//------------------------------//
// Chapter twenty nine. Old friendships never fade 
// Story: Shadow in the Dark 
// by Thestoryteller 
//------------------------------//

In the Crystal Empire, there were no Pegasi. Therefore, there was no pony to manage the weather. The only thing thing that controlled the weather was the Crystal Heart. Which was once again a very stupid decision. The weather was a major turning point in wars. During a battle, Equestria won by making it snow, hail, and rain acid for a total of four days. Which destroyed the enemies crops and buildings. But there were some advantages to letting the Crystal Heart have complete control of the weather. The main reason is because that the Crystal Heart can detect any threat to the Crystal Empire and counteract on the attack. However this leads to a disadvantage because if the Crystal Heart were to be destroyed the whole Empire would be completely vulnerable. But what didn't make sense was the reason why the Shadowbolts hadn't taken care of the problem. Nightwing knew that they were the military force of the Empire, but it was possible that they had been infiltrated and taken down.

Hundreds of possibilities rushed through Nightwing's head. It was the only thing he could really do to keep his mind off the cold. Which was the cause of someone either destroying the Crystal Heart or taking control of it. Which wouldn't really be that surprising. 

While Nightwing was planning for ways to invade the Empire, on the the decks below Flash was walking down the hall. Humming a tune as he walked Flash seemed very calm and content with himself. In fact he was so calm that Shadow was beginning to get sick of it.

"For the crying out loud how can you be smiling?!" Shadow demanded in Flash's head. "You were turned to stone, are currently marching towards a possible battle, and to top it off you just welcomed the mare who wiped your memories."

"So?" Flash asked the voice outloud as if nothing was wrong.

"So?!" Shadow yelled as if he had been insulted. "Your telling me that despite everything that has happened you have the concept to....oh no." Shadow's sudden tone change from angry to frightened made Flash frown in confusion. But before he could say anything Shadow immediately spoke, "Sentry forget everything I just said, none of it matters now just make sure you get as far away from here as possible!"

"But-"

"There's no time for but's! Just get away before its to late and he-"

Shadow immediately stopped talking as the lights above Flash suddenly went out. Uneasiness fell upon Flash as he searched aimlessly through the now dark hallway. His wings spread out as he was ready to attack anything that came near him. Or at least until he could see anything thanks to the sudden change in Lighting. But as soon as Sentry's eyes began to adjust to the dark they once again blinded as all the lights immediately switched back on. 

"Gah!" Flash groaned, covering his eyes from the burning pain. When he was sure that he couldn't be blinded anymore Flash uncovered his eyes.

And in front of him was a...a...I'm not really sure what the heck is currently hanging upside down from the ceiling. It looked like a pony figure but had four spider-looking legs coming out of both of its sides, a pair of bat ears, along with monkey hands on its forehooves, a pigtail on its rump, and it wore a ninja mask... also it was hanging by a strong looking strand of web that hung from the ceiling.

"What...the..." Flash rubbed his eyes hoping that he was suffering from a side effect from the sudden blast of light to his retinas. Nope, it was still there.

Shaking his head Flash asked, "Who...no, what are you?" Flash corrected.

"Me?" The weird looking creature asked.

"Yes you...what the heck are you?" Flash repeated.

"I..." The creature paused for dramatic effect. "Am the Bat-Spider-Monkey-Pig-Ninja of Doom!" 

I'm not addressing the creature as that.

Flash flattened his brow, sighed, and facehoofed. "Cheese, get out of that costume I know it's you."

The creature removed his Ninja mask and the face of the second most party hard pony was revealed. Cheese Sandwich. "Awwww." Cheese whined childish. "How'd you know it was me?"

"I remember you drew a picture of that very same...thing, when we were kids." Flash answered.

"But how could you possibly remember what the picture looked like?" Cheese asked landing on the floor and removing his costume. "Let alone know that I drew it?"

"Cheese, it was a picture of a literal abomination that looked exactly like what you just wore. Plus you made those two ponies puke the instant they saw it." Flash cringed.

"Oh right, the stallion was proposing to a mare and when he puked he got vomit all over the the ring." Cheese rolled onto his back and burst out laughing.

"Quickly while he's left himself vulnerable. Strike him now!" Shadow demanded.

'What?! No!' Flash said back.

"What do you mean no? Do you have any idea what will happen if you let him live?"

"No idea, can you give me some suggestions?" Cheese asked.

"What?" Flash asked, thinking that Cheese was talking to him.

"Not you silly." Cheese chuckled, closing the distance between him and Flash, and tapped against his forehead. "Your little friend in there that keeps yelling."

'...Care to explain?' Flash asked Shadow.

"Hey, I warned you of what would happen if he remained alive. Not my fault any more." Shadow huffed.

'Awwww," Cheese cooed. "You guys thought about removing me from existence. That's so sweet." 

"...Cheese are you okay?" Flash asked in a cautious tone.

"Define 'okay'." 

"'Okay'. As in fine, nothing wrong, a normal state." Flash listed.

"Oh." Cheese said before pondering on the thought. "... Yes, yes I'm fine, nothing's wrong, and I'm in a normal state." 

"He's not lying. Insanity is his normal state."

"Cheese is not insane." Flash insisted. "Right Cheese-"

Flash choose that it was the best decision to stop talking right then and there as Cheese's current actions spoke for themselves. In the total of six seconds Cheese Sandwich was riding a unicycle while balancing a barrel of wine on his nose all while juggling the following. An apple, a binder, a cow, a knife, a piece of literal fire, a rock, a base ball, a whiteboard, a cannon, and of course a three layer cake, which he took a bite out of every time it passed in front of him.

"Oh. Gulp. I'm. Gulp. Sorry. Gulp. Flash. Gulp. Did. Gulp. You. Gulp. Say. Gulp. Something?" Cheese asked. Every time he drank from the wine he said 'gulp'. Literally said the word 'gulp' every time he slurped from the barrel.

"You were saying?"

Flash ignored Shadow's judgement and simple approached Cheese. After dodging the angry cow, Flash asked, "Cheese why did you want to come here?" 

"Oh right." Cheese said, continuing to juggle. "I came here to tell you that the name of the voice inside your head is-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

Flash cocked his head in confusion. Cheese obviously didn't just say straight up 'eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee'. But rather a high pitch sceeeeeee noise overlapped every sound that Flash tried to hear. That's all that Flash could hear as Cheese suddenly went on and on about something that was inaudible.

"......................-Patty cakes were spilled everywhere." Cheese finished.

"Wha-" 

"Shhhhhhhhhhh." Cheese placed a hoof on Flash's lips, preventing him from speaking. "I know it's a lot to take in but don't worry. It'll all make sense soon enough. Till then, see yah!" Cheese laughed as a pair of rockets suddenly formed on the unicycle and rocketed him straight upwards and crashed through the ceiling.





