Canterlot Days: Paranoia's Peak

It was the day of the Wonderbolts airshow and the entire city was abuzz with excitement. Ponies young and old gathered at the cliff side stadium. It was improved upon in the past ten years; the stands were expanded outward to allow more ponies to watch from different angles, and to accommodate more patrons, and of course, reinforced to prevent any structural instability due to the performances.

Security was high, due to the incident with a crazed Canterlot pony. Royal Guard stallions, along with Knight Corp. Paladins were strategically placed at the entrances, exits, and near the performer's dressing rooms. Clay had run ahead of both Twilight, Applejack, and Bright Blade to meet Firefly, which meant it was Bright's job to make sure that neither his marefriend or either of Clay's mothers found out about the wings spell he cast on the earth pony colt. Luckily for him, he was accompanied by a certain protégé of his, or at least, one he come to consider as his own.

"Dinky, you know you don't have to be in uniform. You can just enjoy the show like any other pony," said Bright.

Dinky looked up at the alicorn stallion, her armor clanking a bit as she trotted alongside him, with her sword strapped to her back. She looked up at Bright and grinned.

"I know, but I want to help. Besides, it's going to be a little nerve racking to have to watch out for Clay and his date," said Dinky.

"Tell me about it, the only good thing about this is that he's wearing that hoody I got him, so we should be able to avoid any mishaps."

"Yes, he told me how you protected the civilians, and took down the crazed unicorn. I have to say, I'm proud of you," he said smiling down at Dinky.

The gray unicorn filly was thrilled to hear those words of praise, especially since he didn't seem to mind what she did with that –!

And that's when Dinky felt the worry creep back in again. Knowing that her master would ask her anyway, she telekinetically unsheathed the sword and showed it to him. Bright Blade's eyes scanned the sword, critically eyeing the weapon. It wasn't much different from a standard issued Paladins sword; the weight was even, except for the blade. The metal, he could sense, had layers of enchantments placed upon it, not only that, but there were three gem stones embedded into the flat of the sword, they seemed to radiate with latent magical energy. Dinky noticed Bright Blade staring at the gem stones and decided to explain.

"As you've noticed I used a bit of magic on the blade, I got Sunshine to help me look up the spells I wanted, after that I placed a Reflexive enchantment spell on it…"

"Interesting," Bright Blade's horn glowed and Dinky immediately released it into his grasp. The alicorn stallion gave it a few practice swings before looking back at Dinky. "You enhanced the durability of the blade to better protect it against wear and tear, you've also appeared to have added a self-sharpening spell to this too, correct?"

"Yes, to make sure it doesn't dull from repeated use. The gem stones are actually Spell Rocks, they make it so if I want to cast a spell or draw energy for a certain spell, and I can draw it from the stones instead of my own reserves, sir…"

Bright Blade stuck the sword into the ground, blade first, and stared down at the unicorn filly. His gaze was even, it was a look that Dinky knew all too well, it was the same look Bright Blade had on his face when he was instructing the other cadets, right before he either criticized their movements or scolded them for doing something reckless and stupid. Dinky held her head up high, ready to receive whatever verbal accosting her master was ready to give.

"So basically, Dinky, you modified a dangerous weapon without my permission, carried it around in a civilian local without a permit, and used spells that could've backfired and hurt you severely without Dame Twilight or myself around."

"In my defense sir, I was coming over to your home to talk to you about it…but…I know that doesn't excuse me going behind your back," said Dinky sadly.

"Well then there's only one thing left to say." Bright Blade trotted towards the unicorn filly, he raised his right hoof, Dinky shut her eyes and winced, preparing for the Knight of Hope to discipline her. What she felt, however, was her mentor's hoof resting on the pauldron of her armor. Dinky opened her eyes and saw Bright Blade wearing a gentle smile. "For a young cadet, you've done an excellent modification work on your sword, and I'm proud of you."

"You've come a long way since you joined the Knight Corp. Dinky. And I know the other cadets weren't as welcoming of you as I was, but after recent events, you've proved that you're every bit as strong a warrior as the Paladin's. And…if you want…I'd like to take you under my wing, so to speak."

