> Juggernaut
>  by Captain Flea609
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: We return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The great assassin Shroud and her team that was designated Azure team were in position and waited for team Cobalt's signal.

It was extremely easy getting past Celestia's perimeter guards, in-fact there were barley any. Though Shroud couldn't really blame the Princess there has been no threat to her directly for over one-hundred thousand years and after all these years of preparation and planning this be a simple task just as the Great leader himself assured them.     

For all she knew Celestia could have completely forgotten about The Enlightenment rebellion that has been rebuilding ever since she foolishly assumed that she had brought peace to Equestria and Shroud knew damn well that what her and her assassins did tonight will effect Equestria's history forever.

Shroud and her two pony team waited on the roof of Celestia's castle just over the window that lead to her personal quarters. 

They stood perfectly perched on the edge of the roof waiting for the signal, engulfing themselves in the darkness of the night.

"What the hell is taking them so long!?" Azure 2 lashed out in a loud whisper. 

"Easy there two you'll get your chance." Azure three said. 

"I'm just saying, I didn't train for half my life to sit on my ass and do nothing." Two replied agitated. 

"Three's right two, just be patient." Shroud agreed. All Shroud got was an irritated sigh from two. 

Personally Shroud didn't want two on her team for this one. He was very impatient if you couldn't already tell. Not only that he had an extremely short temper which could jeperdize the mission. 

A crackle came from Shroud's COM earpiece.

"This is Cobalt actual. The target has moved from her personal quarters to the throne room. We're gonna have to re-position how copy?"

Shroud sighed and shook her head. Even she was a little agitated.

"This is Azure actual we copy. We'll notify you when we're in position. Azure out." 

"Are kidding me we have to relocate again?!" Came another outburst from two, "I mean come on are we gonna kill her or not?!"

Shroud had had it with two's inpatients.

"Are you gonna stop bitching or am I gonna have kill you myself?!"

"No ma'am!"

"Good, now lets move out."

Shroud opened up her wings and silently glided away with her team following. 

They came to another roof top system where Celestia's throne room should be. As they flew low above it, the silhouette of another bulky Pegasus swung up onto the spot on the roof in which Shroud and her team were going to land. 

She didn't have to properly identify who it was, for she instantly knew it was one the Princess's royal guards. If Shroud continued on her flight course she would be spotted.

"Contact! Cover! Now!" Shroud alerted her team on the COMS.

As quickly as she said it she banked and dove behind one of the various roof ornaments that littered the roof top, hoping her team had done the same in time. She didn't even know what she was hiding behind, she just knew it kept her hidden. 

Shroud risked a peek around the corner. The guard was looking up in the sky where Shroud had just been, then began searching the roof top carefully. Shroud cursed under her breath. He was suspicious and knew he saw something. It wasn't a matter of sneaking by anymore this guard would have to die. 

"Two take him out." She whispered in her COM. 

She risked another peek around the corner, but that risk came back to bite her in the ass. As she peeked her head out she came face to face with the guard. 

As soon as they both realized what was in front of them a black blur of a figure lashed out from behind and severed the guard's spine. Dead before he hit the ground. 

Shroud looked at two, although she couldn't see his expression behind the mask and tactical goggles he was wearing she knew he was smiling.

"And you said you wanted to kill me earlier." He said tucking his augmented bladed wings back at his side. 

"Thanks." She said with no expression. 

Two maybe impatient but he's a hell of an assassin.

A crackle came in on her COM,

" This is Cobalt Actual we are in position. Waiting on you Azure."

"Copy we're moving into position now Azure out." 

They regrouped and positioned themselves on the left side of the roof on the perch over a large brightly colored window. 

Shroud got on the COM with Cobalt team.

" This is Azure actual we are in position."

There was a slight pause of silence, but then a reply chimed through.

"Copy Azure waiting for your signal."

She turned to her team who were perched over there own windows. They exchanged nods of acknowledgement.

"I'm ready to make history." Three said.

Shroud's heart pounded nervously as she got back on the COM and shouted the signal.

"GO! GO! GO!"

No turning back now cause in the next ten seconds The great and powerful Princess Celestia would be dead.

She gracefully swung herself over the perch and crashed through the multicolored glass.

As she cleared the window she spread her bladed wings and her, her team, and Cobalt team rushed at the surprised Princess Celestia. 

As Shroud prepared for the opening blow, there was a flash of light and a shimmer and then the Princess was gone. She had teleported. 

Shroud stopped herself so she wouldn't slam into the rest of Cobalt team who were just as caught off guard as she was. Shroud knew it wouldn't be as simple as killing her instantly. The Princess would not go down without a fight; however, Shroud loved a good fight, especially when she was up against a supposed "immortal goddess". This could be an even match.

Another flash and shimmer. The Princess reappeared on the opposite side of the throne room giving herself a good 20 meters of space from the assassins. 

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" She shouted. "WHO ARE Y-"

Celestia ducked from an incoming crossbow bolt that Cobalt 3 had shot, hoping to end this quickly without much noise and yelling. 

"Dammit!" He cursed reaching his head back to one of the many pockets on his saddle-rig to grab another crossbow bolt with his teeth. 

There was no time for him to reload. It was now or never.

"Rush her now! GO!" Shroud barked. 

The six of them flew at the confused Alicorn in an intentionally messy and unorganized formation. They serpentined, rolled, and weaved around each other constantly shuffling who was in front and who was in the back. This was a simple blitz tactic they used to confuse their enemy and to keep them guessing as to who would strike first. They broke at the last second leaving the pony in the back, which happened to be Azure 2, to strike first. 

"COME HERE YOU TYRANIC BITCH!" He shouted as he began with a series mid-air combos with his dual tomahawks. 

He gracefully spun, flipped, weaved, and swung fiercely at the Princess who wore an astonished look. Celestia seemed to effortlessly block all of his attacks with a simple small, magical, golden barrier. Each strike making a loud "metal on metal" grinding and clanging noise that echoed all throughout the room. 

This wasn't good, they were making way too much noise. Sooner or later guards would come to investigate and would make the situation more difficult. They had to end this as quickly as possible.

Cobalt 3 rushed from the right flank zig-zagging left and right with her bladed wings open and ready to strike. Cobalt 1 approached the left flank in the same fashion. Shroud and Azure 3 dove at her from above surrounding the befuddled Alicorn. 

