//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Camouflage // by RoflLuxRay //------------------------------// Camouflage A Fan Novel from: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. By: RoflLuxRay Edited by: Prince Bluelolz “Designed by mother nature…” thought a young Pegasus as he pierced the skies with his orange colored eyes, staring at the clouds that passed by. Behind him, several Pegasi walked around seemingly nervous, some with more serious looks on their faces than others, trying to hide the fear flowing through their bodies. “You know what you have to do… just as it is in your flank,” he spun his head wryly to observe the divided-in-two chronometer cutie mark in his dark blue coat, partially covered by the sheet labeled with number seven. At the end of his flank, his short tail dyed in a similar color to his coat with several strands colored in an intense yellow sprouted and waved along with a slight breeze that struck his side. The color pattern in his tail was also shown in his mane, which had the habit to remain erect due to frequent contact with static electricity when flying. “Beat the record… smash the time… earn it,” he kept thinking like a nervous tic assaulting his brain, such words filled him with courage for his upcoming presentation. Not everypony can enter the best young flyer competition, let alone be confident enough to believe he can win it. “Ampy!” shouted a gray Pegasus behind him with her mane dyed in a deep black, trotting towards him with a confident grin, “what’s your number?” “Roy,” he replied quickly upon recognizing his old rival, “I got number seven, how about you?” “I got thirteen,” she uttered with a snicker, pushing her pink eyes away from him and piercing the floor with them, “Lucky pony, you’re up before me.” “I’ll see Princess Celestia before you, certainly,” said Ampy leaning against a cloud pillar next to him, just like many in the backstage of the great Cloudsdale arena. A great red curtain was the only thing to protect them from the screaming and hollering of thousands of Pegasi outside. One by one, each of the young promises flew out to showcase their abilities and routines, in an attempt to impress the luxury jury that everyday assisted: The worldwide famous Wonderbolts and one of the two rulers of Equestria, Princess Celestia. “Number six!” shouted a yellow coated mare with a small board in hooves, “number six, you’re up!” Suddenly, a red coated pony with the six on his flank rushed towards the red curtain shouting only he could understand. “I don’t think anypony can steal the show, it’s only you and me, Sapphire Bolt…” said Roy with arrogance as he leaned against the same pillar Ampy just did, glancing at the rest of the contestants with a sly grin. “That’s your problem, Blueball Roycewicz..:” he said gently shaking his head with a chuckle, “you always believe you’re the center of the spectacle, and you’re not. I think Ponyville’s Cheerilee was quite emphatic with that.” “This is who I am, and Rainbow Dash always shows her true self, I don’t see why not mimic her attitude.” “Because she’s a Wonderbolt and she has the bragging rights… and you shouldn’t look up to her like that.” “Don’t lecture me like you’re my dad, Ampy,” she said with a blank look in her eyes, “you are one rare Pegasus, the only one of the whole generation who does not enjoys a Wonderbolts’ show.” “That’s because, unlike you, I don’t want to be one.” “Then why are you on this competence if not to have an audition for the Wonderbolts?” she remarked with a snicker. Just when he was about to answer her friend’s question, the Pony with the six in her flank reappeared through the red curtain, with a face filled with panic. “Did you see that?” said Blueball mockingly, “poor filly ended up completely scared.” “Don’t make fun of him… you’ll get your turn,” Ampy began walking to the curtain with a confident grin on his face; he knew his turn was next. “Number seven!” shouted the organizer mare, “where are you?” “Right here,” he said with tranquility, lifting his body off the floor with just one flap of his wings. He could hear the audience outside stomping on the clouds, anxious to see the next contestant. “You have three minutes to do your thing, if you exceed the time limit a bell will ring,” she said with her eyes well set on the board, “you can’t interact with the audience, especially with the judges. The smile on Ampy’s face only kept growing bigger. “I’ll be back in two.” Without announcing, he bolted through the curtain at high speed. He flew through the entire stadium made entirely of clouds as his name filled the giant speakers above him, the crowd roaring with excitement. Floating in the middle of the stadium, a line of ten pillars made of clouds served as obstacles for the youngsters, each one of them separated by a gap of fifty meters. Just above the curtain he had just flown out of, Princess Celestia observed calmly as the young Pegasus circled the stadium, in company of four