In addition to Dinky's saucer wide eyes, her jaw drop to the ground, she just couldn't believe what she was hearing.

In a blur of gray and yellow, Dinky tackled the Knight of Hope, sending the both of them tumbling to the ground. Dinky had latched herself onto Bright Blade's neck, hugging him tight to the point where Bright thought she might strangle him, and strangely, he felt warm tears around his neck.

"Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Sir Bright Blade I don't know what to say, just – thank you! I promise, I'll work even harder, I'll make you proud of me!"

"You've already made me proud of you Dinky; this was something a long time coming for you. Now, when you're ready, could you let me back up, we're drawing a crowd and my marefriend is giving you the evil eye," he warned as he chuckled.

Dinky's head shot up, indeed there were some ponies staring at the odd display of the young filly atop the alicorn stallion. She then turned her head and saw that Bright Blade's marefriend, Dame Twilight, was standing just a couple of inches away. What he neglected to mention was that her mother was also next to his marefriend, along with the Knight of Honesty, Dame Applejack.

Dinky, at practically the speed of lightning, jumped off Bright Blade and stood next to her custom sword, trying not to look as embarrassed as she felt, which she was failing to do.

"W-w-what are you doing here, I thought you had to go on a delivery to Las Pegasus," asked Dinky.

"Well I was, but for some reason, they canceled the delivery, so I decided to fly here instead, wouldn't have found you if weren't for Twilight and Applejack, they told me you'd be here at the Wonderbolts show," said Derpy.

"Just try not to tackle my coltfriend to the ground again and we'll call it even," said Twilight with a smirk.

Dinky's reddening cheeks were starting to show through her gray fur. Before she embarrassed herself further, Dinky levitated her sword back into its sheath and trotted up to her mother, giving her a big hug, and Derpy nuzzling her daughter lovingly.

"You've gotten so big; I still can't believe you got your cutie mark already! I wish I was there to see that."

Derpy nodded her head and was escorted to the stadium by her daughter, the two of them walking side-by-side, giggling and laughing together.

Bright Blade had gotten back up on his hooves and smiled once again at the sight of the mother and daughter. Twilight had appeared next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Definitely, I still need to confirm some things, but I think I made the right decision," said Bright Blade.

"A regular heartbreaker ain't ya Bright," said Applejack as she trotted beside Twilight.

Bright Blade smirked, "Oh not just me, I'm sure Sunshine will be even more surprised when Twilight gives her the good news, she'll explode with thanks."

Twilight shuddered at that word "explode," the lavender pony then turned her attention to her friend, with a worried expression.

"Yes Twi, Ah need to talk to her, confront her about what Ah did, it's just one of those time when ya just gotta swallow yer pride."

Applejack, along with Twilight and Bright Blade trotted into the stadium, were everything would culminate.

Clay was waiting at the entrance of the stadium, wearing his Wonderbolt hoody. He was on pins and needles, with butterflies fluttering around his stomach. Today was the second day of the spell and his wings would disappear tomorrow, it was either going to be today or not at all. Clay was pacing as he waited, contemplating his inevitable confession.

This…this is easy – yeah! I got nothing to worry about! Firefly's a level headed filly, she'll understand!

Clay puffed out his chest, standing tall and strong, fueled by his unwavering resolve to tell his fillyfriend the truth.

And with that, Clay's resolve dropped from one hundred percent to about ten percent.

The pink pegasus filly landed in front of Clay, she then trotted closer to him and nuzzled the young colt on the neck, causing him blush. After quickly assessing the number of ponies actually paying attention, which were none, Clay lowered his chin to nuzzle Firefly on her head. When they parted there was a bit of an awkward silence, this being the first time they openly displayed their affection.

"Ahem, nice hoody Clay, are they selling them inside," asked Firefly, breaking the silence.

"Cool, but isn't it cramping your wings, there're no holes for them to poke out of."

