Adventure one: Factory Meltdown
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" Shouted an over excited Pinkie Pie, which was echoed by the same cheer from Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and their respective older sisters. Scootaloo halfheartedly blew out her candles. Today should have been a happy day. It should have been a dream come true because Rainbowdash SHOULD have been there, but she wasn't! She'd broken her promise. AGAIN!
Pinkie Pie rested her hoof on the young pegasus's shoulder. "Hey Cheer up, Scoots! Rainbowdash wanted to come, she really did! She just got tied up with-"
Scootaloo swatted the pink hoof off her shoulder. "With some stupid Wonderbolt errand at the last minute! Yeah I know!" She slammed her hoof down on the table in front of her. "If she WANTED to be here, she WOULD be! All she cares about is kissing flank for the other Wonderbolts!"
"Hey now, Thats not true and you know it!" Stated Applejack. "Rainbowdash has real responsibility now. Its part of her job to be ready at moment notice!
"She promised! She promised she would be here, and she's NOT!" Tears started dripping down onto the cake. "We were going to practice the steps of the flight test...just me and her..."
Rarity chimed in, "Really, darling you have nothing to worry about. You're a great flyer! Almost as good as Rainbowdash! You'll do fine."
"Yeah Scootaloo, don't worry about it. After all, she'll be there to watch! You mentioned that the Wonderbolts are always there." Said Applebloom.
"Yeah, you're right. She will be there." She confided just as...something snapped in her eyes. "On official Wonderbolt business, she doesn't care about me!" With that Scootaloo pushed her cake away. "I'm going to bed."
Before the orange mare could walk away Sweetie Belle and Applebloom blocked her path. "Hay, we got a Cutiemark crusaders meeting Saturday, and the new fillies always love to hear your story."
"Will you be able to make it? I know its the same day as your flight test but it kind of came up last minute, the new members really want to have their first meeting." Sweetie Belle chimed in.
The three of them had long since received their own cutiemarks but still held semi-regular meetings to help teach other little foals find what they're good at, and to share stories with about how they got their cutie marks.
Scootaloo smiled. "I'll see what I can do."
**----------**
"Feather Weight, your up next!" Barked the instructor, a gruff looking pale yellow pegasi. So feather weight trotted forward to begin his flight test. It was rather simple, just some lops though some rings, some zig zag agility testing, nothing too fancy.
Much more of an evaluation than a test, really. It was difficult to utterly fail unless you totally bombed. Of course, there were roomers about what happened to the ponies who managed to get that low of a score. The instructor and coaches at the flight school claimed that those with the lowest scores were sent to flight reform school that was harder, stricter and less fun. They said the drop outs would learn to fly well there soon enough or they would simply not be aloud to leave.
Still, no one know for sure what actually happened as it seemed no pegasi had ever been there. Even when the most clumsy flyer Scoot knew stated that she had just barley passed and didn't know where the failures went.
"Scootaloo? SCOOTALOO! Its your turn, go!" The young orange pegasus had been so deep in thought he hardly noticed the instructor calling him up.
"Right! Here I go!" She took off like an orange bullet, expertly looping though rings and executing every move. That is until a certain part of the routine called for her to zip past the judges and catch a glimpse of Rainbowdash and of that selfish, undeserved look of pride on her face! As if SHE had ever done anything! For the last year, since she became a Wonderbolt all the lessons stopped, all the hanging out stopped! Heck, not like she ever really cared anyway even before she was a Wonderbolt shed canceled on the orange filly countless times because she apparently had better things to do.
When she passed this test Rainbowdash would undoubtedly pass it off as one of her victories! She could see it now, Rainbowdash telling everypony 'Yep, I taught her everything she knows.' well NO! She had an opportunity to show every pony how she felt and she would do it...right now!
**----------**
An aqua green colored mare watched from inside a nearby cloud as the students performed. "I can't believe we're here looking into a school yard rumor, are we that bored?"
Beside her, a dark grey stallion replied, "What can I say, its been a slow week. Besides Gale, its almost over, then we just have to follow the carriage, right?"
Gale nodded, "Yeah it just better not be a some school filly's idea of a prank."
"I don't think so, The note was written on a piece of torn cloth and it looks like the pony who wrote it was bleeding. If it is a prank, then somepony went to a lot of trouble." He said, holding up the note.
"Hey Thunderlane, let me see that." She took the note and had a look at it. It seemed to be written in coal hastily scratched onto piece of torn white cloth. Drops of blood were splattered between the words. Thunderlane was right, it would be a lot of trouble to make a simple prank seem this convincing. The note itself read:
Failed flying test
All lies No school Death camp
HELP!
The note had been discovered inside a glass bottle, laying around the back of the weather factory. It was dismissed by the officials as a childish prank but Storm Surge, the leader of the Shadow bolts, wanted to look further into it and 'acquired' the note in question.