members of the Wonderbolts. “You’re not doing this for them, you know what you want…” he thought a second before reaching the pillars, turning sharply to the left to fly close to the base of the stadium. “Who’s that?” asked Spitfire, the current leader of the Wonderbolts to the stallion next to him, also dressed in the classic blue and yellow uniform. Rainbow Dash, the newest element in their squad, spun his head to face her leader with curiosity. “The chart says…” Soarin’, the only stallion in the team; turned his face down to a sheet of paper in his hooves, “his name is Sapphire Bolt, born in Trottingham. His cutie mark is a chronometer split by lightning.” “Intriguing,” added Flare Charge, an orange-coated mare with her eyes set on the Pegasus below, flicking her short mane away from her cyan eyes, “never heard of such mark.” “His routine is already rare,” said Rainbow Dash pointing at Sapphire with a hoof, “look.” Below them, at the base of the stadium, Ampy flew in circles, flapping his wings at fast as he could, completing a lap in around ten seconds. “He’s flying pretty fast,” said Spitfire with cold voice. “That’s nothing,” said Rainbow Dash with a shrug, arrogance pouring out of her body, “that kid needs more training to beat my record.” “Still, he’s flying pretty fast; perhaps the fastest one we’ve seen so far,” Flare Charge’s comment instantly hushed her; she was still not used to impose herself to the Wonderbolts. “That’s enough, time to go up,” bending one of his wings he began gaining altitude while following the course marked by the base of the stadium. Making an spiral as he rose to the skies, his tail began creating a small trail of something that seemed like electricity. “You’re pretty tight on time, I need more speed!” he thought forcing his body to flap his wings even faster, increasing the speed of the spiral. Everypony stared at him in awe, except for the five judges on top. “How fast do you think he’s going?” asked Soarin’ with a hint of excitement on his voice. “Three fifths of the Sonic Rainboom, perhaps,” answered Spitfire bluntly, “but there’s something fishy on that kid…” “Not many ponies reach that mark, right?” asked the majestic Alicorn next to them that stared at the Pegasus with a calm look. “That’s right, your highness,” answered their leader immediately, “Not many ponies reach such speed, maybe one in every two thousand.” “This boy ain’t over, look,” Flare pointed at the electricity trail in front of them, Ampy had escalated most part of the stadium in bare ten seconds, constantly reducing the size of the spiral to the center. “Ten…” he accelerated a little more and headed to the skies, above the electricity spiral he had just created. “Nine…” he stretched his arms widely to stop his flight. “Eight…” the blue Pegasus spun his body to change his course for a nose flight. “Seven…” he placed his hooves in front of him to accelerate his fall, resuming the flaps in his wings. “Six…” the wind began to strike his face as he kept gaining speed, aided by the law of gravity. “Five…!” he reached his own trail of electricity and began dragging it with both hooves. “I’m running out of time, four…!” he kept descending through the stage at full speed, breathing was now becoming harder. “He’s falling pretty fast,” Spitfire stood up and approached the edge of the balcony to observe the electric spiral more carefully, “I bet he’s on transonic speed by now, but…” “Dammit, faster!” Ampy closed his eyes and tried to flap his wings even faster, but his body had reached a limit. The air around his flank was now condensing, but creating a small distortion behind him. “Two…!” with the electricity on his hooves, he created a small shockwave upon opening his arms. “One!” with the air current boost created by the opening of his arms, he flew away to avoid any harm from the shockwave, if any. A small burst of harmless yet colorful electricity spread through the crowd all around, making them explode in applause. “An electric shock…” muttered Soarin’ without hiding any excitement in his voice, “not bad for a kid of his age.” “He did all of that in less than a minute, if he had taken a second more, the electricity would have become harmful,” said Flare Charge with a satisfied look in her face. “You didn’t notice, right?” asked the leader with a serious look, staring at Ampy fly around the stadium to receive his ovation. “Notice what?” instantly answered the rookie with her characteristic emphasis, “how cool his performance was?” “No,” remarked Spitfire, assaulting her with a cold glare, “that boy… I think he dilated time.” “You’re saying he’s fast enough to create a gap between clocks, but not enough to blast a sonic Rainboom?” asked Flare skeptical. “Everypony does something special when flying at high speed, and I think this boy here just slowed time down, just look at the time in his presentation,” she pointed at an enormous digital clock above the red curtain that marked fifty two seconds. “Fifty two seconds? So