"Well, uh, you see when he showed it to me we both noticed that there weren't any holes for wings; the guy must've given him an earth pony version by accident. I didn't want him to go and find another one so I just decided to wear this one, and don't worry about my wings, its roomy enough for them," explained Clay.

"Oh alright, let's go and get tickets before they sell out!" Firefly was about to dash for the booth when Clay cut her off.

"Clay you seriously got reserved seats!? They must've cost you a lot!" It was then that a thought entered Firefly's mind. "I hope they weren't meant for somepony else you were supposed to bring, were you supposed to come here with your family?"

Clay chuckled nervously, "You could say that, you could also say that my family is in the show…"

At this point Firefly was starting to get confused, but the look on her face was telling Clay that she was starting to make the connection.

Firefly and Clay turned around and watched as Dinky and her mother, along with his Aunt, Uncle, and Ma, trotted towards them. Clay looked back to Firefly, her mouth noticeably agape.

"That's…That's Dame Applejack, the Knight of Honesty. And that's Dame Twilight Sparkle and Sir Bright Blade, the Knights of Magic and Hope!"

Clay could tell Firefly was star struck, which was only getting worse when his Ma came up beside him.

"Clay, there ya are! Bright said you went to the stadium early." Applejack used her hoof to ruffle his mane, he chuckle as she did. It took a few seconds before she noticed the filly staring at them. "Uh, Clay, sweetie, who's this filly starin' at us?"

Clay watched as both his Ma and Aunt's eyes went wide upon hearing that. Bright Blade and Dinky however just waited for the initial shock to wear off, while Derpy was just smiling and giving her congrats.

Firefly shook her head to snap herself out of her stupor, stood tall and proper.

Applejack looked the pink pegasus filly over, after a few seconds the orange earth pony mare smiled at her son and patted his head once again.

"Well Ah'll be, meh little Clay's got himself a fillyfriend, and a cute one at that," she said with a smirk.

"Good, oh Clay Ah'm goin' to…talk with yer Mom, if ya want, y'all can come by and pay her a visit before she goes on."

Clay nodded in response, with that settled, Applejack trotted away towards the dressing rooms of the stadium. Leaving behind a relieved Clay and an even more surprised Firefly, who then turned to her coltfriend.

Having that bit of information confirmed, Firefly chuckled and collapsed onto the floor, staring straight up at the ceiling and having the others crowd around her asking if she were okay.

"My-my coltfriend is the son of Rainbow Dash and Applejack…related to the Knights of Harmony…"

"I'll go and get her some water," said Bright trotting off to the concession stand.

Oh boy…well, at least this was easy enough to deal with. Now all that's left is to tell her the real news…hopefully this will lessen the blow…

***Dressing Rooms, 30 Minutes till Showtime***

Rainbow Dash was busy preparing for the show. She was slipping into her Wonderbolts flight suit, making sure that the Element of Loyalty wasn't showing a noticeable bulge on her suit. Once Rainbow Dash had placed the goggles over her head she inspected herself in the mirror, striking many a heroic and flashy pose, psyching herself up for the performance to come. Although, as much as Rainbow tried to think of the show, there was still the nagging voice in the back of her head.

After this show…I'll be able to stay with them longer…I can make up for everything as long I try harder…Yeah, it's a new day and everything's going to be alright!

Shut up, I've already made up my mind! I'm going to say I'm sorry – even though I haven't done anything wrong – and then in a few days I'll tell Applejack what I found out! After that…

Do you really think she'll forgive you so easily, she kissed Twilight, Bright Blade said so! Seems to me she's looking for an excuse to end it with you, maybe telling her about what you found out about Clay will be the key the releases her from you!

"Not listening, too busy getting ready for the airshow!" Rainbow Dash said out loud, trying to drown out the voice within.

Face it; she already thinks the worst of you, might as well get even like she did to you…!

Rainbow Dash was about to punch out her dressing room mirror when she heard a knock at the door, making her pause mid strike.

Spitfire opened the door, like Dash, she kept the face part of the suit off till it was closer to show time. The yellow pegasus mare had a look of concern upon her face, making Rainbow Dash wonder if her distress was visible upon her face.