Gale pondered as to why Cloudsdale law enforcement would dismiss the case so easily, when suddenly she was pulled from her thoughts by a combination of uproarious laughter and shocked gasps. Peeking out from behind the cloud she saw what all the commotion was about. The last pegasus to take the flight test, an orange filly, had moved the rings she was meant to fly though and spelled out a rather...colorful word.
**----------**
Scootaloo grinned widely, enjoying the attention much more than she thought she would. This joy was cut short however, by Rainbowdash's hoof coming down on her shoulder.
"What in the name of Celestia was that about!? What the hays gotten into you!?" Exploded Rainbowdash.
"I just don't want this to be another thing that YOU take all the credit for!"
"Whaa--?"
"Don't even! I saw that look on your face! That undeserved look of pride! As if YOU have any right to be proud of me!"
"Scootaloo, I....UGH you realize that stunt made you fail, right?"
The orange filly rolled her eyes, "Whatever."
By this time two other failies were already in the chariot, waiting to be taken to... where ever it is that they take the failures; No pony knew for sure.
"Miss Scootaloo, you failed the flight assessment, get in the carriage." Barked the couch.
Scootaloo's only response was a snort. She was silent for several seconds before answering. "No."
The coach was getting impatient now. "You and all the other failures must attend the MANDATORY flight drill school."
The small orange pegasus spread her wings. "I've got places to be! See ya, tubby!" With that she darted off. With in an instant she noticed Rainbowdash was following her. "Ugh! What
do YOU want?"
Rainbowdash flew in in beside Scootaloo. "Scootaloo! You can't just leave!"
"Well I am! I don't have the time for some stupid drill flight school!"
The Rainbow Wonderbolt let out a half growling sigh, "Scootaloo! It doesn't work like that! You HAVE to attend!"
"I. Said. No!" The much smaller orange pony rammed her front hooves into Dashi's shoulder. A squeal of pain quickly erupted then faded as Scootaloo left Raindowdash in the dust.
Scootaloo flew another 300 feet or so before there was an explosion followed by a rain a rainbow colored streak snatching her up. On one hoof it seemed extremely unfair that Dash used the sonic rainboom to catch her, but on the other hoof she felt kind of proud the Dash HAD to use the sonic rainboom to catch her.
Having Scootaloo held tightly in her hooves Rainbowdash pulled a U-turn to carry the rebellious filly back to the carriage. She was almost there her when piercing pain shoot though her causing her to drop Scootaloo. "She bit me! The Filly BIT me!" Rainbowdash declared in shock as she stared at the lightly bleeding bite mark on her hoof.
Scootaloo's freedom, however, was short lived. A hand full of pegasi were finally able to force her into the carriage. Rainbow dash could hardly bare to watch, "Its for your own good." She whispered almost silently. Of course, she could never know how wrong that statement was.
**----------**
In no time the shadow bolts were suited up and stealthily following the carriage. "Gosh this thing sure is going out a long way, The cloud cover is getting pretty thin, we may have to pull a little further back." observed Thunderlane.
Storm Surge, the light pale blue leader of the Shadow Bolts nodded in agreement. "You're right, if the clouds thin out any more... Wait a minute they've turned around!"
"Did they see us!?" Asked Gale.
"I don't think so... Maybe its so the ponies inside cant find their way back?" mused Storm Surge.
Some hours later they couldn't believe it! The carriage had gone full circle back to Couldsdale, the weather factory to be precise. By this time it was nearly midnight.
"What was the point of that!?" Gale exclaimed in a hushed but very irritated voice.
"I don't know..." answered Storm Surge, "...But they're definitely hiding something." He waited for them to lead the foals inside. "Lets go!" The leader whispered behind him.
With his team mates following, each of them readied a cloth soaked in chloroform. As they swooped in the back exit the guard was only able to say "Wait what are-" before he dropped to the floor, passed out by the chloroform soaked cloth pressed into his muzzle, another came to investigate but he met the same fate.
The team moved silently down the hall following the sound of hoof steps. After a few turns the hallway led into a very large, dark room. It was guarded, of course, but again a few chloroform soaked cloths did wonders. The darkness of the room was to their advantage, lots of places to hide. In the center of the room was a very large vat with chains hanging over it. A pure rainbowish liquid poured from it into a collection of tanks and tubes.
"Remarkable." Said Thunderlane, awestruck. "This must be the rainbow factory! This place is so top secret that not even the Wonderbolts know what goes on here."
"Shhhh!" Gale hissed "That green pony's saying something."
About half way though the speech it became apparent as to why this place was so secret. They watched in horror as a 'demonstration' was given of just how the factory worked.
