//------------------------------// // Wandering Figures // Story: They've Been Among Us // by Echo Derp //------------------------------// "Dad! Dad! Daddy, get up!" "I-l'll be up... Just give me a min...yeah," Soarin' mumbled, half asleep. "Mom! Mommy! Get up, get up!" "I'll also be awake in... J-just give a few more minutes too." Rainbow was also half asleep like Soarin'. Aurora frowned and made an unimpressed stare. Both of her parents weren't fully responding to her. Aurora jumped off the bed without disturbing her sleeping parents, and proceeded out and into the hallway. 'You've got to be kidding me! They're like zombies. And they call themselves Wonderbolts! They're not even getting up! If only Aunt Spitfire was here to wake them up,' the filly thought herself. "Wait a minute," she suddenly came up an idea," if mom and dad can't get up... Then maybe I'll just 'help them'." Aurora impishly smiled and headed into the kitchen. But back in her parents room, Rainbow was slowly starting to wake up, yawning and scooting closer to Soarin'. "You awake?" she asked. "I'm awake," Soarin' replied with a small smile. "But was Aurie trying to wake us up? I could've sworn I heard her voice from somewhere." "She was... You know how she gets all excited for school." "Yeah, I think I- WHAT THE!?" Both Wonderbolts instantly sprung up from the bed and covered their ears as they heard a loud whistle blow. The two of them looked down at their daughter, who had a whistle in her mouth. "Time to get up," she said with an innocent smile. Soarin' rubbed his tired eyes, Rainbow grunted and fell back on the bed putting a pillow over her head. "Is that my whistle?" Soarin' noticed Aurora had the whistle he uses when he trains the cadets. "Yup!" Aurora replied. "How did you even get it or even find it?" "Daddy, you always leave the whistle on top of the kitchen table." "Oh yeah, right... Dang it." Soarin' groaned. "Well, anyways... We're going to be late if you guys dont get up!" Aurora left her parents and headed for her room. "Soarin', what time do you have to enter the HQ today?" Rainbow asked him in a muffled voice from the pillow covering her. "Around nine, why?" "Spitfire expects me there to be at eight. So, I can't take Aurie to school today, sorry." Soarin' got off the bed and went around toward the mare. "Well you better get up." He removed the pillow from her head. "You don't wonna be late, now do you?" Soarin' slowly leaned closer to Rainbow's face. "You know how Spitfire would be if I was-" Rainbow also got closer to Soarin', with a smirk. Both of them felt their lips connect with each other, then separated. "...late." "I know how she doesn't like everypony being late... Well time to start the day." Soarin' made his way out of the room. Rainbow Dash got up and stretched her forelegs in the air. 'Another day, Rainbow... Another Day,' she thought in her mind. The mare trotted to her closet and opened its door all the way, she pushed clothing and other items aside to find her uniform. "Where is it? Where is... Ha! Found it." Rainbow managed to locate her Wonderbolt formal uniform. She went to the mirror to put on on the clean and well-designed collar shirt. Rainbow grabbed the black tie that went along with it, and began to tie it. "I think that's it, wait... Where's the golden bars I had?" The rainbow-maned mare suspiciously searched the room for the two golden bars that were pinned to the shoulder sleeves. Dash searched all the drawers in her room, but unfortunately never found them. "Where are they? Did Aurora or Soarin' take them?" she asked herself. "I think I left them... Wait." Rainbow went back to her closet, and checked her other casual uniform's pockets. "Ah-ha! Here they are." The two golden bars were misplaced in the wrong uniform. Dash sighed in relief and pinned them."Man, I thought I lost-" Rainbow suddenly heard quiet breathing from behind. She turned around with a smirk as she thought Soarin' was playing a trick. "Soarin', you know you can't... Scare me...?" Nothing. Not a single sign of the stallion, or the filly behind her. Rainbow raised both eyebrows surprised, it was completely bizarre that nothing behind her was responsible for the sound. "...Whatever," she shrugged and rolled her eyes, continuing to prepare herself for the day. Until the sound of a pillow dropping on the floor was heard. "Huh? WHAT IN THE!?" Rainbow saw one of the pillows and the sheets of the bed floating against the ceiling while looking in the mirror. She