Feeling began to return to her body, beginning in her hooves and spreading throughout her body. Sensation reached her head and her vison and hearing returned to her in force, staggering her. Catching herself before she collapse, Rainbow Dash shook her head, clearing it and bringing the spinning room to a halt.

"The vertigo is normal, you will grow accustom to it in time."

Rainbow looked sideways at Sombra, his now trademark smirk sat in its usual place as he regarded her with crimson eyes.

Rainbow began to look about the room they now currently occupied. It was a large rectangular room with a high ceiling, the floor and walls were the same onyx colour as the rest of the fortress but polished to such a shine that they appeared as a silent lake at night.

"Where are we?" Rainbow Dash asked, having gleaned nothing from her observations.

"We are currently in an empty room on the east side of the fortress"

Rainbow turned to face Sombra, an annoyed look on her face. "Care to add some more detail? What did you bring me here for?"

Sombra walked past Rainbow towards the center of the room. "I brought you here to finish your initiation. You are Shadowbolt but only in name." He reached the center of the room and turned to face her. "Now we shall remedy that."

Rainbow Dash eyed Sombra. "What do you mean?"

HIs eyes glowed brightly as he spoke. "In the days before the fall, Pegasus recruited into the Shadowbolts swore oaths of fealty to the ruler of the Crystal Empire and proved that loyalty by taking the life of an enemy, upon completing these two tasks the recruit would then undergo a ritual to become a full member. As captain of the new order, I have a slightly modified version of the ritual for you to undertake."

"Ok so? Let’s get on with it then." Rainbow said.

"You don’t want to know about the ritual or why you must undertake it?"

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof dismissingly. "Not really, I never was one for history lessons. If you want to be a stickler for tradition that’s fine by me. Just do whatever it is you have to do so we can get back to Twilight."

Sombra smiled, showing fangs. "Very well, come stand here." He moved away from the center of the room and indicated for Rainbow to take his place. She did, standing where he had been previously.

He walked several feet away before facing Rainbow who remained at the center of the room. Sombra's horn glowed with magic as he raised his right hoof into the air and began tracing lines in front of his face.

As Rainbow watched nothing seemed to be happening. She glanced to her left and was surprised to see that silver lines were etching themselves into the floor. The lines were continuous, weaving to and fro connecting themselves to one another until finally it closed itself inside a circle.

She looked back to Sombra, he had placed his hoof back on the ground but now his eyes were closed and his lips moved silently Rainbow Dash began to fidget in place. Fear began to creep into her heart as she resisted the urge to flee.

"Do not move. It will consume you if you do."

Rainbow Dash froze as Sombra's voice spoke inside her mind. The fear turned into terror, she breathed shallowly through her nose, moving as little as possible.

"Fear not, I have it contained. We can converse with our minds if you so wish."

"What’s contained? What is it?!" She thought frantically.

"Calm yourself, Shadowbolt. You are in no danger so long as you do not move."

She glanced sideways towards the circle next to her. Inside floating a few feet off the floor was a faint swirling mass, around the mass was a faint shimmering aura.

She forced herself to calm down. "What is that?" she thought with clarity.

"That." Sombra's voice answered her. "Is your namesake. That's a Shadowbolt."

"What?!" She screamed internally.

"Do I take it you’re interested in a history lesson now?" Even in her head, Rainbow could hear the smugness in his voice.

Her face became flushed with anger but her thoughts were clear. "Yes, please."

Sombra’s eyes open and he spoke with his mind even as his lips continued to move silently. "Shadowbolts are beings of the void. Void spirits if you will. They are the living essence which dwell in the space between worlds. The Shadowbolts of old would bind these spirits into an amulet allowing them to use some of their power. I have a better method."

His lips stopped moving and there was a brief flash from the circle. Sombra motioned for her to remain still. He slowly approached the circle with the spirit contained inside. "Are you ready, Shadowbolt?" He said aloud.

Still afraid to speak Rainbow answered with her mind. "Ready for what?"

"The method of binding the spirits into a bauble was limiting. Only a small fraction of that power could be channeled but my time in the void taught me much." He smiled, fangs bared. "I’m going to infuse your body with the void spirit."

Rainbows eyes widen in fear but she still did not move.

"I will strip its consciousness from it and combine its essence with yours. You will become something new, a being of the material and the nothing. A hybrid."

Beads of sweat began to form on Rainbow Dashes face as her eyes darted between the void spirit and Sombra. “But…I…” her thoughts trailed off as fear and confusion clouded her mind.

“Rainbow Dash.” Sombra said soothingly, using her real name. “You would use your sword to cut down any who dared oppose Twilight and no mortal could stop you.” He stepped closer to her, speaking softly but forcefully. “But what will you do when we have cut our way through the mortals to face the gods themselves? What then? You would become a liability, no matter your strength or prowess. The Alicorns would destroy you where you stood.” His eyes pulsated with furious red energy. “This is the only way you can be of use to Twilight.”

Sombra leaned in, mere inches from her face. Rainbows vision was eclipsed by two blood red orbs. “What say you?” he said aloud.

His eyes burned into hers, his words reverberated inside her mind, blocking out all thoughts and emotions, silencing the maelstrom that was her conscious, bringing peace and clarity.

“Yes.”

“Excellent.” He hissed. Stepping back his horn ignited, there was a flash beneath her, glancing down Rainbow saw a circle similar to that of the one beside her. She felt a slight pressure on her body, like she was being pulled somewhere. She looked back to Sombra whose mouth moved silently again as the magic in his horn grew brighter and brighter.