The deck of the main airship was full of Guardian's who were in charge of scraping off the wet and heavy snow on the ship. Along with many scraping off the snow on the wings and engine. One of many weaknesses of airships wasn't snow, it was the fact that when snow melts it turns into water and once water floods the engine you can't really move anymore. Also packed snow is really heavy so if too much is on the ship it wouldn't fly for long. But the major problem was when snow turns into water, cause water would leak into every crack and crevice of the ship.

So when Cheese Sandwich's unicycle rocket busted through the top deck and melted the nearby snow a problem had begun. Said unicycle rocket engines cut out as Cheese landed gracefully on the deck, all while catching the unicycle, the apple, the binder, the knife, the literal piece of fire, the rock, the base ball, the whiteboard, the cannon, and obviously the three layer cake, which he then took a bite out of. But he didn't catch the cow, for the cow's name was Dave. And Cheese owed Dave thirteen bits due to him losing a pro stats lacrosse game. So he let Dave plummet back through the ship. 

"Wait, where's the-" Cheese's unanswered question was answered as the wine barrel splashed on one of the Guardian's was covered in red wine. "Never mind." Cheese chuckled.

Before any guardian could try and possibly take down Cheese, the door to the map room flew open and a very unhappy looking Nightwing walked out. The Guardian's all stopped what they were doing and saluted to their creator. 

"Guardian." Nightwing approached a guardian, a calm and boiling anger in his voice. "What is the cause of this racket?" Nightwing asked, and then he became aware of the water dripping into the hole in the ship. "And why is there a hole there?" 

"Captain Nightwing." The Guardian addressed its creator. "Subject known as "Pickle tickler" has created a hole in the ship." 

"...what?" Nightwing asked, his anger replaced with confusion. But when he saw Cheese waddling towards the railing of the ship so that he could dump all of his stuff off the side of the ship. "Never mind." Nightwing sighed walking towards Cheese.

"Is it me, or did the cow make this stuff lighter?" Cheese joked as he dropped all of the stuff down the ship. "Oh hey Nightwing, what's u-ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!" Cheese whined in pain as a blue aura covered his ear and began to pull upwards on his ear. Nightwing then dragged Cheese by the ear towards the hole in the ship. Once they were in front of the ship Nightwing released Cheese from magic.

"Cheese, or should I say 'Pickle Tickler'. Did you do this?" Nightwing pointed to the hole. "And second, did you mess around with my Guardian's programming?"

"Yes. Yes to everything. You can say what you will, but I did it. And I will not be judged by-OW OW OW!" Cheese yelled in pain once more as Nightwing pulled on his ear again. 

"Take this seriously!" Nightwing barked. "We're marching with an invasion force towards an entire Empire that is possibly getting ready to shoot us down the second we get within eighty miles of the empire. And you are blowing holes in my ship like this is some kind of circus. And-"

"Captain Nightwing." A Guardian tried to speak with its maker but Nightwing yelled back,

"Let me finish!" He yelled at the Guardian before turning his attention back to Cheese and coming muzzle to muzzle with Cheese. "And to top it all off I'm pretty sure that you are just plain out crazy-no crazy doesn't begin with what you are. Your insane, the wrong kind of insane. The kind of insane where they put you in a five foot re-enforced steel straight jacket and put you in a cell that's layered with enchanted gold and Silver, steel, Crystalline Jade, and a literal wall made of pure diamonds. And when they put you there, you can bet your life that I'll be there to drag you and throw you straight in the room and seal every door shut. Because Cheese Sandwich I do not like you, I never have. Ever since you came back you've been nothing more then a pestering piece of trash that just won't go away. So there you have it Cheese, I hate you. I. Hate. You." 

Cheese kinda stared into Nightwing's blood red eyes. Tears forming in his eyes. Cheese sniffled as the tears began to flow down his cheeks. But not for the reason you might thing.

"Oh Nightwing." Cheese cried. "Yes. Yes. Yes a thousand times yes." Cheese said wrapping his hooves around Nightwing's neck. "Yes Nightwing. Of course I'll marry you." 

Nightwing reeled back in surprise his eyes wide with shock from what his ears just heard. But his shock increased even more as a dark purple blur shot right into the front of the ship, cracking and splitting up the wood and kicking up sawdust. Once the dust had settled the blur became clear and revealed that it was a dark blue Pegasus wearing a Shadowbolt uniform. Only thing that was off about the Pegasus was the fact his eyes were fully red. 

The Shadowbolt snarled at Nightwing and instinctively flew towards him. Not wishing to be punched Nightwing retaliated by using his crystal to shoot a blue beam at the Shadowbolt, pushing the Shadowbolt off the boat.

Cheese blinked twice before turning to Nightwing and said, "Not gonna lie, but this might put a kink in our relationship." 

"Get off!" Nightwing yelled, shoving Cheese away from him.

"Right, wanna safe all that stuff for the wedding." Cheese said, "But who should we get to marry us?"

"Captain Nightwing." A Guardian approached Nightwing and said, "multiple hostile' safe closing in on the lead airship, numbers average around one hundred and sixty two. All Pegasi."

"But that was a Shadowbolt." Nightwing addressed the obvious. "Why did he attack us?"

"Maybe you can ask her?" Cheese suggested, pointing above the guardian.

Before anything could be said another purple and black blur crashed right on top of the guardian, smashing it to pieces. Irritated by the fact that there were now Three holes in his ship Nightwing was ready to drop kick someone right off the ship. However his drop kicking attitude faded as the Shadowbolt that had smashed his Guardian revealed herself.

"Nightshade?" Nightwing asked confused. As the Shadowbolt that had smashed into the ship was indeed Nightshade.

Only thing was her eyes were completely red.

"Killllll..." Nightshade groaned like a lifeless doll before spreading her wings and flying right at Nightwing. 





Surprise attacks are not fun. (No duh). They happen at the worst times possible. One minute you could be resting in your bed nothing wrong with your day. Then the next thing you know, three Shadowbolts break through the wall and try to kill you. In Ranger's case that exact situation happened. Three Shadowbolts broke through the wall, saw Ranger, pounced on him, began to continuously beat on him, and then Ranger beat the everything crap out of em. Literally for one.

"You guys don't put up much a fight do yah?" Ranger asked the three beaten Shadowbolts. One was embedded in the wall, another thrown through the other wall, and the third one was smashed into the floor.

Attention, Attention! A Guardian's voice said over the intercom.  The Flag ship is under attack from multiple hostiles known as Shadowbolts. By order of Captain Nightwing, do not use any lethal forms of attack on these hostiles. Also the Captain has requested, and I quote, 'If anyone blows anymore holes in my ship I will freeze you in a three foot thick block of ice, slide you off the plank into a volcano, then I will freeze the lava inside the volcano as you watch the lava seeps into the ice and slowly close in on your immobilized body and see wether you die of organ failure or burnt to death'. That is all.