what?” asked Rainbow with an uninterested snicker. “When you learn more, Rainbow Dash, about the marvelous supersonic flight you can develop, you will know that the time it takes for the electricity released by a Pegasus to become harmful is of only forty seven seconds,” retorted Spitfire as she stared at her almost with despise. The rookie turned her purple eyes towards Sapphire Bolt feeling crushed inside. “Whadda’ya say?” asked Soarin’ raising his left eyebrow and turning towards his leader. “I’d like to test him, but not as the ‘winner’ of this competence.” “It will be hard to hide the fact-” “Guys,” interrupted Celestia with her classic calm voice, “I think you have some job,” she pointed to the horizon with a hoof covered by a golden horseshoe. In the distance, a black cloud was closing in too fast to only be a dark cloud. Its size was immense, probably twice the size of the stadium and loosed black colored lightning all around. The crowd, naively, believed this was a part in Ampy’s performance. “That was not in the plan,” he muttered to himself, stating at the cloud intensely, floating back to the red curtain. “Princess,” said the leader of the Wonderbolts as she stared at the clouds in a similar fashion as the Pony below, “go get some cover.” “I’m on it,” the Alicorn slowly stood up and retired to the back part with a slow walk, whatever was on that cloud did not scare her. “Alright guys, you know what’s this about,” said Spitfire preparing herself to jump off the balcony’s edge, “we want them on jail, not dead.” “You’re taking the fun out of it, boss,” said Flare as a smile began drawing on her lips, spreading her wings to jump in any second. “I’m not kidding,” remarked the leader, “it’s the princess’ orders.” “Lead the way then,” said Soarin’ putting his protecting goggles in his eyes and opening his wings slowly. “On your mark…” the Wonderbolts stared with anxiety at the cloud already placed above the stadium; some ponies in the crowd have already noticed the fact that this cloud had scared their ruler and began to grow nervous. “Ready…” Rainbow Dash put her goggles on at the last moment, leaning her body towards the abyss in front. Inspired by curiosity, Sapphire Bolt remained next to the curtain with his eyes fixed on the clouds above. From it, four trails of black clouds suddenly appeared in all directions. “Go!” the four Wonderbolts began flying at full speed towards the center of the stadium, each one following a particular trail of black clouds. These did not pay any attention to their followers, but gathered in a far corner of the flying field. When the black clouds on their flanks dissipated, four Pegasi dressed in a similar fashion to the Wonderbolts, but in darker colors, appeared. One of them removed her glasses, revealing her honey-colored eyes that instantly fixed on Sapphire Bolt’s position. “Keep them busy,” she said passing a hoof through her long, dark blue mane with an arrogant tone, “I’ll go get the kid.” “Right away, boss,” another Pegasus with a clear, cream blue mane answered with deep voice, turning towards the Wonderbolts closing in rapidly. “Rainbow Dash, focus on Starry Skies, I need her neutralized. Soarin’, keep Stratus and Charger, you don’t want them on my back; Flare Charge, come with me, I’ll need your help to stop Nightshade,” ordered Spitfire firmly, the rest of the team gathered behind her to affirm instantly. “Yes ma’am!” they all shouted as one, breaking formation to fulfill their commands. Rainbow Dash turned left to chase a Pegasus with purple mane, which flew above them with the intention to get away. Soarin’ spun his body to the right, setting course towards two physically bulky Pegasus. One of them removed his goggles to strike him with a stare filled with hatred from his green colored eyes. The other one only passed a hoof through his stylized pale blue-green mane. “What the hell is going on?” Ampy thought with the fear quickly escalating through his body, but immobilized by his curiosity. Upon noticing a dark mane violently waving with the air, quickly closing in on him, his body finally reacted and forced him to retreat inside the curtain. “Hey Niggas!” shouted Soarin’ with a mocking grin on his face, completely attracting his target’s attention. Meanwhile, Flare Charge and Spitfire accelerated to gain on Nightshade. The leader of the dark Pegasi spun her head wryly to see them, and suddenly flap her wings faster; creating a dark aura behind her that doubled her speed in the blink of an eye. “Dammit!” said Flare with frustration, “I hate it when she does that.” “Focus, Flare,” added Spitfire without taking her eyes off the curtain, “we don’t know what the hell she wants, double the step.” Back with the arrogant Pegasus with navy blue mane, his call not only attracted the attention of his targets, but enraged one of them. “This is it, Charger,” said the Pegasus with green eyes and pale blue-green mane, “I’m ripping his head off.” “Quiet, Stratus,” answered