The Choices We Make: A Shadowbolt's Story

by FrozenInTime

The Shadow's Call

I wanted to burn that little piece of paper before I even opened it. It would look much better as ashes.

At first, the Shadowbolts were Nightmare Moon’s incarnations of the Wonderbolts. They were real ponies, and I had no idea why they chose to serve Nightmare Moon. She tried to use them to get me to join her. It nearly worked and it probably would have been the end of Equestria. But, I refused to join them and stuck to my friends.

When Luna became, well... Luna again, they all but disappeared from Equestria. It was a year later until they finally started showing up again. A supposed "sighting" here and there, as if they were the subject of ghost stories. Several months after that, Luna publicly welcomed them back into society, and they denounced their evil ways to join their beloved Princess. I remember, the first thing I heard from one of them was a complaint about Twilight's new Crystal Palace. I mean, the thing was an eyesore, but that was my friend they were talking about.

Again, the temptation to throw the invitation away was overwhelming. Mostly because of how they reminded me of the Wonderbolts.

Just like the Wonderbolts, they were part show and part military. However, they took their military training to a whole new level. Whereas the Wonderbolts had shown some military status as well as being the Air Force for the guards, these guys were full on badasses.

They were rough about everything with everypony, including each other. Not only that, but they have made the Solar Guards look like mall cops on several occasions. They're brutal, and when I say brutal, I mean that one of them could take out, like, 10 guards and not break a sweat! I've seen these guys in action at some night bars, and when they get into fights... well, let’s just say that the last bar I went to, I was actually... kinda… afraid to go back. I didn't drink cider for a month.

The leader, the female version of what I think of as Spitfire but ‘super badassed up’ was the one who did that. Unlike Spitfire though, she had the scar on her eye, the muscles that would make Applejack shiver, and the face of a hardened warrior. I bet she could even stare down King Sombra! Although, Fluttershy in a bad mood would probably win. After she had taken out like... 10 or more stallions, she laughed it up with her pals as if they do it every day. Not that it would surprise me if they did...

She was literally an awe inspiring pony and it’s because of that, I remember why I had the regrets of not joining the Shadowbolts. Again, even if I had joined, it would have meant certain doom for Equestria and I would probably be Nightmare Moon’s mind controlled slave or something. Not even Daring Do would be able to face... that. Twilight's memory spell wouldn't even get me out of that mess.

At this point, I was at... ahem... "an impasse"... heh, do ya like my Tirek voice? Eh, sorry... I still get distracted easily... anyways, back to the story! It was like hitting my head against a brick wall trying to get it to move, which is something Twilight would say if she were stuck on a supposedly unsolvable problem, though she would probably freak out. Again. Opening the letter, I found a few paragraph's worth of words, and at the bottom, a date and time.

Dear Rainbow Prism Dash,

It has come to our attention that you have recently resigned from the Wonderbolts due to... complications. Under normal circumstances, one does not leave Equestria's most prestigious flight team without a very good reason. We are saddened to hear the news, and you have our deepest condolences. We know it is of short notice, but we wish to invite you to join our upcoming team, the Shadowbolts. We have always been called this, but only now are we making it official.

Unlike the Wonderbolts, your time is just that. Yours. Also, how you spend it and how much you are willing to put into it as well. It's all up to you. If you wish to show your skills to the world without slowing down and without fear of beating the others, then we welcome your determination and skill. If you wish to work with a team, we have many who would want to learn from you or work with you here.

Though we do warn you that we push our ponies to the limits they never thought they had, then we break right through said limits. We will do the occasional air show, but we are also guards. And as guards, we are full fledged warriors of the night. With the Shadowbolts, you will do far greater things than just fly around and do some fancy tricks (although I personally look forward to seeing your Sonic Rainboom). We will give you the opportunity to know what it really means to be the best.

Learn how to fight multiple opponents at once, take control of how you want the world to see you, meet others who hail from all different places in Equestria, pony or otherwise. You will all learn what it means to be a Shadowbolt, no racial prejudice here. Take on the night and fight the unknowable dangers that lurk in the shadows, and feel the freedom to choose how you fly. Lead a team or fly alone, that is a choice we give you here. If at any time after training you wish to leave, you may. But, know this: once you leave, it will be so much harder to get back in. We only recruit around 10 to 20 Pegasi and other species every six to eight months but of them, only 3 or 4 will make it.