When the intercom had hung up Ranger's eyes shrunk to pinpricks as he slowly looked at the three Shadowbolts he had beaten along with the newly made multiple holes in the ship. Normally he'd think Nightwing would be bluffing with that sort of thing but he soon remembered that this was Nightwing he was talking about. So he did the smart decision and bolted away from the scene faster than a Jackrabbit hyped on Cocaine. Things are like a freaking lightning bolt. 





-or burnt to death'. That is all. 

"Jeez Nightwing, could you be anymore dark?" Flash asked sarcastically as he rammed foreleg into one of the Shadowbolts face. 

Like what had happened to Ranger, Shadowbolts were busting into the ship left and right like a pincer attack. Luckily the Flagship was only filled with Guardian's and like... Thirteen ponies, I don't know I'm to tired to do math right now. Anyways, after Cheese had blasted through the ceiling Flash decided that he should go to the showers to make sure he wasn't dreaming. On the way to the shower a dark purple blur had busted through the wall and charged at Flash. Thankfully he had training due to him being a royal guard. Sure it wasn't top of the line training but it was enough for him to retaliate against the Shadowbolt and knock him out. 

However just like a hydra, if you cut off one head two more will take its place. And as soon as Flash had knocked out the Shadowbolt, two more had busted through a wall in front of him. Both wore a mask that covered their muzzles along with red glassed goggles.

"Ah Tartarus." Flash groaned as the Shadowbolts charged at Flash. But before they could come in contact, a black sharp tentacle with a red outline sprouted out of Flash's back and thrusted itself towards the second Shadowbolt, forcing it down on the Shadowbolt, it pushed her down to the floor, breaking up the floor and knocking the Shadowbolt unconscious. 

A bit bewildered by the sudden action of defense Flash wouldn't be able to block the other Shadowbolt. But his body then moved on its own, making him duck down so that he would avoid the Shadowbolt. But as the Shadowbolt was flying over Flash he had left his belly wide open. For some reason Flash's body acted on its own once more. He winced in pain as he could feel something moving upwards inside his right foreleg. Holding his foreleg up, a katana blade cut open his hoof and extended upward. Realizing what was about to happen, Flash used his left hoof to grab his right hoof and jerk it away from the Shadowbolt's body. However he wasn't fast enough to prevent the blade from stabbing the Shadowbolt's wing and slicing it open.

"You idiot!" Shadow yelled at Flash. "Why did you make me miss?!"

"I'm not killing anyone." Flash answered, groaning in pain as the katana blade began to sheathe itself back inside his hoof. 

"Why not?" Shadow demanded.

"Because there's no need to kill him, it isn't my right to kill him." Flash shot back.

"There's no such thing as a 'I don't have a right to kill' there's only kill or be killed. There's never been a thing were you don't have a right!

"Whether it existed or not doesn't matter. I'm not killing this guy and you can't change my mind." 

"....Fine."





Back on the top deck, Nightwing and Nightshade were both fighting each other. Nightwing had the advantage of his complex Crystal which allowed him to cast spells whereas Nightshade had the advantage of being more nimble and faster than Nightwing. However Nightshade was an Allie and someone Nightwing didn't really want to hurt, so he just kept moving away or dodging any attack that Nightshade threw at him. As the battle went on, Nightwing began to notice that her attacks were beginning to look very....sloppy. And before you ask yourself, yes, while this battle was happening Cheese Sandwich was sitting against the railing of the ship, flipping through pages of a book full of alters and places one would go for a wedding.

"So what year do you think we should get married? Summer, fall, spring, winter? Ooh, maybe we can get married on the moon, that'd be an interesting wedding don't you think? Wait, which one of us would be the bride or the groom? Hey Nightwing which do want to be, the bride or the groom?" Cheese asked.

Nightwing glared at Cheese viciously, "For the love of whatever God exists, we are not getting married!" 

"Ah your nervous, ever bride is like that. I guess that makes me the groom huh? So who should my first mare be? My sister? Pfffft, she'd be the last pony I'd want at my wedding. Ooh I know, I'll ask Pinkie, she loves wedding party's!" Cheese said.

"Why don't you ask her to marry you instead of me?!" Nightwing screamed jumping back from Nightshade's punch. 

"Oh don't be ridiculous Nightwing, even though it'd be legal to marry both you and Pinkie, I don't think either of you would be happy sharing me." Cheese smiled.

"She can have all one-hundred percent of you for all I care!" Nightwing shouted.

"By the way I just remembered." Cheese looked up from his book, a serious look on his face. "You didn't propose to me with a ring. So I guess that means I need to give you a ring along with you giving me a ring. So what kinda ring you want?"

"One that I can use to beat you upside the head with." Nightwing answered flatly.

"I see, we'll just put that off for now. Who do you think we should get to marry us?"

At this point Nightwing didn't bother to deal with Cheese's nonsense and decided it would be best to focus his attention on the pony that was trying to beat him to a pulp.

"Nightshade why are you doing this?" Nightwing asked. "Your apart of the Shadowbolt's. You protect the Crystal Empire from any threat, so why the heck are you attacking us?!"

Much like any normal pony would say, Nightshade's response was, "killll." She hissed.

"Ugh, you're just like a broken record. Repeating the same word over and over and over. But the solution to fix any broken record is all ways the same." Nightwing said. "By beating the living daylights out of it."





To easy. Yes that was the word that would describe the current situation. It was to easy. Taking over the Crystal Empire was much to easy. All that the hooded pony had to do was let Sollertis use his Shadow casting on the Crystal Heart and just like that, she had complete control of every Crystal Pony in the Empire. Minus Cadence, Shining Armor, and their child who's name currently escapes the author. 

Now to describe the scene. The Crystal Empire was still all shiny and bright, but everyone's eyes were completely red. Minus the ones in charge, who were in order, The Hooded Pony, the leader of the Fallen Order and currently looking over her/his new controlled Empire. Stollertis, resurrected earth pony who was currently staring very angrily at the Crystal Heart, which spun at a very fast speed and was now bright red. Mortem, the one who resurrected Stollertis from the dead, was leaning against a one of the crystal pillars that supported the Crystal castle with his fore and backleg's crossed. Starlight Glimmer, the descendant of the Wizard, was currently barking orders at all of the Crystal ponies from a wooden stand. And the Crystal Ponies would salute and then do as they were told without any sight of hesitation.

Yes it was much to easy the Hooded one had thought. But he/she knew that the final part to her/his plan was nearly complete. All he/she needed now was a certain Vampire Batpony and a certain artifact that was hidden beneath the Empire since Sombra's imprisonment and then his/her goal would finally be achieved.

