The Shadow of Death

Fleetfoot took another small step towards the bed, unsure of how to go about getting the two "lovebirds" up and out of bed. She was still afraid that she would see something she didn't need to ever see. She was about to call their names again when she remembered Spitfire's exact words.

"Stop them, directly if you have to." echoed in Fleetfoot's head. She took a deep breath before stepping closer.

"Alright you two, up and-" Fleetfoot started, only for her attention to be driven by something out in the hallway behind her.

"Fleetfoot!? You here?" she heard Spitfire call out from the hallway. She turned her head slightly and looked back at the door. As she did, she suddenly saw movement in her peripheral vision. She looked back towards the movement just as she felt a sharp pain in her foreleg.

"AAAHHH!" Fleetfoot screamed in pain after her foreleg was stabbed. She looked and saw the pony stabbing her wearing some kind of flightsuit, and next to them on the bed was the bloody body of Fire Streak.

Before Fleetfoot could fight back, the killer pulled their knife from her foreleg and shoved her back, making her bump against the open door and close it. Fleetfoot was dazed by her head colliding with the door, but tried to turn to open the door. Before she could, the killer charged at her...

Soarin, Rainbow Dash, and Spitfire flew into the second floor hallway looking for Fleetfoot. They all looked down to the end and saw no sign of any movement.

"Fleetfoot!? You here?" Spitfire called out. They got no response as they started moving down the hall. They started looking in rooms until they heard a scream coming from one of the rooms down the hallway. The three quickly flew to the room where the scream came from and saw it open. Soarin flew towards the door and tried to get it fully open when it suddenly slammed in front of him.

"Fleetfoot?!" Soarin called out in panic. He could hear movement in the room and went for the knob, but before he could push against the door, in the middle of it, a bloody blade emerged.

They could hear a gasp of pain from within and the three of them stopped in their tracks. They heard the sound of somepony getting up to their hooves before the blade retracted back into the room. Suddenly the doorknob began to move.

Spitfire and Soarin exchanged glances, getting ready to fight. Dash couldn't take her eyes off the door. She barely had enough time to process what just happened. All she knew.....was that she was about to meet the killer face to face.

The door opened inward into the room, and Fleetfoot's body fell into view. The three gasped as they saw yet another friend fall victim to this saboteur. Blood began to leak into the hallway, and finally, a pony emerged.

Dash gasped as the killer stepped over Fleetfoot's body and into the hallway with the rest of them. Their suit was coated with dried blood, they wore an evil smile stretched over their muzzle, and they clutched the still bloody knife in their hoof.

"Hello there." they said with a tone that can only be described as snakelike, it sounded sinister and just evil.

"Put down the knife and give yourself up! You have 10 seconds to comply!" Spitfire suddenly shouted, readying herself to fight this murderer. The killer simply stood their and started chuckling. Their eyes being concealed under their yellow flight goggles.

Dash was utterly frozen with shock as she stared at this killer, because she had seen that uniform before. The dark purple and black, the lightning bolt designs, and especially the yellow lenses on the goggles. They were a...

"Shadowbolt." Rainbow said aloud. Soarin looked over at her in confusion.

"A....Shadowbolt?" Soarin asked. The Shadowbolt began to laugh even louder.

"When me and my friends from Ponyville first went to find the Elements of Harmony, I was confronted by three Pegasi dressed like this one, they were testing my Loyalty. But, I always thought they were just an illusion created by Nightmare Moon, not actually real." Rainbow explained, recounting her story and encounter with the Shadowbolts, still shocked to see one standing before them. Spitfire frowned and shouted again.

"You have 5 second before we take you down by force!" Spitfire shouted. The Shadowbolt chuckled again.

"Oh....tisk, tisk miss Spitfire..." The Shadowbolt began as they looked across the three of them.

"I took care of your "force"." They said before turning and charging at Rainbow Dash.

Dash didn't have time to react and watched as the Shadowbolt tried to charge at her. Soarin quickly intercepted and tackled the Shadowbolt to the ground, but before he could pin them, they quickly stabbed Soarin in the right foreleg. Soarin let out a yell of pain as the Shadowbolt pushed him off of them and raised the knife high to stab him. Spitfire quickly grabbed the Shadowbolt and tried to force them to the ground as well.

Spitfire grabbed goth of their forelegs and attempted to pin them to the wall, but they quickly wiggled from her grasp and kicked her in the right hind leg. Dash quickly helped Soarin back up to his hooves and they both leapt to help Spitfire.

The Shadowbolt quickly sheathed the knife and began to fight defensively. Dodging several kicks and punches as the Wonderbolts tried in vain to hit them. They found the whole ordeal quite hilarious. Eventually they countered a punch from Soarin and used it to grab his foreleg, break it and throw him into the wall.

"Soarin!" Dash and Spitfire shouted simultaneously. Spitfire was closest to Soarin, so she quickly flew over to help him, while Dash kept trying to fight the Shadowbolt. As Dash fought, the Shadowbolt's smile began to grow wider.

"You know Dash, I've been waiting for this day for a long time." the Shadowbolt said as they fought. Something struck Dash as she dodged another counter attack from the Shadowbolt. That voice...

Dash thought fast and made it look like she was about to attack from one side, but used their expectation of where she'd be to attack from the other side and strike the side of their head, knocking the goggles from their head, and removing the mask part of the flight suit in the process.