We know of your protective instincts, miss Dash, and we know just how to sharpen those instincts and put them to good use. Perhaps best of all, you will be much closer to home, so you can stay near your friends. We heard you were a bit homesick with the Wonderbolts, but you won't have to worry about that here.

If you wish to join, we have provided an address and time below to go and meet with me. We really hope that one of the greatest ponies around will come.

Sincerely,

Black Ember, Captain of the Shadowbolts.

P.S.

Say hello to Rarity for me.

Below was an address somewhere in Canterlot and the date was set for two days from now at a time close to midnight. I held onto the letter for Celestia knows how long, reading it and re-reading it over and over again.

It was hard to believe I had just wanted to burn this. The tone of the letter completely went against everything I'd ever seen or heard about the Shadowbolts. Maybe this "Ember" was just trying to sway me? Also, how did she know Rarity? Well, everypony knows who we are. We've saved Equestria so many times, but she made it seem like she actually knew Rarity.

I didn’t need to be an egg head like Twi to understand that when you get an opportunity, you take a chance at it. Imagine it, I could choose to fly solo or with a team! I could take my time, use it how I please, stay with my friends on a regular basis... and learn how to fight like the Shadowbolts.

Though it was no joke that they would really push me beyond my limits. There have been stories of many who have joined and failed, coming back either beaten up with their tails between their legs or… in a stretcher. They're in a stretcher, that is... not their tails, seperated from their bodies or anything... although I wouldn't put it past them. Anyways, I know that only because Lightning Dust tried to join them before they started giving out invitations. She was so desperate to join, she tried to ‘tough’ her way through it.

She had barely stepped through the doors, and she already had her ass hooved to her… literally. She was talking smack and ended up saying the wrong thing to the team leader. When Lightning Dust told us the story, she was shaking horribly and was actually crying a bit. She said that they literally beat her down till she was on the floor begging for mercy.

Of course, it was all illegal but any guard that came to help either turned away out of fear or waited till the Shadowbolts were done with her. Heck, even ponies around her were sorry for her including myself, despite her former status as a sociopath that almost killed my friends!

Apparently, those beatings did much more than leave a few bruises on her flank. After four months in the hospital, she had a revelation of sorts and came back to the Wonderbolts, begging me and the others for forgiveness. It wasn’t out of pity that we did, or maybe it was… but when we gave her another chance, she really tried to make it up to us.

She made up for it all in a few months by following all our orders, apologizing to my friends and training extra hard just to be in the reserves again. After that, well, with Spits and me up in front, Soarin and Fleetfoot in second and her in third, you know she pulled it off.

But when she told us what changed her, she was very somber about it. The Shadowbolts made her feel weak and low, going so far as to beat her till she fell and cried. That's something that so few can do, and having the guards too afraid to raise a hoof against you just adds on.

The Shadows maybe new but their flight and fighting styles are old. Based off Princess Luna’s retro style of fight and flight, the Shadowbolts took the fighting of her olden times and mixed them in with modern hoof-to-hoof combat and weapons as well. As one of their primary weapons of choice, it was the deadliest weapons known to Pegasi and Earth Pony alike. Only Unicorns had any real chance against it.

Arch-Wings.

Just thinking of it sends shivers down the spines of many Pegasi, including me. Made from Lunar Steel and hollowed out by Unicorn welders, the Arch-Wings are also known as the "Silent Wings and Peaceful Winds"…

I saw them displayed at a museum in Cloudsdale once. I knew that even as a filly that those things were deadly. They were silver in color, and fit over the natural wings of a Pegasus. There were a few openings and lots of pivot points in them to allow for free movement, while also supplementing aerodynamics. They looked like a pain to put on.

The ‘Feathers’ or the blades of the wings are what make them deadly. They were so sharp that they could cut through a pony like a hot knife through butter. The nicknames they got were there for good reasons. ‘Silent Wings’ is because with enough practice and skill, fighting or flying with these things is as simple as gliding in the air. ‘Peaceful Winds’ is the best description for them… If you use these things when you achieve full control of them… you could kill a pony with a single slice and the wind wouldn't be disturbed by it nor create a sound.

