Shadows of Katsura

It had to be around five in the morning and the recruits were already in the mess hall, trying to munch on the breakfast, still half asleep. Storm heavily feel on a seat next to Shadow and attempted to smile to his buddy:

"Yo! You alive brother?"

Shadow mumbled something incoherent and took another bite of his breakfast. One of his eyes was half closed and it didn't look like he fully understood where or what he was doing. His hoof subconsciously reached for a small, white pendant on his neck. Storm smiled:

"At least they let you keep your mothers pendant, I heard personal effects like that are not allowed"

"Yeah..." Shadow mumbled: "I guess they figured I'm not gonna be here long, so-"

"Hey come on, you don't know that" Storm nervously smiled and playfully hit his friend on the shoulder: "They didn't boot you yesterday so you're still fine, right?"

"I did the course in seven hours Storm" Shadow frowned at his plate: "All that training we did, since we were ten, for nothing. I'm still too weak"

"Hey, look-" Storm sat closer to him "They didn't boot you yet, so everything's still fine. Just do your best and-"

"RECRUITS!" Lisa barged into the mess hall like a hurricane and started barking: "TRAINING COURSE SEVEN - MOVE MOVE MOVE!!!"

The few dozen ponies hastily stumbled out of their seats and ran outside.

Training course number seven consisted of an insanely large field, with high hills and thick brush in the middle. The recruits stood in perfect lines just on the edge of the marked area, half asleep and barely holding their eyes open. Lisa marched next to them with an extremely unsatisfied expression:

"OH MY GOD - YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'VE BEEN DEAD FOR A WEEK" She pulled a sharp stop and scowled at someone in the line: "NEED HELP WAKING UP!? LET ME HELP YOU WITH THAT-" She pointed at an office building, located a fair distance away:

"FLY RIGHT THERE AND BACK - FIVE MINUTES OR YOU'RE BOOTED OUT' THE ACADEMY!!! NOOOOOW!!!" She shrieked at someone and the pegasi in the group, rapidly took flight"

"M-ma'am?" Storm called in a shaking voice: "W-what about the ones who can't fly-"

"THEN YOU BETTER START RUNNING SUNSHINE!" Lisa shrieked right at his face: "NO ONE'S GONNA WAIT FOR YOU IN COMBAT!"

"B-but we can't run as fast as they fly" someone else mumbled.

"OH MY GOD - TEN MINUTES FOR YOU THEN - GET YOUR LAZY SELF MOVING" She roared as the rest of the recruits sprinted away:

"ANYONE ONE OF YOU MISSES THEIR DEAD LINE - YOU'RE OUT!"

Shadow was flying as fast as he could. A sudden wave of wind made him loose balance and he crashed hard into a tree. Lisa covered her eyes and heavily sighed: "Oh god, give me strength..." she mumbled to herself and hid her face behind a clipboard, unable or unwilling to watch the next few minutes unfold.

After ten minutes have passed she looked at the recruits again and noticed that Shadow has returned just a second ago, already heavily breathing and with a small bruise on his head. Lisa started drilling him with her eyes as the other recruits ran past her and began falling into perfect lines.

"...Lieutenant..." Shadow quietly said, slowly approaching her: "...ma'am I..." he scratched his left hoof in anxiety.

"You missed the dead line, again..." Lisa muttered with a completely blank expression: "Shadow... you are aware I hope, that the Wonderbolts were once known for their advanced flying skills"

"Yes-" Shadow began and Lisa cut him off:

"You are a pegasus for gods sake, and you Cant FLY FIVE MINUTES WITHOUT CRASHING IN A TREE!?"

"I-I'll improve-" Shadow mumbled and jerked back as Lisa barked at him:

"YOU'RE ON MY BLACKLIST - GET IN LINE!!!" She pointed at the other recruits, gathered once again in front of the training course seven. Shadow hastily ran and joined the others as Lisa marched by the recruits:

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I hope that was enough to awake you. Before we begin today's main exam, we gonna run a small test in your strength. A hundred push ups and we can begin-"

"A hundred?!" someone whispered in alarm. Lisa turned in that direction with a face so twisted in anger, the stallion who whispered the words turned ghostly white:

"You think I'm playing?" Lisa muttered, marching right up to his face: "YOU THINK ITS A KINDERGARTEN HERE OR WHAT!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GONNA DO WHEN A CIVILIAN'S HANGING OFF A CLIFF AND YOU CAN'T EVEN PULL HER UP BECAUSE YOUR FEEBLE HOOVES WON'T ALLOW YOU!!!" She scowled so hard, the stallion took a step back.

