Believing in Something that is True

by Nightglimmer22

Chapter 10: Life up in smoke

Chapter edited by: Brickbrock24

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Glimmer opened her eyes and looked around the room, startled by where she was. She sat up and shook her head to get the sleep out of her mind. She looked out the window and saw that the sun had risen. Glimmer trotted out of the guest room to into the mare shower rooms. It had been a while since Glimmer had taken a shower due to all of the excitement, and the rancid odor coming off her body wasn’t doing her nostrils any good. The warm water felt great on her back as Glimmer hopped into the shower. As she scrubbed shampoo into her hair, she thought about her dream from last night. If anypony would be able to figure what the meaning was behind the nightmare, it would be Spitfire. After she toweled off, Glimmer trotted out of the shower room and towards Spitfire’s office.

---

Glimmer trotted to Spitfire's office and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" a mare’s voice sounded from behind the door.
"Nightglimmer," Glimmer called.
"Oh, come in!" said the mare’s voice. Glimmer trotted in while thanking Spitfire for her generosity of letting her stay in the guest room.
"I should be the one thanking you, Glimmer. You are the one who has decided fulfil the prophecy to help the Wonderbolts fight the Shadowbolts. I understand how it might be hard for you to stand up to your mother." Glimmer wasn’t sure how to respond to this remark, so she simply nodded.
"I had a dream last night, about my mother,” You, my dad, and my grandfather were in the dream too." Glimmer said in an attempt to avoid answering Spitfire's previous statement. Thankfully Spitfire understood and asked,
"If you don’t mind me asking, who is your grandfather?"
"Easy Glider,” answered Glimmer, “I know there is was an Easy Glider here as a Wonderbolt, but I wasn't sure if it was really him. The colorings are different."
"Ah, Commander Easy Glider. Indeed, that is the same stallion. There was a time that all of the Wonderbolt recruits had to participate in a training drill. This training was to see how they would react against the Shadowbolts," said Spitfire, chuckling as she recollected her memories, "I remember when we had to dress up as different ponies so we wouldn't be seen by the "Shadowbolts," and Easy Glider had the best costume. He had his name shortened, and the tips of his wings were frosted to a darker color of his blue fur. We made sure that his new look stayed with the Wonderbolts even after he died."
"Oh, that makes a lot more sense," Glimmer said, giggling as well, "So you knew him pretty well?"
"You could say that. He was, in fact, my mentor."
"Really?" Glimmer said astounded, "There are a lot of things that I am just learning now. It feels like I just woke up from a dream and was placed here."
"Yes, indeed he was! A great one, in fact. I suppose everypony has been through that. Now, back to your dream. I might know somepony who knows a thing or two about them," Spitfire said as she opened a drawer from the desk and pulled out a scroll and quill. "Glimmer, would you be a dear and light a candle so I can send this scroll?"
"Yeah, sure," said Gimmer as she looked around for a candle and some matches. Two minutes later, she found what she had been seeking and had a flame burning on the wick of a small candle.
"Perfect!" Spitfire said as she light to scroll on fire, the scroll then turned into green vapor and traveled out of the open office window that Spitfire opened prior. “Any minute now and we should be getting a visitor." Spitfire said smiling.
Glimmer pondered who the visitor might be. She would have asked Spitfire, but she didn't want to interrupt her as she had begun to do some paperwork after the message was sent. Glimmer sat herself down on one of the couches and waited for the visitor.

---

A blue aura suddenly surrounded the doorknob. The twisted and the office door swung open, letting a blue alicorn enter the office.
"Thou hast called for me?" the mare asked as she walked in.
"Princess Luna, so glad of you to join us. Glimmer has told me about a dream she has had and we were wondering what it means." Spitfire said as she trotted over to the couch next to Glimmer.
“Thou hast my undivided attention, Nightglimmer,” said Princess Luna as she sat herself down on the couch opposite of Spitfire and Glimmer, “Please, tell me about this dream thou had.”
"Princess," Glimmer got up from the couch and bowed before the princess of the night, "I had a dream about my mother. She talked to me about ruling Equestria with her. If I didn't, all of my loved ones would die. What does this mean?"