immediately turned her head around, but was stunned to see everything back on the bed like if nothing had happened. Rainbow slowly took steps out of her room, utterly bewildered. "I think I'm just going to go now..." Downstairs in the living room, Soarin' sat on the couch and watched Tv while Aurora ate waffles for breakfast. He was watching the news, but was growing quite bored as it showed some repeated events. "Same stuff, same news," Soarin' said while he took a sip of coffee in the mug he had. "But something different might come." Soarin' took another sip, but glanced to the left as he saw Rainbow coming down the stairs with an odd look. "Hey, you alright?" he asked. Rainbow stared at Soarin' for a few seconds, then shook her head. "Yup! I'm fine! Feeling fine!" She replied with a nervous smile. Soarin' knew the mare had a smile that was deceiving him. "Rainbow?" He narrowed his eyes on her. "What's wrong? I know you're lying." "No, I'm not!" She replied. "Rainbow, I know you're lying. You look like if you seen a ghost." "Nope. I am completely fine. Nothing wrong going on." "Okaay." Soarin' went back to watching the television. Rainbow slowly went backwards towards the kitchen, she still had the uneasy look, but relaxed when she saw her daughter eating her breakfast at the table. "Hey, squirt," Rainbow said to the filly. Aurora looked back at her with a grin. "Hi, mom! But it's weird that you called me 'squirt'." "I know, right. I usually call Scootaloo that, but perhaps that might be a little nickname I might call you for now on." "Oh, you better not," Aurora said. "Then dad will start calling me it, too." "Sure thing... Squirt." The mare mischievously smiled. The filly rolled her eyes at her mother's demeanor. "Oh come on, you know I'm just playing with you." Rainbow wrapped her fore hooves around her daughter. Aurora giggled at the loving hug of her mother. "Mom, are you going to take me to school today?" "I'm sorry, but no. I have to get to work by eight, or you know how your Aunt Spitfire will get." "Oh, okay." The filly frowned, wanting the mare to escort her to school. "Aw, cheer up, Aurorie. Your dad will take you today. I promise I'll take you some other time." Dash made a reassuring smile, but suddenly glanced at the clock to see the time. "Uh oh... I gotta go! I'll see you after school!" Rainbow immediately left for work. "Bye!" Soarin' voice was heard from the living room. Then he appeared at the kitchen entrance. "You almost done, kiddo?" "Yup, I'm done." Aurora grabbed her plate and placed it in the dish washer. She then flew into the living room and strapped on her saddlebags. "Well lets go! We don't wonna be late!" Soarin' approached the front door as his daughter was eager to go. "All right, let's get to it." The two blue pegasi stepped out into the bright morning sun. The day was calm, few pegasi were flying at this time, a calm breeze coming form the west. Aurora's school was right in the heart of Cloudsdale, the area where it was alive at anytime of day. Both family members took off and headed for their destination. It wasn't long until the sky started becoming filled with pegasi activity. "Hey, Dad?" Aurora asked. "What is it?" Soarin' responded. "Who's going to pick me up today?" "Hmm..." Soarin' out a hoof against his chin as he wondered who was going to meet Aurora later on. "Uh, I'll see who will. But probably your mom will be there for you." "Yay!" Aurora cheered, making a wide grin. "Or do you want your Aunt Spitfire to be there instead?" "Woah..." the filly had an awed look. "That will blow all my classmates minds!" The school came into view, multiple pegasi parents were saying goodbye to their children. Soarin' and Aurora landed softly on the school cloud. "You ready for school?" Soarin' asked his daughter. "Yeah!" The filly replied happily. "Well, you better hurry before you're late." "Bye, dad." Aurora gave her Wonderbolt father a quick hug, then headed off toward the large building. "Bye!" Soarin' said back. "Farewell, Thunder," a voice said. "We'll be back later." "See you later, mom!" Another voice said. Soarin' saw a colt heading for the school. He looked to the right and saw both parents of the colt waving goodbye to their child. But the Wonderbolt raised an eyebrow as the mother of the child suddenly winced in pain. "Honey, are you all right?" The stallion next to her asked in a concerned voice. "Yeah, I'm fine, just..." the mare rubbed her head. "Some headaches." "Are you sure? The doctor said you should rest after you fell unconscious when you were on that trip in Ponyville," the stallion reminded her. "I know... But after I saw that light in the sky, I passed out. I don't know if it was because of that or I was dehydrated. But you're right... I need to rest. Let's go." Both ponies flew away and headed for their residents. Soarin', however, was growing suspicious as 'flying light' sounded very familiar. 