The day passed quickly for the ponies around ponyville, though none of them really knew what was coming. The Wonderbolts had gathered forces from some of the nearby towns as well as reserves from Cloudsdale to help in their siege, while the Shadowbolts gathered reinforcements to help defend the mansion. With both sides ready for a fight, everypony involved knew of the risks...
There was going to be a fight, and it was going to be bloody.
Over at the Wonderbolt compound, the courtyard was full of ponies getting ready to head out and fight. Solar Storm proudly stood in front of the large force of Wonderbolts that she had gathered. All of them had determination and confidence in their eyes and wore Wonderbolt flight suits meant exclusively for combat. Solar Storm grinned as she looked them over, feeling so much pride.
"Fellow Wonderbolts!" Solar Storm bellowed to the crowd, making them all stand at attention, some saluting. As the force began to pay attention, Spitfire walked up next to her aunt, ready to defend the compound while the rest attacked. Solar Storm continued, "Today, we make history. After generations of fighting and building our strength against the Shadowbolts, we are finally going to take them all down!" She rallied, making the crowd cheer.
"Long ago, my Ancestor Sun Spot was murdered by a Shadowbolt, and since then they've been a scourge on Equestria, and just yesterday, one of our greatest Wonderbolts, Lightning Streak, was murdered by another Shadowbolt. A moment of silence for him." Solar Storm ordered. The entire force fell silent, as they all payed respects to Lightning. After half a minute, Solar Storm spoke again.
"Let his death inspire you all to fight your hardest out there, we will not allow the Shadowbolts to continue to torment us, or this land any longer!" Solar Storm chanted. The rest all cheered and began to rally themselves for the fight. Solar Storm smiled at the forces as they prepared and turned to Spitfire.
"Keep an eye on the other Wonderbolts staying here. Fire Streak will be guarding Blaze and Dash, but keep an eye for them just in case." Solar Storm commanded, Spitfire nodded and saluted. Solar Storm nodded back and began to walk away, until Spitfire spoke up.
"What should I do if they escape?" Spitfire asked. Solar Storm stopped. She knew this question would come up, but she wasn't prepared to answer just yet. She would never wish severe harm upon her own daughter....but Dash.....
"Restrain Blaze if you can, and lock her back up. If Dash gets out...." Solar Storm paused, deliberating if she should give Spitfire the order, but she eventually made up her mind.
"...Kill her."
Spitfire audibly gasped upon hearing her aunt's order to kill Dash if she escaped. She was that mad at Dash, to order the rest of the loyal Wonderbolts to take her down if she escaped. Solar Storm waited for Spitfire to respond to the order, and noticed the hesitation in her expression.
"Aunt Storm, isn't this all too much?" Spitfire asked. Solar Storm furrowed her brow and glared at her niece with a piercing gaze of anger.
"What do you mean?" Solar Storm said with a low growl that made Spitfire tremble.
"It's just, are you sure we're ready for this. We are going directly to them to start a fight. Are you sure we can win? Even if we can, it won't be without casualties." Spitfire argued, trying to convince her aunt to call off the attack. Solar Storm shook her head and turned away.
"It's too late Spitfire. If we don't do this now, then they'll win. We must act now if we have any chance of wiping them off the face of Equestria. If I die tonight, then I will take as many of them with me as I must." Solar Storm said in a quiet and calm voice. Spitfire still wasn't sure, especially about killing Dash if she needed.
"What about Blaze and Dash. Isn't killing Dash too much? She's been a stand out Wonderbolt for years, and now your just going to lock her up like a prisoner, after all she's done?" Spitfire said, trying to convince her, but bringing up Dash only made her angrier.
"She WAS a standout Wonderbolt, but she decided to throw away her place here when she went after a Shadowbolt, and now she actually believes she loves him. She has betrayed us, and I'll see her die before she can betray us anymore. Understand?" Solar Storm explained before glaring at Spitfire once again. Spitfire opened her mouth to protest more, but knew it was pointless. She shut her mouth and nodded.
"Yes Ma'am." Spitfire said with a salute.
"Thank you." Solar Storm said before turning back to the crowd.
"Alright, It's time that we get out there, and take care of those Shadowbolts. It's time to give them a taste of what happens when somepony messes with the Wonderbolts!" Solar Storm shouted before taking to the sky,
"OO-Rah!" The Wonderbolt force chanted as they followed her into the skies.