his ally with cold blood, “we need to obey the boss and entertain them, some other time we’ll kill him.” “I don’t care,” said Stratus grinding his teeth, “that faggot is mine.” “Not so fast,” Charger quickly bit his tail to stop his flight, “the boss is being followed, we need to protect her.” Stratus scoffed angrily, calming the movement in his wings. “What’s the matter, Niggas?” asked Soarin’ with the sole intention to mock them, “are the Shadowbolts a bunch of sissies?” The mocking only enraged the old member of the royal guard, but bounced off the well-known assassin and gangster. “C’mon, just let me break him a leg.” “No!” answered Charger with exasperation, “we have to clean a path for the boss and keep these guys busy, I don’t think she likes us not following orders.” “C’mon fillies!” the Wonderbolt began dancing in the air, taunting them with both hooves. “You go obey the boss,” ignoring the voice of reason in Charger, the Shadowbolt began flying at full speed towards Soarin’. Seeing this, the cocky Pegasus flew in the opposite direction to flee. “I can’t believe this guy is second in command…” said Charger covering his face with a hoof in disappointment. Behind the curtain, all the contestants were all gone, and Ampy had no different intention. The clouds on the floor were covered with sheets of paper of all sorts, as if a tornado had just passed by. “Where are you going?” Ampy froze when the voice coming from behind him met his ears. “To the exit, what for?” his reply seem to calm him, but the heart in his chest kept pounding rapidly. “Good answer, fellow,” the uniformed mare walked to his back, the sound of her hoofsteps bouncing in the walls all around, “what’s your name?” “Sapphire Bolt,” fighting the fear in his body, he turned to face Nightshade with a scowl, “what’s going on here?” “Don’t be intimidated by our… special entrance,” the tone in her voice drastically changed, showing some degree of niceness even, “we are an independent group in search for the liberation of Equestria.” “Uh?” asked Ampy changing his scowl for a confused frown, “explain yourself.” “We call ourselves the ‘Shadowbolts’ and been mistakenly tagged by a terrorist group by Princess Celestia,” she walked close enough to him to greet him with a hoof, and so she did with a smile, “my name is Nightshade, a pleasure in meeting you.” “Ponies call me Ampy, because of my mane,” he thought keeping cordiality with the stranger was the best strategy to avoid any hostilities. “Ampy?” asked Nightshade raising an eyebrow, “it really suits you. Anyway, I won’t steal much of your time and cut to the chase, we have been watching you and we would like to have someone with your profile among us.” “You watched my presentation?” “We didn’t need to, for we know what you can do.” “Many ponies leave a trace of lightning when flying, there’s nothing special with that,” he said with a genuine nervous smile on his face. “You know exactly what I mean,” the kind smile slowly turned evil, striking Ampy with paralyzing fear. Outside in the stadium, Charger had gained on the two Wonderbolts and stood in their way, glaring at them from behind his polarized yellow goggles. Upon recognizing the blockade, Spitfire stopped her way and signaled her partner to entertain the stallion ahead. “Where to?” he moved quickly to block Spitfire’s path, but Flare used the instant of distraction to tackle him and push him against the nearest wall of the stadium. The strong Pegasus barely felt the violent impact, taking his goggles off to assault the Wonderbolt with an intense glare from his dark brown irises. “I don’t usually punch mares…” he said raising one of his hooves to land a powerful punch on Flare’s jaw, making her fly back staggered. Charger took his chance and resumed his chase for Spitfire. “Dash!” shouted the wounded mare. Her partner recognized the call and turned her face to see her from a quite a distance, “your turn!” “Roger!” twisting her body, the mare with the colorful mane changed her direction to a nose dive. This being her specialty, she reached an amazing speed in just seconds. “Faster…!” she thought to force her body to increase her amazing speed. Placing both hooves in front of her, she created a small supersonic cone around her, releasing a small amount of electricity to the environment. “Gotcha!” shouted Charger as he reached a hoof to grab Spitfire’s tail. But before he could even touch a strand of mane, Rainbow Dash rammed him on the back and dragged him down. “The road’s clear, boss!” the Doppler Effect drowned the rookie’s voice, but the leader was able to hear it. With a sigh of relief, she continued flying towards the curtain Behind it, Ampy retreated towards a pillar behind him, completely amazed by the Shadowbolt’s words. “I really have no idea what you’re talking about,” the nervousness in his voice continued to grow with every step Nightshade took. “Don’t fool me, Ampy,” Nightshade kept walking towards him to intimidate him, without taking