'Okay... Things are just starting to get weird now. Really wierd...' The stallion turned around and headed for home to ready himself for work. Soarin' was in deep thought on what the mare said about the light, and his own previous sightings of unknown lights, too. But suddenly a strange trumpet wail-like sound interrupted Soarin's thinking. The stallion looked around for the source, but another memory came to him about the sounds. "Strange sounds...? Why does that ring a bell-" Soarin' eyes grew wide as he remembered the tall, walking anomaly appearing with the strange noises like the news had announced. "That thing is nearby! Where could it be?" The noise was echoing and humming and sounded like it was in a spacious environment. It appeared distant and slightly quiet. Soarin' hastily searched for any possible sighting of any strange figures. "Damn, I need to know- huh?" On top of Soarin's vision, four objects were flying at speeds that appeared to go beyond the speed of any pegasus. He stared at the anamolies with full attention. They were high up and difficult to spot, any Pegasus would have great difficulty to reach or catch these things. The objects then disappeared along the blue sky. "What... Were... Those... Things?" Soarin' asked himself, not able to process the strange sighting. He shook his head and continued on home. "I just gotta get out of here before anything else happens." ---------- "Hey, Spitfire! How's it going?" "Nothing much, just making sure everything and pony is in order." Rainbow greeted her boss as she entered her office. Spitfire had her shades on while she finished the last of her paperwork. "So, how was morning?" The fiery Pegasus asked. "I think my daughter is becoming more like you!" Rainbow rolled her eyes at the ceiling with a slight smile. "How?" Spitfire let out a laugh. "How is my niece becoming like me?" "She woke us up by blowing a whistle!" Spitfire sighed in content and grinned. "You and Soarin' are lazy..." "Hey!" Rainbow snapped, but then admitted Spitfire was right. "Okay, that is kind of true. But I never thought she would do something like that." "Well... There's a few things that made her do this." "Like what?" Rainbow Dash inquired. "You and Soarin' are sometimes lazy, but you guys hard-working. The two of you could sleep for the whole day, and both of you are Wonderbolts, so she expects you guys to be sharp at anything." "Wow... Didn't see that coming." "There's nothing wrong with you or Soarin'. Both of you are great parents, and that's how Aurora loves you. Even if you both of act wierd and crazy once in awhile." Spitfire took off her shades and smiled. "Woah! We are not wierd or crazy... Okay, I'm gonna admit it again... We are kind of strange in some ways as parents," Rainbow replied. "Well anyway, do you know who's going to be pick up your daughter after school?" Spitfire asked. Dash made a shocked look, she nor Soarin' never thought of that. "Uh oh..." "Busy morning, I see. Well do you want me to go get her for you guys?" Spitfire suggested. "Wait, what?" The rainbow-maned mare made was completely surprised. Spitfire suggested herself would go to the school to retrieve Aurora. "You can't do that! You're in charge of this place.That would be crazy!" Spitfire made a reassuring smile and shook her head. "Rainbow, just because I leave this place doesn't mean it'll collapse all of a sudden. I'll put Fleetfloot or Soarin' in charge." "Oh yeah... I forgot about that." Dash sheepishly smiled. Well I gotta go back to my post. I'll see ya round." Rainbow left her boss' office. "Bye." Spitfire turned the office chair she sat on around. She clasped her fore hooves together, and gazed out the windows in front of her. It was like any other day outside the Wonderbolt Headquarters; busy, professional Wonderbolts training cadets, security guards patrolling the structure. Those sharp eyes of hers reflecting anything that trespassed her vision. "Captian Spitfire, this is patrol Two-one," a voice crackled from the radio Spitfire kept hidden in her chest pocket. "What is it?" Spitfire replied by turning