Shadowbolt

by Scribblestick

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Spike, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 4217

Twilight's practicing a new spell that may have unintended consequences.

Twilight's working on a new spell to get back at Rainbow Dash for her yearly Nightmare Night pranks. But things start to go wrong, and Twilight begins to wonder if this last spell is more than she bargained for.

Thanks to PiquoPie for being a great editor.

Cover image from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 1 Episode 2.

Live reading by The Living Library Player Society on November 9, 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1LfrgKKVpKM

Published 2012-10-18 19:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-10-18 19:00:01 UTC

Shadowbolt

Shadowbolt

October 3

Well, hello, new journal. It was a bit difficult working you into my schedule, but Princess Celestia said I should take a few minutes each day to write down some of my thoughts. I was a little skeptical at first, but after reading a few books on journal-keeping, I think I’m going to enjoy this.

I’ve been pretty busy lately working on a new spell for Nightmare Night. Rainbow Dash always plays pranks on everypony, but this year, I’m going to get her back. I won’t give away any spoilers here in case somepony finds this book and reads it, but let’s just say I think everypony’s going to remember it.

Today was pretty mundane. Spike and I spent all day studying and practicing. He’s been working really hard lately, and it’s starting to show. I know he’s my number one assistant, but ever since we started working on my new spell, he’s been acting a little cranky. I think it’s because I keep him up too late. I mean, I do ask if he wants to go to bed, but he always says he’s fine. He is a young dragon, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that he’s a little stubborn.

That reminds me, I should schedule a nap time for him. That should make him feel better!

October 4

Wow, that took longer than I thought. I was still trying to fit Spike’s nap into his schedule when he woke up this morning—and everypony knows he’s not exactly an early bird. Or dragon, I guess. After I finished reorganizing Spike's schedule, we went straight to work. We made a lot of progress today, and I think the spell is almost ready.

After practice, Spike and I stopped by Sugar Cube Corner to order some cupcakes for the Nightmare Night party. Pinkie said she would take care of it, but the Cakes are going to get busier as the month goes on, and you know Pinkie will wait until the last minute. This way, the Cakes will have plenty of time to work our cupcakes into their schedule.

Well, I should get some sleep.

October 5

Today went pretty well. The spell's coming along nicely, even though Rainbow Dash almost saw it when she stopped to return the "Daring Do" book she borrowed last week. Who would've thought a mare like her would fall in love with books so quickly?

Spike is starting to worry me. He’s always been a little stubborn, but today was worse than usual. When I told him about the nap I’d scheduled for him, he told me to mind my own business. I did convince him to lie down eventually, but when I went to wake him up, he was just staring at the ceiling. I’m going to have to have a talk with him tomorrow. He may be growing, but he’s still a baby dragon, after all.

October 6

Well, that didn’t go well at all. I tried talking him into nap time again, but this time he just yelled at me and stomped upstairs. Spike actually yelled at me! He was laying on the floor when I went to get him, and when I tried to apologize, he didn’t even answer.

Something is very wrong with him. I need to get to the bottom of this.

I took a walk around Ponyville during Spike's nap time to clear my head. Fluttershy was buying a lot of food in the market. She said she's building up her stores so she can stay in her cottage on Nightmare Night. I guess Princess Luna's visit last year scared her more than I thought.

October 7

I can’t believe this! Spike just walked out on me right in the middle of our practice! I mean, I can understand being a little grumpy from a lack of sleep, but actually walking away? What am I supposed to do about that? Especially when he won’t even listen to me!

Ugh.

At least he’s home now. He did apologize for walking out, but still, there’s no excuse for treating somepony like that. I think we’ll take a break from the spell tomorrow. Give both of us a chance to cool off.

October 8

I decided to visit Applejack today. Sweet Apple Acres always helps me relax, and Applejack is such an easy pony to talk to.

I told her about how Spike’s been acting recently, and she agreed that he probably needs more rest. She suggested I ask Fluttershy for help if he gets any worse. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that earlier. If anypony can get a dragon to do something, it’s Fluttershy.

