//------------------------------//
// All Bad Things Must Come to an End 
// Story: The Element of Hate 
// by Shadow Bolt 
//------------------------------//


"Genuine forgiveness does not deny anger but faces it head on." ― Alice Miller

“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.” ― James Baldwin

“We are all mistaken sometimes; sometimes we do wrong things, things that have bad consequences. But it does not mean we are evil, or that we cannot be trusted ever afterward.” ― Alison Croggon

“It is important that we forgive ourselves for making mistakes. We need to learn from our errors and move on.” ― Steve Maraboli






Chapter 14: All Bad Things Must Come to an End

Consciousness was slowly coming back to Shadow Bolt. He moaned in pain as he started waking up. He opened his eyes and looked around at his surroundings. He was lying in a bed, in a room he has never seen before. He looked to the side and saw another bed that was empty. He saw that a curtain was hanging around the bed that could give somepony some privacy. Next, he noticed was the sound of beeping coming from the other side of his bed. He turned his head to see a machine with a screen that had a line going up in down.

Am I in a hospital?

He looked through a nearby window, he was able see many buildings outside. Some of the buildings looked damaged that caught his attention.

I’m still in Canterlot. What happened to me?

He started thinking as he tried to remember what happened to him before he lost consciousness. It took him a minute before he went into his trance state as he remembered what had happened.

I was at the castle. I was hit by the Elements of Harmony, felt weak, noticed that my element was finally off my body, and then….and then…..I was shot!

His mind showed him the events he remembered and Shadow was getting a powerful headache.

My head! It hurts so much.

Shadow raised his hoof to rub the pain away, but he felt his hoof stopped moving, he tried to raise it again but his hoof wouldn’t go any further. He looked down to see what the problem was. That’s when he saw that his hoof was shackled to the beds railing.

What the?

He pulled on it, trying to break it off but it wouldn’t budge. Shadow raised his other hoof to help him break free. That’s when he felt his hoof stopped as well, he turned to see that his other hoof was also shackled. He noticed that his bracelets were back on his hooves. They were place above his shackles to prevent them from coming off.

What’s going on? Why am I chained to the bed?

He tried moving his body in the attempt of breaking his chains but nothing worked. He wasn’t able to move too much since he was still in pain, eventually he felt exhausted and stop trying to break free as he laid back on the bed. He stared at the ceiling in silence thinking of what he was going to do. After what seemed like minutes, he heard a door opening breaking his concentration. He looked to see someone walking in, and then he saw more coming in. He saw that it was none other than Twilight and her friends. He started feeling uneasy being chained in a room with the element bearers, and then he saw one more pony walking in. His eyes widened when he saw that the pony walking in was Princess Celestia. He started panicking, as the beeps from the machine were going faster. He started pulling on his chains again, and used his wings for more thrust in hoping for him to escape. He pulled and pulled using the adrenaline he was feeling to break out and escape the room.

“It’s no use,” said Princess Celestia, “Those chains are magically made to be unbreakable.”

He ignored her words as he continued to pull on the chains. However, it seemed that Celestia was right, as no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t break free. In the end, he gave up and laid back on the bed in defeat. He looked at the seven mares and noticed something. He saw that the element bearers were completely healed from the injuries he gave them while Celestia was badly bruised and had bandages all over her body. The room had fallen into silence as Shadow waited to see what they were going to do to him now that he was defenseless.

Twilight decided to break the silence, “How are you feeling?”

Shadow was slightly confused as to why she would ask such a question, “Why do you care?”

Twilight rub the back of her head, “Well, that is usually what you ask someone that’s in the hospital?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

She sighed, “I know, we just wanted to know how you were feeling? It was touch and go for a minute there.”

“You’ve been out for a whole day,” said Princess Celestia, “You are very lucky to still be alive with all the injuries you’ve suffered.”

“Well…I guess I’m lucky to survive after getting shot a thousand times.”

“True,” she said, “you did lose a lot of blood from that but that wasn’t all.”