Storm was furious, "Ok team, here's the plan! Thunderlane, you get up on that cat walk on my mark swoop down and disarm as many of these... monsters as you can. Gale, you start freeing the foals...Start with the orange filly..." He smiled, "If what we've seen so far is any indication she should create quite a lot of confusion for us."
**----------**
Scootaloo was helpless to do anything but watch as a brown pegasus was flung into large vat followed by the sickening crunch of pony bones. Not only was the orange filly chained up like the others, but she also had her wings tightly tethered against her body.
The orange filly all but snapped out of her shock when a small pebble landed on her head. She turned but couldn't see anypony there at first. Thats when the mystery pony poked her head out from the shadows. Her face was covered by a dark mask, a shadow bolt mask. Scootaloo could see she had aqua blue fur and a sparkling yellow mane peeking out from under her mask.
"Lightning Dust?"
The masked pony visibly cringed at the mention of that name. "No, Its Gale Force. Lightning Dust is dead."
Scootaloo didn't really understand. She, this pony, was Lightning Dust. In any case, Lightning Dust or 'Gale Force' she could hardly refuse her help. "Can you get me out?" she whispered.
"Yes." Gale reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a pair of bolt cutters, "but you have to help us free the others." She wedged the cutters around the chain but stopped. "Oh and there is one more thing. I know its silly but it our leader, Storm's orders. You have to say 'The Shadowbolts deserve ice cream' before I can free you."
Scootaloo just blinked in bewilderment. It really didn't seem like the time and place for such...bizarre formalities. "What? Ok fine. The Shadow Bolts deserve ice cream." Just as she finished uttering that sentence Gale snapped the shackle off Scoot's hooves and cut the rope binding her wings down.
The young orange filly stretched her wings for a short lived moment of relief. "Hey you!" barked the voice of a pegasi in a white lab coat. He pointed a taser at the much smaller Scootaloo. "How did you get out of your restraints?"
"Um I uhh..." Scootaloo looked behind her where Gale had been just a moment before. She was gone, with out so much as a sound. "I don't know.." she smiled, "..I guess you guys just suck."
"Grrrr, You'll hold still and let me refasten them if you know whats good for you!" He reaches forward only for Scoots to step back. "I'm warning you."
Scootaloo ignored him and started to trot off.
"Alright, you're asked for it!" He lunged at the filly, who in turn easily out manured him, causing him to dive into the floor. By this time the other white coats were taking notice of the disruption and began to move toward Scootaloo.
None of them could have guess what would happen next. The sound of a loud speaker sparked over the whole room, and what followed was...music? 'Flight of the Valkyries!' No pony had time to question it further as three ponies flew out from the shadows. Scootaloo recognized one of them as Lightning Dust, or 'Gale Force' as she had insisted.
The three of them flew in perfect unison, swooping down into the crowd of foals and white coats. The first two snatched away as many of the tasers as they could. While the third, a slightly larger pony with a light blue mane, dropped crudely wrapped explosives on some of the more complex looking machinery. The sound of glass tubes breaking and the smell of burning rubber filled the air as the bombs went off.
The confusion only lasted a few moments as the white coats made an attempt to control the situation, an alarmed soon blared and all but drowned out the sound of ...however it was they were playing that music. Soon Gale and a pony with a smokey pale, blue mane were back to back fighting in some kind of martial art.
They were good but quickly being overwhelmed. Scootaloo took off. She knew she must be insane, she had to be in order to do what she was about to do. The small orange filly flew a wide arch around the commotion. "Hay! Losersayswhat!?" She called before charging into one of the white coats with a full body tackle.
That moment of distraction was all Gale and her companion needed. A few quick strikes followed by the toss of a smoke bomb. The tiny, grey ball erupted in a plume of smoke. With in seconds it was too think to see anything more then your hoof in front of your face.
The smoke screen didn't last long, however, as the factories ventilation system quickly dissolved the the thick smog. By the time visibility was restored the Shadowbolts were nowhere to be seen. The white coats all looked around in bewilderment, "Look! Up there!" one of them finally shouted.
Scootaloo turned her head and saw Gale and the other pony pushing on a massive vat of liquid. It must have been some nasty stuff because the white coats were freaking out, rushing to keep the vat from tipping. Scootaloo flew over to help the Shadowbolts, working her tiny wings like a powerful engine.
After a few moments the vat gave way and toppled over, spilling is contents all over the factory floor. The cloud floors, though very thickly woven, were no match for the acid flood. Soon a gaping hole took up about an eighth of the floor.
"They're getting away!" Yelled one of the factory ponies. A stream of fillies and colts poured out of the factory though the opening.
"What how? They were all chained down!"
"OVER THERE THE OTHER ONE!"
"Dammit! It was a distraction! He's freeing them all!"