On the bright side, I did get the opportunity to show Applejack my new spell. Her reaction was priceless! I’ve never seen a pony hide behind a hay bale so quickly! After she calmed down a little, she said she thought it was the perfect prank to pull on Rainbow Dash. I believe her exact words were, “That’s sure to give even Dashie a run for her money!” I just wish Spike was still as excited as she was.

October 9

Today was… rough. Spike said he still didn’t feel like helping me with the spell and went to Carousel Boutique. He still hasn’t come back yet, but I’m sure Rarity would tell me if she thought anything was really wrong with him.

I decided to go see Fluttershy after all. She was getting ready for Nightmare Night—stockpiling food, boarding up windows—but she agreed to stop by and see if she could help. I’m glad one of my best friends is so good with animals and children. I may be smart, but Fluttershy has a special gift. I mean, that is how she got her cutie mark, after all.

Spike just walked in and went straight to bed. I didn’t even get the chance to talk to him. Hopefully, I can turn things around with him when Fluttershy comes tomorrow.

October 10

Well, I don’t think today could have gone any worse. Fluttershy walked in right in the middle of our practice and saw what we were working on. It’s meant to scare Rainbow Dash, so you can imagine how terrified she was. It took me almost ten minutes to get her to come out from under the table, and Spike was rolling his eyes and snorting the whole time, like I was an idiot or something. What’s his problem? It’s not like I meant to scare her out of her mind.

Oh, and that’s not even the most infuriating part! After I finally got Fluttershy to calm down and try to convince Spike to take a nap, he started yelling at her! Fluttershy was in tears when she ran away, and when I tried to calm Spike down, he called me a “stupid little unicorn” and left.

I honestly don’t get it. Is this a natural part of a dragon’s development? I know those other dragons we met didn’t think very highly of ponies, but I assumed that’s just the way they were raised. It doesn’t help that my books say almost nothing about dragons. Maybe the Canterlot library has better information? One thing’s clear, at least. This is a lot bigger than just losing a little sleep.

Speaking of sleep, I should probably get to bed. I’ve had too many late nights in a row as it is. I hope Spike comes home soon.

October 11

Wow. Um… I’m not sure where to start.

Okay. Rainbow Dash came by this morning to ask what I did to Fluttershy. Well, demanded is probably a better word. I told her that Spike’s been acting up lately and that he yelled at her yesterday. Dash told me to “control my dragon” and flew away. Does she think I’m just letting him run amok? The whole reason Fluttershy came over was to help me calm him down!

Sorry, I’m getting sidetracked. It’s just so… ugh!

Anyway, I spent most of the morning looking up information on sleep deprivation. It’s not much to go on, but it’s the only thing I could think of at the moment. Besides, Spike hadn’t come home yet, and I didn’t want to go to Canterlot without him. It turned out he’d been at Rarity’s boutique all night, but I only found that out when Rarity came to ask what was going on. She said he kept talking about some kind of spell and asked if I knew anything about it. I figured it was the spell we’ve been working on and decided to show it to Rarity to see if it was the same one Spike was talking about. Turns out, it was.

Rarity was pretty upset. She cares so much for Spike, and she demanded to know how I could show such a thing to a baby dragon day in and day out. I tried to tell her that he’d never mentioned anything about it to me, but you know how she gets when she’s angry. I barely got two words in before she stomped out—in a very lady-like way, of course.

Has this all really been my fault? I mean, I know Spike didn't say anything, but he never says anything. He always wants to be so helpful to everypony. Maybe I should have seen how much it was upsetting him and stopped it all myself.

Spike’s still at Rarity’s. She said she’d bring him home tomorrow. I can only hope everything goes well.

October 12

Spike came home today. To be honest, I didn’t think he looked much better than before. Maybe it’s because he’s been gone for two days, but he looks paler than he did when he left. Rarity didn’t mention anything, so maybe it was just the light. I’ll have to pay closer attention to that from now on.