"SO YEAH! I WANT A HUNDRED GOD DAMN IT!!! DO IT NOOOW!!!" She released a deafening roar and the recruits immediately started the exercise.

It wasn't long before she spotted Shadow collapsing onto the ground. She slowly walked up to him just as he started to pick himself up:

"How many?" she quietly asked.

"Fifty..." Shadow exhaled: "I can still go-"

"Enough, we don't have time" Lisa quietly said and walked off. Shadow looked at her as she left, his face slowly catching a hopeless expression.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen" Lisa quickly scanned the tired recruits:

"We are now initiating the best part of our testing, what the staff like to refer to as the - King of the Hill.

We are splitting into two teams and heading to the opposite corners of training course seven. Most of the area is surrounded by heavy brush, with a large hill in the middle. Up on that hill, is a flag. The one who touches the flag first, brings victory to his team, while the other team receives terrible shame"

Lisa looked over the recruits: "The flag is guarded by my staff. You will have to get passed them to secure the flag for your team. You will be handed wooden swords, covered in special paint that will stick to it, even if you swing it around, but will cover your opponent, if you hit him with it. Those who get painted - are out of the game. You will now split into teams, head over to your designated starting points where a staff member will meet you.

On their mark, the exercise will begin and you fill have exactly ten minutes to complete your objective. If no one touches the flag when the time has run out - all of you loose.

At the end of this course, we will evaluate your overall performance in the past two days and decide whether you are fit to begin the twelve month course, of becoming a Wonderbolt. Questions?" Lisa looked at the recruits. They just quietly stared at her.

She sighed and for some reason released a small smile: "Good luck" she nodded: "Now MOOOOOOOOOVEEEE!!!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs and the recruits sprinted away.

* * *

Shadow uncomfortably shivered as freezing wind gusted through the brush where a few dozen recruits were sitting in wait. It was almost an hour since they arrived at the starting point and the staff members still didn't give them a sign to begin.

Storm placed his wooden sword on the ground and rubbed his hooves together, trying to stay warm: "Damn it, what are they waiting for"

"That" Shadow pointed at the sky, where dark clouds started to gather. The wind began to grow stronger by the minute.

"...How are we supposed to fly to the flag in that weather?" one of the recruits asked with a frown.

"That's the idea" Shadow sighed: "If we could just fly to the flag, it would be over in seconds. They've prepared for this"

"I say we rush it" a particularly hulking pegasus said, scowling at the sky: "We push through the wind, get to the flag before anyone even understands what we're doing.

Shadow shook his head: "The staff will be ready for that. Its too obvious. They probably have a plan set up just for that"

"Hey hot shot!" The pegasus loomed over Shadow: "Who put you in charge? If I recall you crashed into a bloody tree, three seconds after lift off, and that was in good weather. The pagasi happen to make the majority of this team. You sit your plot down and wait till the real boys get the job done"

"You gonna walk us into a massacre" Shadow said with a frown: "They will be ready for it-"

"Alright who's with me!?" The hulking pegasus shouted, completely ignoring Shadow, and several dozen recruits raised their hooves.

"What the hell are the rest of us supposed to do?!" Storm shouted with a scowl: "We can't fly, idiot!"

The hulking pegasus smirked and patted Storm on the head: "You just sit here with your hoof up your-"

"STAAAAAAAAART" The staff members suddenly screamed and two dozen pegasi took flight.

Storm, Shadow and thirteen more recruits remained on the ground. Shadow noted that all of them were either earth ponies or unicorns.

"Well, there they go.." Storm waved his hoof in dismissal.

"I ain't sitting this out" Shadow scowled, picking his sword up and slowly marching into the brush.

"Why bother, they just gonna win us a victory in a few seconds" One of the recruits threw with a sigh.

"No mate, they're already dead" Shadow said without turning around.

* * *

Two dozen pegasi were raising through the freezing winds toward the flag. A few moments later, they saw an equally large cloud of pegasi, rising from the brush from the opposite corner.

"Heh, looks like they had the same idea" the hulking pegasus smirked and shouted over the wind: "RUSH IT HARD! LETS BEAT THEM TO IT!"

The pegasi pushed forward and zoomed through the sky. The hard currents of wind started to throw them off course and slow down their approach. When the flag was almost in sight, a sudden wave of screaming echoed across the sky. The hulking pegasus turned his head and saw a wave of Wonderbolts suddenly launching from the brush and practically crashing into the recruits.