the knob it had. The radio was a rare and secret device in Equestria, it was assigned to only certain and high-value personnel. Not even Soarin' or Rainbow Dash knew of its existence. Spitfire, however, was one of the lucky ones to obtain such advantage. "We found, or actually, we don't know what it is," the security guard informed. "What do you mean?" "We were patrolling the academy and we spotted a figure on the ground. We moved to intercept, but the thing was gone. All we found was dead or dying plants and grass." "So, how's that a security concern? Dead plants or grass doesn't sound suspicious to me." Spirfire glared. No, it's just weird that it suddenly disappeared. We'll get back on- what?" Spitfire raised a suspicious eyebrow as she heard the voices of the other security guards in the background. "What's going on over there?" "Nothing, Captain. One of our guys thought he saw something, but... Huh? Captain Spitfire we'll contact you shortly! I think we've spotted that thing! Hey!" the guard shouted, the radio fell silent. Spitfire's eyes went wide as the tall creature that has been wandering near the academy and Ponyville might have been spotted. She patiently waited for her security guards to check back. But minutes passed by, the personnel she was responsible for never made a call back. The mare began to grow worried as more time passed. "Two-one, are you there?" "... I'm here!" a female voice replied, the mare on the otherside of the radio appeared to be out of breath and panting heavily. "What's wrong?" Spitfire asked. "Ma'am, I don't what happened, but everypony in the team is gone." "How is that EVEN possible?" Spitfire was utterly confused. "There's five of you on that team. How did all of you just disappear?" "Ma'am, I cant explain exactly. We chased a suspicious unicorn in a black suit, but..." "But what?" Spitfire interrupted. "There's something else out here besides me," the guard replied in a whispering, shaky and whimpering voice. "I need help. I need back up. I REALLY NEED HELP." "Hang on, Two-one, what's your location?" "I... I don't know exactly. I'm in the forest that connects the Unicorn Ranges and Ponyville. Please hurry, I... What was that? Oh Celestia, its near me," the mare whimpered. "I think it's after-" The radio roared with static, Spitfire's heart raced as the line went dead. She immediately got off her chair and exited her office. The mare made her way toward the security guard station, where most guards can be found. Spitfire entered the station, and saw her two personal and best security guards: Manerick and Whiplash, the white and dark grey pegasi that assisted her when training cadets. "You two are coming with me!" Spitfire ordered in her commanding voice. "I'll need at least three more of you!" Manerick and Whiplash stood before her, then three more security guards fell close behind her. Spitfire placed her shades back on. "All right! We got one security team missing out there, and one of them is in deep trouble! Let's go get them back!" She shouted. All of them gave a quick salute and followed her out the station. Spitfire quickly trotted down the corridors, everypony stepping aside by her intimidating look. Two security by the front entrance opened the doors for her. But to her surprise Soarin' was directly behind those doors, and was also about to open them, until it was already done for him. "What's going on, Spitfire?" Soarin' happily greeted. Spitfire was surprised to see her close friend right in front at the wrong time. "Uhh... Hi, Soarin'! I'm just kind of busy right now," Spitfire made a fake smile. "I'll see you in a bit!" Soarin' stared at her as she passed by in a hurry. But was concerned by a team of security guards following her. 'I wonder why she has security following her? Meh, must be something with a cadet crashing.' Soarin' thought to himself and shrugged, entering the HQ. Spitfire beated against the air as time was probably running out for the security mare. Her guards managed to keep up with her fast pace, but we're also confused on how a security team of trained pegasi went missing. The forest was fastly approaching, not a single sign of the missing team from above. The captain and her guards dove toward the broad, wooden figures. "Captain, we're not familiar with this area. Should we call in another team?" a guard suggested. "There's no longer enough time for that. We need to find those missing ponies!" Spitfire replied. "Captain, I think they went this way!" Spitfire turned