//------------------------------// // Explosive Personalities // Story: Under the Moonlight // by Thunderblast //------------------------------// Stormfire groaned loudly, showing signs of frustration in his voice. "Where is Otto?!" "Calm your feathers Storm. He's probably finishing up with Light." Thunderblast said, bringing some glasses of water to Storm and Blitz. "No, Thunder. He said he was going to be back in a little bit. It's been five hours." Blitz responded, taking his glass and sipping on the cold water. The grey pegasus rolled his eyes and laid down on the floor, holding his water in one of his hooves, before sipping on it. "I'm seriously beginning to believe he turned tail on us man." Blitz moaned, setting the glass on an end table. "He wouldn't. He was being mind controlled." Thunder replied, looking at the two stallions. "What makes you so sure?" Storm raised his eyebrow at the grey stallion. "If he's still working with Light, then he would have killed us by now, or at least imprisoned us, but he didn't." Thunder looked at Stormfire as he spoke, removing one of his hoof guards and rubbing a painful spot on his hoof caused by wear. "How do you know he won't still?" Blitz said, crossing his hooves. "He just wouldn't, okay? I just don't think he would actually kill one of us unless he is being mind controlled somehow. Which leads to another question, how are these ponies being mind controlled?" Thunder continued to rub his hoof, looking between the two stallions. Stormfire and Blitz looked at each other, before turning back to Thunder. "Good point. It has to be some sort of magic device or whatever they're using, a simple spell fails if too many ponies are being controlled at the same time." Stormfire said, before raising his glass to sip on some of his water, moments later stopping it just before his lips. "Except alicorn magic." "Exactly." Thunderblast grinned, knowing they have a bit of a lead. "Perhaps they're forcing the princesses to do the magic?" Blitz awkwardly smiled. "I don't think so. They obviously don't need the princesses if they're overthrowing them, or at least trying to." Stormfire moved the glass around, forcing the water and ice cubes to bounce around with quiet clinks. "Unless..." Thunder set down his glass hard, looking at his hooves. "What?" Blitz looked up at the stallion. "They could be...-" Thunder stopped himself "-no...it was destroyed." "What?" Blitz asked again. "The Alicorn Amulet. It's the only thing that has alicorn magic other than the princesses. It was used on that attack in Canterlot a year ago, when me and two others teamed up with Con Mane. Didn't I tell you guys about that?" Thunder raised his eyebrow suspiciously. "Weeeeell..." Blitz awkwardly chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "I wasn't entirely listening...it sounded like you were speaking chipmunk." Thunder's ears and eyelids flattened, before he facehoofed himself. Blitz continued to awkwardly smile, before receiving a slap to the back of his head from Stormfire, who raised his eyebrow at him in a small glare. "Anyways, I was certain it was destroyed when the Amulator exploded at the castle." Thunder sat up, taking a quick peek outside. "You don't think they made a new one, do you?" Stormfire looked at Thunder with a worried expression. "No, that's impossible. The gem it the magic was embed in was one of a kind, no other was found like it. Another can't be created." Thunder replied. "Hmm.." Stormfire tapped his hooves together. "I've got nothing." The three stallions went into a deep thought of the possibilities, before Blitz gasped. "Could the amulet have been rebuilt?" Blitz looked Thunder in the eyes. Thunder shrugged, before nodding. "It's possible, as long as the gem wasn't damaged." "There you go. They're using the Alicorn amulet." Storm then put his hooves on the floor, standing up. "Perfect... It was hard enough destroying the Amulator, how hard is it going to be getting it out of the hooves of a psychopath?" Thunder groaned. "As long as they aren't putting it into a machine like Scarwings and Goldbar did, we might have a hoof to stand on." Storm said, trotting over to the window and looking out. "We just need to get the materials to build explosives to distract the revolutionists." "Why not propane or something?" Blitz stood up, staring directly at Stormfire. "Good thinking, that should work." Thunder responded, standing up as well. Blitz smiled lightly. "The only problem is, where are we going to get propane without digging into the earth?" "I don't know...hey Thun-." Stormfire turned around, noticing Thunder was no longer standing there. "Thunder?" He looked around, before trotting around the apartment to look. "Hey guys! You won't believe what I found." Thunder said, standing in the doorway of a closet. "What'd you find?" Storm asked, trotting over with Blitz. Thunderblast then turned around, holding two small tanks of propane in his hooves. "How convenient!" Blitz smiled brightly, his tail wagging briefly. "There's more in the closet too." Thunder smirked. "All we need to do is figure out a way to set them down and detonate them on our command." "No problemo." Storm smiled lightly. "Great, then I guess we're set." "Aw, don't you fret Dashie. I betcha ol' Thunder's alright. He knows what