---

"Lady Nightshade?" The dark navy colored stallion said as he trotted into the throne room, then bowed before his master, "We have received some more news from our scouts. Spitfire is planning something! I believe that they know what we are up to!"
"How can they know what we’re up to? I literally just came up with our plan last night!” said Nightshade, “I’m just a mare trying to enjoy some hors d'oeuvres, and I can’t go five minutes without being alerted about that rat Spitfire!”
"Well, you told us to report any news about the Wonderbolts to you, My Liege,” said Darkflight, “Anyway, that’s not all. I fear the Wonderbolts may be planning an attack of their own!” Nightshade took a minute to soak in what her subject just told her. She thought about it as she popped a chocolate-covered truffle in her mouth and chewed it vigorously.
“Looks like we’re going to have to make some changes to our plan,” she finally said, “We’re still going to raid the Weather Factory as scheduled, but I agree that the possibility of a Wonderbolt attack cannot be ignored.”
“So, what are you going to do, Lady Nightshade?” asked Commander Darkflight.
“I am going to the Wonderbolt Academy to see if I can get any last minute information about my daughter. If I’m not back by the time we are scheduled to attack, then you are to lead our troops in my absence until I return. I am also trusting you to come up with a backup plan in case of any “complications” we might encounter.”
"It shall be done, My Lady," said Darkflight, bowing to her once more.
"Don't disappoint me, Darkflight. I assure you that I will not tolerate failure.”
"No, of course not, My Lady. You can count on me. I wish you luck on your infiltration mission," said Darkflight as he turned and left the room.
I don’t need luck! I’m the very definition of power! thought Nightshade as she trotted out of the throne room and into the lobby of the fortress. Two Shadowbolt guards were stationed at the exit. When they saw their mistress trotting closer, they stepped aside, stood at attention, and allowed her to pass. Once Nightshade was outside, she lifted her wide wings and began to flap them. The sun was just beginning to set as she took off towards to the Wonderbolt Academy.
Nightshade dropped down onto the Wonderbolt Academy platform and trotted towards the door. With a quick glow of her eyes, Nightshade used her magic to change to color of her coat from its normal blue hue to a warm yellow color. Her mane turned to a shamrock green color with pink highlights. The full grown mare turned into a young adult.
"Who goes there?" a stallion guard asked as the mare trotted up to them.
"I am here for Wonderbolt training, which I’m pretty sure will be starting in a few moments," lied Nightshade.
"What's your name, youngling?"
Youngling?! thought Nightshade, anger beginning to grow in her body. It took a great deal of willpower for her to hold her tongue, I should rip off your wings for calling me that!
"Lightbeam," Nightshade said in her friendliest tone. She had made up this name back at the fortress for occasions such as this.
"I'm sorry, but your name isn't on the list for today’s training," the stallion said as he looked over the list he was holding in his hoof, “I’m afraid you’ll have to come back later.”
"Hey, I think I see somepony hiding in those clouds over there!" Nightshade suddenly uttered as she pointed her hoof towards a random cloud to her left.
“What? Where?!” said the guard as he turned his head where Nightshade was pointing. Nightshade smiled as the guard fell for her little diversion. Seizing the opportunity, she used her magic to quickly summon a quill and scribbled her fake name on the clipboard.
“Um, I didn’t see anything,” said the guard with a grimace on his face, “Are you just pulling my leg?”
“No, I’m pretty sure I saw somepony there,” lied Nightshade, “Anyway, are you sure my name’s not on that list?”
“Do I really have to repeat myself?” said the guard in a slightly irked tone, “I already told you, your name isn’t-” he stopped his sentence short when he saw that the name ‘Lightbeam’ was on the list. He stared at the list with a dumbfounded look on his face. He then looked up at Nightshade and send in embarrassment, “Oh... It, um, looks like your name is on the list after all. Um, my bad…”
"So, are you going to let me in or not?” asked Nightshade.
“Oh, why yes,” said the guard, “You may pass.”
“Thank you,” said Nightshade as she walked past the guards. When she got out of hearing range, she murmured under her breath, “Suckers!”

---

"Glimmer, thine mother just wants to be with thou, but thou and her think different thoughts," explained Princess Luna.
"I'll say," said Glimmer, rolling her eyes. Glimmer began to feel faint. She clutched her head with her hooves as more memories of the past flooded into her mind. Glimmer then collapsed onto the office floor and slipped into an unconscious state.