Shadow raised his eyebrow at her statement, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, it seems you were still healing when the power of the elements struck you and removed your element.”

“I did feel that something was wrong, but I thought that was just the effects of getting hit by the elements.”

Princess Celestia shook her head, “The elements had nothing to do with that. Do you remember when my sister attacked you?”

Shadow eyes once again went into its trance state as he remembered getting struck by Princess Luna’s lightning attacks. Everypony in the room noticed how his eyes have changed. After a few moments his eyes returned to normal, “I remember getting hit by her attacks. But her attacks were so weak, that I didn’t even feel a thing.”

Celestia shook her head again, “You might not have felt anything, but that doesn’t mean that you weren’t injured in the process. The doctors that treated you found out that your internal organs were severely burned. It seems my sister almost burned your insides to a crisp. Your element was under the process of healing your injuries when the Elements of Harmony removed it. It took a lot of healing spells but you should recover real soon.”

Shadow sat there in silence after hearing the news of his almost demise. His thoughts were interrupted when Princess Celestia spoke again, “While your organs will recover, I’m sad to say that you didn’t escape this unharmed.”

Shadow raised his eyebrow, “What do you mean by that?”

Princess Celestia walked up to the side of his bed, “I’m talking about this,” her horn glowed and pulled the bed covers down showing Shadow Bolt what she was talking about.

He looked down and saw it. Where the part of his body that the Element of Hate was, now the only thing that was there was a terrible burn mark across his chest and neck. He stared at the horrible burn until the Princess resumed talking, “We tried every healing spell known to ponykind but none of them were able to heal it. The doctors say that it might be permanent, most likely a side effect to wearing the element. It’s because of this burn mark is the reason we had you restrained.”

“Huh? How is this, the reason that I’m shackled to the bed?”

“This is the reason,” she raised her hoof and placed it on his burn mark. The result was instantaneous, Shadow shouted and started flaying his hooves around, and he could hear the beds railings creaking from the strain from him tugging the chains with much ferocity. The pain made his eyes watered up as he focused his gaze back on Princess Celestia and he could have sworn that she was giving a look of almost…satisfaction.

She then removed her hoof, “Even though you were unconscious, every time somepony would touch that mark you would lash out. By the time you were restrained, you had knocked out three doctors. We recovered your bracelets to keep yourself from using your full strength.”

As much as Shadow wanted to rub away the pain, his shackles prevented him from doing anything. It took some time for the pain to fade away, with the feeling still fresh in his mind he remembered something that hasn’t been answered, “Why am I here?”

“Didn’t we already go over this?” asked Twilight, “You were injured and we rushed you to the hospital. That’s what usually happens in situations like this.”

If Shadow could facehoof he would have, “I mean, why am I still alive?”

“Ugh, we just told you,” said Rainbow Dash, “we took you to the hospital and the doctors saved you.” She turned to Celestia, “I’m thinking Princess Luna must have fried his brain too much for them to heal.”

He glared at her, “You shut u-” he stopped himself when he felt something was wrong.

Everyone was now curious as to why he had gone silent all of a sudden. Twilight being concerned that something was wrong walked up to him, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling okay?

Shadow didn’t answer, the look on his face made it look like he was far away.

Twilight tried again to see what was wrong with him, “Shadow, is everything alright?”

While he didn’t answer her with his voice, he shook his head in a no fashion.

“Tell me, what are you feeling right now?”

He stared at her for a few seconds before answering, “Nothing.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean you feel nothing?”

“As in I feel nothing because it’s gone.”

“What’s gone? You’re not making any sense.”

“I….I don’t know how to explain it…but…my hate is gone.”

Everyone was silent, their brains processing what they just heard. When no one said anything he continued, “When I first saw Dash the other day…I felt such hatred towards her and every time I saw her afterwards, that feeling was always there. Now when I snapped at her, that feeling from before is….gone. Even all the hatred I had towards all of you is gone as well. The place where I felt my hatred was, now there is nothing there.”