Continuing to stare ahead at the crystalline structure that the Crystal Ponies had been ordered to build, the Hooded pony spoke, "What news do you bring me?" She/he asked, as if he/she were talking to the howling wind.

"I bring word on the assault on Nightwing and his five raider airships." A ghostly voice replied. 

Unfazed by the chilled voice the Hooded Pony turned around, behind her/him was a room that was covered in darkness. And from that shadowed room came a pool of red and black goo that oozed its way towards the Hooded One. The Goo then be an to rise, cracking and squishing as both flesh and bone began to be created in the form of a pony. From the hooves to the pony's neck the black and red goo flowed to the top of the neck beginning to form the pony's face and mane. The pony was a stallion with fur that was faint dark looking yellow. The small and final piece of the goo reached to the top of the stallion's forehead where it began to rise up and curve backwards, forming a curved unicorn horn. The Stallion's mane and tail were black with the outline of it being dark red. The Stallion unicorn opened his eyes revealing that they were blood red. Despite the color change this Stallion is Comet Tail. Once friend of both Flash Sentry and Nightwing, now a dark powered being.

The Hooded Pony asked, "And what news do you bring me of the assault on Nightwing and his five raid airships?" 

Comet Tail replied with a smile, "Only the news to tell you that those Shadowbolts have engaged the leading airship...or at least I think it was the lead airship. It was the biggest airship compared to the other airships. Whatever, the point is they have so far failed to retrieve Nightwing due to the fact that he has a large army at his disposal." 

"So do we." The Hooded Pony replied, turning back to the railing on the balcony. "One that is equal to Nightwing's Guardian's." 

"If your army is equal to Nightwing's then why didn't you send them to retrieve Nightwing instead of sending those mindless Shadowbolts?" Comet Tail asked. "And I'm speaking literally right now when I saw they are mindless. We pretty much turned their brains to soup, gathered all of them in the center of the Empire, and then Starlight ordered them, and I quote, 'Go capture Nightwing and bring him back here.' That's it, no strategy, no battle plan, not even a simple direction, Just 'go here, there's a guy named Nightwing that you need to bring back here.' Do you see how stupid that sounds?"

"When you say it like that it does sound stupid." The Hooded Pony replied.

Comet Tail stared at the Hooded One confused, "...Uh...I don't think your supposed to agree with me."

"I'm not, the entire purpose of me sending the Shadowbolt's was to simply get rid of them and Nightwing's army in one fell swoop. You see, I knew that it would only a matter of time before Nightwing figured out that the way to release the Shadowbolt's form the Shadow Casting spell was by making the brain suffer from a blow directly to the head. Doing so would resort in causing the brain to 'reboot' and they would no longer be under Stollertises control." The Hooded Pony explained.

"Wait, how are you gonna take out both the Shadowbolt's and Nightwing's army in on fell swoop exactly?" 

"A couple of weeks ago we came upon a Pegasus who had control of the sky itself. It took both Bloodwing, Starlight, and myself to capture this Pony. And now that we have both the Shadowbolt's and Nightwing's army in one spot we will unleash this pony upon them."





Atop of a mountain where the winds howled and snow whipped a large box was being guarded by two creatures.

"They call this cold? This is but a mere cold shower compared to the winters in my homeland." Bloodwing scoffed.

Bloodwing was a male Griffon with black feathers covering his entire body, sides, top, and bottom. On his neck were multiple white feathers that stuck to his neck and face. His pupils were red but the once white back part of his eyes was now pitch black.

"Oh do not act so high and mighty will you?" Thicket snapped at Bloodwing. "The cold is a sign of death, it must occur so that new life can be give by Nature."

Bloodwing rolled his eyes. "You Deer and your belief of nature, You know there was a time when a kingdom, full of deer who didn't believe in this 'Nature Goddess', existed."

"You mean the Outsiders?" Thicket raised an eyebrow then scoffed. "Please, those deer were nothing more than savages. Believing that only the Deer should exist in this world any other race was considered vermin." 

"Isn't that technically what you currently believe now?" Bloodwing asked.

"NO!" Thicket shouted as though he had just been insulted. "Don't you dare compare me to those...Weeds. They turned their backs on Nature and so they have payed the price for doing so."

"But I thought your religion believed that Ponies were the...'weeds'...'in Nature's'...'Garden'?"

Thicket gave Bloodwing a blank look. "No. Just, no. Just hearing you trying to explain my ways  is torturous enough."

Now it was Bloodwing's turn to give Thicket a flat look. "Okay then smarty pants." He lightly mocked. "Why don't you educate me on your so called 'beliefs'?" 

"No thanks." Thicket denied the request properly. "I wouldn't want to waste the brain cells."

Thicket began to turn away form Bloodwing but an eagle's claw gripped itself onto Thicket's shoulder. The claw spun Thicket around, causing him to come muzzle to beak with Bloodwing.

"Look," Bloodwing started, "I've been dead for two hundred years. Now I know that's something you wouldn't understand, but I've missed a lot since then. So how about instead of just sitting here doing nothing we talk about something important. Okay?"

At first Thicket wanted to spit right in his face a venomous 'no'. But Bloodwing did suffer from being away from this world for so long. So the least he could do was talk to him. Besides, he was getting tired of the wind yapping at him.

With a sigh Thicket said, "Alright, but I'll have to give you short version due to you having no teaching on our beliefs."

Bloodwing grinned, happy that he had won the debate. And so, still grinning, he let go of Thicket and sat on the ground, waiting anxiously for the story to be told.

"I'll start at the beginning." Thicket began. "There were two races, the Deer and the Ponies. And-" Thicket cut himself off as Bloodwing jerked his claw into the air. "*sigh* yes Bloodwing?"

Bloodwing lowered his claw and asked, "What about the Zebras, and Yaks, and Maremaids, Changelings, and Dragons, and Daemons, and Griffons, especially the griffons?"

"If you must know, the Other races didn't exist before both the Deer and the Ponies. And before you ask, yes there's proof, we have fossils of both ponies and deer dating back before any others existed." Thicket said frustrated. "Where was I? Oh yes, when both the deer and ponies had been created both had received a gift from nature. The deer cherished and cared for the gift that nature had given them. Whereas the ponies destroyed their gift, turning it into something in their own image and-" Thicket found himself cut off once more by the claw that stuck up from Bloodwing's arm. "Yes Bloodwing?" Thicket lowly growled, feeling like a teacher trying to explain the the works of science from an individual perspective to a retardant foal.

"What was this gift that nature gave you?" Bloodwing asked.

Thicket narrowed his eyes and replied, "The name of the gift from Nature is forbidden to be spoken." Thicket said very seriously.

"I see, carry on." Bloodwing smiled. 

