her enough to leave her alone. Arriving back at Ponyville, she hovered over the town, only to see that doors and windows were still shut. She heard a few off in the distance slam shut, which meant that they knew of her presence. With her head faced down looking at the town under her, she lifted it up. Her jaw dropped at the sight of what she was looking at, and her eyes began to water at the horrifying, burning display... Her house had been destroyed.