Again, silence filled the room. After a few moments, Twilight broke it, “I think I have a theory,” everypony now focused their sights on the lavender unicorn, “I think that when you were hit by the Elements of Harmony, they must have removed all the hatred you’ve had from all these years. There is no way to know what the elements will do when they’re used. It’s almost as if they have mind of their own. Of course, this is just a theory since I have nothing to back up this claim…although it would explain the….other thing that happened to you.

Shadow ears flicked, “What are talking about? What other thing?” Shadow was now getting nervous I already got this…painful mark on my chest and now my all my hate is gone too. What else is there?

He sat there and waited to hear what Twilight was going to say what else is wrong with him. Twilight sigh, “I guess it’s better if I just show you,” her horn started glowing. Shadow looked down and saw that his blanket that was still on top of him started glowing the same aura as Twilight’s magic. She pulled the covers all the way off leaving Shadow Bolt completely exposed, he looked to see what was wrong. At first, he didn’t notice anything wrong with the rest of his body, until he noticed something about his flank. He looked at it and saw what was wrong….his flank was blank once again. No! It can’t be! I just finally got my cutie mark after all these years….and now it’s gone. I’m a…blank flank again, just when I thought that I was never going to be make fun of that anymore, it went away before I could enjoy it.

He stared at his flank in silence as everyone watched him. Everyone wondered what he was going to do after receiving all the news he was given in just the past five minutes. They could all see the sad look on his face as he looked at his markless flank without taking his eyes off it.

“W-Why?”

“Hm?” Twilight was curious as to what he was talking about, “Why what?”

“Why…did you save me?”

Nopony answered his question, they just stood there in silence.

“After everything I did to all of you, everything I did out there,” he titled his to the window showing the city of Canterlot, “after all that, why didn’t you just leave me there lying on the ground?”

It seemed that nopony wanted to answer his question as they evaded his gaze looking everywhere in the room as if there was something interesting going on that would keep them from answering his question.

Finally, after a minute of silence, it was Princess Celestia that decided to answer his question, “While it’s true that you’ve have done many terrible things that has never happened in Equestria in over a thousand years. It would be wrong if we had left you to die, No matter how evil, twisted, powerful the threats are, we never resort in killing. This is a peaceful nation that doesn’t approve killing, which is why we don’t have the death penalty.”

He look at the princess with some skepticism, “That’s strange, because I could have sworn that you were shouting at me to die last night.”

Princess Celestia could feel the awkwardness in the room as everyone had their eyes on her after hearing Shadow’s comment. She wanted to leave this room to get away from her embarrassment. 

The thought of hearing the princess shouting something like that was mindboggling to everypony, even Twilight couldn’t believe her ears thinking those words would come out of her beloved mentor.

“Yes…that is true, I did say those words. I…after witnessing everything that was happening, I…lost control of myself and snapped. That has never happened to me in a long time. I am ashamed of myself for losing control, but you have to understand after seeing all the carnage, I had to do something.” The room was silent once again, the silence was making everypony uncomfortable.

“So what’s going to happen to me now?” he asked. He wondered what kind of punishment he was going to get. He had already been banished and imprisoned in stone. Of course, he was able to escape those punishments, he knew that he was only able to accomplish that because of his element and hate. And now that he didn’t have either, he knew that if they were to used those sentences again he wouldn’t be coming back.

The princess place he hoof under her chin as she started thinking, “Well, isn’t that is the one million bit question,” her hoof rubbing her chin, “you’ve caused a lot of damage to the city, you assaulted all my guards injuring a lot of them, and of course you attack a princess and the saviors of Equestria.” She stopped as she started thinking, “These types of charges haven’t happened in Equestria in over thousands of years. In addition, you’re attack on Canterlot is actually the second in the last couple of weeks. So you’re only the second individual that did the same charges as the last one who attack did, although you did more damage on your own than the army that invaded did.”

