Once a Shadow

Today's a big day. Me and Rainbow get to go to our first Wonderbolts performance in Fillydelphia. I hope irony is listening, because what could possibly go wrong today? Actually, I take it back, please don't fuck me over irony, it was a joke. I looked around and saw Rainbow was out of bed.

"What are you doing up before me?" I asked.

"Too excited, I couldn't sleep."

"I can see where you're coming from I guess."

"You're not excited?"

"Oh, I didn't say that, of course I'm excited. I just know how to deal with pressure and all. I did used to be pretty famous. You know what? Scratch that. I don't know how to properly deal with pressure, because last time I actually got killed. So yeah, this ought to be a fun experience."

"How can you joke about dying so easily?"

"It's easy. Right before I did die, I joked about how if my funeral was boring, then I was haunting Barry."

She rolled her eyes. "You're insane."

"Guilty as charged." I replied with a grin. "By the way, have you ever been to Fillydelphia?"

She shook her head. "I never have."

"This is going to be a first for both of us then."

"Do you have any plans before we go there?"

"Not really, no. Did you want to do something?"

"Just that we chill here for an hour before we leave."

"Sure, okay."

My stomach growled. "Uhh, after I eat some breakfast."

She gave a chuckle. "Okay, that's fine."

We went downstairs and instead of making a large breakfast, I just grabbed a couple of apples. I sat down on the couch next to Rainbow and took a bite of apple.

"So you promise if I win, you'll hold true to our bet last night?" Rainbow asked.

"No point, becaush ahm the one going to win." I said with my mouth full

"Come on Shadow, I want the truth."

I swallowed. "Okay, I promise Rainbow. If, and that's if you won, what would you ask?"

"You'll see after I win." She said with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Oh, before I forget, I need to grab my costume from the Gala."

"Why would you need your costume?"

I shrugged. "Iunno, Spitfire said she wanted me to bring it."

"Why would she want you to bring your costume?"

"I have no idea, but give me a sec, I need to go get it." I said before I got up and trotted upstairs.

I went inside mine and Rainbow's room and looked under the bed. I pulled out the box containing my costume and opened it. Yep, still here. My custom assassin armor costume. I put the top back on and slid it in my saddlebag. I trotted back downstairs and sat next to Rainbow again.

"Did you find it?"

"Sure did."

"Hey, did you want to go ahead and fly to Fillydelphia? There isn't really much to do right now."

"Yeah, I guess we could. Let's go to our first event and show them all what the two newest members of the Wonderbolts have to offer."

We got off of the couch, and headed for the door. We trotted outside and took flight towards Fillydelphia. About halfway there, I looked over at Rainbow, and she was looking a little worried.

"Hey, you gonna be okay?" I asked.

"I'll be fine, just a little nervous."

"There's nothing to be nervous about, trust me."

"What if I mess up though? Everypony will be there to see it!"

"Rainbow, calm down. You won't screw up, because you're better than that, and you know it. It's my first time to, so if you screw up, I'll screw up right along with you to get the pressure off."

"Thanks, but I don't want to drag you down because of my mistake."

"Then don't screw up." I said with a small smile.

She sighed. "Gee, thanks."

"That's what I'm here for."

"Whatever you say. You give weird pep talks, you know that, right?"

"Of course, that's how I get my point across better, by being weird."

She laughed. "I guess that's true."

We continued the rest of the flight by just making small talk. When we finally arrived, we looked for the stadium we were supposed to perform in. When we found it, we flew over to it. This stadium was almost as large as the Cloudiseum, which was pretty damn big. We flew down to the entrance and found a brown earth pony security guard at the door.

I trotted up to him. "Uhh, hey. My name is Shadow Flash, and this is Rainbow Dash. We're supposed to be in the performance in a little bit, and I was wondering if you could show us where the rest of the Wonderbolts are. This is our first time here, so we're not exactly sure where to go." I finished with a nervous smile.

"Of course! But do you mind if I ask a favor?"

"Depends, what did you have in mind?"