her eyes off his. “I’m not kidding,” the young Pegasus closed his eyes to avoid the crushing glare, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” “Liar!” Nightshade slapped him on the face with anger, with such force that he fell completely staggered. Behind one of the many pillars around, his old friend and rival, Blueball Roycewicz, stared completely amazed. “Keep your dirty hooves off my friend!” she shouted with anger, walking towards the terrorist Pegasus without any fear in her eyes. “Blueball Roycewicz?” asked Nightshade with an arrogant smug, “such surprise you’re both here.” “What the hell are you doing here, Roycewicz?” asked Ampy with surprise as his friend helped him to regain his composure. “I decided to stick around to see the Wonderbolts, what’s wrong with that?” “Listen to me, little fillies,” Nightshade rose her voice in a threatening way, “you two are coming with me, and you better do it nicely.” “You can’t force us,” retorted Ampy with courage. “Oh… really?” Nightshade’s body began emanating an strange dark aura that spread through the room like mist. Both youngsters remained paralyzed by it, only staring with horror in their eyes, “of course I can force you.” “Let them go!” suddenly, Spitfire burst through the curtain and tackled the Shadowbolt, smashing her body against the wall. The aura pouring from Nightshade vanished almost instantly, releasing both Pegasi from their paralysis. “What the hell are you waiting for?” Spitfire turned to see them with desperation, “get out of here!” With an impulsive nod, Ampy took Blueball by a hoof and began running towards the exit. “C’mon!” he shouted as he took off, flapping his wings with hurry. It took a few seconds for Blueball to exit the trance she was in, but once out, they both accelerated towards the cloud factory in the fat west. The outsides of the stadium hosted nopony, they had all ran to their houses and took shelter inside; such an attack demanded that response from the habitants of the pacific Pegasus town. Behind them, they could hear and see how both mares fought. “Where should we go?” asked Ampy with concern. “We could hide in the cloud factory,” she replied pointing the immense building surrounded by a mass of black clouds. “I don’t think that’s a good idea…” “If these guys have been watching us, heading back home seems like a stupid idea, don’t you think?” “I guess you have a point…” Giving credit to his friend without saying a word, they continued flying towards the cloud factory with their hearts racing at full. Back in the stadium Nightshade had her gaze fixed upon Spitfire from a side of the room. “I don’t know what you want, but it’s not gonna happen!” shouted Spitfire stomping her hoof on the ground. “C’mon Spitfire,” said Nightshade with a shrug, “you should open your eyes, Celestia may not look or act like a tyrant, but she’s not good for Equestria.” “You’re really gonna pull that one again?” asked Spitfire with a blank look in her eyes. “I’m going to pull it until you let me say what I found those letters!” “Silence!” shouted Spitfire with anger, launching herself towards the enemy recklessly. Nightshade dodged the attack and landed a ferocious kick on the stomach that thrown the Wonderbolt towards a wall; the sound of the clouds cracking filled the air. Nightshade used the moment to abandon the room through the curtain and head for the highest part of the stadium. “Shadowbolts!” her called gathered them all in just second, making them drop fights or chasings, “Listen up, I need to capture those two ponies alive.” “It won’t be easy with these troublesome Wonderbolts behind us,” said Starry Skies with Trottingham’s accent, characteristic of the aristocracy she came from. “I know; which is why I want you to listen to me. Those Pegasi are of crucial importance to Celestia, so we need to keep them away from her dirty golden horseshoes. Stratus, stay here with Starry Skies and keep these guys busy at all costs. Charger, you’re coming with me.” “Could you leave me a translator in case she wants to talk to me?” said Stratus sarcastically, only getting a smack on the shoulder from his partner, “I can hardly understand her accent.” “Stop fooling around, we got work to do,” finished Nightshade with determination, killing the laughing between her subordinates. Starry Skies and the second in command flew back to the lower part of the stadium slowly to avoid detection. The other followed the trace of the electricity released by Ampy when flying, only visible under the shades of Charger and Nightshade’s glasses. “Hm…” said Charger with intrigue, “they went to the cloud factory.” Without saying a word, they parted towards the west to catch on the young Pegasi. Confused by the lack of Shadowbolts in plain sight, all of the remaining Wonderbolts gathered next to the red curtain. “Where did they go?” asked Flare Charge panting from exhaustion. “The niggas fled!” teased Soarin’ with a mocking smile, the sound of his voice echoing in the