//------------------------------//
// Chaper One 
// Story: The Friendship Fighters 
// by FeatheredWings 
//------------------------------//

	It was raining in Cloudsdale this fateful night. A young filly was peering out her window at the streets below, waiting for her parents to come home. She sighed and walked over to her bed. She jumped up and landed with a soft thump.

“GAH! How long is this supposed to take?!” she screamed impatiently. She buried her head in her pillow and yelled. She looked up and propped her head up with her hoof. She looked around her room. She saw some papers on her desk. She stood up on wobbly legs on her bed and carefully trotted over to her desk and looked at the papers.

“Shadow? Are you okay? I heard you scream,” said a concerned voice from outside the door. Her brother opened it slowly. His midnight blue mane shimmered in the moonlight. He opened the door all the way and slowly walked over to wear his sister was standing. Her black mane and dark grey coat made it hard to see her in the dark.

“It’s okay Thunder Bolt. I’m just having a hard time waiting for Momma and Daddy to come home. How long do you think it will take?” Shadow Bolt asked her big brother. She gave him the puppy dog eyes, eagerly waiting the answer.

“It depends. It may take until morning,” Thunder said with a frown. Shadow gained a shocked expression as she stared at her brother wide eyed.

“Until morning?! I can’t wait until morning! I wanna see my new baby sister RIGHT NOW!” Shadow bellowed at the top of her lungs. She buried her head into Thunder’s shoulder and sighed loudly.

“I felt the same way about you. I think I said the same thing to my stuffed bear,” Thunder said in an attempt to calm his raging sister. Shadow Bolt chuckled quietly.

“Because Boogie the Bear is mmf,” Shadow said before she was interrupted by a hoof shoved in her mouth.

“You know about him?” asked Thunder nervously. His ears were flattened and his face was turning a bright red. Shadow Bolt smiled and nodded at her now embarrassed brother. 

“Everypony in Cloudsdale knows about Boogie. You take him with you where ever you go and it is always sticking out of your saddle bags,” Shadow Bolt said. Thunder started to bang his head on Shadow’s desk.

“OW! What the. Where did you get these?” Thunder said shuffling through the papers on her desk. He stared to read one. “Solve the equation using the Quadratic Formula. Why do you have MY homework in YOUR room? These are due when the weekend is over!” He narrowed his eyes at Shadow.

“I just noticed them there when you walked in! I never put them there unless. You forgot whose room is whose and accidentally came into mine AGAIN,” the young filly said. She smiled mischievously. 

“Erm. Maybe I just, um. Uhhhhhhh. LOOK OVER THERE!”  He shouted loudly causing Shadow Bolt to look. Then he darted out the room, slamming the door behind him. Shadow rolled her eyes and yawned. She looked at the clock on her wall. The hands read 11:51 P.M. She yawned once more. She slowly walked towards her bed and dragged herself onto it. She was on her stomach. She wriggled her body forward to her pillow. She used front hooves and wings to launch herself. She landed straight on top of her pillow. She sighed and wriggled herself down. She rolled over on her back when she got her head on her pillow. She closed her eyes and slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Thunder was in his room tapping his hoof on his desk. He had a cup nearing the edge and his pushed it towards the center. He had drunk eight cups of coffee and was having a hard time calming down. He exhaled loudly through his nostrils and tried to stand still. He started to shake. He dashed out of his room and down the stairs and belly flopped onto the couch.

“No more. No more coffee for the rest of my life. I will never listen to my friends again,” he said as he was face down in the couch cushions. He flapped his wings light and his torso started to lift off. He flapped a lighter and now his hooves were barely resting on the cushions. He added a little more power, but it was too much. His wings went the speed of a humming bird’s. He rocketed towards the ceiling and cleared it. He inhaled sharply when he looked at the carnage. He looked around and grabbed some cloud and stuffed it in the hole. He smoothed it out on top and nodded in approval. He then sighed and went back inside. His eyes widened when he looked at the ceiling. He quickly smoothed it out and threw the excess cloud out the window.

“You really ought to be more careful, you know,” said a dazed Shadow Bolt from the top of the staircase. She slowly walked down them and nearly tripped several times. She yawned and opened her mouth as wide as she could. She closed it and smacked her lips together. Thunder was still a little startled when Shadow started for the kitchen.

“I. I just had some….. Extra energy?” Thunder Bolt said shrugging his shoulders. Shadow started sniffing some brown liquid in a cup on the counter.

“What’s this stuff? It smells tangy,” Shadow spoke slowly while inspecting the mysterious brown liquid. She picked it up to get a better look at it.

“Don’t drink it!” Thunder yelled right as his younger sibling took a sip. Her eyes instantly widen. She guzzled the whole thing and her tail was flicking around behind her as Thunder watched biting his bottom lip. 

“OH MAH GAWD! WHAT IS THAT STUFF?! THAT IS GOOD! I LOMMF FF!” Shadow yelled before she got another mouthful of hoof. Thunder had closed his eyes and sighed. He opened them and looked at his giddy sister.

“It’s coffee. Young fillies aren’t supposed to drink it. Fillies like you already have too much energy,” Thunder explained. He got a muffle oh as a response. As soon as he pulled his hoof back, Shadow started to race around the room. Thunder moved in her path to catch her and she jumped and used her wings to propel her over her brother’s head. She on his back and quickly jumped off onto the couch and started to jump. The eldest one looked around for a way to trap the youngest. He smiled when he saw a blanket. He draped it around each hoof as he used his wings to rise into the air. He slowly moved toward his hyperactive sister. He tackled her and trapped her in the blanket.

Shadow started to flail her little limbs everywhere but the blanket limited her mobility. She felt like the blanket was sapping her energy. She was getting tired. She stopped flailing and lied still. Thunder took the blanket off of the panting filly and placed it on the couch. He then picked up his sister and placed her on the blanket. 

“You’re such a silly filly,” he said while looking at his half asleep sister. He heard someone fiddling with the lock on the door. The door slowly opened to reveal to shadowy figures.