Celestia realized what was about to happen and with an amazing amount of power her horn shined brighter than the sun. Her eyes aglow.

"ENOUGH! CEASE THIS FOOLISHNESS AT ONCE!" Her voice boomed all throughout the castle and was sure to have disturbed the guards. 

There flash of intense light. When everything retuned to it's normal brightness, Shroud noticed she was floating, no she wasn't floating she was still flying at the Princess; however, her speed had been sapped. She glanced around her. Everything was in slow motion and had a blue hue to it. Princess Celestia was not effected by her spell and could freely move around at normal speed. 

She noticed Cobalt 2 had loaded another crossbow bolt. This time the tip had a reddish glow. He had loaded an TAM bolt or Tactical Anti-Magic bolt. It was a prototype enchanted arrow that the Enlightenment had been experimenting with and was to only be used as a last resort. They had only one of these enchanted arrows and right now it was there best bet. 

Shroud could see Cobalt 2 struggling to aim the crossbow very slowly while grunting with effort. Celestia had moved out of the way of Azure Two's vicious attacks that had been slowed by the time spell. She noticed Cobalt 2 once he had finally leveled the crossbow in her direction. With a smirk she zapped him with a non-lethal stunning spell.

The crossbow floated away from his grasp as he slowly tumbled to the floor. The crossbow's trajectory was straight upward heading straight toward Shroud. It was her only hope, she had to reach it.

The Princess spun around and faced the large double doors that lead from her Throne room.

"Guards!" She shouted. "Guards come quick!" 

The crossbow began to float towards her faster. The spell was wearing off. She had alerted the guards and it was only a matter of time before they came in to finish them off. The crossbow was their only hope and Shroud was closest. She stretched her forelegs out as far as she could as the crossbow glided closer. The spell was wearing off more and she began to speed up to a point where she felt like there was zero gravity.  

"GUARDS!" She cried out again. "Apprehend these saboteurs!"  

Time began to speed up even more, the crossbow was mere inches from her hooves. She stretched her limbs as far as she could to the point where the muscles burned. Sweat soaked her balaclava. It was all up to her now, she would decide if this mission would be a failure or a success. Shroud had never failed in her life and the last thing she wanted to do was disappoint her step father. The Great Leader of the Enlightenment. She had made a promise to him that she would come back with Celestia's head and she was determined to do so.

The Crossbow had finally reached her. She slid her hoof through the enlarged trigger guard and gripped her hoof around the trigger. The time spell began to wear off even more and she was able to raise the weapon far more quickly than Cobalt 2 did. The Princess heard Shroud's struggling and spun to face her. By the time she did Shroud had squeezed the trigger. The enchanted cross bolt defied Celestia's spell and darted towards her at normal speed with a red tracer in its wake.  Celestia had put up a magical barrier at the last second, but that did not stop the Anti-Magical cross bolt from piercing straight through it. The barrier shatter into beautiful golden flakes. The cross bolt implanted itself right into The Princess' shoulder blade. 

She cried out in agonizing pain as her glowing horn flickered and died. The light had left her eyes and her beautiful flowing mane drooped colorlessly. Time returned to normal as she crumpled to the ground on her side. Her screams were silenced as her voice ceased. She was too weak to scream. A giant red welt formed around the area of the crossbolt. It glowed scarlet red as it sucked the life from her. Her mouth was open as if she were trying to scream, but nothing would come out except for blood. Her eyes went blood shot and they were fixated wide open as blood seeped from them. It was killing her slowly and painfully. 

As much amusement as Shroud found in watching her die she knew she had to end this quickly. The guards were sure to come; however they haven't so far and she was curious as to why they didn't hear all the noise they produced. 

Azure and Cobalt lunged at the downed Alicorn with their bladed wings and began hacking away at her until she finally fell limp. 


*******************************************
    



It has been done.......The Princess is dead. 

She lay in a pool of her own blood near her throne. 

Her body littered with lacerations and deep gashes. Her eyes were still shot open with the same shocked expression on her face. 

Shroud, her team, and Cobalt gathered around her body.

"Well that took longer than expected. Good thing my team killed off all the guards first. Sorry we took so long with that." Said Cobalt's team leader retrieving the cross bolt from the Princess' body. 

He struggled to yank the bolt free from the welt. When he yanked it free, blood spewed from the wound and Cobalt 1 fell on his back covered in blood.

"EEEEWWW! FUCK! This thing makes a mess!" 

Normally they wouldn't make such an unnecessary mess like this, but under the Great Leader's orders he wanted this assassination to be a message. He wanted it to be known by all of Equestria, though he wasn't ready to reveal neither himself nor his rebellion. 

The long wait was over and what Shroud and her team accomplished tonight was merely step one of The Great Leader seizing power of Equestria and spreading his Enlightenment. Unfortunately, there was still more waiting involved. While Equestria plummets into political turmoil, this will give The Enlightenment enough time to initiate phase 2 of what the Great Leader dubbed Operation Reconcile. 

All the Great Leader needed now was the missing piece to his Operation that he'd been anxiously planning for fifty years. He needed the very thing he created long ago, but lost due to a betrayal he should have for seen. 

He needed The Juggernaut.

                                                                                   



  
> Chapter 1: More Troubles for your Troubles
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The young and troubled Pegasus Rainbow Dash lay on her bed staring aimlessly at the ceiling, unable to sleep or even simply think clearly.

Her head throbbed and she felt a terrible lack of energy and just felt terrible all around. Despite her extreme lack of energy, she couldn't sleep and had stayed up all night staring at the same spot on her ceiling. Her head had been throbbing like this for the past week, but it didn't really start effecting her until last night.

For some reason all she could feel currently was anger. Not frustration, but pure anger. What was she angry at? The lack of sleep? Her constant head ache? Or was it those random awkward moments of emotional confusion that limited her social abilities and just seemed to make everything feel.........well what more can I say just plane awkward. She didn't know and the worst part was that she couldn't really think about it. 

The only conclusion she came to was the most simple. She was sick. A very rare occasion for her, but still that seemed like the most reasonable solution. 

The only thing that could swim through her mind was, "Why can't I get some damn sleep?!"