"Dash, look, I don't know what's going on with you and your personal life, but I'd like to help if can," said Spitfire.

"What, nothing's wrong! Everything's fine Spits, you don't need to worry about me."

"Dash; from your friend visiting you, to the way you've been pouring yourself into the practices, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that you got something going on."

Rainbow Dash shook her head, trying to dislodge the annoying and creepy voice within her mind. With a long sigh Rainbow Dash turned to her Captain and friend.

Spitfire did as Rainbow Dash instructed and sat down. From there, Rainbow told Spitfire everything that she felt comfortable with telling her. From the fight she had with her marefriend, to what she was able to find out about her son, and that it was why there was a bit of a strain on their relationship. Of course Rainbow left out the part about Applejack saying she and Spitfire were messing around.

"Wow Dash, you know it's not healthy to not talk about all this stuff, you could've come to me or any of your other friends," said Spitfire.

"Yeah, I know. To tell ya the truth, I actually feel better having talked to you."

"Glad I can be of some help, and don't worry, I'm sure your marefriend will come around. After everything you two have been through, it'd hard not to." Spitfire rose from her seat and gave Rainbow a confident expression. "If anypony can make this work, it's you Dash."

Spitfire then held out her right hoof towards Rainbow Dash. The rainbow maned mare quickly got the message and held out her right hoof, the two them grasp the others hoof, a fierce look in their eyes of mutual trust and understanding. What happened next could only be described as a series of weird mishaps.

First: Rainbow Dash took a step forward, what she slipped on, she had no idea, but her left hind leg stepped on something and it made the cyan pegasus mare lose balance. Spitfire held onto Rainbow's hoof, but only succeeded in making Rainbow grab hold of Spitfire's hoof tighter, pulling the Wonderbolt Captain towards her. The next thing Rainbow Dash knew, she was lying on her back, with Spitfire lying on top of her.

Spitfire groaned as she rose up, rubbing her head with one hoof as she kept balance with the other. The fiery maned pegasus developed a little smirk on her face, maybe noticing that Rainbow Dash had a bit of flushed expression.

Rainbow gave her Captain and annoyed dirty look, which only made Spitfire chuckle from her reaction. At that moment the door to Rainbow's dressing room opened, the two mares turned to see who it was, and…unfortunately…it was the one mare that Rainbow Dash didn't want to see this embarrassing situation.

The orange earth pony mare said no words, yet. She stared daggers at both the pegasus mares, her body slightly trembling with rage.

"What the buck do y'all think yer doin'," asked Applejack, her tone flat and emotionless.

Spitfire quickly got up off of Rainbow Dash, allowing her to spring to her hooves fast. Rainbow looked to Spitfire, and then back to Applejack, trying to mentally collect her words in order to quell the rising anger of her marefriend.

"Applejack this isn't what it looks like! I tripped on something, Spitfire tried to stop me from falling but I ended up dragging her down with me! I swear to Celestia and Luna, that's all!" Rainbow shouted.

Applejack pulled at the rim of her Stetson hat, lowering it just a bit. Her green eyes then fell upon the Wonderbolt Captain, her gaze held fire behind it, making the Captain wince a bit from her accusing stare.

"What part of get yer flank outta of here didn't ya understand," she interrupted.

Spitfire gave Applejack an incredulous look, she turned to Rainbow Dash who motioned for her to go ahead and leave. Reluctantly, Spitfire did so. Applejack held her gaze on Rainbow Dash, not even bothering to look at Spitfire as she passed by the farmpony. Once she was gone, Applejack kicked the door closed.

"Ya know…Ah came here to apologize for accusin' ya of cheatin', but…it looks like Ah have nothin' to apologize for!"

"Oh yeah, Ah always help somepony up by lyin' on top of them! You lying piece of – loyalty my flank," she shouted.

Rainbow Dash was trying to hold in her anger but there was only so much she could take before she had to take a jab at Applejack.