toward one of her guards who was pointing at a path that was created out of wrecked and torn vegetation. The Wonderbolt captain immediately followed the way as it only stuck more fear into her by its ominous appearance. "Come on!" She shouted. All of them galloped down the ravaged road, markings began appear on the trees, and small stains of blood marred some bushes and the dirt. Spitfire suddenly stopped when she heard a low sound infiltrate her ear. The ponies behind her came to a screeching halt. "Ma'am? Is something wrong?" A guard asked "Quiet! I hear something..." Spitfire closed her eyes to listen closely, the sound was almost like a voice. The Wonderbolt opened her eyes when she discovered the direction it originated from. "This way! Let's go!" The group galloped again, the voice-like sound became a tad louder. All of them came to another halt and gasped loudly as they found their missing comrade against a tree, weaken and battered. The rescue team immediately came to the mare's side to aid her. "H...help," the mare grunted in pain, her uniform ripped and blood stained. "We're here! It's alright, you're safe now," Spitfire said. "Captain, she's going to need immediate medical attention. These wounds look grave and she's lost some blood," a guard informed. "Dang it... All right! On the count of three we're going to carry her out of here!" All of the vigil guards placed their fore hooves in place to lift the wrecked mare. "One... Two... Thr-" "Stop!" The mare yelped. "It's watching us..." "What's watching us?" Spitfire asked, all of her team making dumbfounded stares. The mare slowly turned her head at the grass next to some brush. There it was... The tall creature lying in wait as these ponies rescued one of their own. The pony could see the thing, it's body almost camouflaged with nature. She could see it slowly turning away to escape the scene, it was almost transparent. "Get us out of here..." She hastily whispered. The team stared at where the mare was facing. Nothing. Not a single thing moving, or alive. Spitfire looked back at the weak security guard, confused. "I think you're delirious. Come on, let's get out of here." Spitfire commenced the countdown to lift her. When the number got to three, the whole team lifted their comrade up, and slowly floated upward into the air. They carefully stabilized her while in flight. "We're going to take her to Ponyville Hospital!" Spitfire announced. "Yes, Ma'am!" All the guards replied, except the mare. Spitfire frowned, and saw the security guard's name on a blood-stained patch. "Your name is Lily Cloud?" The mare quietly nodded as a response. "I see... But, Lily? What exactly did happened?" Spitfire urgently needed to know what happened. "I-I don't know..." Lily croaked. "This thing... Attacked us, it all happened so fast. There was this unicorn in a black suit that was wandering near the academy, we took chase after him. But he disappeared into nowhere, then Dust saw some movement--" the mare coughed a bit, then took a deep breath to continue. "We tracked it, but we saw that thing... It was confronted by that unicorn, and I guess something went wrong betweeen them, so it..." Spirfire could see the terror in Lily's eyes, she stopped her before she could say more. "That's enough about that, Lily. But we really need to know what happened to the rest of your team." "They... They... Were dragged away by that thing. It knocked at least me and Shine out, but it... Killed Dust and Swift." Lily began to form tears in the corner of her eyes. Despite the pain, she continued on the story. "It then got the others and took them away, I tried to hide, but... It eventually found me and tried to end me." Spitfire closed her eyes and shook her head in discontent, this was already tragic enough for her too. 'How am I going to do this? How am I going to explain to their families about this? How am I going ever going to prevent this from ever happening again?' Spitfire deeply thought to herself. The horror of reporting the death of the guards would be unbearable. The team arrived at Ponyville hospital, they rushed they're critically injured friend into the structure. Spitfire looked back at Lily to to make sure she was hanging on; the security guard's eyes were slowly starting close on her. A nurse immediately confronted the frantic pegasi. "What's happened to her?" The nurse hastily asked. "We don't know, but she's badly wounded! She won't last that long!" Spitfire shouted. Doctors and nurses came to