"My son is a very big fan of the Wonderbolts you see, and his birthday is today, so I was hoping that I could get your autograph for him."

"Instead of doing that, how would you like it if I went to visit him instead? I got a feeling that he'd appreciate that even more."

"That-that would be great!"

I smiled. "It's settled then, after our performance, meet me outside of my room, and you can lead me to your son's birthday party."

"Yes sir! Oh, and your rooms are this way."

He turned and led me and Rainbow down a few hallways. When we were in the dressing room area, he turned to us and nodded before taking his leave.

Rainbow turned to me. "That was pretty awesome for you to offer to go to his kid's birthday party."

I shrugged. "Meh, I got nothin' better to do after this, and besides, it would be cool to hang out with the fans."

"You got a point I guess."

Just then, Spitfire, without her Wonderbolt uniform on, trotted around the corner with a couple of boxes.

"Hey you two, I got something for ya." She said.

"And what's that?" I asked.

"These." She said before opening the boxes, revealing two Wonderbolt uniforms, one larger one for me, and another smaller one for Rainbow.

"Yes!" Rainbow screamed.

"Nice." I said at the same time.

"Glad you like them."

"I'm gonna go ahead and change into it. Thanks Spitfire!" Rainbow said before rushing to her room.

"You're welcome." She turned to me. "Did you bring your costume from the Gala?"

I pulled out the box from my saddle bag containing my costume. "Right here. Why did you want this anyways?"

"Because, I'm going to get it modified."

"Modified?"

"That's right. I'm going to take it to a pony around here that makes all of our weapons and armor. I'm going to get him to put real armor on this thing, and real weapons."

"Holy shit, epic."

She laughed. "Glad you like the idea. Follow me and I'll take you to meet him."

"Alright, cool."

I put the box containing my costume from the Gala, and my Wonderbolt uniform in my saddle bag, and followed Spitfire. She led me outside of the building, then we took flight. We flew to what appeared to be a downtown area. I looked at Spitfire, and she motioned to start flying down. I nodded and we started descending. We landed in front of a small building wedged between two larger ones. The sign above it said: Brawny Hooves Smithing.

We trotted inside, and up front was a large olive green earth pony, with olive green mane and tail. His cutie mark was a hammer and anvil. He turned to us. "Oh, hey Spitfire, is this the new member?"

"Yep, this is him."She said.

He trotted over to me and held out a hoof. "Pleasure to meet ya! I'm Brawny Hooves!"

I took his hoof and shook it. "Shadow Flash."

"So what can I do you two for?"

"I have a 'special request'." Spitfire said.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

She pulled out the box containing my costume from my saddle bag and opened it. "This."

He let out a whistle of appreciation. "Now what have we here?"

"Well, it's currently just a costume, but I would like you to modify it into real armor and weapons for Shadow here."

"These designs and weapon capabilities are extraordinary! Where did you come up with such a thing?"

I shrugged. "Just some sources."

"Those are some impressive sources then. Oh, I'm going to enjoy this one. Come back in about a week, and I should be done."

Spitfire nodded. "Alright. Thanks Brawny."

"Oh no, I'm thanking you on this one. Nice meeting you by the way Shadow."

"You too."

Me and Spitfire left Brawny to get to work with my costume, and flew back to the stadium.

She turned to me. "Alright, I'm going to get ready for the performance, you should do the same."

"Got it. And thanks."

"For what?"

"For the kick ass armor of course."

She chuckled a little. "You're welcome."

She turned and trotted away. I went into the dressing room next to me. I pulled out the Wonderbolt uniform from my bag and put it on, leaving the goggles just above my eyes. This uniform is pretty damn comfortable. I trotted outside and knocked on Rainbow's room.

"Yeah? Who is it?"

"Incredibly charming stallion." I said, smiling to myself.

The door opened. "Sorry, but I think I already have one of those." She said with a smirk.

"Mind if I come in?"

"Sure."

She moved from the entrance and I trotted in and she closed the door.

"So what do you think?" She said.

I looked at her, she was wearing her Wonderbolt uniform. Goggles and all.