he's doing." An orange earth pony mare with a blond tied mane and tail, wearing a light brown stetson said to the rainbow-maned pegasus said. "B-but...he could get himself killed AJ!" Rainbow Dash whimpered, wiping tears from her eyes. "Don't say that, he will be just fine, sugarcube." Applejack responded, hugging the blue mare in an attempt to comfort her about her missing coltfriend. The day following the start of the Revolution, most ponies were evacuated to Cloudsdale to prevent a mass casualty rate. The city, as well as Los Pegasus and Vanhoover, were heavily guarded with every remaining Royal Guard. No one came in after the gates closed, and no one went out. Thanks a magic solution developed four years, ponies of all race could now roam the city in the sky. Rainbow continued to sob as she hugged her friend, who tried her best to comfort her. "Please don't cry, Rainbow Dash. Thunder's a strong stallion, he doesn't know when to quit." Chimed in a purple alicorn mare with a purple mane, with a pinkish-purple stripe to the right side, newly-crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle. "T-Twi...you don't understand. He's my coltfriend, and h-he's in danger out there...for all we know, he might already be dead." Rainbow cried, before running upstairs into her bedroom. Another stallion, Rainbow Blaze, trotted into the living room. "She's worried about Thunder, isn't she?" Twilight and Applejack nodded, the brilliant purple alicorn looking up the stairs where Rainbow Dash had just darted to hide in her bedroom. "I just wish we could help her." Twilight lowered her head. Applejack sighed. "Ah wish we could too, but it's too dangerous to go back." Rainbow Blaze sat down, putting his hoof to his head as he strived to defeat a pounding headache. Twilight noticed and walked over to the stallion. "Are you okay sir?" Twilight asked, clearly concerned for the stallion. Blaze looked up at the mare and smiled lightly. "Yeah, sure." Twilight then sat down next to him. "I don't think you are telling the truth. You're stressed about something other than this revolution and Dashie, aren't you?" Blaze looked at her, then down at his lap, before turning his face away to hide tears. "No, that's all I'm worried about...that, and her coltfriend. Is he really stuck out there?" Twilight nodded slowly. "I'm afraid so. But, he's a Royal Guard. I'm sure he has a plan to get out." "He is?" Blaze turned and faced Twilight, tears building in his eyes. "I had no idea...I-I guess I can admit...I never paid any attention to Dashie after she turned eighteen. She thinks I hate her..." He stopped and gulped his emotions. "I love her more than anything in this world. I'm a bad father, I know. I should have listened to her." Twilight looked him in the eyes, before hugging him gently. "That doesn't mean you can't listen now. Right now, she needs her father more than anything, to give her comfort. Her coltfriend, a Royal Guard, is out there risking his life, and I'm sure is also praying you are keeping her safe." Blaze looked her back in the eyes, more tears building in his eyes, before he hugging her back tightly. "Y-you're right." He sobbed. "Dashie needs me. I was never there for her when I should have been." "Hmm, alright. That should do it." Stormfire smiled, pulling his hooves away from a glass bottle, filled with propane with a custom-built hoof triggered detonator wire, connected to the detonation switch. "Whoa, looks nice. Does it work?" Thunder trotted over and sat down in front of it, looking at the small device. "It should. Only one way to find out however." Storm picked the device up in his hooves. "We need a plan of where to put these things." "Easy, we get a map of Ponyville, mixed with the castle plans. The plans are only drawn onto a map of town." Blitz trotted over to the two stallions. "But where do we get one without being caught by the workers or the guards?" Storm set the explosive back down onto the floor, lifting his hoof so it is facing upward. Thunderblast stood on all fours, smirking lightly. "We take out a couple of them and steal their armor or vests, they'll never know we're fighting back. After we do that, we find some of the blueprints and take them. I doubt anypony will stop and ask us why we're taking them if we're dressed like guards or workers." "Huh, good plan. Then, we take the plans back here and mark places where we can plant these things to distract the workers and guards, and if necessary, start a bit of a fight and take out the revolution's followers." Stormfire continued. "Then, we find out where everypony who's been kidnapped is being held, we rescue them, and start a revolution against the revolution!" Blitz finished, smiling. "That's the spirit." Thunder smiled, followed by the three stallions hoofbumping each other at once, before getting to work on building the propane explosives. "Alright you guys. It looks like they've got some blueprints over there. But, there are too many guards over there right now. If we cause the littlest distraction, it should lure them away so we can steal those workers' vests and helmets. It's unlikely they'll know its us, since I doubt most of them don't know who we are or what we look like. To them, we hopefully are revolutionists." Thunder whispered to Stormfire and