"That's the pot calling the kettle black, you went and kissed Twilight! TWILIGHT! She's our friend, and with Bright! If anything, you're the disloyal one here, not me," said Rainbow Dash.

That bit of information seemed to have taken Applejack by surprise. Her mouth opened and closed many times, but no sound came out, and no words to counter the accusation.

"That's what I thought! I may not be around as much you or I would like, but damn it if there's one thing I haven't been doing, it's cheating on you!"

You can't believe a word she says, loyalty, although with all those cities, she could've been sleeping around without you even knowing…

"And how can Ah believe that!? You're always away in different town, for all Ah know you could have a string of mares wonderin' if they'll see ya again," countered Applejack.

Even when confronted with the truth she doesn't yield, maybe she doesn't care about you, maybe she wants this to happen…

"Fine then," Rainbow Dash ruffled her feathers and started to walk towards Applejack, "maybe I'll go find Spitfire, there's plenty of time for me and her to have some fun! Care to watch!?"

Applejack growled in anger and swung her right hoof, catching Rainbow Dash in left cheek and sending the pegasus slamming into the wall, sliding down in a heap on the floor. Rainbow Dash picked herself up, she wiped her mouth and found a bit of blood smeared on her suit leg. The cyan pegasus stared in shock at her marefriend, a look that was reflected in Applejack's visage.

Before Applejack could say another word Rainbow Dash zoomed straight for the earth pony mare and slugged her across the right side of her face. Sending Applejack flying back against the door, landing with a loud thud as her body slid down the door.

Applejack, after regaining her senses, lunged for her marefriend! The two of them became entangled in a rolling ball of chaos. Hair being pulled, punches being thrown, and many a vulgar word were being slung around as the two mares fought fiercely on the floor of the dressing room. The two of the finally got to their hooves, panting hard, eyes narrowed. Rainbow Dash and Applejack galloped at each other, the two of them reared up and prepared to deliver a powerful punch to one another.

Before either mare could even get close to each other, they were frozen in place. AJ was surrounded by a golden aura, while Rainbow was trapped within a purple aura, their eyes traveled to the doorway where they saw both Twilight and Bright Blade, horns aglow, both with disappointed looks upon their faces.

"What is the matter with the both you," scolded Twilight, "Do you both know how close you came to having Clay walking in and seeing this!?"

At the mention of their son the two mares' rage filled expressions faded, replaced with looks of shame, but their brows were still furrowed. Bright and Twilight moved into the dressing room and moved both their friends to the opposite ends, once that was done; they stood in the middle and released their friends from telekinetic hold. Applejack and Rainbow Dash dusted themselves off, AJ fixed her Stetson hat, and RD readjusted her goggles and suit.

"That things were getting bad over here?" Bright Blade finished. "Spitfire came and got us, she was worried that you two might start something, and she was right."

"I can't believe you two, fighting, really!? For pony's sake, you two are marefriends, before that, best friends," said Twilight.

Bright and Twilight did a double take at those words; they couldn't have heard that right, they must've misheard Applejack. But one look of her face told them that she was serious. They then turned to Rainbow Dash, who had a blank expression. The rainbow maned mare trotted towards the door and stopped, she then turned her head slightly to back in their direction, her eyes hidden behind her bangs.

Rainbow trotted out of the door, leaving them behind. She didn't want to see any of her teammates, nor did she want to run into her son with the way she was feeling at the moment. As cold as her tone was when she said those words, Rainbow Dash's heart was aching, hurting. The mare she had fallen in love with, and raised a son with, was now breaking off their relationship. The only thing that was going to make this worse was the look on Clay's face we found out.

Derpy and Dinky had gone to their seating area to watch the preshow performance. While they were doing that, Clay and Firefly were taking a leisurely stroll through the commons area. Firefly had punched him in the shoulder multiple times since they were alone, scolding him about how Clay hadn't said anything about who his parents were. Thankfully she accepted his reasoning in keeping it a secret, but was still a little ticked.