She'd also been getting into an unhealthy habit of foul language lately, that was the least of her worries.
The only thing she was worried about is if she was ever gonna fall asleep.

Orange light began to shine on the spot of the ceiling she was looking at and for the first time in seven hours she looked away to her window where she could see sun rising. Seeing this made her even more angry.

Well I guess that answers my question. No sleep for me. 

Rainbow Dash could already tell this day would be even crappier than she expected, but right now she didn't feel like getting up until she felt like it, which would probably be........a while.

Yup, just lay there for half the day and think about what little things she could. Dash wasn't much of a thinker either, she was more of a "do" kind of pony. Except now she was thinking way more than doing. Even if she did manage to pull her ass out of bed she still wouldn't feel like doing much of anything.

She sighed heavily and looked back up at her ceiling and the sun continued to rise. The morning continued to fly as Rainbow Dash just lay there to sulk in her misery. At least she was getting and somewhat enjoying the peace and quiet.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Or not.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

With what little energy she had in her, Rainbow Dash slowly forced herself to climb out of bed.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Rainbow Dash growled loudly a she flew down to see what impatient asshole was knocking on her door so hard for.

As she approached her front door she began her rant, "I swear to Celestia, whoever this is, this better be goddamned important!"

As she swung open the door she was greeted by an intimidated creamy yellow pegasus with a long pink mane.

"Rainbow Dash I'm really sorry to anger you, but this IS important-"

Rainbow Dash rudely cut her off.

"Look Fluttershy I am seriously not in the mood to help you look for Angel! Honestly you need to watch him more closely!" 

Even though Fluttershy was really sensitive, Rainbow Dash did not hold back her anger. Instead of Fluttershy lowering her head and her normal remorse, she responded in a way that was very rare for her.

"Rainbow Dash will you just listen to me! It's far more important than that!"

Even though Rainbow Dash was still pissed off, she guessed it really was important if Fluttershy was brave enough to raise her soft and delicate voice over it.

"What is it then?" Rainbow Dash asked now lowering her voice and temper.

Fluttershy's eyes began to tear and was sniffling.

"PRINCESS CELESTIA IS DEAD!" She was now bawling out crying.

Rainbow Dash thought she heard wrong for a second and it took her brain a while to process what she just heard. It was definitely enough to shut her up and forget about her angry thoughts, but now they were replaced with questions. Hundreds of them.

"Wha...how?!"

Fluttershy tried to stop herself from crying so she could explain, but there was little success and her eyes continued to flood with tears. 

Rainbow Dash, while still tired and extremely disoriented, invited her grieving friend inside so she could explain.

She felt as if the universe wasn't gonna give her a break. First she got sick, then she missed an entire night's of sleep and now she just found out that the Pony that lead the very peaceful land she lived in, not only that, but swore her everlasting loyalty to, is now dead and there was not a thing she could have done to stop it. Her current condition was bad enough, but this was just the universe pissing on the ashes.

When they took a seat on one of the cloud couches in her living room, Fluttershy had finally calmed down a bit and Rainbow Dash wanted some answers.

"Ok. Now can you please explain to me what happened to Princess Celestia?" She began sounding a bit impatient.

Although Fluttershy was still sniffling, she could still muster an answer.

"Well, I heard from Twilight when Spike received a letter from the Princess's executives informing him and Twilight that they found her body at her throne. They didn't say the cause of death."

Rainbow Dash immediately began making assumptions as to how she died.......well she tried, but still she was unable to think clearly. The only thing she knew is that the news was probably spreading all over Equestria as they spoke.

After a long moment of awkward silence Rainbow Dash finally spoke, "So.......what now?"

It was the only question she kept asking herself. What will they do? What about the Elements of Harmony? How will the rest of Equestria react? The only thing she knew for sure was the pony that would take Celestia's throne, that was pretty much a no-brainer. She did have only one sister.

"I...I don't know." Rainbow Dash's shy pink headed friend began. "I guess we'll find out when they schedule a funeral."

A Royal Funeral. Something that Rainbow Dash would have no choice to attend, but despite her crappy condition, she didn't mind going to it.

Fluttershy was still trying to get a hold of herself and Rainbow Dash began to wonder why she did not feel the slightest bit of sadness. She wanted to be sad with her friend and if possible get a good cry out of it, but she couldn't no matter how sad she tried to make herself feel.

After a few moments of pure silence that seem to get eerier by the minute, her delicate companion was still a bit far from getting over herself. Rainbow Dash reached over to comfort her friend with a hug, but as she wrapped her arms around her and Fluttershy returned Rainbow Dash's showing of caring with a hug of her own, her head spiked with agonizing pain. She didn't scream for the sake of her friend, but squeezed her tighter and scrunched her eyes shut as they watered from the pain. On the bright side at least it looked like she was crying, but if her head hadn't hurt before she definitely felt it now. It was as if some pony was slowly jabbing her brain with thick needles.

Fluttershy left her cyan friend's embrace and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Thanks for your time Rainbow Dash." She said moving towards the door.

As the door shut behind her and Rainbow Dash again had the satisfaction of being alone, she returned to her bed. Instead of lying on her back, she flopped face first into her pillows sulking in her misery and trying to process what she had just been told.

The spike of pain had left her head, still she was trying to make herself sad.

What the hell is wrong with you?! You don't care that your Princess is dead?! You don't care that the very pony that taught you everything about friendship and made your life a paradise is now gone forever?! 


She continued to beat herself down with insults and her always short temper began to rise again.

And thus began the cycle that she repeated all through last night.

She had given up. She had rarely ever given up on anything, but she gave up. She couldn't make herself cry.

I'm a terrible pony.


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



Hey guys, Flea again! So yeah I touched up on my grammar and now it's much better. I know this chapter was a bit short like the Prologue, but don't worry the chapters in the future I plan on making longer. This chapter was simply just to get you familiar with Rainbow Dash's inner conflict with herself because it plays a very important role and it's something you'll wanna pay attention to.
But enough notes from me. Tell me what you guys think and be sure to leave CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM so that hopefully this story will be in the top rated. I promise you the next chapter is where the REAL story begins.