Blitz, peeking around the corner of the alley at some workers surrounded by guards. "Hmm...maybe I could fly elsewhere, maybe that street over there-" Blitz pointed. "-and lure them away." "No, too risky. They might end up catching you." Thunder protested, eying the four guards. Storm raised his hoof. "How about we just make a loud noise in another direction so they leave?" "That's what I'm thinking. I'll do the distraction, you guys get the plans. Easy as that." Thunder turned and looked at the two stallions, who nodded. He trotted over to a couple of trash cans, stealing the lids off of their tops. "You guys wait here until the guards leave." "Got it." Blitz nodded, before peeking back around the corner at the guards. Thunder then flew up, low over the buildings to avoid being seen, then flying down in another alley, crouching in a corner and picking up the trash can lids. The stallion unreluctantly smashed the lids together as hard as he could, creating a loud, aggravating noise which brought two of the guards away, leaving only one. "Darn it, only two guards went." Storm stomped his hoof quietly. "No biggie, he doesn't look like the others." Blitz shrugged. "What do you mean?" Storm looked down at Blitz. "That guard is new, I can tell. He is scared and won't do much. He'll probably be the easiest to take out." Blitz smirked. "What makes you so sure?" Storm raised an eyebrow as he stared at Blitz. "Look at his rank." Blitz pointed. Stormfire looked at the stallion, all over his body for a rank insignia. "Hey, there is no rank!" "Exactly!" Blitz smiled, looking up. "He's new, he's weak." "Oh. I see now. Let's go before the others get back." Storm pulled away from the corner, allowing Blitz to stand. "Okay. The guard is definitely the weakest one there. The earth pony worker looks pretty small too, the pegasus looks like a strong one. I'll get the smaller guys, you get the pegasus worker. Alright? You're stronger than I am" Blitz explained to Stormfire. "Got it, let's go." Storm nodded, before trotting out of the alley with Blitz. "Alright, looks like we need pillars-" The earth construction worker pointed at the blueprints. "-here, here, and....here." The other worker nodded at the smaller stallion, before the guard behind them noticed Blitz and Stormfire approaching. "Hey you two, you need to get away from here." The guard stepped slightly closer. Blitz and Stormfire just simply smirked as they approached the stallion. The guard grit his teeth, before grabbing a sword out of his armor and clenching it in his mouth tightly. "Ah said shep back!" Before he could do anything else, Blitz tackled him and pinned the stallion down. He yelped, dropping his sword, which fell over to Storm. Stormfire picked the sword up and stuck it in his armor. "Ah, thank you!" He smiled at the guard, before Blitz headbutted him, knocking him unconscious. Storm then trotted over to the pegasus worker and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hmm?" The worker turned around and stared at Storm's muzzle. "Hey! You're not supposed to-." Stormfire delivered a punch to the muzzle, which instantly knocked him unconscious and somehow also onto the earth pony worker, who struggled to get out from under the much heavier pegasus stallion. "Hey, I was going to take care of him!" Blitz pouted. "Too late." Stormfire rolled up the blueprints and held them in his hoof. "We kinda diverted from the plan, but we got the blueprints. We better go before the other guards return." "Unless Thunder's taking care of-" "Hey! You two!" Came the rough voice of a guard. Blitz and Storm turned around to see the two guards staring at them with anger written all over their faces. "Put your hooves in the air!" One said, the other pointing a spear at the two stallions. Storm and Blitz looked at each other, unsure of what to do at that moment. Suddenly, both stallions were knocked unconscious by a large wrench. Both guards fell to the ground, revealing a tan earth pony stallion with a brown mane and multi-shaded brown tail. Around his neck, he was wearing a red bandana, which had white details on it as well. "Thought you could use some help." He smirked. Another pegasus, Thunderblast, landed a few feet beside him. "Diesel?" The stallion nodded, still holding the wrench in his hoof. "What are you doing out here?" Thunder trotted over. "Saw what you three guys were doing and decided to help. I figured you were all putting something together if you were stealing the blueprints and knocking these guys out." Diesel pointed to the guards under his hooves. The three pegasus stallions looked at each other, before smiling. "Great to have you out here fighting with us, Diesel." Storm trotted closer, Blitz slightly behind. "Wait, where's Snowy?" Thunder looked at Diesel with concern. "Cloudsdale, everypony who managed to get out of the affected cities evacuated there." Diesel sighed. "I was told to stay to run the trains for revolutionists whenever they needed it. Just until now that I've had enough of this and demand justice." He stomped his hoof. "So, more ponies are safe than we thought?" Blitz wiped at his forehead, taking a sigh of relief. "That's the best news we've heard in these past couple of days." "Kind of, those who tried to fight back, which wasn't many, were either killed