But currently, Clay was wondering why his Aunt and Uncle had to leave in such a hurry when Spitfire came to see them. The look on the Wonderbolts Captain's face made him worry a little, but he was sure it wasn't anything too bad. Right now it was just him and his fillyfriend. Clay was contemplating whether he should tell her now, given the little surprises that Firefly had found out, now might be the best time before the show. The earth pony colt sucked in air and let out a deep sigh, it was now or never, while his confidence was bolstered!

"Clay, if the next words out of your mouth are 'I'm actually the son of royalty' I'm seriously going to lose it," chuckled Firefly.

"No, but it is pretty big. Firefly I wasn't really sure if you'd like me, but you've been on my mind since that night months ago. When I heard that I'd be coming up to Canterlot for a few days I was thrilled, I thought this would be my chance to find you again."

Firefly looked a little embarrassed, but flattered by Clay's determination to find her.

Clay winced when he heard the familiar, yet irritating, voice of a certain pegasus that he'd rather not name but knew there was no getting around it. Clay looked up and saw the dark blue pegasus colt who had making his school life, and life in general, a living Tartarus, Sky Tearer.

Firefly started trotting around Sky Tearer, with Clay doing the same, until Sky jumped up into the air and landed in front of them again, blocking their path.

"Why are you hanging around with this earth pony blank flank, you lower your standards or something?"

Firefly gave Sky Tearer a dejected look, while Clay was starting to get panicked.

"Earth pony? Uh, guess again, it's the hoody lame brain! The wings are underneath it!"

Sky Tearer lunged at Clay, catching the both of them off guard. The two colts rolled around on the floor, causing many of the other ponies to either get out of their way or get mowed over. Sky Tearer had finally gotten his teeth around a good portion of the hoody and began to pull upwards, Clay fought against him the best he could, but with his wings trapped by the hoody, it wasn't going well.

Sky Tearer flared his wings and began flapping, giving himself more momentum and strength. With one good pull of his teeth, Sky Tearer ripped off the Wonderbolt hoody, exposing Clay's faux wings. It wasn't really noticeable before, but when the light hit them the wings gave off a kind of luminance.

"Well I'll be, you actually went and got yourself some wings! Fake ones at that! Wow, I called you freak before, but now your just plain crazy you wannabe pegasus," laughed Sky mockingly.

Clay wanted to deck Sky Tearer then and there; in fact, he was wide open and practically begging to be punched in the face! But there was somepony else he had to attend to, the filly with the look of betrayal on her face.

The earth pony colt didn't know how to respond, well, not in any way that would make this sound better.

The pink pegasus didn't stick around to hear what he had say, instead, she galloped off in the opposite direction. Tears streaming down her face, continuing until Clay lost sight of her in the thickening crowd of ponies. His heart hurt, his hooves trembled a bit. Clay had just lost the filly of his dreams and all because of HIM.

Clay flew towards Sky Tearer, and struck him square in the jaw, sending him hurdling into the crowd of ponies. Some managed to move out of the way, but some were bowled over, aiding Sky Tearer in stopping before he hit something harder.

Sky Tearer and Clay took off at great speed, both aiming for the other, neither one showing any sign of slowing down. The pegasus and faux pegasus colts slammed into each other with a sickening thud that made all those around wince from the impact. Clay punched Sky in the stomach, exiting the air from his lungs. Sky Tearer countered with an uppercut to Clay's jaw, making him flip three times in midair before he stopped. Sky zoomed at great speed; head first, striking Clay in the gut and plowing through. Clay, barely thinking at this point, wrapped his forelegs around Sky's neck, and using his own momentum, flipped himself backwards, letting Sky fly the rest of the way into a concession cart.

Clay had landed hard on the floor, hurting his head, but still rose up, not wanting to be caught unawares. Sky dragged himself up, covered in cotton candy that clung to his fur; he shook his body of the bits of confection, snorting in anger. Both colts stared the other down, glaring with hate and anger. They spread their wings, giving a test flap to make sure they were still functioning. Clay and Sky raked their hooves against the floor, preparing for another engagement. With a loud battle cry, the enraged colts dashed once more with bloodlust in their eyes.