“Well, what did you do to them?” he wondered. He was surprised that someone else did the same thing he did just recently, Shadow thought whatever punishment those received before would be the same he would receive.”

“Well, I wasn’t the one who punished them, but they were blasted high in the sky that most likely meant that their landing wasn’t pleasant. Since then we have been keeping our eyes out searching for them, the orders are to arrest on sight so we can interrogate them.”

Even though Shadow Bolt is a pegasus, he didn’t like the idea of being launched into the sky and crashing back down. That kind of punishment would most likely break every bone in his body and in his current state, he didn’t think he would survive a fall like that.

“There are so many ideas to think of for your punishment that it’s difficult to decide.” Shadow didn’t like the sound of that, “Which is why I decided…………. to banish you to Ponyville.”

What?! Shadow couldn’t believe it, “I-I don’t understand, why would you do that?”

“It’s wasn’t my idea. If I wanted to, you’d be back on the moon before you could even blink. However, this was Twilight’s idea. I was skeptical at first over what Twilight was proposing but I learned recently that I should trust what my student says, even my sister approved of her idea,” she pointed at Twilight, who was standing beside her.

Shadow Bolt, raised an eyebrow, he was confused as to why would Twilight spare his life after everything he did or why Princess Celestia would even consider it. He looked at Twilight, “Why would you do that?”

“Well…after thinking about it, I realized that I’m partially to blame for everything that happened,” she gestured her hoof towards her friends, “we all are partially to blame. It was because of us that we drove you to attack Canterlot. If we had done things in a different way, then none of this would ever have happened. I also think that you weren’t thinking clearly during your attack, it’s my theory that the Element of Hate was greatly influencing you’re actions. How much I cannot say since the elements are still a mystery, including the fact that you’re element exists in the first place, we don’t know anything about it.”

“It’s because of this,” said Princess Celestia, “that you’ll be returning with Twilight and her friends back to Ponyville.”

“I thought you said that you didn’t have the death penalty,” said Shadow Bolt.

“I did say that, but what does that have to do with what I just said?” She was confused as to why he said that.

“Because what you’re talking about is going to get me killed. As soon as I walk out those doors, everypony out there will be wanting my head on a pike. How can I show my face back there after all the destruction I caused?”

“That’s been taken care of,” said Twilight, “you see besides the Princesses, the guards, my friends and myself, nopony knows that you were responsible. All the resident’s know and saw was a fire monster in the shape of a pegasus attacking the city. Therefore, as far as anypony knows, they don’t know that you were the one responsible. In addition, as far as they know, the fire monster Kain was destroyed. As for Ponyville, nopony ever saw what you did there since our fight took place in the Everfree Forest, so your secret is safe.”

“Kain?”

“Yes, I came up with the name that I read from an old story.”

Shadow processed everything Twilight said, he didn’t find anything missing. He could go outside without the fear of an angry mob demanding his head like they did back in Cloudsdale.

“I-I-I don’t understand, why would you do all this for me?”

“Because, I want to help you,” she said, “after everything that has happened to you, I think that it’s time that someone was there for you. If I turned my back on you, then I would be no different from all those who turned their backs on you in the past. We all are going to help you,” she gestured towards her friends, “You won’t have to be alone anymore, but that is of course you’re decision.”

“Do…you really mean that?” he asked. The fact that after all the pain he caused them, they still want to help him was something he would never have thought of in a million years. A thought then crossed his mind, he looked to Twilight and said, “This isn’t because you’ve made another bet, did you?”

“Not at all,” she said, “I think it was also because of the bet that things went bad. I was trying so hard in proving myself right that I started to lose focus on what was really important. I’m helping you not because of a bet, but because I want to help you.”

He then looked towards her friends and said, “And do you all feel the same way?”