or captured. I overheard when running the train a little while earlier, something about the guards and a few others are being held at a warehouse on the outskirts of town. It seems pretty plausible, coming from a revolutionist." Diesel stepped off of the guards, fixing the bandana around his neck. "That kind of explains the guards being captured, where else would they put them? Then again, they'd need a hell of a big place to keep 'em all." Storm chimed in. "You know, they may actually be using the old bread packaging place that closed down six years ago. It was a pretty big place." Blitz looked between the three stallions. Thunder nodded. "Sounds about right." "What are you guys planning to do? Why'd you steal the blueprints anyways?" Diesel asked, looking at Stormfire with the blueprints in his hoof. "We built these trigger detonating explosives that we plan to use in certain places where the castle is supposed to be built. If we put them in the right places, it will make the area not suitable for construction." Thunder replied. "They're building a castle? Where?" Diesel turned his head and stared at Thunder, his eyes widening. "Right here. Right on top of Ponyville. Which is why we want to do this, to stop the plans. It'll throw off the revolution." Blitz responded. "By stealing these plans, and also using a map of town, we can figure out where to put these explosives and detonate them from a distance." Thunder continued for Blitz. "I see. Do you guys have a hiding spot?" Diesel looked between the three. Thunder and Blitz nodded. "We do." Blitz pointed at the surplus store behind them. "Oh. That makes sense." Diesel chuckled. "We better get back inside before more guards or workers come, we don't want to start a war just yet." Storm suggested. "Good idea." Blitz replied, before flying over to the shop and opening the door for them, followed by the three stallions entering, Blitz following behind them. "Dashie?" Rainbow Blaze knocked on Rainbow Dash's bedroom door. Inside, Rainbow Dash was crying into her pillow, somewhat loud enough for anyone outside her door to hear. Blaze slowly opened the door and peeked inside. "Dashie?" Rainbow stopped crying for a moment, remaining face down into her tear-drenched pillow. "What dad?" Blaze walked over and sat down on her bed, before noticing a picture of Thunderblast in a black Royal Guard suit, with red collars and brilliant golden buttons, with a 'Sergeant' rank insignia on his upper arm. He then picked up a smaller, similar picture, but with Rainbow Dash, standing next to the head-taller grey pegasus, and the rest of her friends in a line, with Princess Celestia standing behind them, all smiling at the camera, a picture taken during the Royal Wedding a year ago. Blaze sighed. "So...Thunder's a guard, huh?" Rainbow whimpered slightly, nodding into her pillow. Blaze thought of things to say. "I've completely changed my thoughts on him." Rainbow Dash didn't reply, instead beginning to shed more tears. Blaze sighed, setting the picture back down on her nightstand, before hugging the mare tightly. "I'm so sorry, Dashie. I'm sorry for everything. I'm such a bad father." He begun to tear up. Rainbow Dash turned around, before hugging him tightly, beginning to cry. "Shh, don't cry Dashie." Blaze gently rubbed her back. "P-please, dad...a-all I want...all I need...is you right now. Th-Thundey is in trouble...I don't even kn-know if he's still-." "No, Dashie,-" Blaze cut her off. "-you must not give up hope. If he's out there, I bet you he's fighting like no one else." Blaze begun to tear up as well, as he stared into her magenta eyes. Rainbow Dash breathed heavily, tears sitting in her eyes. She was uncertain what to do at that moment, other than hug her father tightly. The two embraced for a few minutes, allowing Dash to calm down enough to speak again. "Dad...I-is Thunder coming home?" She asked, still breathing heavily, her cheeks soaked from tears. "Yes, Dashie. Thunder will come home." Later that day, just before sunset, Thunderblast, Blitz, Stormfire and Diesel had finally completed their collection of explosives, and were planning out where they needed to be placed. "Alright you guys, it looks like this place may be bigger than we originally thought. It now covers all of town, plus more." Stormfire groaned. "Oh...perfect." Thunder facehoofed, shaking his head slowly. "Will we have enough explosives to stop this thing?" Blitz looked between the stallions. "Definitely. It isn't a hundred percent bigger, Blitz." Storm replied. Thunder removed his hoof from his face. "Oh, then I guess we're good." Storm nodded, before looking back down at the blueprints. "Alright, I'm thinking if we plant the explosives...hmm. Here-" Storm then drew circles using a pencil. "-here, here...and here." He finished, setting the pencil down. "Then, the ones we have left, we can use to destroy the building sites." Thunder, Blitz, and Diesel glanced down at the blueprints, which now had four pencil-marked circles over key locations. "Are you absolutely sure this will prevent them from continuing the plans here?" Diesel's eyes moved over the blueprints. "Prevent, maybe. Throw off, or even delay, definitely." Storm rubbed his hoof. "And if they don't do much?" Blitz looked back up at Thunderblast and