"Fine, after the gift was given and the ponies had recreated Nature's gift we refused to be anything like them. So we distance ourselves from the ponies, that is until we decided that the ponies were nothing more than a weed in Nature's garden. But Nature came to us and told us that all life is sacred and must be protected. So we decided that the ponies had a purpose in this world and-" Thicket was cut off a third time, but this time not by Bloodwing but by two pink crystal's that appeared in front of both Thicket and Bloodwing. Both knew exactly what was to happen. Both picked up a crystal and in a pink flash they both vanished. When the two were no longer near the box a loud 'clank' came from the inside of it as the front piece of the box began to slowly lift up. Only for it to be completely blown off by a yellow ball of lightning. A pair of angry yellow eyes could bee seen inside the box along with an essence of pure hatred.



 

Remember how I said that there were no Pegasi in the empire, yeah what I meant to say was that there were no Pegasi that managed the weather in the empire. So before any of you that actually care say anything I just wanted to clarify that. 

All good? What am I saying you don't have a say in this story so back to the under siege airship.

On the top deck of the lead airship, Nightwing was panting from his battle with Nightshade. Who was currently unconscious on a pile of broken wood on the second floor. Even though he was annoyed by the fact that another hole had been made in his ship. But at least he was able to take down Nightshade without killing her....hopefully. 

Nightwing turned his head to Cheese and sure enough, he was still flipping through the book full of stuff for weddings. "Your serious about this wedding thing aren't you?" Nightwing asked flatly.

Cheese looked up from his book and stared at Nightwing. And he still stared. And stared. And then his face became confused. Without saying a word he closed up the book and sat it aside. He then approached the bow (front end of the ship) all without saying a word. Nightwing wanted to ask Cheese what on earth he was doing but he stayed quiet because Cheese was being serious. And when Cheese gets serious you know something is wrong. Anywho, Cheese approached the railing of bow and leaned against it. Sticking his muzzle up his sniffed the air, then he stuck out his tongue and licked his hoof then pointed it in the air. 

Nightwing could no longer resist the urge, with a sigh he asked, "Cheese, what the heck are you doing?" Nightwing asked, half regretting himself for asking fearing that he wouldn't like Cheese's answer.

Cheese put down his hoof and slowly rotated his head towards Nightwing. When half of his face was facing Nightwing a really unsettling looking smile was plastered on his face. When Cheese was completely facing the now very unsettled Nightwing he said, "Winter is coming."





Have you ever had that feeling? You know, that one feeling that makes you think that something evil and scary is behind you? I don't know why I'm directly asking you reader seeing as how you cannot speak. But yeah, Flash was currently feeling that feeling of the feeling of being watched. Except it was multiplied by fifty. 

And it wasn't just Flash. Silver, Ranger, Thorn, and Lightning Strike all shared the same feeling. That feeling that something evil was just around the corner. That heart-raising feeling you get knowing that something terrible was about to happen. That feeling you get when half of yourself is telling you, "Go on, check it out. There might be a guy selling coffee make of sweets there." Where the other half of yourself is screaming, "RUN! RUN YOU RETARDED MOTHERBUCKER! RUN BEFORE WE GET TERRORIZED BY THE FAT GUY IN THE FAKE EASTER BUNNY COSTUME!!!" But you know, it could've been anything. Like a sweet angelic being that bestows love, sunshine, lollipops, and cookies along with bunny's, kitty's, puppies, and anything else that's fluffy and cute.

"SHAAAADDDDOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!"

Or it could be an Element of Chaos seeking complete and total annihilation of the Element of Shadow. A.K.A Flash Sentry.

Everyone on the lead airship fumbled and tripped on themselves as the airship began to creak and rock as the wind suddenly became more violent and rapid. Once the wind had died down and everyone had gotten their bearings back Nightwing stood up and addressed one of the Guardian's. "Guardian!" Nightwing addressed the Guardian closest to him, who saluted in response. "Execute order Twenty-one!" 

The Guardian saluted once more, flew up to Cheese, and Punched him in the face. Cheese reeled back in pain. While Nightwing slightly chuckled.

"Ah...a punch to the face always makes my day." Nightwing smiled before getting serious again. "Guardian execute order twelve. Target: adjacent airships. Leave me, Cheese, Flash, and Lighting Strike here."

"The Guardian saluted before spreading its mechanical wings and flying off. 

"Whatsh order twelves meansh?" Cheese asked, suppressing the pain in his face with his hooves.

"Evacuation." Nightwing answered.





When order twelve had been activated, every guardian all over the ship began rounding up everyone who was technically living and carried off to an adjacent airship. Of course not everyone was all that pleased with what was happening. It took seven Guardian's to pin down and fly Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, who was carried in a hospital bed. While the others didn't put up a fight because the Guardian's explained what was happening. Inside the ship both Flash and Lightning were carried up to the top deck of the airship. 

"Okay Nightwing, what the heck is going on?!" Lightning yelled over the howling wind.

"Well, if you must know, I've executed order twelve!" Nightwing yelled back over the wind.

"You mean the order that makes the Guardian's say the most racist things about the unicorns?!" Flash asked.

"No, that's order three hundred and thirty three, I'm talking about order twelve!" Nightwing yelled back. "The order that makes the Guardian's take every living thing onboard and evacuate it to the nearest and safest place!"

"So why weren't we evacuated?!" Flash asked. 

"Because of him!" Nightwing pointed at the sky above them.

In front of the black and 'storm of death itself' clouds was a large tornado. And it was heading straight for the airship. Also at the center of it was a bright yellow...looking...thingy.......yes. 

A bit shocked by the fact a ginormous cylinder of spinning air was heading right for them Flash and Lightning Strike were unaware that their manes had changed. Flash's hair had become black with red tips and Lightning Strike's mane became bright orange. And then for some reason the wind died down. Along with the tornado as it faded away. The black clouds remained along with the bright yellow...thingy. Said thingy then descended down until it landed on the deck of the ship. When the yellow light slowly faded away a Pegasi pony stood their directly facing at Flash. 

"Cousin?!" Both Flash and Lightning shouted in confusion.

Indeed it was both Flash and Lightning's cousin Soarin. Soarin looked just like himself minus the fact his eyes were completely yellow and small yellow sparks erupted from his eyes. His bright blue fur was stained with snow and dirt.

"Nimbus." Shadow whispered.

"That's not your Cousin you two." Nightwing said. "That's someone else." Nightwing turned back to face Soarin. "What do you want?" 

Soarin narrowed his eyes and replied with a voice full of venom, "I have no quarrel with any of you here. My business is with the Element of Shadow."

Flash's eyes became completely engulfed in black. "Nimbus." Flash pleaded.

Flash was unable to say anything else as a yellow beam pushed him backwards through the map room. The wooden wall bursted into splinters upon impact.

Soarin spread his wings and was about to leap onto Flash but was tackled by Lightning Strike. The two rustled on the deck for a while until Lightning pinned Soarin."

"What the heck's gotten into you Cousin?" Lightning demanded.