"Wow, that looks good on you." I said.

"Thanks, you don't look bad yourself."

"Well at least I don't look like shit."

She laughed. "Nah, not that bad."

There was a knock on the door. "Five minutes! Get ready!"

Rainbow's smile disappeared, and she started shaking.

"Hey, come on Rainbow, just remember what I said. Everything's going to be fine. I'll be right there with you."

"Yeah...you're right. Thanks."

"Anytime. Now lets get out there and show this crowd what the new ponies can do!"

"Alright! Lets go!"

We exited the dressing room, and met up with the rest of the present Wonderbolts. Spitfire was at the head of us.

She turned back. "Alright everypony, we're opening like we always do. After that, do you're own thing, then reform with the rest of us. After that is the race between our fastest ponies. Which would be Fleetfoot, Rapidfire, Rainbow Dash, and Shadow Flash. Next thing is going to be the rest of us doing coordinated maneuvers while the racers take a breather. After that, we all fly out here one more time and finish like we started. Questions?"

There were none.

"Alright, lets go!"

We took flight side by side. The moment we entered the main area, the crowd went wild. After we got about a quarter of the way across, we banked straight up. A ways up, we branched off, each of us going our separate ways. This was the part where we did our own trick. I decided to try something new. I flew higher up, and, flying incredibly fast, did several twists, turns, and flips, then flew back to rejoin the group. Looking back, I had written Shadow Flash with a trail of black and crimson, which the crowd went insane at.

Everypony that wasn't myself, Rainbow, Fleetfoot, or Rapidfire went back to the entry area for Wonderbolts. There was a track for us that had been prepared. We lined up at it. There was a whistle, and we were off. The four of us staying with each other at first. Rapidfire started falling back a little, but not by much. On our last turn, me and Rainbow managed to pull ahead in front of Fleetfoot. When we crossed the finish line, the crowd erupted.

"And the winner is...well, it's a tie! The two new ponies, Rainbow Dash and Shadow Flash have tied folks!" The announcer yelled.

We flew back to rest while the others did their thing.

"It was a tie?! How does that happen?" Rainbow asked.

"Simple. We're each the same speed. I guess I was wrong after all."

"Yeah, because that's a rare occurrence." Rainbow said with a roll of her eyes.

Fleetfoot, one of the Wonderbolts we raced, trotted up to us. She had, from what I could tell, a sky blue coat, and white mane and tail. "Great race you two."

"Thanks, you too."

"You know we'll have to hold a rematch though, right?"

I smiled. "Of course, how else can I prove that I'm one of the fastest Wonderbolts?"

"That's the spirit. Well, here come the others, so get ready to finish up."

I nodded and she went back to talking with Rapidfire. The rest of the Wonderbolts flew over, and we got ready for the last part of the show. We all gave one more fly-over for the crowd before returning.

"Alright, good job everypony! That's all here!" Spitfire called out.

Everypony parted and went to their dressing rooms. Spitfire trotted over to me and Rainbow.

"Great job out there, you two. Congratulations, because it looks like you're now the fastest ponies in Equestria. Officially that is." Spitfire said before trotting off.

Rainbow gave me a hug before going inside her dressing room. I did the same and shed my uniform, except for the goggles, they were cool, so I left them on above my eyes. I slid the rest of my uniform in my saddle bag. I left my room and headed to Spitfire's. I knocked a couple of times.

She answered. "Shadow, need something?"

"Yes, actually. Do you have any season tickets I can have?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I forgot to give them to you. Here's ten sets of season tickets. You get ten more after each season."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

"No problem."

She closed her door and I trotted to Rainbow's room and knocked.

She opened the door.

"Hey Rainbow, I'm about to go to that security guard's kid's birthday. I'll meet you back home."

"Alright, see you then Shadow."

We gave each other a kiss, and she closed the door.

And right on queue, the security guard trotted down with a large grin on his face.

"Hey Mr. Shadow. I'm here to show you to my kid, if that's okay with you."