Stormfire. "Then it just gives us the bigger challenge of fighting an entire army." Thunder reached over to one of his knives, beginning to clean it off with a cloth. "We can't do that until we find where Light is holding everypony captive, however." Storm stood up, staring at Thunder. "Easy, we kidnap a revolutionist, a guard maybe, and torture information out of him." Diesel raised his hoof slightly, glancing between Thunder and Storm. "Perhaps." Thunder thought for a moment. "Alright, that's what we'll do. First things first, we detonate at these points,-" He pointed at the blueprints. "-then find a lone guard, capture him, bring him here, and do whatever it takes to get whatever we can out of him, and if we're lucky, he'll give up and help us." "Yeah, real lucky." Blitz rolled his eyes. "Calm down Blitz, something will work out. Trust me." Storm smiled calmingly. Rainbow Dash sighed, sitting in the same park where her and Thunderblast spent time together, next to the same tree the two cuddled. She was still worried about her coltfriend, and was oblivious to his actions in Ponyville, and was beginning to question if he was even still alive. A tear descended down her cheek as happy memories flashed through her mind. The mare was struggling to fight off the thoughts of what she would do if she found out her coltfriend had been tortured to death, or executed alongside his friends. She knew Thunder didn't give up, and never would until the end. "Dashie, you know...it's not exactly safe to be out in the park all by yourself." Came the voice of a familiar stallion. Rainbow turned around, her eyes now meeting the chest of a sky blue pegasus stallion, with a navy-blue blown back mane. The stallion was smiling lightly. "S-Soarin!" She sniffed, backing against the tree in fear. "Easy, I'm not going to do anything. I just want to talk." The stallion sat down beside her, wrapping his wing around her back. The mare trembled, before looking up at the stallion. "W-why did you come back? You know we're not allowed to be seen near each other, r-right?" Soarin sighed. "I know. Just, with this whole thing going on, and after what I went through these last couple of days, I can't seem to fathom that this might be the end." Rainbow nuzzled his chest, beginning to feel more comfortable around him after what he did to her and Thunder a while back. "What happened?" She looked up at him, wiping a tear from her eye. "I was in Ponyville when it happened." Soarin gulped. "Me and Thunder fought like cats and dogs again, and I feel extremely bad for it. It's only now I realize he was trying to keep me safe. I learned the hard way." He then pointed to a massive gash in front of his flank, a stab wound. Rainbow Dash gasped, hugging Soarin tighter. "W-what did you do?" "I tried to fight back. I was way outnumbered. I tried my best to hide...this guy, he had black and white hair, cyan-ish eyes and black trimmed hooves. He...he sent mercenaries after me. I hid in an alley, they found me somehow, tied my hooves up. I was confronted by the same stallion. I think his name was Mountain...something. I didn't catch it all because I passed out, and when I woke up, I was fine." Soarin trembled as he explained. Rainbow shuddered. "Th-that's horrible. Do you know where Thunder is?" Soarin shook his head. "I never saw him after I flew away to fight." "Oh." Rainbow lowered her head, looking down at his chest. "Hey, I'm sure he's fine. He's brave." Soarin hugged her, smiling down at the mare. "I-I hope so." Rainbow laid her head on his chest. Moments later, a charcoal-grey pegasus wearing golden Royal Guard armor, with armor pads over the center front of his arms, landed just a few feet in front of the two ponies with a loud thump, causing Rainbow Dash and Soarin to jump and stare at the stallion. He was wearing black military shades over his eyes, his dirt-brown mane falling over them slightly. "You, rainbow hair. I need you to come with me." The stallion spoke in a deep, slightly rough voice. Soarin hugged her tighter as she trembled. "No, she's fine with me. Leave us alone." The stallion's lip moved up slightly in anger, a low growl churning in his chest. He then walked closer. Rainbow whimpered, holding on to Soarin tightly. "D-don't let him take me Soar!" The stallion grabbed Rainbow Dash by her wing forcefully, slowly ripping her away from the sky-blue stallion. "NO!" She screamed as the stallion grabbed her. "HEY! Give her back to me!" Soarin stood up in a defensive stance, growling at the stallion who ripped Rainbow out of his grasp. "Or what?" The stallion replied, holding the blue mare tight enough to crush her body if he tried. Rainbow Dash flailed her hooves, struggling to hit the stallion. "Put me down you jerk!" Soarin lunged at the stallion, only to be stopped by another pegasus who grabbed him by his back, holding his hooves against his body. "H-HEY!" He yelled, before being thrown into the ground with enough force to feel it later on even worse than now. Before Soarin could stand, the stallions had already flown away with Rainbow Dash, who was screaming multiple inaudible words at the stallions, a few times yelling Soarin's name in fear. "Okay guys, looks like we need to be sneaky. Blitz, you still got the construction gear?" Thunder whispered as he stared