 
> Chapter 2: The U.N.L.R.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Journal Entry #596


The waiting is almost over I can sense it, but I must not get ambitious for the death of Princess Celestia was just a small step. I am most proud of my team of assassins that managed to pull it off even though they hardly ran into any complications. I am grateful to have Shroud as one of my valuable assets. She has been anxious for this moment for a long time and now that she's finally been let loose I have to say, raising and training her was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

The news of the Princess's death is sure to have spread a great deal by now and her laughably pathetic Elements of Harmony are now useless. Not even Celestia's sister Luna could restore their power as if they would be useful against me in the first place. The only thing now that could potentially pose as a problem is Luna herself. She's not as naive and gullible like her sister and she is without a doubt going to take her throne, but I know that Alicorn and she probably knows me just as well. From what I heard from my spies her new governmental system that she would put together was no laughing matter. It was strict and radical. Just outside the boundaries of a dictatorship, but she was mainly focused on her armed forces which is what worries me  because it makes me wonder if she knows I was the pony behind her sister's death, but we have not seen each other for years. It's a shame that I will eventually have to kill the Alicorn I loved for so long, but for the good of Equestria my Enlightenment must spread no matter what. 

Once I have found what I've been searching for sixteen years all my worries of Luna defeating me will come to an end, but in order to do that I have to find the very pony that betrayed me and made me lose my precious creation. I must find my own son. Only he knows where the Juggernaut or more importantly "who" the Juggernaut is.



*************************




One week Later



"......and so we give our sorrow for my dear sister as she descends into her peaceful grave and ascends into the afterlife."

Luna's voice boomed from the wide concrete platform she stood on as her sisters coffin was lowered into it's resting place behind Luna. 

As it lowered the sun began to go down from behind the platform making the large coffin look like a silhouette against the orange sun. 

Every pony around Rainbow Dash was crying except for her. Yep, she still couldn't cry over it and although she hated herself for admitting this, she didn't care anymore. The least she could do was look sad.

She and her five friends sat in the first row. Even though there were no chairs, they just sat on the concrete and not one of the thousands of ponies that attended this funeral ever complained about it.

Luna lowered her head for a moment of silence as the sun went down. All Rainbow Dash could hear were the slight sniffles and whimpers of ponies crying. 

She sat between Twilight and Applejack whose eyes were flooding with tears and the troubled cyan pegasus wished for the hundredth time she could cry, but that was never gonna come. She just hoped her friends wouldn't take notice.

The sun went down and as it did The Princess of the Night, finally spoke.

"I am sure you all want to know just how my sister was killed." She sighed and faced her people with an honest look.

"I'm not going to make this dramatic so I'll just say it. My sister was assassinated."

A wave of murmurs, gasps, and surprised looks swept over the crowd.

Rainbow Dash still showed no expression and she could have swore she saw Princess Luna shoot a glare at her, but out of all the ponies she sat beside she wasn't sure if she looking directly at her. 

Luna held up a hoof to silence the crowd.

"It is unclear who committed this terrible crime, but we have our assumptions." She assured everypony.

Wait what did she mean by we?    

"What we know for sure is that there is a threat that has been bestowed upon us and with this we begin a New Era! A new chapter in Equestrian history! I have devised a new governmental system that will guarantee the safety of our nation!

Rainbow Dash didn't like the change in her tone. She couldn't really make out what she didn't like about it. The only thing she could think of was that it sounded too assuring.

The moon began to rise behind Luna.

"My newly selected executives and I present The United National Lunar Republic!"

Banners rolled down the sides of the platform. It had a curious design to it. The banner itself was midnight blue with a white crescent moon in the center, a golden star above it, silver wings on both sides of the moon, and below read the acronym UNLR.

Rainbow didn't like it. It's almost as if she was prepared for this to happen. It irritated her a bit, but then again almost everything irritated her now.

"With this new system my executives and I, whose identities shall be hidden, have started from scratch and created a brilliant plan to defend against this new threat."

Rainbow nearly fell asleep as she went into what seemed like an hour long explanation of her UNLR. Why did she have to make so complicated. She preferred Princess Celestia's government, even though it wasn't really a government. It was more of a peaceful and fair monarchy. It was simple and that why Rainbow Dash proffered it. At least Luna didn't change the laws.....that much.


Rainbow never really favored Princess Luna. She always gave off this feeling that she envied her sister. 

It was what got the extremely tired and bored Rainbow headed pegasus's attention when Luna spoke of one detail that got her attention.

"I know some of you may not like this, but there will be at least one UNLR military outpost in each town. There will be a draft to prepare against this threat in case it strikes again."

Oh my god really? I thought this was a republic not a dictatorship. 

Rainbow Dash had always wanted to join Celestia's Royal Guard, but now she didn't want join her Royal Guard if that's even what it was called now.

This didn't seem like a funeral anymore and she felt as if Luna completely forgot about her sister in the span of minutes. She wasn't surprised. 

After her hour long lecture of the UNLR everypony was finally dismissed to carry out their lives. Everyone still looked sad and Rainbow Dash envied that she wasn't sad although she faked the look, but it didn't look very convincing.

"so, what do we do now?" Pinkie Pie was the first to speak as everypony was beginning to leave.

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe she hadn't noticed that Pinkie Pie's hair was straightened. For a second Rainbow didn't recognize her. She didn't have her usual perky attitude either. 

For some reason everypony looked at Rainbow Dash. 

"Rainbow Dash?" spoke Twilight. 

"You ok?" 

Rainbow Dash looked at her friends they looked concerned. 

"Yeah I'm fine I just want some time alone."

"But you've been alone in your house almost all week just tell us if something is wrong." Fluttershy pleaded.

Now she felt even more irked. She didn't feel like hanging her friends she just wanted to be alone. Was that so much to ask for.

"I said I'm fine dammit now leave me alone!" She didn't know why she raised her voice, but it caused Fluttershy and everypony else to back off. They looked even more concerned than before and a little bit intimidated.

"well ah'right then that's 'all ya' had to say. No need to get pissy." Said Applejack.       

With out even saying anything Rainbow Dash took off into the sky. Unsure of where she was going, but she didn't care she wanted to be alone. 


**********************




Princess Luna returned to her Castle. 

In the castle's convention hall waited all three of her executives. One of which she knew Captain Shining Armor and the other two she hadn't known before. A griffon named Artimus and a grey stallion named Sharp Intellect. They bowed slightly as she entered.