The pressure increased, she could feel a distinct tug, pulling her in the direction of the void spirit. Sombra began to speak aloud, a low guttural language that sent shivers down her spine, he raised his fore hooves into the air and pointed one at her and the other at the void spirit.

With a flash of magic he brought both hooves to his face, slamming them together. Rainbow Dash screamed as her entire body erupted in pain. She could feel every inch of her being torn open and compressed as flaming liquid replaced the blood in her veins. Tears that streamed down her face turned to molten metal as they burned a path into her skin. She fell to the floor, writhing in pain as it consumed her every thought.

Her screams died down as the energy sustaining them ran out. In the silence that followed, faint laughter could be heard.

The pain was the first thing to awake, not burning agonizing pain but pain of living. The kind that proves you are alive. The pain was lonely at first but it soon found cold nearby and the two joined, together they found pressure and numbness. As one they stirred conscious and it then awoke thoughts and nerves.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, slowly but the blinding light prevented her from doing so. She found herself lying on her back, her wings stretched out at uncomfortable angles. She tried to roll to her side but found her head swimming at the notion.

“With tremendous effort, Rainbow managed to roll to her side and clasp her wings to her back. Still unable to open her eyes she simply lay there as energy slowly returned to her body. Time passed and she mustered the strength to shift to a sitting position. With her legs beneath her she pushed and with some protest stood up.

Her head swam but she held her position, swaying slightly as the nauseous passed. Cracking her eyelids she saw that the light was gone, allowing her to finally open her eyes fully. She was in the same room as before, turning slowly she saw the remains of the two circles burned into the floor. Even as she look at them, memories began to return to her.

“Ah I see you are awake. How are you feeling?”

Rainbow Dash turned her head back around and saw Sombra standing several feet away from her. She opened her mouth to reply but found her tongue was rather thick. Opening and closing her mouth several times seemed to alleviate that feeling.

“Like I have the worst hangover ever.” She said bluntly in a raspy voice.

Sombra chuckled softly. “You are fortunate then, I expected much worse side effects. Please, allow me.” His horn glowed softly and Rainbow felt warm waves pass over her, restoring her energy and removing the fog from her mind.

“Oh wow is that better!” She exclaimed, arching her back and rolling her neck, eliciting several loud pops from the joints. She beamed at Sombra. “Thanks for that!

“Sombra bowed low. “Happy to help. You will need your energy for what comes next.” He looked up sharply as his eyes and horn flashed red. A red crystal spear materialized in the air directly in front of him before speeding towards Rainbow Dash. Realizing she would not be able to evade it she closed her eyes and braced herself for its impact.

Rainbow Dash heard a sharp crack from behind her but oddly no pain. Opening her eyes tentatively she saw that Sombra had moved to the left several feet and was watching her intently with a smirk on his face. She looked behind her to see the crystal spear was buried in the wall some distance behind her and to her left. She turned back with a confused look on her face.

Before she could say anything, Sombra again conjured a red crystal spear and hurled it at her, her body reacted faster than her mind but not fast enough. Just before the spear reached her she felt herself move rapidly to the side, coming to a stop several feet away just as the spear imbedded itself into eh wall behind where she was previously standing.

“Did I just teleport?!” She said aloud, looking to Sombra just as he conjured half a dozen spears and flung them in her direction. Again her body reacted and she could feel herself moving faster than she ever thought possible, neatly dodging each spear as they sped past. It was odd, none of her muscles were propelling her out of the path of the spears, she just moved.

As the last spear buried itself in the wall, Sombra stomped a hoof on the ground rhythmically. “Well done, it seems the ritual was a complete success.” He ceased his stomping and walked towards Rainbow Dash. “Now you are truly worthy of being called Shadowbolt.”

Rainbow Dash lifted her right hoof to her face and gazed intently at it. “So I can teleport now?” She put her hoof down and looked at Sombra. “What else can I do?”

“Technically it’s not teleportation. Under the circumstances it would be more appropriate to call it Shadow stepping. You now contain the essence of the void inside of you and as such partially exist within it. As I just demonstrated you have the ability to pass out of this plane of existence, useful for dodging or traveling short distances quickly and quietly. As for what else.”

His horn glowed again and a small crystal dagger formed in the air between them. “Take this dagger.” He said, offering it to Rainbow. She reached out with her mouth to grasp its hilt but just as she was about to bite down, Sombra twisted the blade and cut a long gash across her face. Rainbow Dash jumped back with a snarl but stopped when the pain in her face began to fade. By the time her hoof reached her face the pain was completely gone and she could find no trace of a wound.

“Rapid healing.” He said. “You will also have a much higher resistance to magic and should fatigue less quickly than before. These are only the first of many new abilities that will become known to you.”

Dropping her hoof back to the ground, Rainbow Dash focused on the new feeling inside her. In an instant she was several feet into eh air, flapping her wings gently. Again she was across the room, she shadow stepped one final time, coming to a rest in front of Sombra. “This is awesome!” she exclaimed happily. “Wait till Twilight sees what I can do!”

He smiled at her as she happily hovered in the air. “I am sure she will be quite pleased, but…”

Before he could finish, Rainbow Dash was gone. A mass of shadows where she was prior fading away just as quickly. He sighed and shook his head, a slight smirk playing on his lips before he to faded into shadows.