at some workers and guards by a small building site. "Yup. Here Diesel, you better wear these." Blitz handed an orange and black helmet, as well as a vest and belt in the same colors to the tan earth pony stallion, who quickly replaced his engineer bandana for the gear, which barely fit. "Uh, it's a little too big on me." Diesel strained to fit the construction gear on, the helmet moments later sliding over his eyes. "Ugh." He groaned. "I know, but I don't have any your size. Sorry." Blitz whispered back, putting on his helmet, vest and belt, before tucking an explosive in a large pocket. "Storm, you got the detonator?" Stormfire smirked and held up a small switch, which was offline at the moment. "Alright, good. I think we're set." Thunder whispered. "I'll see if I can lure some of the guards away so they aren't as suspicious." "And I'll stay here until we're ready to deliver the package." Storm tucked the detonator into his armor. "Let's go Diesel." Blitz whispered, trotting out the other side of the alley to avoid being seen walk out from there, Diesel close behind. "I better go too. Blitz or Diesel will give you a signal to detonate. If not, wait until they're out of range." Thunder explained, before flying up. "Good luck." Storm looked up at Thunder as he flew up. Rainbow Dash woke up, had being knocked unconscious while being taken away from Cloudsdale. It didn't take long for the mare to realize she was strapped to a chair in a dark room. She sighed. "Not again." The lights turned on, briefly hurting her eyes as it took a few moments to adjust to the sudden light. The mare looked up, focusing on a light grey pegasus with a black and green mane, with a pair of green shades similar to his hair. "Oh, hello sister." Light Assassin smirked. "Light?" Rainbow trembled. "What on earth are you doing?" "Why, reclaiming the country for the ponies of course. What are you doing?" Light sat down across the table from her, putting his hooves together while smirking. "What have you done with my coltfriend Light?" Rainbow struggled against the restraints slightly, gritting her teeth in anger. "Who, that poor excuse of a guard, Thunderblast?" Light stood up, trotting over to a table in a far corner of the room. "He isn't a poor excuse, he's the bravest stallion I've ever met." Rainbow snapped back. "Sure, whatever you say Dashie." Light smirked to her, before returning his attention to a small wooden box on the table. "Where am I?" Rainbow looked around. The room had no windows, no detailing, one door, and of course the chairs and tables. "You're a real question asker, aren't you?" Light replied, chuckling. "Just answer my question, please." Rainbow squirmed to get more comfortable on the hard wooden chair she was stuck to. "My temporary palace...well, I don't know what to call it. It's just a warehouse." Light then picked up a small necklace, staring down at it and smiling more. "It's awfully small." Rainbow looked around. "This is just a room inside of it. You haven't seen the rest...yet." Light put the necklace around his neck, turning and facing Rainbow Dash. Rainbow looked at the necklace, before her irises shrunk. "Is that..." "Yes, Dashie. The Alicorn Amulet." Light trotted over, showing off the amulet. "Only my dad and Thunder can call me Dashie!" Rainbow yelled. "Is that so? Then how come you let Soarin call you Dashie?" Light smirked, sitting down. Rainbow Dash remained quiet, struggling some more. "You know you can't use that without being a unicorn, right?" Light chuckled. "Or so you think." He moved his mane, revealing a basic unicorn's horn. Rainbow gasped. "But...that's impossible." "With a few tweaks, the Amulet transforms whoever wields it, who isn't a unicorn into an alicorn. Which means I can hunt down your stupid coltfriend and kill him in Ponyville town square!" Light smirked insanely, standing up. "Guards!" Two guards then trotted in. "Yes master?" "Tie her up with the others, show her our 'collection'" Light trotted past them. The guards saluted and trotted over to the mare. Rainbow struggled angrily. "You won't get away with this Light." Light stopped at the door and glanced back at her. "Oh, but I already have." Blitz and Diesel trotted around a corner, towards the construction site to carry out their plan, the two stallions walking side by side casually. The two walked up to the workers and guards, a few of them ignoring Thunder's distracting noises, acting like they were sent to help. "Whoa, who are you two?" One of the workers asked, standing in front of them. "We're, uh..." Blitz thought of things to say. "We were sent from one of the other posts." Diesel responded, puffing his chest out slightly. "Oh, perfect. We need all the help we can get." The worker smiled and trotted off. Diesel turned and glared at Blitz. "What?" Blitz recoiled embarrassingly. "Nothing, just think ahead next time, alright?" Diesel trotted over to a workbench, signaling for Blitz to plant the explosive there. Blitz trotted over, looking around and seeing the guards facing away, the workers having a chat, one of them pouring coffee into a styrofoam cup, breathing a sigh of relief as he pulled the small device out of his vest pockets, and placing it underneath a tool box. Diesel leaned closer. "Let's get out of here." He whispered. Blitz