take charge of the dying mare. They carried toward the emergency room, and prepared her for treatmentc Spitfire and her security hastily followed them, but were prevented from entering by a doctor. "Captain Spitfire, we'll take it from here. We'll do everything we can," he announced, closing the door on them. "Fine..." Spitfire grumbled under her breath. "Come on, team. We'll wait over here." The captain led her guards toward the lobby, all of them took their seats. Spitfire pretended not to notice the other ponies staring at them. The adults appeared surprised by her sudden appearance and also by the stern expression she had. The children were excited by the famous Pegasus before them and wanted to confront her, but were to be stopped by their parents. "Whiplash," Spitfire looked at her personal security gaurd on the left. "Go to the HQ and tell Soarin' he's in charge for today. I'm going to stay to make sure everything is fine." Whiplash saluted and immediately exited out the hospital doors. Spitfire sighed and made sure nopony was looking to turn off the radio she had, which was meant to be kept secret at all times. She pressed a button and the device shutted down, the made slightly eased up. But suddenly three doctors came rushing down a hallway, with a battered unicorn in a torn black suit, toward the emergency room. Spitfire raised her eyebrows in suspicion as a unicorn in black suit sounded very familiar. The doctors and the patient disappeared behind the emergency doors, Spitfire shot daggers at the mysterious unicorn. 'If I found out that guy in the suit is responsible for all of this... I am going to end him!' She thought in her mind. Half an hour minutes passed by, a doctor approached the Wonderbolt Captain with a worried look, and announced, "Miss Spitfire, there is somepony that needs to talk to you, and I need to show you something." Spitfire got off the chair she sat on and followed the doctor, with a confused look, but didn't say anything. The doctor pony led her into a room; Lily was on the bed asleep with the medical devices hooked on to her. The doctor sighed and looked back at Spitfire. "She barely made it. Anymore later she would've never been here with us. But before I go get that pony that needs to speak with you..." He approached the unconcious mare and pointed at a wound on her right foreleg. "That does not look like a normal wound I've ever seen." Spitfire was shocked to see a bizarre and red marking on Lily. She leaned closer for better study, but quietly gasped when she realized what it was. "Doctor, that's a bite mark..." "So that's what it is. But what creature leaves a bite like that?" The unicorn doctor put on his glasses to inspect the marking. The bite appeared to come from a carnivorious creature but also from a herbivore at the same time, it was also wide in size. The unicorn took off his glasses and proceeded out the room. "Well, I'm going to go get that pony," he announced. "Alright." Spitfire gazed at the bite, it almost seemed to be deep. She also noticed a smaller bite above the large one, but wasn't that threatening as the other. "Did that thing do this to you or..." "Captain Spitfire?" a voice said from behind. Spitfire turned around and saw an earth pony in a black suit and sunglasses, accompanied with an unicorn also suited. "Yes?" She replied. "We are aware of the little incident you had with your security team," the unicorn said. "So? Why does it matter if you're aware of what happened? What can you do to replace the lost?" Spitfire asked bluntly. "Captain Spitfire, we're part of the Equestrian Military, and we're sorry if we couldn't save your guards. But all we ask of you is to keep yourself and any other Wonderbolt-related members away from that forest, where your security team..." "That's enough. I don't need to hear the rest..." Spitfire closed her eyes and looked away, haunted by the loss of those pegasi. "Since you're part of the Guard, I trust you. I'll make sure nopony gets near that place." "Well, that's good, but please stay away from that area. You can face charges if you're spotted, or any other Wonderbolt-related crew, if inside of there. Trust me... It'll keep you safe." Both ponies began to leave the room. Spitfire watched them leave, but was growing suspicious about those two. Even if they declared they worked for the Royal Guard it still raised some eyebrows at their appearance. The Wonderbolt captain glanced back at the sleeping mare with a slight smirk. 