He could see the looks on their faces. He noticed that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were once again looking around the room to avoid answering him. Fluttershy looked like she wanted to say something but when he looked at her she kept her mouth closed. He looked at Rarity, he wasn’t able to see what she was thinking as her face didn’t show anything that he could determine whether she was with Twilight or not. But he was able to get an answer from one of them as Pinkie walked up next to him and shouted in her happy go lucky tone, “Of course we all feel the same way, I know that we’ll get along just fine. You’re one of use now. We will all be known as the Mane 7. We’ll hang out, go to parties, and have exciting adventures resulting in lessons that will bring us all closer together.

He looked at Pinkie thinking about what she said. They way she described it sounded too good to be true. “Do you really mean that?”

“Of course I mean it. After all, we elements have to stick together,” she finished her statement with her hugging Shadow’s neck, she had her hooves wrapped just above his burn mark sparing him from the pain. Although she was starting to squeeze the air out of him, that he started choking.

“P-Pinkie….need...air.”

“Oopsie, sorry about that,” she let go and he started to breath in and out.

After he was breathing normally he asked, “So when can I get out of here?”

“The doctor’s said that you can leave tomorrow morning,” said Twilight, “he said that your body is still recovering and you’re going to be feeling sore for a couple of weeks. He said to take it easy and to get plenty of rest.”

“Which I believe it’s time to for us to leave,” said Princess Celestia, “I have duties to perform and I can’t have Luna do all the work by herself.” Princess Celestia started walking to the door and the others started following her one by one. He was able to see a couple guards posted outside his room.

Twilight being the last to leave grabbed the door with her magic and started closing it, “We’ll be back tomorrow morning to get you and then we’ll go to the train station so we can head back home.” Shadow nodded and Twilight closed the door.

Now that he was alone, he starting thinking about everything that’s happened since he woke up. It seemed that he was given another chance, which was something he was never given or thought he didn’t deserve. Part of him wondered if this was real and not just some dream. Speaking of dreaming, he was now started to feel tired and laid back down on the bed as he tried to adjust himself to the burn on the back of his neck didn’t touch anything. They could have at least removed the shackles from my hooves. Once he had gotten comfortable, his eyes started closing as he was slowly falling into sleep. The last thing that went through his mind before feel asleep was what Twilight said before she left. “We’ll be back tomorrow morning to get you and then we’ll go to the train station so we can head back home.”

“Go to the train station so we can head back home.”

“We can head back home.”

“Head back home.”

“Back home.”

“Home.”



										

The next morning true to her word, Twilight and her friends returned to pick Shadow up and then they went to the train station and purchased their tickets back to Ponyville. While they were all heading to the station, Shadow was having a hard time keeping up. Since he was still recovering from his injuries, he wasn’t walking as fast as the others. Walking at his pace, he looked around his surroundings. He saw plenty of buildings that were damaged and the streets had many potholes. He felt worse knowing that he was responsible for all the destruction. Shadow picked up his pace as he tried to get away from damage as he was feeling ashamed. It didn’t take long as they had arrived at the train station. Rarity being the Element of Generosity paid for Shadow’s ticket since he didn’t have any bits to pay for his own. As they got on the train, Twilight noticed that Shadow was still standing on the platform in front of the doors. He kept looking from one side of the platform to the other as he stood there. What is he doing? As she watched him as he kept standing there as he continued looking back and forth. Why does he keep standing there and just get on the train? It took her a few moments before she remembered something he said the day they met.

“Well, I’m not exactly welcomed on trains. They take one look at me and stop me from getting on.”

By this time, everyone was noticing that Shadow was still standing outside wondering why he didn’t get on. Twilight walked back standing outside of the doors.

“There’s nothing to worry about, nopony is going to stop you.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m positive, and if someone does try then they’ll have to take it up with us.”

While he wasn’t completely convinced, Shadow walked towards the door slowly. Once he able to get a hoof inside the door and no one stop him, his worries vanished. He walked to the nearest available seat which was on the other side where Twilight and her friends were sitting. It didn’t take before they heard the sound of the train whistle and the train started moving. When the food cart showed up, Rarity paid for everyone’s breakfast as they enjoyed the ride back to Ponyville. While they were talking about what they would do back home, Twilight noticed that Shadow Bolt wasn’t interacting with everyone and just sat in his seat staring out the window. I wonder what’s going on in his mind.