nodded and begun trotting away with Diesel, only to have one of the guards notice. "Hey, come back you two!" The guard trotted after them slowly. "HEY!" Blitz waved his hoof, and moments later, the site was instantly destroyed by a devastating explosion caused by the device Blitz and Diesel just placed, the guards and workers laying on the ground dead or severely injured. The fireball rose high into the sky, lighting up the cloudy night sky in a bright orange, which signaled other guards in the area. The two stallions ran as fast as they could into the alley, where Thunder had just landed. "Great job, that was fantastic." Thunder smiled, hoofbumping the others. "Sorry the distraction didn't work." "Don't worry about it, we got the job done. Now we just need to hit the other spots." Diesel replied. "Right, but we should wait a bit until it cools down. A couple of hours maybe, then we get some rest." Storm threw the detonator, which was now useless, onto a pile of trash stacked into a trash can. "Good idea, then we do the rest tomorrow." Thunder said. "Who has the other explosive?" Stormfire then held up a glass bottle, filled with some propane, capped with the other end of the detonator. "I do." He then held up the detonator, which was deactivated at the time. "Good. We better go then." Blitz suggested. Storm and Thunder nodded, before the stallions trotted into the back door of a shop, and out the front door cautiously to avoid being seen. Light Assassin sat in an office chair in an office, reading a report from a revolution guard. The reports weren't as good as he had expected, but he could not complain. Suddenly, the door burst open, and a guard ran in. "Sir!" The guard ran up to his desk, hesitatively saluting. "My apologies, sir." "Yes, what is it?" Light stared at the stallion. "There's been an attack at one of our sites! The grounds have been completely destroyed!" The guard dropped the salute, staring at Light with widened eyes. Light jumped over the desk and tackled the guard, before picking the guard up with magic and suspending him in the air. "What did you just say?" Light gritted his teeth in anger. The guard begun to tremble. "S-some workers apparently bombed the site...that's what one of the guards said before he died." Light sighed, before tossing the guard into the wall as hard as possible, injuring the stallion. "They're still here." "Okay guys. I bet you after that attack we just did, Light Assassin's gonna step up security at the posts. Which means, we may need to do it differently." Thunderblast said, chewing a sandwich as the stallions ate in a dark restaurant. "Like, bomb from above?" Stormfire asked, sipping on some water. Thunder nodded. "Which means once the explosive hits the ground, we must detonate. It's the only way we can now." Diesel set his sandwich down. "That'd probably better to do than casually walking up and placing the explosive, considering they'd most likely stop and interrogate us, or at least make sure we aren't carrying anything, which would also mean that would be a suicide mission." "Exactly, which is why doing it by air is what we'll do from here on out." Thunder looked between the stallions, finishing his sandwich. "And-" Blitz gulped down the last big bite of his sandwich. "-how long until we can continue our operation?" Diesel looked down, flipping the his railroad pocket watch. "Forty-two minutes." He replied, before closing the lid and tucking it away. "Which means we stay hidden until then, and we also have time to form other plans. For example, getting the guards out of that warehouse." Storm finished his sandwich. "So, we just wait here? Boooooring!" Blitz leaned back against his chair, forgetting they didn't seat themselves in a booth, which unfortunately for him, his chair, as well as himself, fell back onto the floor with a thud. "Ow!" Stormfire and Thunderblast laughed, while Diesel simply chuckled after Blitz's accidental fall. Their laughter suddenly stopped when the sounds of guards moving outside could be heard, forcing the stallions to hide under a booth table closest to the window. Diesel reached his hoof out, grabbing Blitz by his tail and yanking him under the table with them. Outside, four guards were on patrol, looking for the 'fugitives' who attacked one of the construction sites. Lucky for them, the guards ignored the fact that they could be inside the diner, or one of the other multiple shops in town. Diesel raised his head, peeking his eyes just above the table surface and out the wrap-around diner windows, watching the guards run off on their patrol, breathing a sigh of relief. "We're clear you guys." The others then crawled out and looked around. "We're lucky they didn't come in here." Blitz brushed some dust off of his wing. "You said it. We might as well hide somewhere else where we know the guards won't come and search for us, then air-bomb the next site." Storm stood up after crawling out from under the table. "That would probably be our best bet. We better get moving then if we want to find a new hiding spot. Still got the blueprints Blitz?" Thunder turned and looked at Blitz, who had recoiled back slightly. "Uh...I um...kind of left them at the surplus store apartment." Blitz awkwardly chuckled. Thunder facehoofed. "Really, Blitz?" "I'm sorry! I-I'll