"Greeting your highness." Welcomed Artimus.

"We have just now dispersed our messengers across Equestria with the draft letters." Shining Armor reported.

"Good." Luna was pleased.

"Have devised the new training program?"

"Yes your highness." Shining Armor slid a manila folder across across the table. 

Luna caught it in her magical grasp. She began to skim over it. She was beginning to like what she was reading, but when she got to the new uniform and armor it instantly caught her attention. It was an expertly done sketch of a guard wearing some kind of digital dark blue, grey and black camouflage fatigues with some kind of armored chest plate made and it wore helmet with the same camo design with some type of dark tinted goggles. 

"Very interesting uniform design Armor."

"Thank you maim." He smiled at her compliment

"Your highness if you don't mind we have something that we want to address to you." Spoke Artimus.

Sharp Intellect cleared his throat and began,"We have found out through further reports on the investigation of your sister's assassination that it was not one pony that assassinated her, but it a group of assassins. Highly trained and highly experienced from the looks of it." 

"They certainly knew what the hell they were doing too." Shining Armor added.

"With this we have created an idea for our own group of Elite assassins so that when we know the people who assassinated your sister we can give them a taste of their own medicine. Check page 89 in the folder please." Artimus explained.

Luna magically flipped to the desired page. The page was stamped Top Secret. Project Moonlight was the name. Of course Luna instantly like it. She skimmed over the details of the project and a big smirk showed on her face. It wasn't just brilliant, it was full proof. The project revolved around the idea of selecting seven of the most talented Pegasi to under go the Brutal, but necessary training she read. She just had one question.

"Who will these seven Pegasi be?"

"Oh that's easy your highness, the Wonder bolts of course." Artimus answered.

"Yes, but the're only six Wonder bolts who would be the seventh?"

Sharp Intellect fixated his glasses,"That's also an easy answer your highness. Your sister's element of Loyalty?"


********************
  





> Chapter 3: The Speed of a Rainbow 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rainbow Dash sat on a small cloud watching her world change before her. Nothing would be the same anymore. It didn't even feel close. She knew from this day forward she would have to adjust to the major changes that Luna put forth. She never wanted to be more alone in her life. She looked as the sun began to rise again. She guessed Luna would have to control both day and night now. She half expected her to keep the moon up for eternity. All these changes, all this stress, was making her more on edge. She wanted to do something to take her mind off of all of this. So she would do the one thing she was best at. Flying.

She took off from the cloud and started what was slow for her as she cruised at about her usual speed of 300 miles per hour. It was good to feel the wind rush through her mane and beat at her face. She kicked it up a notch with some simple barrel roles and loops. She sped up a bit. Feeling the Adrenaline coursing through her veins and it only made her wanna go faster, do more flips, twists, and rolls. 

As the adrenaline pumped through her, without even thinking or even aware of what she was doing, she climbed at a straight angle into the sky. 

When she pierced through the thick cloud layer she let her momentum drift away and let gravity take affect as in mid-air she gracefully pulled off some kind of stunt where she did a twist and a back flip at the same time. Then she let herself fall through the clouds again opening her wings and blasting off at blinding speed with a rainbow in her wake.

"Whoa! How did I do that?! That was awesome!"

She had never felt more alive. She didn't even know where she was flying anymore, but she didn't even care. She didn't even look at the ground. She was only focused on the steep mountains she was about to fly by. The way the mountains were positioned got Rainbow Dash curious. If she flew low enough she could fly right threw them as if it were a some narrow and dangerous canyon. They certainly did look dangerous too. If she wasn't careful she could cause a huge rock avalanche and the narrow passage could cave in on top of her. 

All the more reason to fly into it. Again she didn't even think her mind was blank. She was only focused on flying. Extremely focused in fact. More focused than any other time in her life. A smirk came across her face and she chuckled.

"Let's do this!"

She banked left and dove straight on a course through the mountains. She sped up to subsonic speeds. Almost enough for a sonic rainboom. She narrowed her rose red eyes. 

She rolled as she entered between the mountains. Almost instantly as if it were timed just for this occasion, the mountain walls began to shutter due to the speeding rainbow pegasus that was bulleting through the unstable mountains. She didn't even wince, didn't even care. She was just focused on what was ahead of her. 

She saw something in her peripheral vision. She didn't look cause she knew it was a boulder that came tumbling down and fell right beside her. Soon enough more began to follow. It turned into chaos in the course of seconds. She knew what she was doing....sort of. She started an avalanche. Rocks and boulders fell from out of no where. Smashing into the mountain side breaking into smaller, more deadly chunks. As the rain of hellish rocks picked up she, began to dodge them swiftly and with perfect grace. No matter how many were falling she always seemed to know where each rock would hit and how to avoid it. 

She gritted her teeth in a smile and began acting more like it was a game, performing flips, twists, and rolls over, under and around falling boulders. She found it extremely fun. The adrenaline that had her pumped seemed to be was making her want to go even bigger. She began to kick off the side of the mountain to avoid boulders and fragments, even kicking off the boulders themselves. She didn't know how she was pulling this off and again she didn't care. She just wanted to keep flying. Forever!

Oh my god why isn't anyone watching me?! This is the best flight I had in my life!   

A giant boulder was going to fall right in front of her and there was no room for her to dodge it. So she was going to try the only other way there was besides over, under, or around. Go through it. It was like she had no control of herself for the few seconds as she flew straight into the huge beast of a rock. She felt her head connect and then the boulder scatter into bits as she punched right through it. 

"WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed as loud as she could. She had never enjoyed herself more.

As she continued, on her path she saw up ahead that there was a dead end. When she neared the end she shot up straight out between the mountains escaping the avalanche that caved in that that part of the mountains. 

She put her hooves on the ground and sprinted up on to the highest peak of the mountain and finally she stopped herself as it took nearly all her will power to do so. 

She panted heavily, her heart raced and her blood pumped through her. She didn't want to stop. When she was flying she felt as if she were unstoppable. She felt stronger, more alert and more focused than ever before and she didn't want this feeling to end. 