As the force all flew off towards the Shadowbolt mansion, Spitfire stayed and watched with a frightened look on her face. It wasn't going to end well, and Spitfire knew it. She found herself frozen and unable to think straight. Her aunt was flying into a suicide mission, her cousin as well as her cousin's friend was locked up for treachery, and the war between the Wonderbolts and Shadowbolts was upon them.
Spitfire knew everything was about to ignite. The candle was landing on the powder keg, and everything was going to ignite into something that would potentially take many lives. Despite all her years of being a Wonderbolt, Spitfire found herself unable to go along with it. She didn't want to, she couldn't.
She had to get out......but first, she had to get others out too.
At the Shadowbolt's mansion, things were also in preparation mode. The reinforcements from all of the major Shadowbolt chapters had arrived and the small team lead by Nightshade was ready to start their own mission. As this all went on, Rumble was in his room with Blossomforth.
The two of them had spent the afternoon gathering bottles, filling them with oil, and making them into Fire Bottles. After making enough to set the Compound ablaze about 3 times over, they simply laid back and waited for Soarin to come and get them for the escape plan.
Luckily, they didn't have to wait much longer, Soarin finally arrived back at the mansion and flew for Rumble's bedroom window and Rumble opened it for him. Soarin clumsily fell through the open window and quickly stood up and dusted himself down.
"Do you guys have the bottles?" Soarin asked. Rumble opened up his backpack, which was filled with fire bottles, all ready to be lit and thrown.
"We had quite a fun day today, getting all these ready. But if we're gonna do this, then let's just do this." Rumble said. Soarin nodded and turned to Blossomforth, who was now clad in one of Thunderlane's old Shadowbolt jackets and waving a switchblade in front of her.
"Are you ready Blossom?" Soarin asked, though by the way she was dressed and her demeanor, she was probably ready.
"Let's get this done." Blossom confidently said as she grabbed her bag and followed Soarin and Rumble out the window.
The three took off from the second story window, but before they could get very far, a voice from below caught their attention.
"Soarin! Rumble!" The trio turned and saw Nightstalker on the balcony to his office waving for them to come down. Soarin started to panic. Was he going to try to get them to help defend? If he was, then they had to find some way out of it.
The three landed on the balcony by Nightstalker, who had a very stern look on his face as he smoked a cigarette.
"Where are you three going?" he asked menacingly. The trio all froze and glanced in different directions, neither of them knowing how to get out of this situation.
"We're leaving." Rumble suddenly said confidently. Soarin's eyes widened and his pulse quickened. He wanted to speak up to try to give Nightstalker another excuse, but he couldn't. Nightstalker simply looked down at his son and walked up to him. Rumble was prepared for his father to be angry or disappointed, but instead, he did something that none of them expected.
Nightstalker knelt down and pulled Rumble into a hug. Rumble was slightly surprised by his father's action, but did end up also wrapping a leg around his dad and returning the hug. During the hug, Nightstalker gave Soarin and Blossom a look, one of sternness and pleading. After a minute, Nightstalker stepped back from his son and looked at them all.
"Good, I want you as far away from this as possible son." Nightstalker said to Rumbler before looking to Soarin and Blossom, "You two keep him safe, please." Soarin and Blossom both nodded, surprised that he was going this way.
"But dad..." Rumble tried to argue but was cut off.
"No Rumble. I.....I promised your mother that I'd keep you and Thunder safe, but I failed her, and if you die as well....It.....it would be too much to bear, so please, get out of Ponyville, and don't look back." Nightstalker said sternly. Rumble wanted to argue, but he glanced over to Soarin, who gave him a slight nod, and Rumble turned back to his father.
"I will. But, what about you?" Rumble asked. Nightstalker put a hoof on his shoulder.
"I'm afraid I can't promise I will get through this battle unscathed, but I will fight my hardest. But all I care about right now is you being safe. So please, do your old man one more favor Rumble." Nightstalker said sadly. Rumble nodded and embraced his dad one last time before joining the other two. Before they took off, Nightstalker pointed at Soarin.
"You keep him safe Soarin. Please." Nightstalker said. Soarin nodded.
"I will." Soarin simply said before he took to the sky with Rumble and Blossomforth. Nightstalker watched them disappear into the sky. He took another puff from his cigarette before he heard somepony walk out onto the balcony.