'Don't worry, Lily. You'll be fine.' The fiery Pegasus trotted toward the lobby, where her security team was waiting. She took her seat next to Manerick, and asked, "Manerick, what time is it?" The security guard looked at a watch he had strapped on to his left fore hoof. He showed the captain the time, which marked 10:00 A.M. Spitfire acknowledged this and made a single nod. 'I still have some time before I have to go pick up Aurora.' She thought to herself. "Alright, get comfy because we're going to be here for awhile," she announced. The security guards that had the orders to stay nodded their heads in compliance. ---------- "And that's how the Griffon and Equestrian kingdom came together." The mare that taught the Cloudsdale school ended their lesson. She smiled even if half the class was already asleep or barely awake. Aurora fought against her own self from falling asleep, her eyes slowly giving up on her and wanting to rest. The day had gone by slowly, the lesson wasn't as interesting than the others. History was the least favorite subject the filly liked. "Alright, class, the bell is going to ring soon. Feel free to talk at this point," the mare announced. Part of the class that was alseep came back to reality, the rest who were awake were know fully vigil. Aurora decided to quickly skim through the history book she had in front of her on the desk, just to speed up time. The filly rolled her eyes as most of the chapters in the book were boring. "This book has nothing exciting, why can't there be something... Huh?" Aurora noticed a picture of a griffon, that was cringingin fear, in front of three tall shadowy figures. The image immediately caught her attention. 'Captain Steel Beak's Strange Encounter?' Aurora read the information in her mind. 'Captain Steal Beak was a famous griffon captain for his valid efforts in combat and in strategy. One day he got separated from his soldiers, and ended up lost in the badlands. He was suddenly attacked by renegade griffon soldiers, but managed to thwart them off.' Aurora made a smile as the story became more interesting. 'He was heavily wounded, but seeked refuge in a nearby cavern. He then heard strange noises, and three tall figures appeared before him. They approached him and spoke in a strange language, but they suddenly started to speak in Equestrian shortly. Steel Beak was utterly shocked and frightened by these things, he tried to approach them, but everything went bright. The captain woke up in his home after the bright light, and surprisingly his wounds were healed. But one of his wounds was in the shape of claw-like marking. Even till today no one knows what were those things or how did the griffon ended up in his residents.' Aurora studied the image that had the marking; it almost appeared like one but was more smoother in appearance. The filly was surprised to hear about this story, it somehow reminded her of the story her dad told her about, 'Dead Men'. The bell rung, all of the school fillies and colts exited out of the class room. "Bye, class. See you tommorow," the mare said. Aurora strapped her saddlebags on and made her way towards the exit. She went along the crowd of her classmates and other students, she could see the afternoon was shining down the main hallway. But despite all the noises of the chatter, Aurora noticed the others around her appeared to be surprised by something. She pushed up on ahead and saw a crowd of her schoolmates surrounding something. "What's going on?" She asked herself. She continued on, but made a gawking stare considering her aunt, who was famous and captain of the Wonderbolts, standing right in the center of the crowd. "Aunt Spitfire!" Aurora came rushing at the Wonderbolt, Spitfire widely grinned and extended both fore hooves to greet her niece. "Hey, kiddo." Spitfire caught the filly and embraced the hug. "I'm so glad to see you here?" Aurora squealed in joy. "Me, too, Aurora. Me, too." "Aurora, you're so lucky!" A colt said. "Your aunt's a Wonderbolt!" "Lucky!" A filly added. "Showoff!" The colt called Thunder playfully said. "Whatever, Thunder," Aurora said with a smile and an eye roll. Spitfire released her niece and stared at the rest of the children. "Sorry, kids. I have to get back to work, I'll see you guys later. Come on, Aurora." Spitfire took off with Aurora following close to her side. All the fillies and colts waves goodbye and followed their parents back to their residents. "Auntie Spitfire, I didn't expect you to be here!" Aurora said. "Both of