She looked out at the land that stretched out before her and didn't take the time to admire the beautiful scenery. She peeked over the edge and smiled at how high she was in altitude. A crazy yet, in her case, awesome idea popped into her head. Again she didn't take any time to think about what she was doing. 

She stood on her hind legs on the edge of the peek that seemed to look more like a cliff and held her arms straight out and folded her wings. She closed her eyes and let herself gracefully fall. Diving down the side of the cliff, letting the wind rush past her face and the cooling and pounding breeze made her feel like, just for a moment, she was in paradise. 

When she was at an altitude of one-hundred  feet off of the ground she opened her wings and dashed off at full speed. She was gaining speed and she wanted to keep going faster. She wanted the g-force, the wind rushing dynamically through her wings. She continued to speed up. She felt it. There was no stopping now. She was about to perform a sonic rainboom and sure enough the loud thunder clap made her ears ring as a blast of rainbow colors spread across the sky in a beautiful and dazzling explosion of color. 

She screamed in joy again, but it wasn't over she wanted to go faster. She wasn't sure if she could, but she was about to find out. She felt herself speed up and the g-force was letting her have it, but she continued to speed up. For the first time ever she wanted to look down at the ground, but she was going so fast she could move her head, but the feeling was different. It wasn't the g-force, she felt like she literally had no control over her body. She wanted to slow down but, she couldn't, she could only go faster. And faster and faster. 

She wasn't sure how fast she was going. All she could see was a blur. The world around her was a blur and everything was losing it's color. Her vision began to narrow. 

She mustered up all her will power in an attempt to stop herself, but the more she tried the more her head would jabb at her with pain. A second and louder explosion sent her rocketing forward even faster and this time it began to hurt her. She felt like her flesh was being torn from her body. She tried to ignore the pain and in one desperate and final attempt to stop herself, she aimed herself down at the Everfree forest. Before she even realized she succeeded her vision cut to black as she impacted on the forest floor. Knocking down trees as she skidded and rolled through what seemed like kilometers before she finally slid to a bloody and gory halt near a large tree. 

She regained consciousness for a few seconds and saw her body twisted and mangled in all directions that weren't correct. She lay in a smoldering crater in a pool of her blood as she passed out once again.



************************************* 






LATER ON IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT IN CANTERLOT




Princess Meamorey Candenza or preferably known as Cadence, crept out of the bed she shared with her husband Shining armor. She looked at the clock in the room. It was 1:30. They would arrive any second now. She should she say just "she." After she successfully sneaked out of their bedroom, Luna forbid if she if her husband were to find out what she was doing, she went down stairs and waited. 

It wasn't that long of a wait because soon enough she heard the sound of an owl which was the signal that she was here. Cadence quietly opened the front door, still worried that her husband will hear her. A pegasus with a hooded cloak stood at the door. She took off the hood to reveal her face. The first thing that caught Cadence's attention was the pegasus's extremely bright golden eyes. She was pitch black with a purple mane. 

Cadence let out a sigh in relief."Thank you for coming Shroud."

She invited the intimidating looking assassin inside. Cadence couldn't even hear her hoof steps as she entered. 
Cadence shut the door quietly. 

"Do you have it?" The assassin asked. Her voice seemed naturally quiet.

"Yes just wait here for a moment." 

The Princess slowly and cautiously went into the kitchen and with her magical grasp, she opened one of the cupboards. She carefully moved around what all was inside to reveal a secret compartment in the back that only her magic could open. As she opened it, it revealed a large manila folder stamped Top Secret. She pulled out the folder and stopped. She sighed and shook her head.

Should I really do this? This was my original task in the first place, but can I really betray my husband like this. I was simply suppose to marry him so that I could spy for the Enlightenment, but at times I almost seemed to forget who I really am when I'm with Shining Armor. It was at times before the wedding I would simply fake my love for him, after the wedding I saw the pony he really is. His love for me is strong and he thinks mine is the same. Can I really just......throw that aside just because my stupid step-father wants me to spy for him? I...I don't know if I can do this because....I love Shining Armor. Goddammit! It's too late now. Might as well get it over with so I can drown in my regret.

Finally, she mustered up the strength to walk out of the kitchen and presented the folder to Shroud. She read over and when she liked what she was reading Shroud gave a tiny Smirk. 

"You would not believe the amount of trouble it took me to get that." Cadence said.

"My god Cadence, this is a lot! Training programs, ranking system, future and present projects in development?!" Shroud's eyes widened. 

Cadence began to slightly lower her head. She could already feel the hurtful regret.

Look on the bright side. At least your step father or as he likes to call himself, "The great Leader of The Enlightenment" won't be wanting more intel from me for a while. 

Shroud set the folder down and with a smile rested her hoof on Cadence's shoulder. 

"I'm really proud of you sister and I'm sure our step-father will be too."

If she was trying to comfort her, it wasn't working. It only made feel more regret.

"I shall get this to him right away." Shroud said moving to the door.

Just as Cadence was about to walk up-stairs her sister called out to her.

"Cadence."

She turned to face her.

"Just remember where your loyalty is held" She slipped the hood back on and shut the door.

Great, she just gave me something even more to feel guilty about. 

As she crept back up into the bedroom and opened the door she was still satisfied see her husband was still sound asleep. 
Unknowing of what just happened. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. He still acted as if he were still cuddling with his wife. The wife that he loved so much and he was completely unaware that the his beloved wife had just back stabbed him. She didn't want to do this. It didn't seem fair. 

She slowly crept back into bed with him and then cuddled him gently her eyes began to tear.

"I'm so sorry. I love you." 

She fought the erg to cry the rest of the night.




****************************************************** 



 
> Chapter 4: Pain and suffering
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Feeling slowly came back to Rainbow Dash as she attempted to open her eyes. Her eyelids felt like the they were fifty pound weights and it wasn't just her head that hurt this time, it was her whole entire body that hurt. Every single muscle felt like it was on fire. Every move that she attempted to make seemed to be pounding into her most sensitive pain receptors. She finally managed to open her eyes and the light of the hospital room blinded her. She tried to sit up, but pain shot through her spine and wings. She instantly flopped her head back on the hospital bed pillow. Well at least she knew where she was. Although she couldn't remember what had happened. Her thoughts were interrupted when the door to her room opened only to reveal a very awed doctor.