It took me all night to figure out how I was going to apologize for putting him through so much, but when I saw how exhausted he was, all I could do was hug him and cry and beg for forgiveness. He accepted my apology, of course—that’s just how he is. He also said he was sorry for being so cranky and upsetting Fluttershy. Then he went upstairs and went to bed.

He hasn’t been sleeping very soundly—Rarity told me he didn’t sleep very well at the boutique, either—but at least he’s sleeping, which is a definite improvement. Hopefully this will all be over in a couple days. I miss having my number one assistant around.

October 13

Applejack came by today to find a book about cures for insomnia. She’s not usually one to check out books like that, so I asked her if anything was wrong. She said no, but she definitely looks like she hasn’t slept well in a couple days. Maybe she’s working too hard again—though I guess that wouldn’t explain the insomnia.

Spike’s doing a little better. He’s been pretty quiet, but I guess that’s to be expected. I’ve been scaring him half to death for the last couple weeks, so it makes sense that he’s a little uncomfortable. I’ll have to find some way to make it up to him.

October 14

Spike had a bad nightmare last night. I normally wouldn’t worry too much about it, but he woke me up with his yelling and kicking, and it sounded like something was trying to attack him. I managed to wake him up and calm him down, but something in that dream terrified him more than I can imagine. I’d do some research, but Applejack checked out my book on sleeping disorders earlier, so I’ll have to wait for her to return it. In the meantime, I’ve just been practicing the spell for

October 15

Sorry I left so abruptly. Spike was having another nightmare, and I had to go calm him down. He’s been trying to rest all day, but once he falls asleep, another nightmare comes. I wish I could do some research to figure out what’s wrong, but Applejack still hasn’t returned my books. That’s not like her.

I’m starting to think this spell was a really bad idea.

October 16

Spike went missing today.

How could this happen? He was right there when I went to bed—sleeping soundly, for once—and I thought everything was finally getting better. But when I woke up this morning, he wasn’t in his bed, the library, the lab, the kitchen, or under any of the furniture. He wasn’t anywhere! I even checked Rarity’s boutique, and he wasn't there, either.

Rarity looked pretty tired (she’s been working on Nightmare Night costumes night and day), but she agreed to help look for him. We searched all of Ponyville, but we couldn’t find any sign of him. How could I be so careless? How could I scare him so badly that he would just run away from home without a note? I know I’ve been a little short with him in the past, but this is way worse than anything I’ve ever done before. How could I not notice how scared he was? After everything I’ve learned about friendship, is this how I treat my dedicated, loyal, hard-working number one assistant? Is this how I treat the oldest friend I have?

Rainbow Dash said she’d get a team of pegasi to head up a search party tomorrow. I wanted to go with them, but Dash said I would only slow them down, and as much as I want to be right there with them, I know she’s right. All I can do is hope they find him and bring him home safely.

Twilight...

October 17

I don’t know who wrote that, but whoever they are better stay out of my journal.

Still no sign of Spike. Rainbow Dash just stopped by to tell me the news. I don’t understand. How could he just disappear like that?

Pinkie Pie came by earlier to cheer me up. She brought a big box of cupcakes and told me everything was going to be okay. I don’t see how cupcakes make everything okay, but I was grateful for the thought, anyway. She even asked to see that spell everypony’s been talking about. I was a little hesitant at first after everything that’s happened with Spike, but Pinkie’s always been pretty good at dealing with fear. She even started singing “Giggle at the Ghosties” just to prove she could handle it. I don’t know why, but that song always cheers me up.

In the end, I showed it to her. She thought it was “scary-mazing-rific” after I got her to stop hiding under my bed. I guess that means she liked it.

We’re going to try and find Spike again tomorrow, but I don’t know what more we can do. I hope the little guy’s all right, wherever he is.

Stop now.

October 18

Who keeps doing that?

Never mind, I have more important things to deal with. Applejack disappeared yesterday. Apple Bloom saw her run into the Everfree Forest, and she hasn’t come out yet. Everypony’s starting to get worried. Two disappearances in three days is definitely not good.