Before either colt could make contact, a bright flash of pink light lit up the space between them, stopping the warring colts in their tracks and making the already shocked crowd even more surprised. The pink light faded, revealing an armored gray unicorn filly, her sword was unsheathed and floating beside her, her blonde mane and tail flapping in the crosswind created by the power she generated earlier.

"What the hay is going on here!?" Dinky looked to her right and saw a familiar face, one that she didn't quite like. "Sky Tearer!? Clay what's going on!?"

"Tsk, can't believe I thought it was somepony important. Doesn't matter if you're here, I'll just –!"

For the first time in either Clay's or Dinky's life, they saw fear in Sky Tearer's eyes, genuine fear. A pegasus stallion descended down towards the trio of foals. He was dressed in a Wonderbolt uniform, and sporting the same coat color as Sky Tearer. It didn't take long for Clay and Dinky to figure out who this stallion was, Sky Blazer, Sky Tearer's father. The pegasus stallion landed near his son, glaring down at the colt with disdain.

"Be silent!" Sky Tearer immediately shut his mouth, cowering before his father. "Fighting in such a public place and right before the show starts! Are you trying to embarrass our family!?"

"And as for you, what kind of disgraceful, immoral, vile act have you committed!? You spit on the proud pegasus tribe, you dirty little earth pony!" Sky Blazer advanced towards Clay, slowly, like a predator.

Dinky noticed the advance and placed herself between Sky Blazer and Clay, her sword floating beside her, striking the best confident pose she could muster.

"And what pray tell, gives you the right to order me," he asked with a dangerous tone of voice.

"Cadet Dinky Hooves of the Knight Corp, as part of the security team I'm asking you to leave now!"

Sky Blazer scoffed, "You don't have any authority to tell me what to do, little unicorn."

"Oh she kinda does." Many in the crowd cleared a path, trotting down the center, was Bright Blade, staring at Sky Blazer. "But if you want somepony higher up the chain of command to talk to, I'm your guy."

"That you were about join the rest of your team. That was what you were going to inform us about, right?" Bright finished for him.

Sky Blazer didn't give much protest; he simply pushed his way through the crowd. Not caring about the crowd's numerous complaints against the Wonderbolt.

"Dinky, do me a favor, escort…" Bright Blade looked down towards the pegasus colt, still vulnerable, and looking for a name.

"Thank you. Take Sky Tearer to his seat, and if causes any trouble, detain him. You won't cause any trouble, will you?"

Dinky did as Bright Blade asked, she led the pegasus colt away towards the stands, and from the looks of it, Sky Tearer wasn't much in the resisting mood. Bright then dispersed the crowd and once that was done he trotted over to Clay. It was kind of a sobering thing for him to see, Clay knew Sky Blazer must've been an intimidating pony, he also assumed that Sky Tearer picked up most of his bad habits from his father. But, he never knew that Sky was so afraid of his own father, and he called him a disgrace, right in front of everypony.

"What…oh…not really, Sky Tearer pretty much blew my secret, Firefly flew off somewhere, and she probably won't speak to me ever again…"

"Look the show's about to start, I doubt Firefly will miss it. After it's over, you and me will look around for her, sound good?"

Just above the stadium, high over the roaring crowds and jubilant fans, lied in wait something foul, something that would bring about great change, and possibly, great death. It hovered in the air, a thin layer of green mist wafting around it. It stared down the many ponies below as the little bits of confetti flew about the open air, balloons floated up, popping as soon as they came anywhere near his presence. The being took a deep breath, sniffing the ambient air.

"Aahhh, such healthy bodies, full of vitality and spirit…and yet their minds are on edge…perfect…!"

Soon the being could hear fanfare echoing from down below, along with the heightened roar of the crowd…

Everything is going to Tartarus, with Clay's secret blown, Rainbow Dash and Applejack's subsequent breakup, how will things turn out for the family of three? Well…things are about to get a whole lot worse.

Equestrian Epoch: Final Hope

by Michael_Ravencroft

Second Sign: Part 7