The Shadowbolt landed a little further down the hall from the others. Spitfire helped Soarin to his hooves, which he could still walk, though he was limping. They all looked in shock to see that the killer.....was.......

"Lightning Dust?!" Rainbow Dash said in shock. The other two also gasped at the now revealed identity of this murderer, but it was all there in front of them. The same turquoise coat, the same yellowish mane, the same amber colored eyes. It was her.

Spitfire quickly left Soarin's side, only for her spot to be replaced by Dash and stepped between the other two, and Dust. Spitfire glared at her, showing so much anger that it looked like she might burst.

"Explain yourself, now!" Spitfire said, not as loud as before, but with a very clear rage in her voice. Dust scoffed as she pulled her knife back out.

"Pffft, Why? Are you gonna reprimand me if I don't? You gonna strip me of my title again? Kick me out again if I don't?" Dust shouted as she started waving the knife around.

"Why did you do this Dust? Why did you kill them!?" Rainbow suddenly shouted angrily. She knew that Dust wasn't the nicest or most thoughtful pony after what happened at the academy, but this, this was downright horrible. Dust started chuckling again.

"Oh Dash, you of all ponies should know why." Dust said. Rainbow growled at her.

"But.....you....you killed them......other ponies.....over your rejection?" Dash asked, trying to think of some way that Lightning could've justified this, but she knew it wasn't worth the thought. There was no justifying this. Dust growled back at them.

"Not just my rejection you cunts! You threw out a flyer, one of the best. This team NEEDED a Pegasi like me! One that could showcase amazing feats of aerodynamics, but Noooo, you guys decided to go with Miss Goody Two-Shoes over there!" Lightning ranted, pointing at Dash. "I was humiliated, I was rejected, not just by you, but everypony else. Even my own friends eventually left me. I had nopony to turn to." Dust finished as it looked like she might start crying, until she opened her eyes and smirked.

"Well, until I met them." Lightning said, placing her hoof on her uniform. Dash's eyes widened.

"Wait, the Shadowbolts are real?!" Dash asked. Dust smirked.

"Oh Yes, they are very real, and worth so much more time than you fuckfaces." Dust spat. "They actually considered my skills and actually gave a few seconds of thought about my stunts, yes they were dangerous, but they were also effective. And they will take in anypony, not just those in a little exclusive club like this place." Dust finished, stomping her hoof on the ground. Spitfire stepped forward and readied herself again.

"But Why did you do this?" Spitfire asked again. Dust laughed.

"They asked me to." Dust simply responded with. The three of them gasped and Lightning continued. "There was NO WAY I was gonna miss this chance to exact my revenge on all of you. And now, with the storm blocking your escape and the others out with no way to help you, I think it's the end of the line for you three." Lightning finished. She started laughing again as she approached them slowly. Spitfire quickly fired herself at Dust. The two clashed and Spitfire managed to tackle Dust to the ground and hold her their. She used this chance to turn to Dash and Soarin.

"GET TO THE ROOF! NOW!" Spitfire shouted. Dash and Soarin hesitated.

"What about you?!" Soarin shouted back as Spitfire struggled to hold Dust down. She grunted and responded.

"I'll be fine, just go, GET HELP!" Spitfire shouted again. Dash and Soarin wasted now time. Soarin leaned on Dash as he limped, and the two made their way back to the stairwell and disappeared.

Spitfire was suddenly kicked in the gut and thrown off of Dust. The two stared eachother down in the middle of the hallway. Spitfire suddenly spoke.

"You spoke of the storm like it was planned. Was it?" Spitfire asked. Dust simply chuckled sinisterly. Spitfire glared back at her. "How?" Spitfire shouted.

"What? You think I didn't have any help, there are more Shadows than just me you know." Dust said. Spitfire lunged at her again. The two got into another fight, though it felt more like a game of Cat and Mouse. Dust kept baiting Spitfire and dodging her attacks only to punch and kick her when her defenses were down.

Spitfire started to fight more and more desperately and wildly, becoming frustrated. She also became tired as she felt like she was putting in so much effort, but to no avail. Eventually, Dust landed a swift and heavy kick to Spitfire's stomach that knocked her over, and another punch to the head to take her completely to the ground. Dust quickly placed her hoof over her neck and held her down.

"You know, I thought killing you would be the most satisfying thing of all, and you know what...?" Dust asked as she raised her knife high into the air. Spitfire struggled beneath Dust as she looked up at the knife.

"It is." Dust finally finished. Spitfire closed her eyes, accepting her fate. Dust plunged the knife down into Spitfire's head.

Dust pulled the blade out of Spitfire's head and watched as blood began to pour from the wound. She smiled as she looked down upon her now slain former Captain. Dust felt a wave of pleasure and accomplishment wash over her. The act of killing was something she felt that really got her going. It was a kind of euphoria that she had never experienced before, and she needed more of it. She rubbed some of Spitfire's blood on her hoof and smeared it over her face while letting out a sinister laugh.

She looked down at her knife and saw how bloody it was, not just in wet and fresh blood, but also bits of dried blood. She looked over at the staircase entrance and remembered something. She sheathed her knife and began to move to get to the rec room.

She had an ax waiting for her.