They appeared right under the recruits and hit them hard from below. They flew much faster and with much more experience through the raging winds of the storm. They handled their swords better and seconds passed before there was only a handful of recruits left.

The hulking pegasus roared and rushed toward the flag. Several pegasi from the other team suddenly appeared right in front of him and he lashed out at them with his sword.

Screaming profanities at them and cutting the wind hard with his weapon, he suddenly received a blow from behind. He turned around with a roar, only to find his uniform completely stained with fresh paint and a smirking Wonderbolt, just a meter away.

* * *

"Dang" Storm said with a nervous laugh as the Wonderbolts and the defeated recruits slowly disappeared into the brush once again: "Its already over"

"Keep pushing" Shadow said as he moved through the brush: "Still got eight minutes"

"Man, there's no way" one of the recruits stopped and hopelessly ran his sword into the ground: "The staff is much more experienced in a sword fight AND they're waiting for us"

"We don't need to beat them in a fight" Shadow shook his head: "Just need to reach the flag"

"Man! They are all around that thing!" The recruit waved his hoof in frustration: "How we gonna get passed them?!"

"Draw them out" Shadow nodded: "The brush is pretty thick here too..." he stopped, inspecting the environment.

Storm quietly walked up behind him and asked after a moment: "So... looks pretty impossible huh... ?"

"No such thing" Shadow smiled, turned around and suddenly found thirteen recruits looking right at him. They were cold, tired and out of hope. Shadow waited a moment before he walked closer to them and raised his hoof:

"Listen. Our opponents are ponies, just like us. They're sitting under the same weather we are. They work as a team and so will we. They're good in combat, so we won't engage them in combat. This isn't a test of strength, its a test of wit. They have the flag surrounded. We just need a way to get passed them" Shadow gave an encouraging smile: "I think I have one"

* * *

Lisa zipped up her coat and looked at her watch. She was standing behind a particularly wide tree, just a few meters away from the flag. One of her Wonderbolts slowly approached and whispered with a smile:

"Three minutes left... think they gave up?"

"Mmm... I wonder" Lisa smirked, looking up at the brush. The forest seemed particularly thick here. One of the Wonderbolts, hiding behind a large boulder, uncomfortably shivered.

"Hey... need a blanket?" someone quietly asked and Storms grinning face appeared right next to the Wonderbolt. There was a moment of dead silence before the Wonderbolt lashed out with his sword. Storm vanished from view. A moment later, a mud ball hit the Wonderbolt in the face from another direction.

The Wonderbolt roared in anger, wildly swinging his sword around. There was no one in sight.

"IM GONNA COURT MARTIAL YOUR SORRY A-" He shrieked and suddenly stopped as he caught Lisa looking at him.

"Lieutenant!" he scowled: "They're not taking this seriously!"

"Mmm..." Lisa nodded with a smirk: "...looks like you're hit Sergeant... could have been a weapon... looks like you're out of the game for now"

The Sergeant roared and marched away.

"Alright gentlemen, watch for enemy fire" Lisa waved the Wonderbolts into cover and readied her sword: "Sit tight, let them come to us"

A few more mud balls flew out from different directions. Two Wonderbolts got hit in the chest.

"Cover's no good Lieutenant!" one of her subordinates screamed: "They're firing from every direction"

"Alright" Lisa nodded with a smile: "Move in, search and destroy"

The Wonderbolts spread out and started to move through the brush. The recruits were popping in and out of view, keeping a good distance away. Now and then, another mud ball would fly out of the bushes, making the Wonderbolts stop and take cover.

"Enemy numbers?" Lisa asked, hiding behind a tree as a mud ball hit particularly close.

"Can't tell Lieutenant" A Wonderbolt called: "Brush is too thick.

"Alright" Lisa nodded "I think we've entertained them enough. Rush them! Now"

The few dozen Wonderbolts turned into a blur as they zigzagged among the trees, rapidly scanning the area. Seconds ticked by before disappointed shouts of recruits filled the air. Lisa spread her wings and darted toward a bush as she saw someones mane shiver behind it. She flew around and lashed out with her sword so fast, her opponent gasped in slight shock and tumbled down to the ground, his recruit uniform stained with paint.

Lisa sighed and looked at Storm as he tried to sit straight on the ground.