empty walls of the stadium. “Don’t call them like that, that’s racist!” said Rainbow Dash giving her partner a cold glare. “Well, we can’t just stay here sitting ducks, we have to go and look for them,” said Flare seemingly anxious. “Wait a sec,” added Soarin’ immediately with the authority of being the second-in-command of the Wonderbolts, “we have to wait for Spitfire’s orders before we even move.” “Well the orders are here boys,” said Spitfire flying to them hastily and waving a hoof, signaling the other Wonderbolts to gather around her. “You don’t like to keep us hangin’, do ya?” said Soarin’ with sarcasm. “Very funny,” the Wonderbolts’ leader looked at him unamused for a moment, “it seems the Shadowbolts are here for Sapphire Bolt, and they’re probably really close to him now.” “What would they want from the boy?” asked Flare with a shrug. “I think the same we do,” Spitfire’s answer caused anxiety on the group, and Rainbow Dash seemed particularly agitated by it. “Do you think he might join them?” said the rookie with worry, “you’ll remember the tried doing it with me some time ago in the Everfree forest.” “I hope not, and I’d rather make sure he doesn’t,” answered Spitfire gently shaking her head, “the plan is as follows: Soarin’, knowing Nightshade she probably has an ambush ready in case we try to leave flying through the roof. You and Flare Charge deal with it while me and Rainbow Dash sneak out through the main entrance.” “Isn’t it a little silly to ‘sneak out through the main entrance’?” remarked Soarin’ raising an eyebrow. “No, she expects us to follow her through where I saw her fleeing, trust me.” “Just making sure everything’s clear, boss,” the only male Pegasi of the group straightened up and saluted her. “You know your orders, Wonderbolts, make me proud!” shouted Spitfire and the Wonderbolts split in two pairs. Soarin’ and Flare flew to the upper part of the stadium and instantly drew the attention of Stratus and Starry Skies like the yellow-coated mare had predicted, starting a frenetic race throughout the cloudless Cloudsdale sky. Rainbow Dash and her leader descended to where the curtain was, which was now torn apart and hung from the edge. “Do you think the distraction will work?” asked Rainbow with much concern as they ran through a hallway with cloud pillars next to them. “I think they must be questioning where the hell we are, but there’s no way they can know we’re here.” “Wait a moment,” said the rookie with realization, “how are we going to know where did they go?” “Chill out, Nightshade may be pretty fast but she can’t hide the dark trace she leaves when flying at high speed. We follow it and we’ll find Sapphire Bolt.” “I hope you’re right…” After Rainbow’s deep sigh, Spitfire kicked the double cloud doors with enough strength to vaporize them. The Wonderbolts raised their sights into the sky to find Nightshade’s trace. “This way, keep it close,” Spitfire opened her wings and began flying west, facing the distant cloud factory. A few miles from there, right outside the factory, Sapphire Bolt and Blueball Roycewicz leaned against the blue wall made out of clouds to give their bodies rest from their tiring flight. “I think we lost them,” said Ampy between his panting, but his friend however, remained quite active and aware of her surroundings. “Where is everypony?” she asked when noticing the lack of all living form around them. A mass of black clouds floated above some massive smoking pipes that loosed lightning to the environment, constantly filling the air with thunder. “You should know that since today’s the competence, the factory doesn’t work,” replied the blue Pegasus now catching more air, slowly decreasing his panting. “Well that’s better, we can hide inside.” “Are you insane?” asked Ampy pulling her from a shoulder and glaring intently, “that place is dangerous.” “Your choice, it’s either walking into the cloud factory or get caught by the crazy weird Pegasus,” said Blueball with a grin as she walked towards the factory’s main door to open it slowly. Inside, various cloud refining mechanisms were visible for instants inside the spacious building. There was no light inside, for not being a working day, the only one that ever met them was the momentary flashes coming through the massive windows above their heads, caused by lightning. “Sometimes I wonder why I hang out with you…” he muttered with resignation, walking inside the factory right behind his friend, “alright, we’re in, now what?” “Now we wait,” a sudden flash lit her face for a second, revealing the white colored machinery around them. “It’s a shame you couldn’t participate,” said Ampy trying to hide his nervousness behind a change of subject. “Oh… that… it doesn’t matter,” she said with an indifferent shrug, “what I wanted was to see the Wonderbolts and I got it.” “I hope I don’t see them anymore, look at all the problems they bring.” “Don’t say that,” another lightning allowed him to see her friend’s pink irises along