The whole town’s going to go searching the forest tomorrow. Maybe Applejack got petrified by a cockatrice. I know there’s at least one of those in the forest. I should make sure Fluttershy comes with us. She’s been hiding in her house a lot recently, but she’s the only one who can stare down a cockatrice, and if Applejack really has been petrified, we’ll need all the help we can get.

October 19

Fluttershy’s gone. It took a while to get into her house (she really knows how to board a place up), but once we got in, there was no sign of her. Her animals were all cowering in their dens and nests, and even Angel was hiding under a rug. Since when does Angel hide from anything?

The mayor put the Ponyville Police on the case. With three disappearances in one week, how could she not?

We searched the forest but found no sign of Applejack. Zecora said she hasn’t seen any sign of her, either. What’s going on?

Tell no one.

October 20

I'm warning you! Leave my journal alone, or you'll be sorry!

Rarity’s gone now, too. Sweetie Belle woke up half the town this morning screaming for help, and I can’t say I blame her. The police roped off the boutique, so I didn’t get a good look at the scene, but it didn’t look like they found very many clues. Sweetie Belle’s staying with the Apples for now until we can figure out what happened to Rarity.

Wait a minute…

It’s too late.

October 21

Stop writing in my journal!

Okay. I have a theory. It’s a bit of a long shot, but it’s the only explanation I have.

I did the math, and I think all these disappearances have to do with that spell I’ve been working on. They all disappeared exactly nine days after I showed them the spell. Well, except for Spike. He lasted about a month. I’m not sure whether that’s because he’s a dragon or whether the spell was just stronger when I showed it to the others.

I’ll need more evidence before I can know for sure, so I’ve asked Pinkie Pie to stay with me for the next few days. Hopefully, I can observe her and figure out if there really is a connection between my spell and these disappearances.

I wish I could write to the princess for help, but without Spike, I’m stuck with ordinary mail, and Derpy won’t make another trip to Canterlot until next week. Whose idea was that, anyway?

October 22

It’s been six days since Pinkie saw the spell. She has a lot of the same symptoms as Spike—irritability, fatigue, and insomnia—which seems to support my theory, especially since Pinkie is always so happy all the time. She’s asleep right now, but I don’t think it will last for more than a few hours.

Rainbow Dash left the search parties early today. She looks exhausted—Celestia knows how much time she’s put into these searches—but she did stop by to give me a piece of interesting news. Apparently, Zecora saw Fluttershy while she was gathering herbs. She asked her what she was doing so far away from Ponyville, but I guess Fluttershy didn’t answer. She just kept saying the word “Shadowbolt” over and over. I don’t know what it means, but I’m going to find out.

The search parties combed the area, of course, but they didn’t find Fluttershy. I guess Zecora scared her off. At least we know she’s still alive. That means the others could be, too. Maybe my stupid spell didn’t cause such a big disaster, after all.

October 23

This has to be some kind of joke.

Rainbow Dash didn’t report for weather duty today. When Flitter and Cloudchaser went to look for her, they found a note that said “Shadowbolt.” Nopony has been able to find her.

But here’s the thing—she never saw my spell! I’ve been waiting to show her during Nightmare Night, so these disappearances can’t be related to my magic! Also, I’m pretty sure the Shadowbolts are that flying team that tried to recruit her in the Everfree Forest. This has to be some kind of prank she’s trying to pull. It’s not very funny, but that’s the only logical explanation. Pinkie denies it, but she has to be in on it. There’s no other explanation as to why Spike went so long without having problems. If anything, he should have been more affected than anyone else.

Right?

You’re wrong.

October 24

I saw Spike. He was looking right in the window. He ran away the second I saw him, but I’d know that silhouette anywhere. I don’t know why he was wearing a dark purple flight suit, but I know it was him.