"Hehe" Storm giggled: "You got me"

"Ma'am" one of the Wonderbolts called: "All recruits neutralized... there were only three of them here"

"Three?" Lisa asked in surprise. The attack was so relentless, she assumed all fifteen were here: "... they hid in the brush and attacked hard to appear as a larger force than they actually were" She paused: "They pulled us away from the flag" she turned back, just as a large group of recruits jumped out of the brush, right next to the hill in the center and assaulted the trio of Wonderbolts still guarding the flag. The Wonderbolts were more skilled with a sword, but they got swallowed by sheer numbers.

As most of the recruits went down, one dashed out of the fighting and sprinted toward the flag. The Wonderbolts were too preoccupied to follow. Lisa squinted and noticed the recruit had kept his wings firmly closed, even though they could have given him additional speed.

"...Well played" Lisa smiled: "...Shadow"

The path to the flag was clear. All he had to do was run up and touch it. Then, just as he started stretching his hoof, another recruit appeared out of nowhere and drop kicked Shadow hard in the ribs. They both fell to the ground.

Lisa frowned. The recruit that struck Shadow was from his own team. The recruits shirt was already colored with paint, so he was out of the game, yet he dared linger on the field, now blocking Shadows path to the flag. They both rose and Shadow recognized the hulking pegasus he argued with earlier.

The taller pegasus roared and decked Shadow. Lisa scowled and started making her way back to the flag when some recruit jumped out of the bushes and lashed out at her with a sword.

"OUT OF THE WAY!!" Lisa barked, tripping him but the recruit still struggled, blocking her way.

It started to rain. Shadow coughed the mud out of his mouth and slowly rose to his hooves again.

The hulking pegasus loomed over him: "...pathetic" he threw with disgust: "Are you really that weak? The flags right there, you just have to get passed me"

"Back off" Shadow muttered, raising his sword. The hulking pegasus grinned and lashed out. Shadows sword flew out of his hoof, the next second he got kicked in the ribs again. He doubled over and fell in the mud.

"You think you're special?" the hulking pegasus smirked: "What the hell made you think you can be a Wonderbolt?"

Shadow made an effort to rise and the other recruit kicked him hard in the face. Shadow curled up in pain, gritting his teeth.

"The Wonderbolts need to be strong enough to save others... you can't even save yourself..." the hulking pegasus scowled:

"... some are born weak. They will always be weak and you're one of them. No matter how hard you try, you won't escape fate. You are destined to be weak, all of your life! Stop getting up already!!!" he shrieked as Shadow slowly rose up again, his hooves shaking, completely covered in blood stains and mud.

The hulking pegasus spit on the ground: "... just leave, run back to mommy"

"...I can't..." Shadow quietly said: "...my mother is dead"

"You couldn't even protect your own family" the hulking pegasus said with disgust: "I bet you just watched as she died, right in front of you, because you were too useless to-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP" Shadow roared and smashed into him. He kicked him hard in the knee and as the pegasus screamed, Shadow punched him, over and over until the pegasus tripped and fell to the ground.

Shadow stood over him, rapidly breathing. The pegasus moaned in pain and slowly looked up with a smile: "...what are you waiting for?" he grinned as blood pooled in his mouth: "Hit me again... let it loose... you're anger... the only weapon you'll ever have"

"No" Shadow quietly said. The pegasus stared at him in confusion, which quickly turned into anger:

"Didn't I piss you off!? You gonna take mercy on your enemies too?!"

"Yeah" Shadow quietly said.

"You are a bloody fool" the pegasus muttered: "...you will remain weak all your life. You will never save anyone. And the next time you will pity your enemy, you will die-

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN!!!" Shadow screamed: "I WILL NOT MURDER ANOTHER OUT OF FEAR FOR MY LIFE! I DON'T CARE IF I CANNOT SAVE ANYONE! I WILL KEEP TRYING UNTIL I WILL DIE! IF I CAN SAVE EVEN ONE - IT'LL BE WORTH IT!!!"

"SHADOW!" a heavy roar echoed across the field and Lisa Brown slowly stepped into view. Her expression was unreadable. Her face was obscured by the rain. Shadow quietly looked at her in shame as she slowly approached.

Lisa waited several moments before she spoke. Her voice was deathly quiet:

"... time has run out... you have failed the assignment... recruit Shadow, follow me"

"L-Lieutenant" Shadow stretched his hoof toward her but Lisa turned away:

"Keep your mind on the goal and don't run your mouth next time" she quietly said and marched on into the downpour.

And Shadow quietly followed.