"Oh my god..." He muttered. He rushed quickly to her bedside. "I didn't expect you to wake up already." 

Rainbow Dash attempted to speak, "Wha....what h-happened to me?" She croaked.

The doctor was examining her with a shocked look on his face.

"Well... we found you laying at the door step of the lobby entrance. You were pretty banged up. Broken bones, lacerations, cuts, and bruises  but now......" He paused as he began lifting one of Rainbow's hooves to examine her and she quickly yanked it back from him due to the fact that it still hurt for him to touch it.

"You seemed to have healed rather quickly... in fact at an alarming rate. Your cuts have fully healed, your bruises are gone and your limbs are not as disfigured and contorted as they were before." He continued.

Yeah, thanks for giving me a mental image of that.

"But it still hurts." Rainbow Dash mumbled weakly. The doctor was still examining her to the point where it made Rainbow Dash uncomfortable. It was like he'd just seen the most amazing thing in his life. 

"I bet it still hurts. What were you even doing that caused your horrible wounds." The doctor was finally looking into her eyes.

Rainbow Dash tried to remember, but the pain was making it harder for her to think. Then, she had the feeling that her flesh was being torn away when she was going.....

....well she didn't know fast she was going, but just the memory and the thought of that sent chills down her spine. It had been the worst pain she had felt in her whole life and ironically it was during one of the best flights of her life. She hated the universe. She felt as if something was preventing her from ever enjoying herself and was just filling her life everlasting misery. The strangest thing she had remembered was that after the sonic-rainboom she lost all control of her body. It felt as if she were witnessing a dream in third person unable to do anything, but simply watch and feel every ounce of pain. Part of her wanted to tell the doctor about that, but another part thought she should keep it to herself. 

"I...I was flying.....really fast." It was still difficult for her to speak. The doctor solemnly nodded as if to comfort her, but she could tell by the look in his eyes that he wanted to know more.

"How fast would you say you were going?"

It wasn't that Rainbow Dash didn't want to answer the question it's just that she literally didn't know how fast she was going. The only thing she knew was that she went faster than her sonic-rainboom in fact she remembered a second explosion that rocketed her faster and she couldn't see what was in front of her. All she remembered was that her vision was narrowing and  that everything looked like a blur. 

"I'm not sure how f-fast I was going." She sounded so pathetic. It made her want to punch herself. She felt angry now but did not have a single clue as to why. It didn't matter anyway, she couldn't express it due to the fact that she was in too much pain. She just felt so weak and pathetic that it caused her to be deeply angered at herself. To add insult what made her even more angry was due to the fact that she could not express it or dish it out on something.

"Hmmm..." The doctor put his hoof to his chin. "I do recall hearing two distinct explosions yesterday...I'm going to have to assume that was you and I heard from around town that they did not only hear it, but witnessed it. My wife saw a sonic-rainboom yesterday and she said it was the prettiest thing she had ever seen in the sky." 

Rainbow Dash took that as a compliment, but she still felt extremely angry. 

"But then there was another explosion. She told me it wasn't another rainboom though. This one looked like a nuclear explosion. All she saw was a flash of light and then a fiery comet heading over the Everfree forest before quickly dropping into the forest. Was that you?" The doctor now had a stern look on his face. Like he knew Rainbow Dash was in trouble or something.

Rainbow Dash slowly nodded a reply. 

"Well just what the hell were you trying to do!? The news this morning said that a comet-like object burned down a fourth of the entire Everfree Forest."

"I DID WHAT?!" Her voice cracked so much that she wasn't sure the doctor would understand her.

"Don't worry you're not in any trouble with anyone, but I just wanted to let you know that you're extremely lucky to be alive. That crash should have killed you on impact." The doctor assured.

Rainbow Dash wasn't sure how to react to what she had just been told. She had just been told she had just scorched away a fourth of one of most thickest forests in Equestria! On top of that she had been lucky enough to survive something that should have killed any other pony. Part of her considered herself a badass, but that was just her egotism speaking and another part of her was telling herself that the universe was just screwing with her because now she had even more pain to deal with. Another ironic fact was that she remembered asking herself when she was flying "Why isn't anyone watching?" well it turns out she made it on the newspaper. You have to love sweet irony.

"Well I'm going to step out for a bit, let you get some more rest. You definitely need it" The doctor then turned for the door. "And don't worry at the rate you're healing you should be out of here in the next day or so." The door shut behind him.

Alone......... again. The feeling was way too familiar now. She didn't want to be alone anymore. She wanted to see her friends. Something new and interesting always seems to happen when she hangs with them and the last time she saw them was when she made a bitchy remark to them and then ditched them. If she couldn't think straight then or get any sleep there was no way she could now. Not only did her head hurt, but her entire body seemed to hurt. Just non-stop pain. She could feel a small wave of pain every time her heart beat, almost as if her heart and the pain seemed to be working together to make her feel as miserable as possible. It sucked because the one time she did not feel miserable something had to screw it up and make her end up in the hospital. To top it all off she was in more pain than she had been in before. This was the universe laughing at her and playing with her to feed its crude amusement and the thought of it made her more angry, but still she was in too much pain to express it. She sighed and gave up.

You know what, buck it. I don't even care anymore. When I get out of here I'm going to do whatever it takes to live my normal life. Also.. I think I'll keep my Hooves on the ground for a while.

And so she continued to stare at one particular part of the ceiling until something happened.