---

"Alright, time for bed, my little filly," A mare cooed as she placed down a bundle of aqua blue fur and feathers into the bed.
"Mommy!" The filly squealed and lifted her hooves to indicate she wanted to be picked up and cradled.
"No, sweetheart, not tonight. It’s late and you must get some sleep," the mare said as she turned off the side table lamp and turned on a nightlight next the the bed.
"Good night," the mare said quietly as she closed the door, letting only a crack of the hallway light to shine through. The filly stared at the ceiling above her. She twisted and turned, trying to get comfortable in her little bed. The filly was just about to drift off when she heard the yelling of two ponies. Quietly, the filly hopped out of bed and crept closer to the door to listen to the conversation.
"I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Cloud Dancer,” she heard a stallion’s voice utter, “These twisted ideas, it isn't you! Stop this craziness! I beg of you!" The filly recognized the voice as her father’s.
"I assure you I’m not having an identity crisis, Thunderskies!” yelled the other voice, “How could you say no to such a brilliant offer? I’ve never felt more alive! With this new power within my veins, we can overthrow those pampered alicorns and claim the throne of Equestria in our family’s name!”
"This isn't right," Thunderskies said pleadingly, “What happened to the gracious, caring mare that I met and fell in love with?”
"You know what isn't right? This! Our so called 'love!’ If you really loved me, you wouldn’t be such a coward! Please, my dear, join me on my hunt for power! We can rule this realm as a family!"
"I love you, Cloud Dancer, but I can’t do this. I am loyal to Equestria. I have a job and a child to take care of. Please, think of our little filly. Is this really the kind of example you want to set for our daughter?"
“It’s better than what you want to do with her, Thunderskies!” snapped Cloud Dancer, “I will not stand by and watch you turn Glimmer into a lowly pawn at the Weather Factory! I could make her into a princess, Thunderskies! I will ask you one more time, will you take my hoof and join me on my quest?”
“I will not drag myself and Glimmer into your crazy dream for power,” responded Thunderskies in solemn, firm tone.
"Fine! I see there’s no changing your mind, you cowardly mule! I never want to see you again!” the mare screamed.
A purple light reflected off the walls of the hall, the filly inched closer to see what was going on. but only to see her mother wrapped in a purple aura. Her eyes were like two searing purple flames that illuminated with mesmerizing brightness. Her expression was dark and full of spite. She glanced at Thunderskies and said,
“Mark my words, Thunderskies, you will regret this night!” She looked away from her husband and flew out the door, vanishing into the night.

---

Nightshade found Openskies sitting at the cafeteria biting into a sandwich.
"Openskies!" Nightshade hissed.
"Huh?" Openskies looked up from his sandwich, "Oh, uh, may I help you?"
"Yes you can, get over here!" Nightshade said as she pulled him out of his seat and rushed him out of the cafeteria.
"Um, Do I know you?" he asked, a bit frightened that some random mare was putting him in this uncomfortable situation, “I’ve never seen your face before. Are you new?”
"Oh, I'm pretty sure you know who I am!" Nightshade changed her voice from a high pitched mare’s voice to a lower, older, more ominous voice as she said, “Let’s see if this voice jogs your memory!”
"N-Nightshade!" Openskies eyes widened.
"Oh, don't look at me like I'm crazy!" Nightshade scolded, "You’re going to spill everything you know about what the Wonderbolts are up to, you lowly insect! What’s Nightglimmer plotting with Spitfire and her father?!"
"I-I d-don't know anything, I swear!" Openskies stammered, terrified of the pony interrogating him. He felt like he was standing face-to-face with Death himself.
"Lying will only make this worse for you!" yelled Nightshade, “Unless you want to go home in a box, I suggest you start talking!”
"I'm just a trainer and tour guide, I don't know anything about that!" Openskies said as he put his hoofs up in the air in a "please have mercy" type of manner.
"Then let me show you what happens to pawns that are worthless to me!" Nightshade's eyes grew purple again. Openskies backed away slowly, but it didn't do him much good for he had backed into a wall. "I’m going to send you to the depths of Everfree Forest, where you will be imprisoned for an eternity!"
“N-no, please! Have mercy, Nightshade!” begged Openskies as a magic orb began to materialize around him.
“Be gone from my sight, you whelp!” Nightshade yelled as she teleported Openskies to the Everfree forest. Nightshade turned to see if anypony had witnessed what she did. Sure enough, a light violet mare with an amber mane stood in utter shock with her mouth ajar.
"What are you looking at?” said Nightshade bitterly, “I simply gave him a vacation! Didn’t your parents tell you that it’s rude to stare at others like that!"
The mare stood aghast, not daring to utter a word. Overwhelmed by the potent sense of shock, she collapsed like a ragdoll and fainted.
“Oh great, another fainter,” Nightshade sighed. She walked over to the unconscious body and gave it a light kick to confirm that the mare was out cold. “I can’t have you telling anypony about this when you wake up, now can I?”
"Just to make sure you don't spread rumors." Nightshade's eyes turned purple, which caused a purple magic aura to appear. It wrapped around the mare and, within a few minutes, all of her memories of the past few minutes erupted from her head.
“Hehehe… Another batch of memories for my collection!” chuckled Nightshade as she teleported the memories to a vault in the Shadowbolt Fortress, “Have a nice nap!” Nightshade stepped over the mare’s limp body and headed for the exit.