with her disgust face, “I hope they are following us, actually.” “If you say so…” ignoring the comment, Ampy spun his eyes and caught a glimpse of something flying through the windows above, sending a shiver down his spine, “you saw that?” “See what?” she asked with nervousness as Ampy signaled to get behind him with a hoof. The blue Pegasus kept moving his head along with his eyes to either dissipate or confirm his suspicions. And the mare behind him was doing the same. “No matter what happens, stay close,” whispered Sapphire Bolt as another shadow swept the floor in a moment, revealing by a flash of light. And when darkness covered them again, a shadowy figure already stood right in front of them. “I will ask you one more time,” said Nightshade with malice in her voice, “will you join our cause?” “I don’t have enough reasons to do it,” answered Ampy with a nervous gulp and Blueball peeped from behind him cautiously. “I think you’re right, young pony,” the gesture on Nightshade’s face revealed she actually agreed with Ampy’s words, “I will give them to you.” Two consecutive lightning bolts shook the windows above them as Nightshade walked in front of them, looking for the right words to say. “We are a… independent organization,” she raised her sight to meet Ampy’s orange eyes, “the only thing we want is a change for Equestria, and doing it, we’ve been mistakenly flagged as terrorists by Princess Celestia. She, young ponies, is the reason of the cultural setback our nation suffers, because of her racist actions towards the other races apart from unicorns, ever wondered why there are mostly unicorns in Canterlot?” “I’ve heard that before,” Blueball left her cover in sympathy with the Shadowbolt’s words, “my father often says stuff like that.” “Then your father listens to the right persons, Blueball Roycewicz,” a grin slowly spread through Nightshade’s face. “I don’t fight for political ideas, if that’s all you have to say, you cannot convince me,” said Ampy as blunt as he could, even giving the uniformed mare a cold glare. “If we don’t succeed, Celestia will exterminate all the pony races and do something terrible. Joining us will not only save you from the apocalypse, but will also allow you to develop all of your potential.” “Why do you need me so bad?” asked Ampy exasperated. “Because of what you can do, because of your ability and talent, we need you, Sapphire Bolt.” “Giving me compliments will not work, I have made up my mind and I said I will not join,” the young Pegasus looked away from Nightshade with despise and a confident smirk on his face. “That’s not the best choice, and I think you know it,” the Shadowbolt spread her wings to intimidate. A flash of light was drowned by the dark aura emanating from Nightshade, paralyzing them upon contact, “looks like we’ll have to do this the hard way!” The aura seemed to choke them, to steal the air from their own throats before it could go down. But before the Pegasi’s conscience vanished into the darkness, a distant shout drew the Shadowbolt’s attention. “Leave them alone!” Shouted Spitfire with fury, tackling Nightshade from a side and smashing her on a wall far from the Pegasi. When their senses returned, Ampy turned his head to the windows above and saw how another Pegasus broke through, bathing them with shattered glass. “Rainbow!” yelled Spitfire holding Nightshade against the wall, “get them outta here!” “Right away,” said the rookie with a quick and confident nod. Both youngsters stared at her astonished, not moving a single muscle. “What the hell are you waiting for?!” yelled Spitfire desperately, struggling to hold Nightshade against the wall. “C’mon!” the Pegasus with the colorful mane shook Ampy’s shoulders to make him react, but Blueball reacted first. She raised her head to see a shadow fly by the window for a moment. “Watch out!” shouted Blueball suddenly, pushing one of her heroes to a side, keeping them safe from the violent tackle Charger was going to connect. Instead, she took the hit and got launched to the cloud machinery hidden in the darkness. A loud, high-pitched shriek escaped from her chest as electricity ran through her body, illuminating the whole facility with a bright blue color. Ampy finally reacted to the screams of her friend, staring at how she squirmed in pain. As time passed by, her screaming became louder and louder along with a drastic color change on her mane and coat into a deep dark blue. Naturally, Ampy tried to run to assist her best friend, but Rainbow Dash took him from the hip and lifted him off the floor, taking him away from Blueball. She even whispered something into his ear, but his desire was to stop his friend’s suffering. Spitfire released Nightshade and flew towards them, commanding something Sapphire Bolt could not understand; in his head, only the shouts of pain of Blueball were audible. Against his will, the Wonderbolts took him away through the hole on the windows above, ignoring Blueball’s suffering completely.