"Shall we go now?" Nightshade asked. Nightstalker turned around and nodded.
"Burn that compound to the ground." Nighstalker said coldly. Nightshade nodded and took off from the balcony, where he was quickly joined by the rest of his team. Nightstalker watched them leave as well, afterwards he went back into his office and and walked over to the desk. He pressed a small concealed button on the side of the the desk that opened a hidden compartment under the desk. Inside was a pair of wing blades. Ones that once belonged to Swift Shadow. And now, it was time for Nightstalker to use them.
"If I die tonight, I will take as many of you bastards with me as I can." Nighstalker said as he strapped the blades to his wings.
"For you, my son."
Soarin, Rumble, and Blossomforth all flew over Ponyville, heading towards the compound, ready to put their plan into motion.
"Where's Fluttershy and Scootaloo?" Rumble asked.
"There's a hill overlooking the compound, they said to meet them there." Soarin explained as they got closer. Eventually they got in close enough and Soarin pointed out the hill, and the three rapidly descended towards it. Sure enough, Fluttershy and Scootaloo were both waiting for them.
"About time you guys got here, I think they're ready to go and attack." Scootaloo said as she looked down at the courtyard through a pair of binoculars.
"So, what are we gonna do?" Fluttershy asked.
"First, we wait until they leave, we lie low. Then when they leave, Blossom and Rumble will move in with the fire bottles." Soarin motioned to Rumble and Blossomforth. "Make Sure you guys just focus on those trees out front, that should hopefully be enough to distract them. If things get too risky, GET OUT OF THERE, the rest of us will have to improvise while inside anyway." Soarin explained to Rumble and Blossom, they both nodded and checked their supplies. Soarin then looked to Fluttershy and Scootaloo. "Fluttershy, would you be willing to go in their with me, or would you like to stay out here with Scootaloo?" Soarin asked. Scootaloo immediately frowned and stomped over to Soarin.
"Why do I have to stay out here?" Scootaloo said angrily.
"Because it's too risky, just stay out here until I get Rainbow Dash and Blaze out." Soarin said, but Scootaloo shook her head.
"No way, if Rainbow Dash is in danger, I'm gonna help save her, and that's final!" Scootaloo argued. Soarin wanted to argue further, but decided to let her.
"Fine, just stay with me while we're inside, I'll deal with any resistance." Soarin said sternly, Scootaloo nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Fluttershy spoke up.
"I'll go in to." She said slightly louder than she usually did. Soarin looked over at her cautiously.
"Are you sure?" Soarin asked. Fluttershy looked him directly in the eyes and nodded. Soarin nodded back. Just then, they heard a loud cheer and saw the large force of Wonderbolts take off and begin flying away from the compound and towards the Shadowbolt mansion. The group stayed low and out of sight so none of the Wonderbolts flying overhead could spot them and waited for the large group to be gone.
Soarin looked over at the courtyard once the main force was gone and saw that it was mostly empty, save for a few Wonderbolts wandering around. Soarin turned to Rumble and Blossom.
"Showtime. We'll head in when we see the fire. Just try to light up the trees, and keep casualties to a minimum if you can." Soarin asked.
"Where should we go afterwards?" Rumble asked. Soarin hesitated after he asked, he hadn't thought up to that point, all he wanted to do was leave, but he still didn't know where.
"We'll meet up at the farm at the edge of town, we'll think of where to go from there." Soarin explained. The two nodded and went down to the compound to begin the plan. As Soarin watched them leave, he looked back over at the compound. He had only been apart from Dash for a day, but he already felt like she had been away for an eternity. It was all gonna change tonight, they were finally going to leave.
"Don't worry Dash, I'm coming for you." Soarin said quietly.
Rumble and Blossom both flew low to the ground as they approached the compound's wall. Rumble slowly floated up to peek over the wall and into the yard. The yard was very spacious, with several big and small trees and bushes dotted around the yard, leading over to the porch and path to the main gate, where a few Wonderbolts were patrolling around.
"See anything?" Blossom asked. Rumble looked down and nodded.
"A few of them, mostly by the entrance though." Rumble said.
"How should we do this?" Blossomforth asked. Rumble looked back up and looked over to where the backyard was, he could see the practice area as well as some more bushes and trees.
"Lets split up the fire, I'll light up the backyard, you cover the front yard." Rumble explained. Blossomforth gave Rumble an unsure look.