---

Ugh, wh-where am I? thought Glimmer as she woke up from her dream and looked around. She was alone in her guest room, tucked in her bed. The air was quiet, save for the the faint whistle of the breeze that slipped in through the slightly ajar window. It was around dusk when she woke up. Before she could try to think about what the meaning of her recent dream was, her attention focused to the two mares entering the room. One of the mares was a yellow coat and eyes like mud. Her mane was an eggplant purple color tied back in a ponytail. The other had an azure coat with jade-like eyes. Her mane looked like a raging fire being pushed back by a strong gust of wind. Both of the mares were wearing nurse outfits.
“Why, hello there, Glimmer!” said the yellow mare in a bright sing-song voice as she approached the bed, “How are you feeling? Good? Bad? Slightly in the middle?”
“Um, I’m alright, I guess…” murmured Glimmer, rubbing her head as she continued to suffer from a slight migraine. Glimmer noticed that the azure mare had closed the door behind her partner and locked it. “Where’s Nurse Golden Wave?” The two nurses exchanged a look with each other, smiled, and looked back at Glimmer. Despite the fact that Glimmer was as snug as a bug in her toasty, comfortable bed, she couldn’t help but feel a sudden coldness that enveloped her. What could it be? She looked at the open window. It was a bit nippy that evening, but Glimmer doubted that the coldness from there would be able to penetrate the three layers of sheets that covered her.
“Don’t worry about. Golden Wave’s on break right now,” said the yellow mare as she turned her head back to face Glimmer, “But don’t worry, we’ll take care of you tonight!”
“What are your names?” asked Glimmer.
“That’s not important,” quickly responded the azure mare standing by the door, “After all, what’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet! What matters is that we’re here to help you get through this difficult moment!”
That’s odd, why wouldn’t you two want to tell me your names? thought Glimmer, unsure how to respond to what was happening, Don’t doctors and nurses do that for reassurance or something?
“Anyway, Glimmer, before we give you some medicine, I believe we should let you know that you have two appointments in the future.”
“Appointments? What appointments?” said Glimmer.
“Well, tomorrow, you’ve got to meet with Spitfire and Luna and discuss your dreams or visions or whatever the heck you want to call them,” said the yellow mare, “But the other appointment we can actually push to right now!”
“Really, what is it?” asked Glimmer.
“Oh, it involves you meeting a very special mare that is just dying to see you!” said the yellow mare. Glimmer couldn’t help but notice that this nurse had a slight foxy smile on her face, “She’s beautiful, wise, and a glorious leader!”
“She also looks great wearing a crown,” contributed the azure nurse.
“Princess Celestia?” said Glimmer, taking a guess at who this ‘special mare’ could be.
“Not quite!”
“Is it Princess Luna?”
“Nope!”
“Alright, I give up.” said Glimmer, shrugging her shoulders. Her head was already pounding from her migraine, and she didn’t want to overload it with possible answers to the nurse’s riddle, “Who is it?”
The two nurses looked at each other again and smiled. But these smiles filled the room with an ominous air. They began to snicker, which then progressed to sinister laughter. Glimmer noticed that their voices were no longer the sweet nurse voices that she heard a few minutes ago. Their voices were now deeper, and they sent a chill up Glimmer’s spine.
“You’re gonna have an audience with Lady Nightshade!” laughed the yellow mare. To Glimmer’s horror, the two nurses pulled off the realistic, rubbery masks they were wearing on their faces, revealing their dark navy blue coats. They tore themselves out of the rubber, yet lifelike, suits they wore over their real bodies. Glimmer immediately recognized the dark flight suits the two pretenders were wearing. They were just like the ones that her father described to her when he told her the story of how he met Cloud Dancer.
“Shadowbolts!” Glimmer gasped. She tried to get herself out of bed, but the Shadowbolt agent retracted his wings and pointed the blades attached to them at Glimmer, within mere inches of her face.
“I would stay quite still if I were you, little girl!” said the Shadowbolt agent maliciously, “Lady Nightshade might need you alive, but she doesn’t necessarily need you unspoiled!”