"Relax. Of course it's okay, I said I would. Oh, and just call me Shadow by the way."

He nodded. "Uhh, thank you...Shadow."

I smiled. "There, that's better."

He led me out of the stadium, and passed the fans cheering and screaming my name when they saw me. I smiled and waved back to most of them, even making a few mares faint, which was pretty funny. We arrived in what was apparently a residintial district, and the security guard led me up to his home. It was a fairly nice sized home, with a large yard.

He turned to me. "My kid is out back, along with a few of his friends."

"Okay, hey by the way, how old is your kid today?"

"Today is his twelfth birthday."

"Alright, what's his name?"

"It's Little Boulder."

"Alright, cool. I'll be there in a bit. Go on ahead, and make sure not to tell him I'm here."

He nodded. "Of course, whenever you're ready Miste- I mean Shadow."

He trotted in his back yard, and I readied myself. I was about to do something similar to what I did earlier, so lets see if I can do it again. I flew up onto the roof, and peeked over into the back yard. I could see the security guard, and a few kids in the back. There were also some decorations. Alright, time to make myself 'friend of the people.' I blasted off the roof full speed, and did a few maneuvers in mid-air. When I finished, I had written Happy twelfth birthday Little Boulder.

I flew down, and the kids ran over to meet me.

"Wow! You're a real Wonderbolt! That's so cool!" They shouted.

One of them that had the same color scheme as the security guard ran over to him and hugged him.

"Dad, this is the best present ever!"

"Thank you son, I'm glad you like it."

I trotted over. "How would you like to ride on my back for a few tricks?"

The kid's smile, if at all possible, multiplied to match even Pinkie's. He turned to his dad. "Can I dad? Please? Can I?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"YES!"

I knelt down. "Hop on."

Little Boulder climbed on and clung to my neck.

"Grab on tight. Are you ready?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright, here we go!"

I took flight and flew up about fifty feet into the air. I did a few flips and basic things, so the kid didn't fly off.

"This is awesome!" He yelled.

"Glad you like it, now get ready, because we're about to go fast."

He held me more tightly, and I flew straight down. When we were about five feet off of the ground, I leveled off exactly ninety degrees to the ground. I slowed down, and landed back in front of his dad. Little Boulder climbed off and went over to his dad.

"Hey, before I go, I got something for ya."

I reached into my bag and pulled out two of the season ticket passes and gave them to him.

"There you go, two season ticket passes to the Wonderbolts! It also comes with a backstage pass, so if you ever make it to a show, be sure to come backstage, and we'll hang out. Sound cool Little Boulder?"

"This is the best day of my life!" He screamed.

I laughed. "I'll take that as a yes then."

His dad trotted up to me with a large smile on his face. "Thank you, it means a lot to me, and even more to my kid that you would do this."

I held out my hoof. "Don't mention it."

He shook my hoof, and I gave one last nod before flying away. I flew back home and went inside. Rainbow was on the couch waiting for me.

"So how'd it go?"

"Pretty smoothly. It was a nice family. It looked like it was just the dad and his son though."

"So you had fun?"

"Sure did."

"Hey, since we tied in our race, where does that leave us in the bet?"

I sat close to Rainbow. "The way I see it, you beat me by a hair, so ask away."

She smiled and gave me a hug. "Okay, here it is. Will you always love me?"

I rolled my eyes. "You can ask any question, and you ask the one with the most obvious answer. Yes Rainbow, no matter what happens, I will always love you. I will protect you with my life, and if anypony hurts you, they're going to feel the wrath of an immortal."

She didn't say anything. She just held me close. For a time, we just sat there like that. I looked over and saw she was asleep. I smiled and picked her up. I brought her into the bedroom and placed her on the bed. I put a blanket over her, and got in bed myself.

Well, it looks like irony decided to fuck off today.

There's a longer chapter to make up for my shorter chapters recently. How was the first Wonderbolts performance for Shadow and Rainbow? Let me know in the comments!

Chuck Norris fact of the day: Chuck Norris invented every single color in the spectrum, except pink. Tom Cruise invented pink.