"Isn't that too risky?" Blossom asked.
"Maybe, but it'll definitely cause a big distraction, hopefully one big enough for the others to get in and out with little resistance." Rumble said.
Blossom thought it over for a second before taking out one of the bottle and taking a deep breath.
"Let's do this." she said before quickly leaping over the wall and hiding in one of the bigger bushes. Rumble quickly did as she did and went for the backyard.
Back on the hill, Soarin, Fluttershy and Scootaloo waited patiently for the distraction to begin. Things were still rather quiet down there, and though Soarin saw Blossomforth and Rumble jump the wall, they were still out of sight, and nothing was happening yet.
Soarin looked over at Fluttershy, who was visibly trembling, looking like she was standing in an earthquake. Soarin went over to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. She jumped a little and looked up at Soarin with a look of fear.
"Are you okay?" Soarin asked. Fluttershy looked away. Soarin sat beside her as she continued to shake. "Your scared, aren't you?" Soarin asked. Fluttershy looked over and slowly nodded. Her pink hair was covering most of her face, something she did when she was afraid, or very shy.
"To be honest, so am I." Soarin said. Fluttershy looked back over at him, her expression one of surprise.
"I-I don't know if I can do this. What if everything goes wrong. What if.....what if somepony gets hurt, o-or worse?" Fluttershy stuttered out. Soarin looked directly into her eyes with a calming expression.
"I'm worried too, but I will keep us all safe to the best of my ability, I promise." Soarin said. Fluttershy gave him a small smile, but it quickly faded.
"I....I still don't know if I can do this." Fluttershy said softly. Soarin once again made her turn to look at him.
"Rainbow Dash is your best friend, right?" Soarin asked. Fluttershy nodded slightly.
"Yeah, she's my oldest friend. For a long time, she was my only friend." Fluttershy said sadly.
"Then let that motivate you. Do you think Dash would believe in you to do this?" Soarin asked. Fluttershy thought for a second before nodding. "Exactly. She'd believe in you, and now, she needs you. So do that for her, believe in yourself." Soarin said. Fluttershy smiled and hugged him.
"Thanks Soarin, I really needed that." Fluttershy said before pulling away. Soarin smiled. "Don't mention it."
Before Soarin could say anything else, a large and bright ball of fire erupted down in the yard in front of the compound. Just a few second after the fire appeared, another ball of fire appeared in the backyard. Soarin looked between Scootaloo and Fluttershy and looked towards the house.
"Let's do this, I'll take care of any Wonderbolts that get in our way, stay by me." Soarin said. Scootaloo and Fluttershy nodded and followed Soarin down to the compound as the alarm began to sound.
Outside of Rainbow Dash and Blaze's room, Fire Streak paced in front of the door, trying to think of something to say to the two mares in the room. He had been watching the room all day, and he hadn't heard a single sound from within. Either they finally decided to be quiet, or they were up to something.
Fire stopped pacing and looked over at the door. He slowly approached it and pressed his forehead against the door before speaking loud enough to be heard through it.
"Dashie? Blazey? You two good in there?" he asked. There was no response. Fire scowled. He was furious that Dash would do something like what she did. He knew that Solar Storm wouldn't let her get out of this easy, or without a severe punishment. He didn't want her to die, but he still wanted her.
"You know Dash, I'm not mad at you, but I'm just disappointed...." he started slowly, "You were one of our best, but you were lost to a haze of lust for a colt that decided to fill your mind with lies and facades that made you turn against us, but I want to make you a proposition..." Fire said through the door. From inside, Dash and Blaze were both under their beds, with pillows and clothes under their blankets to make it look like they were sleeping. Blaze frowned at Fire's words, while Dash looked scared. Blaze gave her a stern look and shook her head, as if telling her non-verbally that Fire was just trying to get in her head.
"I can make all of this normal again, all you need to do is a little something for me, okay?" Fire Streak asked. He waited a few moments, waiting for an answer from within. Fire Streak smacked his hoof against the door in frustration. "Fine then rot away in there you bitch!" He shouted.
Just then, the compound alarm went off, startling Fire Streak as well as the two inside. Fire Streak looked over at the alarm in the hallway with confusion. After a few seconds, Spitfire flew around the corner in front of Fire Streak.
"Fire, there's been some fires started in the yard, I need you to help the others put them out!" Spitfire commanded. Fire Streak motioned his head to the door.