                        	

Shadow looked at the view outside. This was his first time on a train and he just watched at the scenery that was passing by. For him it felt good to able to travel without him having to fly everywhere the whole time. He started wondering what he was going to do once they arrived in Ponyville, probably the first thing he was going to do was find out was finding a place to live now that his house was destroyed. He was thinking of what kind of house to get Should I get a house, apartment, or maybe I could just make another cloud house. He continued to stare out the window with his thoughts. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t know how much time had passed until he heard the whistle and the conductor announced that they were arriving in Ponyville. The train came to a stop and everyone got up and headed to the doors.

While this was Shadow’s second time in Ponyville he felt as if this was the first time. Part of the reason he thought was that he felt like he was a different stallion than he was the first time he arrived. He looked at the town in a new light, it almost looked different most likely due to the fact that he no longer had hate inside his heart. He continued looking at the town until Twilight called out to him.

“Come on, let’s go.”

He looked and noticed that everyone else were already walking away, Twilight started following them and Shadow followed her. 

He passed by a newsstand and looked at the headlines in all the papers in bold letters.


The Day of Unyielding Fury

The Marauding of Canterlot

The Desolation of Kain


Shadow was once again feeling ashamed of himself. They kept walking as Shadow wondered where they were going. It didn’t take long before he got his answered as he saw the others were entering Sugarcube Corner. Once Shadow, being the last got inside he noticed that the shop had decorations hanging all over the place, a buffet table with plenty of cakes, candy, and punch. He looked up and saw a banner that said, ‘WELCOME BACK HOME’

“Do you like it?” asked Pinkie Pie, “It was short notice but I was able to set everything up for your welcome back party. I thought this party would be just for the seven of us,” She walked away to start the party.

“When did you have the time to do this? You were only inside for a few seconds before I entered.”

Twilight walked beside him and said, “One thing you’re going to learn about living in Ponyville is don’t question how Pinkie Pie does things. You’ll only hurt yourself trying to figure things out. The sooner you accept this, the better off you’ll be. Believe me, I speak from experience.”

“Ooh, I almost forgot,” said Pinkie before she jumped in front of Shadow Bolt. Which caused him to jump back as it showed that he still didn’t like anypony getting to close him.

“I think these belong to you,” she held out her hooves revealing the sunglasses that Rarity gave him.

“My glasses…..Thanks Pinkie.”

“It’s nothing.”

He put on his glasses and turned to everyone, “How do I look?”

“I think you look really cool,” said Pinkie.

“Psh, it’s alright,” said Rainbow Dash as she avoided looking at him.

“Ya look different, but ah guess its looks fine,” said Applejack.

“As I said before, it looks wonderful on you,” replied Rarity.

“It’s….nice,” whispered Fluttershy.

“I think you look great,” said Twilight as she used her horn and started serving everyone a glasse of punch. “I like to say something,” once everyone had a glass, “I know that we all got off to a rocky start that caused things to spiral out of control. But now I feel we can put all this behind us and start over fresh. So, I want to be the first to welcome Shadow Bolt, our newest friend to our group. I know that in good time we will all be able to get along just fine and become the best of friends.”

“Hear, hear,” said Pinkie as they all raise and clang their glasses.

Shadow was thinking about what Twilight said and he started to believe her. He could tell that it was going to take time for him to make up for all he did. It would also take time before everyone forgave him, some he knew would take longer than others. He started wondering what his life was going to be like living in Ponyville. What awaited him, and what kind of things he’ll learn and experience? While he had traveled all across Equestria meeting similar results, he felt that maybe this time, living in Ponyville was going to be different from the rest. Especially now that he wasn’t alone anymore and now he has six mares that in time he would have the honor of calling them his friends. The road will be long, but he felt that he would reach the end, starting with that first step. 

This looks like the beginning of something wonderful. 


END