"I told you that I have no quarrel with you Element of Scorch!" Soarin growled. "I only wish to kill an old friend of mine. But if you wish to interfere." Soarin paused, as Lightning Strike began to suddenly float up and off of Soarin. "Then you'll die just like him!" Soarin yelled, a massive gust of wind hit Lightning with a force so powerful it sent him flying far away from the ship.

Soarin stood up, dusted himself off, then began to walk towards the hole in which he had made when he had hurled Flash through it. 

*SMACK*

And then a pancake was slapped onto his face. The pancake stuck to Soarin's face as he turned to the one who had thrown the pancake. Cheese Sandwich. Who was smiling brightly. Soaring lifted his hoof, a yellow ball of lighting formed on his hoof. The lightning ball then started to flatten itself out along with it becoming longer and more narrow until it looked like a yellow spike of lightning.

And then the pancake exploded. Creating a blast so powerful if knocked Soarin right off the ship.

"Why do you have exploding pancakes?" Nightwing asked Cheese.

"Because, Dear." Cheese emphasized, making Nightwing shiver. "If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that aliens who don't wear purple hats one weakness isn't pancake batter so if you plant explosives in the pancakes the aliens won't come to steal your lucky charms."

"...Cheese, I feel like you need to see a therapist." Nightwing said hoarsely.

"I did that once, but by the end of the session the therapist was running all over the place yelling at the top of her lungs 'dear god someone help me I can't find my bacon bites!' along with some random barking."

"...I don't want to accept the fact your telling the truth." 

"RAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!" Soarin screamed as he landed viscously on the deck. However he had landed so hard that the second him came in contact with the floor he went straight through it.

"Come on!" Nightwing complained. "Is it really that difficult to not blow holes in my ship?!"

"By the way, I'm curious as to why no ones tried blowing up the balloons?" Cheese asked. "I mean without those were gonna plummet straight to the floor." 

"Cheese, are just immensely stupid?" Nightwing asked.

"No, but I have been known to shoot milk out of my nose from time to time."

"What-"

Nightwing was cut off as another mighty roar echoed from the ship. A yellow beam of electric energy shot upwards from the hole. Cutting both balloons that held the ship up in half.

At first nothing happened. Then the ship began to fall. Not wishing to become a blood splat on the ground Nightwing casted the spell Shadow Stalking. Disappearing in the blink of an eye, Nightwing reappeared in front of Flash, hoisted him up and wrapped his foreleg onto his shoulder, and disappeared once again but this time he reappeared on the ground aways from the ship. As Nightwing watched the ship plummet he remembered that Cheese was still on the ship.

"..." 

So Nightwing did the right thing and used his Shadow Stalking spell to save Cheese Sandwich.

"..."

I said, Nightwing did the right thing and used his Shadow Stalking spell to save Cheese Sandwich.

Nightwing did nothing but watch the ship plummet.





The author sighed as he walked away from his book, walking off screen the sound of rummaging and banging was heard. The author then walked back to the book but this time he was holding a mallet in his hand with the white words 'COMMON SENSE' written on it the head of the mallet. The author then physically picked up the words he wrote down and aimed them above the page in his book like a chisel. And with the mallet he began to nail down the words into the book.

"Nightwing. Did. The. Right. Thing. And. Used. His. Shadow. Stalking. Spell. To. Save. Cheese. Sandwich!" The author said, viscously beating each word into the book.





"Ow ow!" Nightwing groaned as his head felt like something was being hammered inside of his head. "Ugh, fine!" Nightwing groaned as he vanished and reappeared this time with Cheese Sandwich.

"So...why did it take so long to save me?" Cheese asked.

"Because of reasons, let's just leave it-" 

Both Cheese and Nightwing disappeared. Leaving only Flash to remain.

A yellow blur escaped from the airship that was being plunged towards the ground, the blur sped its way towards Flash. But before it come in contact with him Flash blocked the blur by catching both of the blur's bright yellow hooves. The blur was Soarin, or at least it looked like him. His entire body was engulfed in a yellow aura of lightning. His eyes pure white.

Flash slowly raised his head, his eyes completely blood red. Soarin snarled as soon as he saw the red eyes.

"You finally show yourself. Thunderstorm." Soarin growled, his voice changed to a more ghostly kind.

"Why are you doing this Nimbus?" Flash asked, his voice changed too making him sound more like Shadow. "Why are you doing this. Nimbus your my fri-"

"Don't you dare call me that!" Soarin yelled, the yellow aura of lightning around him increased in violent movements. "I am not your friend, I am your enemy! I always have been ever since you betrayed me!" 

"What are talking about? I never once betrayed you!" Flash shot back.

"You even dare lie about it! I will smite you were you stand Thunderstorm!"





"-at that, wait what?" Nightwing said. 

Both Cheese and Nightwing reappeared onboard one of the smaller airships. Multiple Guardian's stood in shock at the two  suddenly appeared ponies. A Guardian regained its stature and approached Nightwing and saluted.

"Captain Nightwing, I have informed everyone on the other ships of the current situation. However I regret to inform you that we lost multiple supplies aboard the flagship." 

"Um...yeah...okay..." Nightwing said a bit shaken. "Um...how close are we to the empire?" 

"It's right there." The guardian pointed.

Both Nightwing and Cheese leaned over the railing where, sure enough, the Crystal empire stood. Or at least the large castle was anyways, the border of the large circle was covered in a 360 degree angled wall of crystal that stretched fifty feet high. Tiny blobs that were clearly Crystal ponies moving back and forth between the wall and a certain part in the empire. 

"Warning, multiple flying objects are heading towards us!" A Guardian warned.

Looking back to the empire more tiny blobs could be seen coming from the empire, only thing was that they were flying. And heading straight for the airship Nightwing was on.

When the blob's became visible they revealed to be completely crystallized ponies. But not the citizens of the empire but rather a pony figure made entirely out of crystals. A pair of crystal wings were fashioned on the crystallized ponies along with a visible ball of fire seen inside their chests. 

Nightwing turned to his Guardian's and said "Guardian, alert all Guardian units. Order one. Target; those crystallized ponies. Do not target the empire's citizens, I repeat, do not attack the Empire's citizens."

"Order received." The Guardian saluted, it's golden wings spread as it darted towards its target.





Endless, nothing is endless really. There's always a wall at some point. It's probably just really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, far away. 

This thought kept appearing inside Flash's head as he floated aimlessly through the black and crimson red void. He knew that he was currently inside the Element of Shadow. He knew because every time he slept he would always appear here and just float around. Sometimes he would see visions of those that once use the Element of Shadow before him and times that he wouldn't he would just float around, or at least until he woke up. Which didn't really make that much sense, the last thing Flash remembered was that his cousin suddenly appeared, and then he ended up here. But why?