“How awesome has our day become!” said the other agent with excitement, “First, they serve tater tots in the mess hall for lunch, and now we get to bag ourselves a prize that will promote us to the top ranks! Pinch me, I’ve gotta be dreaming!”
“I still can’t believe the one destined to stop us is this little Wonderbolt-wannabe!” laughed the Shadowbolt holding his blades to Glimmer’s neck. He looked down at his victim and said, “She’s pretty, I’ll give her that.”
“It’s only logical,” said the agent by the door, “She’s the mistress’s flesh and blood. It makes perfect sense that she has her beauty.”
“Alright, Glimmer, time for us to depart! We mustn't keep the master waiting!” laughed the other Shadowbolt agent, “Get outta the bed and walk slowly towards my partner over there. One wrong move, and I’m gonna introduce you to new forms of pain!”
Glimmer got out of the bed and slowly walked towards the agent that was once dressed like the azure nurse. She saw him reaching into the toolbelt on his flight suit and pulling out numerous bundles of rope. She was terrified what was happening to her. Would her mother really organize a kidnapping like this? Glimmer didn’t want to think too hard about it, she had to figure out how she was going to get out of this predicament. As she got closer to the agent with the ropes, she looked at the other agent prodding her. She was standing awfully close to her, a little too close for comfort.
“Alright, hold out your hooves, little chosen-one!” said the Shadowbolt by the door, “I’m gonna bind ‘em nice and tight.” Suddenly, a thunderous siren sound blasted through the building and the rest of the academy.
“Oh cheese and crackers! Did we set off the alarm?!” shouted the Shadowbolt agent by the door.
“No, it couldn’t have been us!” said the other agent. He looked away from Glimmer for a moment and stared out the window, “I bet some dummy out there blew his cover!” Glimmer saw the agent get distracted and quickly seized the opportunity to escape. With a both of her back hooves, she quickly turned and kicked the Shadowbolt agent as hard as she could. She then punched the agent with the ropes square in the nose and made a mad dash for the open window.
Thank goodness for those emergency drills! thought Glimmer as she spread her wings and prepared to take off.
“Oooooow! My nose! I think she broke my nose!” squealed the Shadowbolt agent, who was on her knees and clutching her busted nose with her hooves.
“Never mind your nose, you idiot!” yelled the other agent, looking at Glimmer, who had just flown out the window, “Our catch is getting away!”
Glimmer flew faster than she had had ever flown before. She was flapping her wings so fast that she was worried that they might catch on fire. The Wonderbolt Academy was no longer safe. She had to flee. As she flew away from the academy, she looked back and saw the Shadowbolt agents were chasing her.
“I’m gonna split you in half, you little brat!” screamed the first one.
“I can’t keep up with this pegasus!” panted the second Shadowbolt, whose nose Glimmer had broken, “Lady Nightshade didn’t tell us that she was this fast!”
“Quit your whining and stay on target!” scolded the first agent. Glimmer was way ahead of them. She needed a way to shake them off her tail. Without even thinking, Glimmer decided to quickly dive down through the thick layer of clouds below her. The Shadowbolts, not expecting this course of action, went through the cloud layer as well. But by the time they got through the clouds, Glimmer was nowhere to be found.
“Are you freaking kidding me right now!” growled the Shadowbolt agent in absolute fury. He frantically scanned the Equestria landscape below him with the hopes that his eyes might spot Glimmer, but to no avail, “How the heck did we screw this up?! Now I’m not gonna be taking a bath in pool of gold coins when we get back to the fortress!”
“What do you mean ‘we?!’” said his partner, “You’re the one who looked out the window and allowed her to pull a stunt like that!”
“Let’s not dwell on this blunder too much! Nightglimmer is down on the surface somewhere. We must report this to Lady Nightshade!
“Agreed! Hey, maybe we can make up for this by doing a good job at the Weather Factory raid tonight!”
“Yeah! I’m super excited! I’ve always wanted to take control of a supercell storm cloud!”