Come to think of it, that flight suit matches the ones that flight team was wearing in the Everfree Forest. And didn’t Dash wear a similar costume last year? More proof that this is just a prank—a really bad prank, but a prank nonetheless!

Pinkie is having nightmares. I’m not sure what to make of that. On the one hoof, I know it’s part of the act, but at the same time, she has to see how worried everypony is. I’ll have to talk to her tomorrow.

October 25

Pinkie was very angry when I confronted her this morning. She told me she would never pull a prank like this, especially if it meant staying in the library away from all the delicious sweets at Sugar Cube Corner. What’s worse, it turns out Rainbow Dash did see the spell when she thought I wasn’t looking, and if Pinkie told me the correct date, Dash saw it nine days before her disappearance.

Tomorrow marks nine days for Pinkie. She’s sleeping soundly, just like Spike did right before he disappeared. I’ll be keeping an eye on her all night.

October 26

I can’t believe it! How could I fall asleep on the most important night of my life? I could have found all the missing ponies! I could have found Spike! How could I be so careless?

Pinkie Pie’s gone. I can’t say I’m surprised. I only wish I could have stayed up to figure out what’s going on. The mayor’s asked the princess for assistance—apparently she can alter the mail schedule if she wants. That would have been nice to know.

The princess should be sending a detachment of the Royal Guard within the next few hours. Hopefully it will help clear everything up.

You’re next.

October 27

WHAT DO YOU WANT?

Okay. Calm down, Twilight. It’s just a

There’s something outside. I don’t know what, but I definitely heard wings fluttering.

October 28

Apparently, I’m not the only one who heard strange noises last night. Ponies all over Ponyville were talking about strange hoofbeats and fluttering, and it wasn’t the Royal Guards. Everypony’s terrified that they’ll disappear next. This can’t be a joke. Even Rainbow Dash wouldn’t take it this far.

Needless to say, all Nightmare Night celebrations have been cancelled.

I’ve been trying to find out more about the history of this spell. If it’s causing all this trouble, there has to be a record of it happening before.

October 29

I saw Rarity and Applejack this morning. They were both wearing flight suits. I don’t know why. They can’t fly. But when I woke up this morning, they were outside, watching me. By the time I got outside, they were already gone, but I have a feeling they’ll be back. Hopefully I can figure out how to reverse this spell by then.

Only a few more nights, Twilight. Then you can get some sleep.

October 30

They’re coming for me. They’re outside right now. I was walking home from town hall when they attacked me. I got a barrier spell up before they got inside the library, but I know they’re still out there. I keep hearing Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy smash against the barrier. I don’t know how they haven’t passed out yet. Applejack’s been kicking at the barrier for hours, and I think Pinkie went to get her party cannon. Rarity’s doing something with her magic—I’m not sure what—and Spike keeps trying to breathe fire.

What I don’t know is why. Why are they after me? Why are they doing this? I thought I had a good library, but just like the dragons, I can’t find the history of this spell. I can’t even find the book that told me about the spell in the first place. I don’t understand why it’s made my friends do this, but it has, and I have to figure out how to stop it before it’s too late.

I think I hear the guards coming. It looks like my friends are running away, but I don’t think they’ll be gone for long.

October 31

I’m out of time. I had a dozen soldiers around the library and my strongest barrier spell between me and anypony that might try to get in. The guards are gone now, and the barrier won’t hold for much longer. If it was just my friends, I might have a chance, but there’s something else out there. Three ponies I’ve never seen before. They might be the ones I saw near the Everfree ruins, but I honestly can’t tell. I can barely keep my eyes open, much less figure out who these strange ponies are.

I have no idea how they overpowered the guards, but it doesn’t matter now. I suppose I’ll be one of them soon enough. Who would have thought my first practical joke would end like this?

The barrier’s almost gone. They’ll break through soon. I can’t stop them. I can’t fight them. All I can do is leave a warning for anypony who tries to use this spell again. Don’t. I don’t know how or why, but you will regret it.

They’ve broken through my barrier. I only have a few seconds left. The name of this spell is

Shadowbolt.