"Hehehehehehehe." A ghostly voice chuckle echoed through the 'supposedly' void.

Flash groaned in annoyence. "What do you want Dark Side?" 

A black portal opened up next to Flash. Black and red goop began to ooze out from beneath the hole until the pony Dark Side appeared. An exact copy of Flash but his fur was darker, his mane and tail black with red outlines, and his eyes completely blood red. A wicked grin was plastered on his face.

Dark Side looked up and said, "That stupid Thunderstorm. To think he'd make a reckless move such as this." 

Flash's eyes widened in response. "Did you-"

With a wave of Dark Side's hoof the supposedly endless void disappeared. Replaced with the scenery of a bright blue sky. Flash's wings began to flap as he stabilized himself in the air. Once that was accomplished he stood in awe at the city before him.

"Welcome Sentry. To the kingdom of Timbucktu!" Dark Side introduced the large city.

Timbuktu was a city that floated in the sky as buildings stood on the clouds. In the heart of the  city was the castle in which the king of Timbuktu stood.

"Wha-...but...I..." Flash sputtered, amazed at the sight before him.

"Don't choke on your tongue Sentry." Dark Side joked.

"Why...why are we here?" Flash asked.

Dark Side's grin grew larger. "I'm glad you asked. Follow me, I'm gonna tell you a story." Dark Side said as he descended down towards the city. Flash following Dark Side's lead. 

The two landed on the cloud-made road. Nearly hundreds of Pegasi were talking with one another where others were flying above the city. It truly did live up to the name 'closest experience you'll ever get to heaven'. And it was a lot like heaven.

"Timbuktu. There isn't a Pegasus alive that doesn't know the tale of this wonderful city." Dark Side said.

Flash directed his attention towards Dark Side. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I brought you here to tell you a story."

"The story of Timbuktu?"

"No." Dark Side said flatly, "I brought you here so I could tell you the story of those two." Dark Side pointed behind Flash.

Behind Flash was a playground made of solid clouds. The playground had a rock climbing wall, a swing set, and a large building in the center of it made of metal bars and plastic floors and of course, it was covered with kids. Kids who were running around, laughing, playing, screaming (screams of laughter), and other stuff. But Dark Side was pointing towards two kid Pegasi who were playing on the swing. Both were colts and obviously Pegasi, but the one on the left had dark grey fur, a silver/light light grey mane, and green eyes. The colt next to him had yellow fur, a slightly dark white mane that was neatly combed, and sky blue eyes. 

Flash turned back to Dark Side and asked, "What do those two kids have to do with anything?"

"See the colt with the grey fur?" Dark Side asked, Flash nodded. "That kid is Thunderstorm, the future wielder of the Element of Shadow and the colt next to him is Nimbus, the future wielder of the Element of Sky."

"Wait...you mean-" Flash was cut off as Dark Side placed his hoof over Flash's mouth. 

"Sorry, but there's no time for questions. Let us fast forward shall we?" 

With a wave of his hoof the city vanished only to be replaced with a classroom full of other Pegasi. In the middle of the classroom sat both older looking versions of both Nimbus and Thunderstorm. The teacher walked to the front of his desk and cleared his throat, catching the entire classes attention.

"Good morning class, we have a new classmate." The teacher introduced, looking behind him he said in a calming voice, "you may come out miss, I promise they won't bite." The teacher glared at one of the students. "At least most of them don't anyway." 

The pony that the teacher glared at mumbled something in response. 

Behind the teacher was a mare with cyan blue fur, green eyes, and a rainbow mane. 

"This mare's name is Sky." Dark Side introduced the mare. "In time she, along with both Nimbus and Thunderstorm, will become very close friends. In fact," Dark Side paused as the scenery changed once more. This time they were on a large cliff, were an older looking Sky's head rested upon an older looking Nimbuses shoulder. Both staring off at the beautiful sight of the moon. "Those two became something more than friends."

"I don't understand." Flash stated. "What does this have do with...well...anything?"

"This has to do with nothing." Dark Side answered. "At least, it has nothing to do with anything  just yet." 

"But-"

"Hush." Dark Side shushed Flash. "Let me finish this story." Dark Side said, continuing the story. "About three years later," Dark Side said, the scene changed to the throne of King Orion. A stallion Pegasus with a grey beard and mane, his fur was a light brown and his eyes were a shade of sky blue. A Pegasus holding a red pillow in its mouth approached the king. Laid neatly on the pillow were two gems, one was a black gem with a red outline that hissed with venom. The other was a yellow gem with a blue outline that buzzed with electricity. 

"Isn't that-"

"Yes." Dark Side answered Flash's unspoken question. "What you are seeing is both the Element of Shadow and the element of Sky. You see, both Nimbus and Thunderstorm were chosen to wield these two elements. And when they did they became the most powerful Pegasi in the whole kingdom. However," Dark Side paused, the scene changed once more. This time the houses and homes inside the kingdom of Timbuktu had been set ablaze. 

"Even with both the element of Shadow and element of Sky in their possession. Nothing could stop the destruction that was about to occur."

...
...
...
...
...
...

The story is still going.

"Why did you just cut off like that?" Flash asked.

"Reasons." Dark Side answered. "Now shut up and listen. About a couple of months after both Thunderstorm and Nimbus became the bearers of the elements of chaos an attack happened. I'm sure you know of the ones responsible for this attack?" 

"Of course I do. Changelings." Flash answered.

Indeed it was Changelings. Black bug like creatures that looked like pony Alicorns. They swooped down upon the homes of ponies. Assaulting everyone that was their enemy. Fires were set ablaze due to someone leaving their oven on in their house and that caught on fire. And then some changelings caught on fire. And in a panic and hoping to douse the flames they ran all over town hoping to find some waster they could dunk in. But of course in their panicked state the changelings set other things of fire. 





Thunderstorm's pov

Sounds of thunder and screams filled the ears of the royal guard. From King Orion himself he ordered that all royal guards be sent to the city and defend the ponies. Thunderstorm couldn't help but worry about his friend Nimbus. While it was true that Nimbus could handle anything thrown at him, thunderstorm didn't want to take any chances. After all they were under attack by some kind of unknown thing. So it was safe to say that he should check up on his friend. But despite his clearly superior power Thunderstorm was a soldier. Therefore he took his orders very seriously and obeyed them no matter what. 

So he was very pleased to know that his commander ordered him to go pick up his friend. Thunderstorm had put on his golden armor and helmet. He rushed his way out of the castle,

And was sent flying backwards into the wall by a green blast. Thunderstorm wasn't sent through the wall but rather made clearly visible large cracks in it. The armored back plate did little protection against the blast as Thunderstorm fell to the floor. Thunderstorm groaned in pain from the sudden impact as he slowly lifted himself up.

"Well, well, well." A mischievous voice hissed.