"I'm watching those two now, I can't." Fire Streak said. Spitfire frowned.
"I'll watch them, get out there and help now! Before I lose my patience with you!" Spitfire ordered. Fire Streak rolled his eyes and flew down the hall to go see what the problem was. After he was gone, Spitfire walked over to the door and unlocked and opened it. She stepped into the room and called out their names.
"Blaze? Dash?" She called. The two quickly got out from under the beds, having heard Spitfire and Fire's conversation just then.
"Uh, Spitty? What are you doing here?" Blaze asked. Spitfire looked down and sighed.
"I'm letting you guys go." Spitfire said. The other two were shocked that Spitfire had a turnaround so quickly.
"Really? But...but why?" Dash asked.
"Because....the war's begun. The Wonderbolts and Shadowbolts are going to tear eachother apart and I don't want to see it happen. I'm leaving tonight, and I want you two to leave as well." Spitfire explained. Blaze stepped forward.
"Spitfire, are you sure?" Blaze asked. Spitfire gave Blaze a serious look.
"You're mom's lost it Blaze. I'm so sorry, but there was nothing I could do to stop her. She's flying into a suicide mission and even ordered me to kill Dash if she escaped." Spitfire revealed. Dash's eyes widened in horror. She turned to Blaze.
"We need to leave." Dash said. Spitfire nodded in agreement.
"Just go, I'll tell the others I couldn't stop you. Just....get out of here before anything else bad happens. Please." Spitfire asked sincerely. Blaze and Dash glanced at eachother for a second. Blaze then quickly pulled her cousin into a hug.
"Thanks Spitty, you're the best." Blaze said. Spitfire returned the hug.
"No problem cuz." Spitfire said before she pulled away. "Now get out of here." Spitfire said, small tears formed in the corners of her eyes as Dash and Blaze ran out behind her. Spitfire stood in the empty room, the sirens blaring fading in her peripherals.
Rumble threw another fire bottle at one of the other farther trees before taking cover again in a bush. He had now fully exhausted his supply of fire bottles. The backyard was mostly an inferno, with several Wonderbolts trying to put out the fires.
Rumble stood still and tried to find the best time to fly back to where Blossom was. He was about to make his move when he saw a Wonderbolt close to him, staring directly at him.
"Hey!" The Wonderbolt shouted.
"Crapbaskets." Rumble muttered before chucking his bag at the Wonderbolt and zooming back to the front yard. As he rounded the corner, it was like he was in hell itself. The front yard was glowing with orange flames and Rumble saw Blossomforth in the corner by the wall. He zoomed over to her.
"Nice job Blossom, now lets get out of here before we fry or get beaten." Rumble said quickly, but Blossom didn't move. She stared at the Wonderbolts who were now making there way out to combat the fire, and the ones who had spotted her and Rumble. She looked down at the grey colt.
"Rumble, get out of here." Blossomforth said sternly. Rumble blinked, was she serious?
Blossom, are you crazy? We need to-"
"No! WE don't need to leave, but YOU do!" Blossom shouted as she looked into his eyes. They were determined, but had a softness to them.....like his brother's.
"Blossom, please!" Rumble begged. Blossom shook her head.
"Get out of here Rumble, I need you to be safe. Thunder.....needs you to be safe. Please." She said with a small smile. Rumble quickly embraced her.
"Thank you." he said before flying over the wall and into the nearby woods for cover.
Blossom reached into her bag and pulled out her last two fire bottles. She looked forward and saw a few Wonderbolts rushing at her. She looked down at the jacket and smiled. She quickly lit the bottles and stared back at the Wonderbolts with a smirk. The Wonderbolts closed in on her.
"This is for Thunderlane you BASTARDS!" Blossomforth shouted out in rage. Just as the Wonderbolts were upon her, she threw down the fire bottles on the ground directly in front of her. The liquid from the bottles quickly splashed all over herself and the nearby Wonderbolts...
....and caught fire instantaneously.
The Wonderbolts all quickly began to scream and flail about as the fire began to spread over them, but Blossomforth was calm. She had a small smile on her lips as the fire spread around her white coat, to her pink and green mane. And she closed her eyes before the fire reached them.
The pain was excruciating, but with her eyes closed, Blossomforth thought of Thunderlane, which brought her peace, and closure.
"I'll see you soon Thunder, my love." Blossom thought as the fire consumed her.