Heck, I heard that, with the perfect cut, the victim wouldn't even know that they had been sliced. All would seem normal... until a gust of wind finished the job. That's what really got to me. You could be decapitated and not even know it until the wind gently blew your head off your shoulders.

Not only that, but because they were magically enhanced, they never dulled and if they did break, which was almost impossible, they had to wait a week to repair the magic that held them together and another week to repair the blades themselves.

Fighting with them was just as lethal as using them. Arch-Wings require you to fight with full movement of your body and wings at the same time. Using them to attack an opponent upfront or to your back or underneath you was difficult. Ariel Combat seemed like straight up suicide. Fighting while trying to remain in the air and not get killed by another’s weapons plus making sure that when you flap, the blades don’t cut you... it all begged the question on how the Shadowbolts use them.

Anyways, I've been distracted again.

Here I stand, trying to think of what to do in this situation. On one hoof, I could keep my job at the weather factory, leading a bunch of ponies to do a job I could do in ten seconds flat… or I could join one of the most elite and most vicious flight teams in Equestrian History and join a team or fly solo whenever I want. I could keep the glory or I could just do what I want and not have to worry about others holding me back because they are threatened.

For the rest of the night, I stared up at the white puffy ceiling of my room, thinking of my options and whether or not this would be a good choice or not. The outcomes, the benefits… the change in life styles and what it would mean to my friends.

It was near two in the morning before I fell asleep. But I fell asleep with a decision in mind.

The next evening, I flew to my destination and true enough, it was in a remote part of Canterlot. Actually, it was near the edge of the city and had little pony activity except guards and a few shops that operated late at night.

Passing all that, I saw a small building with the matching address. A large flag floated above, colored in a shade of blue that perfectly matched the night sky. It made the crescent moon pained on its surface look like an actual second moon. Two Night Guards stood at the entrance and were as still as statues. When they saw me approach, they gave a glance before motioning me with their heads to go in. I hesitated, but swallowed what fear I had and walked in. The door opened and with a creek, and I stepped in and closed it.

What I saw dumbfounded me. What I was expecting was a huge building with walls littered with photos of the Shadowbolts' triumphs, trophies of competitions they had won, maybe a few mounted monster heads or something... But… it was a simple office building. Why did it need guards out in front?

For a moment, I thought I had the wrong address. Then I remembered the flag outside.

A Unicorn mare who had dark grey fur and a black and white mane, sat behind a desk with her eyes focusing on some paper work. Behind her was just a window and file cabinets with another Unicorn mare in the back filing.

The mare looked up at me and caught my eyes. I almost felt her study me before she showed a smile.

“Oh, good evening!” Her voice sounded soft and sweet, a bit like Fluttershy’s voice but not so fragile. Her smile was genuine and her posture spoke that she was prepared. It sounded a bit rehearsed.

I felt so lost with all this. I approached her, cautiously, and kept my face as still as possible, not to show my nerves. As I approached her desk, I cleared my throat and spoke.

“I am… I am Rainbow Dash, and… I came here to join the ShadowBolts.”

You wanna know what she did?

Do you really wanna know?

She laughed at me.[/i

Author's Note:

Apologies for the delay, but I'm currently out of country.

This story is just getting started. I do hope you all enjoy. Please, leave your comments below.

Much love.
~Ava

Comments

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

think you could have describe the arch wings later and more story progression. but not bad

[FrozenInTime]

6056137 Right, looking back, that would've been a better idea.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

6056146 The best time would be when they are training her on it. Still good. But the one other thing is that the Shadowbolts that were in the pilot WAS Nightmare Moon I can see her forming a group after her return. But it's your story.

[FrozenInTime]

6056155 That will be addressed later on.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

6056265 Stil;l can't wait to see the Wonderbolts popularity collapse. Especially if the reasons for Rainbow Quiting are known.

[Asashi - Dark Fist Inari]

Now THIS I like. A lot...................

[Midknight Defender]

I was enjoying this until the long expository used-wing-salesman's advertisement for Arch Wings.

Maybe only mention them in passing, mention that they are awesome and scary, without hyping them up with hyperbolic details, and dribble more info out later when they become relevant to the story. This was a bit like having a teenage Bruce Wayne have a nerdgasm about ninja gear. Before his parents died.

[JediMoonstar]

6056265
Okay, you had better make up for the Lightning Dust abuse!
i.imgur.com/2mZkW.gif