It was indeed as they said. The third, larger pony who had followed behind Gale and the smaller pony was busy snapping the chains off of the last few foals still tied down using the bolt cutters that Gale freed Scootaloo with.
A loud whistle cut though the angered banter of the white coats trying to figure out what they were going to do about the situation. "Gale! Thunderlane!" The smaller pony called. "Looks like we have some late guests to the party!"
The Wonderbolts arrived on the scene, Soarin at the lead followed by Spitfire and Rainbowdash. Behind them were fifteen or so royal pegasi guards.
"What in the hay is going on here!!?" Rainbow demanded as she approached the Shadowbolt's leader. Meanwhile the guards were detaining any ponies who were still in the factory, telling them to remain calm and stay where they were.
Soarin stepped between them and cut her off. "Stand down, Rainbow."
Rainbow looked as though she might retort but instead obeyed stepped back. Soarin continued, "Explain the situation."
"Yeah! we suddenly get a call from the Clodsdale police saying their phone is ringing of the hook and foals are fanatically flocking in in droves and we get reports of explosions and-" The rainbow maned pony blurted out, only to be silenced with a harsh glare from Soarin.
The Shadowbolt's leader finally spoke, "Once again, the Wonderbolts arrive just in the nick of time." He said sarcastically. "You're a a bit late, my team and I have already rescued these foals."
The opposite leader shook his head, "Saved them? What exactly is going on here?"
Storm girted his teeth and let out a low growl. "This 'facility' has been recycling spectra from LIVE fillies and colts! But the corrupt Cloudsdale government that YOU work for refused to investigate any accusations against the factory because too many precious bits are tied up in the weather business!"
"Storm, I understand you only want to help..." Soarin began
"No, I DID help these foals,unlike you!"
"BUT!" He continued, "There is a due process and you can't just vigilantly -"
"Hay, back off!" Scootaloo blurted into the conversation. "The Shadowbolts saved everypony!"
Soarin considered for a moment. "Given the circumstances, and in light of the far more serious crimes exposed here I can look the other way on the damages caused by your reckless vigilantism."
Storm Surge scoffed, "Whatever, not like they cant afford to repair it ten times over..."
Rainbow stepped forward. "That's NOT the point!"
Storm cut her off, "Cool story- Shadowbolts move out!" On his command Lightning Dust and Thunderlane took off after him, corkscrewing into a cloud and out of sight.
Rainbow pulled of her mask, shaking her head. "C'mon scoots, lets get you back to Ponyville."
The small, orange filly took a step back. "I'm not going anywhere with you. Just don't talk to me anymore, ok?" With those parting words she took of like a jet.
**----------**
"...and by the end of a year of intense training, I had mastered flight despite the silly doctor telling me it would be impossible." She finished her story with the spread of her tiny orange wings, standing at an angle to show off her cutiemark. A thin purple, upside down lightning bolt a coming out of purple a half-circle proudly graced her flank. The symble was a reminder of her victory over the odds.
The tiny audience of blank flanked fillies and colts cheered until Applebloom calmed them down with a few closing announcements. They were dismissed shortly after. "I'm glad you could make it! Like ah said, you're story always inspires the new members!"
"Awe yeah, It was nothing."
"So, how'd it go? Did you break any school records with your amazing test grade?" Sweetie Belle inquired.
"No... I failed." She thought about confiding the truth to them but it didn't seem important, and in retrospect it was kind of silly for her to intentionally fail because she was fed up with Rainbowdash.
Her friends gasped, "B-but Scootaloo, that means you can't be a Wonderbolt! The academy would never accept you now." Exclaimed a disappointed Sweetie Belle.
A familiar voice cut into the conversation. "The 'Wonderbolts' academy never was good at spotting talent, but hay I'll take the great ponies they throw out." He drug out the word 'Wonderbolts as if it were mud.
"Storm Surge? What are you doing here?"
"Who?" Sweetie Belle and Applebloom asked at once.
Storm bowed slightly, "Storm Surge, leader of the Shadowbolts." Lightning Dust and Thunderlane walked in behind him. "I've got something for you."
Lightning Dust pulled a brown box with a red ribbon from her saddle bag and offered it to Scootaloo.
Scootaloo opened the package. "I-is this!?"
Storm smiled and gave a nod. "It is. You really helped us out back there. Scootaloo, how would you like to join the Shadowbolts? The greatest fliers of the Everfree Forest?"
There was little hesitation, she knew she'd earned it. "You know it!" Scootaloo excitedly put the uniform on, "Wow this is so COOL. They way you guys just charged in and helped everypony was... I can't wait to do the same!"
"That's the spirit! Now then I say we go out for some victory Ice cream!" Storm then added with a smirk, "I think we deserve it."