Lightning Dust: The Story Of Shadow

by Whooves235

Year 2: Part 2

Shadowbolt Camp

Alarms, that's what Lightning woke up to. Full-on alarms were engulfing the entire base as Lightning Dust ran over to her uniform and quickly put it on. As she ran out the door she could see Sky Striker and Nightshade running to Cinch’s throne room.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Lightning shouted to the two bolts.

"We don't know, we’re just as confused as you are," Sky Striker shouted back. Lightning ran up to his and Nightshade’s side. "The alarms should only go off in a dire emergency, so I think we should be prepared for a fight," Sky Striker said.

"What kind of emergency are we talking about?" Lightning said.

"The kind that could reveal us," Nightshade said. "Now quit your talking and get to the throne room!" As the three ran into the throne room they could see Cinch was still working on a Shadowbot. Now, however, she was looking at the Equestrian Map.

"Ma’am, what's going on?" Nightshade said.

"Are we under attack?" Sky Striker said.

"Should we prepare for battle?" Lightning suggested

"Not if you all wish to lose your magic," Cinch said. "I put the camp on lockdown until further notice."

"Why, what's going on?" Lightning said

"It seems that Equestria is under attack from an old foe," Cinch said.

"Who?" Sky Striker said.

"He calls himself Lord Tirek, and he’s a powerful being who has the ability to suck all the magic from a being, even Discord himself."

"A being that powerful could make a good ally, perhaps we could..." Nightshade said before getting cut off.

"No.”

"No?" Nightshade asked. "But with his help, we could easily..." before yet again being cut off.

"Lord Tirek is not to be trusted. He is one of Equestria's most feared beings, next to his father," Cinch said sternly.

"Who is his father?" Sky Striker asked.

"That is for another time," Cinch said. "The point is, we must remain here until he is disposed of."

"But, if he is that powerful, who could stop him?" Lightning said.

"My sisters and I defeated him the first time using the Elements of Harmony. Hopefully they will dispose of him yet again," Cinch said.

"You were an element of Harmony?" Nightshade asked.

"Yes, but that was a long time ago..." Cinch said, then for a moment she stared at the wall, thinking.

As Cinch snapped out of her trance, she looked at the map. "My Shadow spies tell me Tirek was last seen in Canterlot, and he will be heading to Ponyville soon," she said. "You will all stand by. If the Elements do not dispose of him, we will go to DEFCON one."

"DEFCON one?" Lightning said. "But you said that was only to be used when we reveal ourselves."

"Yes, if Tirek has his way, he will banish the five Princesses to Tartarus, and then rule Equestria. Without someone to lead the resistance, we can take control," Cinch said.

"This is all theoretical, right?" Sky Striker said.

"Yes, I'm just planning ahead," Cinch said. "Now all of you, get to your stations."

"Yes Ma’am," the three said.

The Shadowbolt Training Room

As the three walked into the training room Nightshade approached the training dummies. "Cinch has no idea what she is talking about..." she muttered.

"What do you mean?" Lightning said.

"If Lord Tirek was such a threat, then we should team up with him!"

"Nightshade, you heard what she said. He is not to be trusted," Sky Striker said. "Besides, if she did trust Tirek, then she wouldn’t have told us about him and why he shouldn’t be trusted."

"Yeah. Knowing Cinch, she would have kept it a secret as to make our enemies not suspect our plan," Lightning said.

"Still, I feel she is making a big mistake," Nightshade said before punching the dummy. "If it were up to me, I would confront Tirek and ask him to join."

"Well, last I checked, Nightshade, you’re not in charge," Sky Striker said.

"Guys, we shouldn’t be arguing. Let's just do what Cinch told us and be on our way," Lightning said. "And Sky Striker has a point, Nightshade. You're not in charge, so I'd be careful of what you say, because Cinch may take it as treason."

Nightshade grunted and continued to punch the training dummy. As she was doing that Sky Striker and Lightning Dust walked out of the training center and walked to the guard towers.

"It's not her fault, you know," Sky Striker said.

"What?" Lightning asked, confused.

"Nightshade. She may sound treasonous, but it's not all her fault."

"What do you mean?" Lightning said. "How can her treason not be her fault?"

"Let’s just say Cinch didn’t recruit her under the best of circumstances," Sky Striker said.

"Why, what happened?"

"That's not my story to tell. Besides she would kill me for telling you," Sky Striker said, chuckling at that last statement.

"How did Cinch recruit you?" Lightning asked.

"My family worked at the Rainbow Factory. They were maintenance workers. Little did I know they were actually insane," Sky Striker said.

"What do you mean, insane?" Lightning asked.

"My father was a Shadow Spy for Cinch, put in charge of hiring factory workers. Cinch thought the workers could speed up the Shadow Bot creation process."

"What went wrong?" Lightning asked.

"The power went to my father and mothers’ heads. They thought that they could not only find a good Shadowbolt, but a Pure Shadowbolt."

"A Pure Shadowbolt?" Lightning said. "What's that?"

"A Pure Shadowbolt is an individual who could take orders without question, despite who may die in the process," Sky Striker said. "So, my parents would gather ten volunteers and take them to the factory at night, where..."

"Where what?" Lightning asked.

"They would tell the workers to kKill homeless ponies, by pushing them into the Rainbow Generator," Sky Striker said. "And one saying would always come true."

"What was the saying?" Lightning asked, hesitant to know the answer.

"In the Rainbow Factory, only a single soul gets through," Sky Striker said. As they arrived at the sniper tower they looked at the Crystal Empire in the distance, which appeared to have a shield surrounding it.

"Looks like Prince Shining Armor put the city on lockdown," Sky Striker said, then looked over at Lightning. "Well, I told you my story, what about you?" he asked. "Where did Cinch find you?"

"It's a long story.”

"I think we have time.”

"Well, it all started at the Wonderbolts Academy," Lightning began to explain.

Comments

[Pete100]

I don’t get the saying.