your parents were busy, so I decided to stop by and say hello to my favorite niece." Spitfire playfully rubbed the filly's mane. "Anyway, we're going back to the HQ. You could either stay with me, your dad, or your mom." "Cool!" The two pegasi flew across the Equestrian sky. The sun was near the horizon, the night sky was starting to takes its place, a small wind blew from ahead. Other pegasi were entering thier homes as the day was almost at its end. Aurora's eyes widens when she saw the large Wonderbolt HQ; it was like a dream for her, the HQ was like a special place for her. She rarely visited the structure like the ground. Two security guards were standing vigil by the front entrance. Spitfire approached the doors, and they were opened for her by the guards. "And who is this one?" A guard asked with a smile as he noticed the filly next to the captain. "This is my little niece. Say hi, Aurora." Spitfire glanced at her. "Hi!" Aurora greeted with a grin. "Hello, Aurora. Please step in!" The guard politely said. Aurora followed closley behind her aunt. The security guard called the door behind them. "Isn't she adorable, Wind?" The guard asked his fellow companion. "Wind? Wind!" "Huh? What?" Wind said, waking up from a small sleep. "Did you say something?" "You gotta be kidding me! You're so lucky Captain Spitfire didn't notice you asleep!" Inside the HQ, Aurora was completely amazed as she stood in the massive lobby. Multiple Wonderbolts and crew members were everywhere, from delivering important documents to each other to planning out the next special events. Aurora was lost in a trance. "Come on, Aurie. We don't want to stand here forever," Spitfire said while guided her niece toward the offices. The filly looked at everything with full interest. The posters and photos on the walls that displayed a variety of Wonderbolts throughout time, the trophies and small statues that were made in their honor. It was all to spectacular for Aurora. Spitfire turned towards the hall on the right and knocked on a certain door. "Come in," a feminine voice said. Spitfire opened the door, Aurora eyes widened when she saw her mom working on some papers. "Mom!" She shouted. Rainbow immediately picked her head up when she heard her daughter's voice. "Aurie? Aurie!" She got off her chair and went around the desk to hug the filly. Spitfire warmly smiled as she saw a mother and daughter happily together. "I'll leave you two alone. I gotta get back to my office and put myself back in charge." Spitfire departed from them. "Mom, this place is awesome!" Aurora said. "It sure is, isn't it? I still have some work to do, so we'll be leaving in about an hour," Rainbow announced. "What about dad? Is he leaving with us at the same time?" "You're goofball dad? Sorry... He's going to have to stay for a while longer." "Hehe, 'goofball'. But, aww... I kind of wish dad didn't have to work that much." Aurora frowned. Rainbow felt sympathy for her child. "I too wish he was more around. But it'll be okay." She reassuringly smiled at her. "But I'll be right back, Aurie. I have to go give these files to Fleetfloot. Sit on the chair while you wait." The mare exited the room, Aurora sat on the office chair behind the large desk. She imagined herself in a Wonderbolt uniform like her mom and dad wore. "Hehe, Aunt Spitfire was totally pranked by mom," Aurora said while she observed a photo, that was postioned in the top left corner on the desk, of Spitfire caught in the prank of Rainbow Dash. The image showed Spitfire with pie all over face, and Rainbow laughing in the back with Soarin' looking completely frightened by Spitfire's intimidating look. "I wish I saw that when this happ- huh?" In the reflection of the glass that covered the photo, Aurora saw a large silhouette figure staring at her from the windows behind. She immediately spun the chair around to confront what it was, but... Nothing was there. The filly rubbed her eyes to clear her vision. "Must be my imagin-" "You..." a ghostly voice quietly said. Aurora cringed when she suddenly started hearing echoing, incoherent voices around her. The light attached to the ceiling began to flicker menacingly. Three books from the shelves fell off without anypony responsible for it. Pens and pencils rolled off the desk and landed on the floor. The light suddenly shut off, and Aurora was left in darkness. But it flickered for a mere second, it revealed a tall figure in front of her, then disappeared when the light came back on. "M-Mom...?"