Every Rose Has Its Thorns: The Shadowbolt Memoirs
Shadowbolt Mare #2 was furious. Laying in her makeshift bed, hastily prepared by her silent assistants in an effort to calm her nerves, she thought back to the events of the past day. Not only had she failed in her quest to separate the rainbow-haired pony from her pathetic cohorts, her dark mistress had been destroyed, restoring her to the useless mare she once was. A tiny bit thankful that the dark magic that allowed her to remain in solid form was still intact, kept safe in the tattered remains of her mistress’s cutie mark that lay strewn about the ancient castle that the unicorn had confronted her in, Shadowbolt Mare #2 struggled to sit upwards in an effort to take stock and work out what to do from this point on. Stretching her uniform and her neck to their extremes to look around her as much as possible, the black-clad pegasus snorted in frustration. The sun, looming over the horizon, heated the air around her, making her tight fitting uniform moist with the perspiration streaming from Shadowbolt Mare #2’s every pore. Waving her arms around her, she looked for something, anything, to vent her frustration into. A small, twisted bushel of thorny brambles lay just out of reach, one of many such plants growing throughout the ancient ruins. Pushing herself to reach the bush, the mare growled, annoyed by the fact that she simply could not reach what she most desired.
“Shadowbolt Stallion #3!” she screamed into the room around her, “Get over here!”
She heard something drop and the rapid sound of hoofsteps coming ever closer. When the silent stallion came into view, Shadowbolt Mare #2 pointed at the small bundle of thorns and looked at her companion.
“Get me that bush. Momma needs that bush!”
The second Shadowbolt nodded quickly and, without hesitation, stepped over to the bush and picked it up with his mouth. Ignoring the thorns, he pulled swiftly at the plant, ripping it out of the dry earth that poked through the cracked tiles. Bringing it to his mistress, he dropped it into her eager hooves and went back to guard the entrance in case the unicorn or her group of accomplices returned.
The uniformed mare smiled greedily at the meagre prize that lay in front of her. Eyeing out the largest thorn she could find in the bush, Shadowbolt Mare #2 grasped it carefully in her mouth and pulled it from its stem. Dropping the remainder of the plant onto the ground next to her, the blue mare pulled the sharp spine away from her mouth with one large hoof. Waving it in the air triumphantly, she allowed herself a small smile as she began to think about what could be achieved with a simple thorn.
“You two, get over here!” she ordered to the stallions behind her. Toying with the thorn entrapped within her hoof, the mare waited until her two denizens approached before gesturing wildly with her arms, the tight material of her uniform barely able to damper the wild wobbling of her limbs as they flew about the air at incredible speeds.
“Now, listen up,” instructed Shadowbolt Mare #2 when the two other ponies stopped at a halt in front of her, “We’re going to get out of this castle to wreak vengeance on those mares who dared blaspheme against our dark goddess. However, while you probably haven’t noticed it, I’m currently unable to move. This thorn shall alleviate the pressure built up in my body and gift me with the ability to walk about once more.”
Dramatically, the blue mare lifted the sharp object up to the sky, the gleam of early morning sun glistening off the soft surface of the thorn. Thrusting it downwards, equally as dramatically, Shadowbolt Mare #2 thrust the spine deep into her upper chest, the sharp tip easily penetrating the fabric of her uniform and her soft, blue skin. A deep hiss began to emanate from where the thorn punctured, quickly building up in both volume and speed until it was all the three ponies could hear, the primeval sound ringing in their ears. Pulling the thorn out of her body, the mare grinned, satisfied, as a deep blue cloud began to pour out of the deep wound. As the mysterious gas began to fill the room, the Shadowbolt realised her plan had worked, she was slowly beginning to shrink. The cloud was getting larger now, almost the size of a full-grown pony, and wasn’t prepared to stop. Shadowbolt Mare #2 shuddered in terror as she realised this, trying to plug the wound with her hoof, her loose skin, anything that could stop the leak. All efforts useless, the grey-clad pegasus continued to deflate, the gas escaping from her body that was by now a puddle of loose, blue skin lying forlornly on the cracked tiles. The stallions didn’t move as their mistress finally collapsed, the last of her body contents expelled from her. The hissing sound abruptly stopped, and the cloud of blue smoke, now almost three times as large as a fully grown pony, dissipated throughout the ruined castle.
Shadowbolt Mare #2’s body wobbled as she attempted to move without anything inside her. Flopping about like a deformed jellyfish, the blue pony was satisfied to note that she still had control over her body, despite its lack of contents.
“You,” she managed to breath out in a wheeze, “You, stallion. Get over here.”
The male Shadowbolt obliged, stepping closer to the pile of skin that was spread out over the floor. The blue mare managed to move her head slightly, letting it succumb to gravity and flop down to the side so that she could see the other pony clearly.
“Climb into my mouth,” she ordered, opening her engorged frontal cavity with a large amount of effort. Unrestrained by bones or muscle, her mouth, stretched to its extremes when she was still whole, could easily fit a pony in it. Without hesitation, the second Shadowbolt placed a hoof into the mouth of his mistress and, noticing that she could not feel the pressure of his body against her skin, climbed all the way in.
“You too!” she ordered to the last remaining stallion, “I’ll need the two of you for this to work properly!”
The second Shadowbolt similarly climbed into the gaping hole, squatting next to his companion. Shadowbolt Mare #2, satisfied, rolled her skin over so it covered the bodies of the two stallions, suffocating them in the process. Her once-loose rolls of skin, now draped over the dead remains of her colleagues, shifted into position to stretch over the stallions, puppeteering their limbs in order to once again move. Stepping on a shaky hoof, the blue mare managed to pull herself upwards so that she was standing. Smiling, she tested out her new wings. Loose skin flew about as she flapped the bones and muscles of one of the other Shadowbolts, creating a dark flopping sound as they collided with her back. Bringing herself into a gentle hovering position, Shadowbolt Mare #2 thought about the rainbow-haired pegasus and grinned triumphantly. Slowly beginning to fly upwards and away from the castle, the mare set off in the direction of Ponyville, eager to exact her revenge.