go get them!" Blitz turned around to trot out the door, before Stormfire grabbed his tail. "No! It's too dangerous to go by yourself." Storm yanked him back. "Easy man, I'll be quick and quiet." Blitz pulled his tail out of Storm's grasp and fixed it so it was neat once more. "You guys just stay here or something, i'll go get the blueprints, alright? I still have a weapon in case I need it." Thunder sighed. "Okay. Be quick, please. Oh, and make sure no one follows you." "I know, Thunder. I'm not eight." Blitz looked back at him with a concerned face, before flying out the front door. Thunder sighed again. "Sometimes, I think he's trying to get himself killed." Storm turned tail and trotted in another direction. Blitz flew low over Ponyville's buildings, swiftly and quietly to avoid grabbing unwanted attention from workers, or even worse, guards. Lucky for him, the surplus store where him and his friends hid for a day was close puddle jump, as most pegasi would call a short flight. When he reached the end of the block he flew over, just down from the diner and across from the surplus shop's block, a platoon of guards were patrolling the street down below. Even if he flew quietly overhead, the likeliness was one would end up seeing him. "Okay Blitz, you can do this." He thought to himself, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath. Moments later, he reopened his eyes and stared across the gap between buildings, before walking back a few steps. He stopped for a heartbeat, before running across the rooftop, and jumping across, opening his wings to allow him to glide swiftly across. One of the guards down below, however, caught the very tip of his tail disappear onto the rooftop, which raised suspicion. The stallion then hopped over to the surplus store's roof, entering through a doorway which immediately lead into stairs, which took him to a door which lead into the apartment above the store owner's. Blitz turned around, before using his hind legs to buck the door, breaking it in half instantly. He then entered the apartment, and looked around. "Okay, it's downstairs." He mumbled to himself, walking over to the door quietly and trotting out, before flying downstairs and into the shop owner's apartment, where he saw the blueprints laying on the floor, as well as his gun which he left behind by accident. "Aha." The white stallion grabbed the blueprints, rolling them up neatly and sticking them into a pouch in his vest, which stuck out slightly, and grabbing his gun, sheathing it into another pouch opposite of the blueprints. "Alright, time to get out of here." He thought, before turning around to walk out. Suddenly, he could hear hoofsteps. They were different this time, they were outside the door. The hoofsteps were loud and heavy, likely the hooves of a guard. Blitz crouched down behind the couch, not making another sound as he heard the steps approach the door. There was a knock, followed by the door slowly opening. "Anypony here?" The guard called out, shining a flashlight around the pitch-black room. Blitz remained quiet as the guard shined his flashlight around. The guard then turned around to trot out, before a large spec of dust fell onto Blitz's muzzle, forcing him to sneeze. The stallion quickly covered his muzzle, irises shrinking. The guard heard the loud sneeze, and turned back around and trotted into the room, continuing to shine his flashlight around. Blitz struggled not to sneeze again, quickly wiping the spec of dust off of his muzzle to avoid another sneeze, and looking around the couch side to his left. He suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder, and quickly turned around to see the guard staring right at him, causing him to jump and land on his back. "Oh, hello there." Blitz awkwardly said. "Who are you, and why are you hiding?" The guard gritted his teeth as he stared at the smaller stallion, who was mostly laying on his back on the floor. "Um...I-I thought you were an intruder." Blitz's hooves begun to tremble. "I'm just checking around. Shouldn't you be down there working?" The guard stared at Blitz, believing he was a worker, before noticing the blueprints and pulling them out. "Oh, what are these?" He looked at the blueprints, noticing the marks. "Hey, these are attack locations!" The guard moved the blueprints down to look at Blitz, only to see he was gone. The stallion came up behind the guard, hitting him square on the head with a fire extinguisher, knocking the guard unconscious. Blitz dropped the extinguisher and grabbed the blueprints from under the guard, tucking them back into his vest, then grabbing a rope out of the stallion's armor, tying his hooves together and throwing his weapons away to avoid escape. He then ran out of the apartment and back upstairs, where he flew the rest of the way back to the diner. Thunderblast sat in a chair, tapping his hooves, while Stormfire and Diesel explored the two floors above the main diner floor, waiting for Blitz to return. About ten minutes after Blitz had flown off, the white stallion flew in the front door, locking it behind him. "Got the blueprints." He smiled. Thunder looked up at Blitz, smiling back. "Great job. Did you get caught by anypony?" "Had to deal with one guard. He's a little tied up at the moment now."