Thunderstorm lifted up his head to meet the face of Queen Chrysalis. Her slender black insect body swayed as she approached her injured prey. 

"Aren't you full of surprises? I can tell that you have some fight in you." Chrysalis chuckled.

"I don't care who you are." Thunderstorm said, red and black waves began to crack and bend his injured body back into place. "But you are attacking my home, threatening my friends, so I can't allow to show you any mercy." Thunderstorm said, the black wrapped hilt of a katana appeared in the ground. Thunderstorm reached for the hilt and grabbed it. Slowly pulling it out of the ground, unsheathing the blade from the ground.

Chrysalis eyes widened in shock then she glared at Thunderstorm. "It seems that I have underestimated you little pony. However, I good strategist," Chrysalis paused, a green portal opened up next to her. Her full of holes horn glowed sickly green, pulling out a weapon of her own out of the green portal. A sword with a silver hilt was pulled out of the portal, in the middle of sword's guard was a symbol that looked looked like an upside down star. The blade of the sword was that of a large katana looking blade but on the blunt side of the blade was a metal black rode that the blade was attached to. 

But what made Thunderstorm uneasy was the hellish looking orange fumes that smoked off of the blade. He couldn't understand it but for some reason just looking at the sword seemed to cause pain to Thunderstorm. 

"I took this sword from a griffon temple a couple of years back. I didn't think I would have much use of it because I don't really care that much for sword's." Chrysalis said examining the sword as it twirled and rotate in a green magical aura. "Of course there were times I was bored and I practiced my blade on...combatants." Chrysalis grinned, happy thoughts of what the blade had done to her opponents filled her head. True, she rather preferred using deception and her silver tongue to defeat her opponents, she found it very pleasing to turn flesh into mere pieces of confetti. But eventually as time went on she grew tired of sword. The joy of ending the existence of others vanished. But now was a time that she needed the blade, now it could kill someone worthy to cross swords with such a blade. 

Now, was the time that the fire of joy she had been longing for could finally be reignited.





Nimbus and Sky were happy. No, they were happier than happy. If such a word could describe the happiness between the two I would surely use it. After all, nothing could've made the couple happier than Nimbus proposing to Sky. The two had been a couple for three years and lived in a two story home, provided by the government, that consisted of three bedrooms, a dinning room, a kitchen, a living room, two bathrooms, an office, and a porch outside where a metal table covered by a red umbrella sat. 

Yes both Sky and Nimbus were very happy about their lives. But that didn't stop Sky from worrying about Nimbuses safety. In fact she was currently worrying very deeply as Nimbus put on his Golden Horseshoes.

"Do you have to go?" She asked worried.

Nimbus turned to his beloved fiancé. He gave a warm smile to his beloved, his smile made her slightly calmer. "Don't worry, you know how strong I am. I'll beat these guys up and come back home before you have dinner ready." 

"Well...then I want to come with you, I want-" 

"No." Nimbus said sternly. "If you come with me you might get hurt, or worse. And I could never forgive myself if something like that ever happened." Nimbus said as he approached Sky and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. You've seen what I'm capable of right?" 

"Well yes but-"

"But nothing. You will be safe here. I need to go out and help Thunderstorm."

"Somebody mention me?" 

Both Nimbus and Sky turned their heads in surprise. There, standing in front of the back door, was Thunderstorm. His mane and tail was still black with a red outline, his eyes still red with his pupils slit. A warm smile spread across his face at the two beloveds. 

"Thunderstorm!" Nimbus smiled happily, running up to Thunderstorm and embracing him in a bearhug. "How ya doing buddy?"

"Oh you know, some Changelings blood here some changelings blood there." Thunderstorm said.

Nimbus released Thunderstorm in confusion. "Changelings?" He asked curiously. 

"Yes changelings. They are what's attacking us this very instance. Nasty little things are able to change their shape, race, and form. And what's worse is they possess the magic of a unicorn, the speed of a Pegasus, and the strength of an earth pony. Their basically miniature Alicorns." Thunderstorm explained.

"What about the fourth division. Or the royal guard. Or even king Orion himself?" Nimbus asked, worry and doubt began to fill his voice.

Thunderstorm shook his head. "The fourth division is to spread out to help everyone. The Royal guard are taking the big hits from these bugs at the high castle. And King Orion..." Thunderstorm was unable to finish, his head dropped down, pain and tears could be seen to start forming on his face. "Has fallen." 

Complete and total silence along with a major case of shock entered the room. King Orion was the most powerful Pegasus in the entire kingdom. He was even slightly stronger than both Nimbus and Thunderstorm combined. To think that their great and powerful King had fallen was unimaginable. Nimbus stumbled back a bit in shock as he balanced his weight on the kitchen table. 

"They will pay for this." Nimbus growled.

"No." Thunderstorm stepped in. "The entire kingdom is in shambles, our forces are to spread out, and we are leaderless. We have no choice but to flee."

Nimbus looked at Thunderstorm as if he had just called him a dog faced monkey baboon on steroids. "Did you loose half of your brain cells or something?" Nimbus asked very seriously. "Why would we flee? No wait, why would the thought of fleeing even occur to you?" Nimbus asked. "I've known Thunderstorm my whole life, and he would not once ever consider the possibility of fleeing a fight." 

"Your right, that's why I'm not running but I'm asking you to leave."

"Are you crazy, I'd rather die than leave my home!" Nimbus raised his voice.

"And would you stay and fight knowing that Sky and your child will die!" Thunderstorm yelled back.

Nimbuses eyes widened. He looked over to Sky who was slightly blushing and looking at the floor. "Are...are you..." Nimbus choked and sputtered. 

Sky looked up to her beloved. "Yes, I wanted to keep it a surprise." 

"You see Nimbus. I care about both of you. I couldn't bear the thought of you two and your unborn child dying and couldn't prevent it. So please...leave so that your child can live and grow." 

"Yes...your right." Nimbus said. Sky, who had become overjoyed with her beloveds decision, jumped at him and embraced him with open arms

Thunderstorm smiled with glee as both Sky and Nimbus were hugging one another with joy. But the moment was short lived as the sound of a sword piercing through Nimbuses chest echoed throughout the entire house. Nimbus looked down and saw the steel blade that had pierced his chest. Total shock once more entered the house as Nimbus looked behind him. Where he saw the one responsible for his fatal wound. 

Thunderstorm.

Nimbus fell to the ground limp as the blade was pulled from his chest. A pool of blood began to from from his spilled blood. His eyes began to feel heavy. His vision blurred and his ears echoed with a loud ring. The only thing he saw was his dearly beloved being held back by Thunderstorm, the sound of crashing glass as multiple Changelings entered the house. But before he died pure rage filled his heart. The wonderful and fond memories of his friend were no more. Thunderstorm was no longer recognized as Nimbuses friend. Now he was someone who he was going to kill.

And he would give no mercy.