*********************************



Journal Entry # 600

I just witnessed two great explosions in the sky. One of which created a series of colors that looked dazzling. A rainbow trailed in the wake of a fast moving object in the sky moving at break-neck speeds. Then a second explosion caught my attention. Instead of it giving it off a mood of wonder and beauty this one gave off the mood of destruction and chaos. It started as a flash of light then a large comet soared through the sky. The sight of it was all too familiar. As it rocketed over the Everfree forest the trees beneath the comet were scorched mercilessly as it left a path of doom and destruction. It is a shame that it eventually crashed into the forest itself. That cursed forest deserves to be burned as does the rest of this wretched nation that my cousin 'Tia had called a "Stable and sufficient government" and although it may have seemed that way, what really irked me was the fact that she never made........... advancements. She just stuck to the old clicks if you know what I mean. What's the point of ruling a civilization if you don't expand, create, and conquer. At least she should have made an attempt at advancing civilization, although not how I would have done it and from what I have seen from what Cadence recovered, the new plans for Luna's armed forces seem........ interesting. I had flipped through the manila folder and what caught my eye was one particular project that was labeled "Top Secret". Who else, but dear sweet Luna would dub it Project Moonlight. I looked at the list of candidates for this project. Most of which were from the group that called themselves the Wonderbolts. I took the time to look at each one of their background information carefully. Including psychological and physical profiles. I was thankful on how detailed they were. It wasn't until I examined the last candidate that I stopped and simply examined the picture of a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and rose red eyes. Something about the facial features looked all too familiar. I cursed myself until I remembered. When I read this "Rainbow Dash's" Psychological profile, what caught my attention was the simple information. Her birth place was marked unknown and her parents information was also marked unknown. In fact a lot of her background information was left unknown. Assumptions swam through my head, but I swore to myself I wouldn't get too hasty. I must find more information on this Rainbow Dash she might just be what I have been looking for this whole time. Perhaps I won't need to find my son after all. 



*********************************




Rainbow Dash was dimly aware she was dreaming. Actually because of how tired she was from running for reasons she couldn't remember, it felt all too real for her. All she knew was that if she stopped she would be dead. She wanted to chance a risk of stopping to look if whatever was chasing was indeed chasing her, but she was too scared to. 

Finally she mustered up the strength to stop and look behind her. Nothing. Good, she could catch her breath finally. It took her a while to recognize her surroundings probably because she had no surroundings. All that was there was darkness. An abyss of eternal nothingness. The only things she heard was distant whispers that seemed to fade away the more she tried to figure out what they were saying. It seemed to get colder. She could see her breath and a thick fog enveloped her. She felt extremely uncomfortable, it felt like something was trying to tickle her. More whispers that grew louder and some she could actually understand. 

"Kill them." She heard one them say. For some reason, that whisper gave her a severe urge of violence for a brief second.

"Hello?" Rainbow Dash called out. Her voice seemed to echo for miles.

A chorus of unusual and strange whispers answered. She felt a presence behind and quickly spun to see, but all she saw was, for a fraction of a second, a shadow. She couldn't make out the shape of it. It moved to fast. She could feel the presence in the fog around her. Stalking her. More whispers came.

"You don't know." One whisper called out to her.

"Don't know what?!" Rainbow Dash called back. 

It took a while for the whisper to answer this time, "Who you are." 

The whisper sounded awfully familiar now. It began to sound like a younger version of herself.

"What are you talking about I know who I am. I'm Rainbow Dash."

A trio of laughter followed that broke the silence and pounded her ear drums. The laughter was followed by a loud screech that made her ears bleed and made her eyes tear. Without warning, she began to feel the excruciating pain she had felt when she was flying. The screeching wouldn't stop nor would the pain. She screamed until her lungs wouldn't produce enough air for her to scream from. She fell to the ground breaking into a seizure of bloody screams and cries of agony. All she could possibly do was cry and out and beg for it to stop, but it never did. It continued which caused her vision to begin narrowing and fading. When she was about to lose consciousness, it had stopped. The screeching and the intense pain that made her feel like her flesh and her insides were being torn apart slowly, but viciously had finally stopped. She curled up and began to cry. She never wanted to be tortured like that again, but a paranoid thought in her mind that seemed to be driving her to the brink of her sanity told her that it would happen.

She began to whisper to herself as she began to shake uncontrollably, "Ple.....please n-n-no more. Please just make it stop. Please don't do that again."

As if the whispers had heard her and her thoughts it simply replied as if Rainbow Dash's suffering was a source of entertainment for it. Causing it to reply with a sadistic tone that sent a chill down her spine," You're going to bleed."

The pain and the screeching continued only this time it was worse. She couldn't even hear her agonizing screams of bloody murder as the screeching seemed to get louder and of an even higher pitch. All she could do was pray that she would finally die. 

"PLEASE JUST LET ME DIE! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP! KILL MEEEEEE!"

The agony would not stop no matter how much she begged, screamed, or squirmed. It just continued mercilessly. Her cries meant nothing to whatever was harming her it only seemed to enjoy it the more she screamed and cried for mercy. Finally, once again it had stopped. She balled up and cried and shook uncontrollably.

The presence she had felt once before felt closer. Closer than ever before. She looked up into the fog to see a shadowy figure looming in the darkness. It seemed familiar. The look and the shape. An echoing whisper seemed to get louder and louder until finally the shadow lunged at her at speeds she couldn't comprehend. It screamed in agony as if it were a repeat of Rainbow Dash's own screams and then almost louder than the screeches it screamed.

"LET ME OUT!"



Rainbow Dash found herself screaming as she awoke from her hospital bed. The sheets were no longer on the bed and she had never felt more disturbed in her life. She wrapped her forelegs around her chest and began to cry remembering the traumatic nightmare she had just experienced. Her pillow was becoming soaked with her tears and she found herself whispering gibberish to herself. 

She never wanted to fall asleep again during the remaining of the seemingly endless night to regain her sanity.


*******************************************



Just to clarify something, yes Luna is technically The great leader's cousin and he was indeed in love with her (and probably still is) This is just to promote the fact of how screwed up in the head this guy is. By the way I would like to thank my friend Bulltrup for editing this chapter. Also the theme of this chapter refers to a song by Linkin Park. (Hint: its from the one of the following albums: Meteora, Hybrid Theory, or Living Things)  Leave a comment if you know which song it is.  



 
> Chapter 5: Drafted 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rainbow Dash had never been so happy to see light begin to seep through her hospital room windows. It began to rapidly diminish the darkness that filled her room and her mind for she was still scarred from her horrific nightmare. She didn't even want to close her eyes and even when she blinked, she thought she could see the shadowy figure that jumped and screamed at her. Occasionally, she thought she could still hear the whispers of herself in the back of her mind. Her pillow and certain parts of her sheets were soaked with her tears. For the rest of that night, it was a battle for her sanity. She had felt so paranoid and afraid that she didn't realize that all her muscles were tensed. When she finally relaxed them as the sun began to rise, strangely it almost hurt. She completely relaxed when her room was completely lit up from the sun. 

Well I know one thing's for sure, I'm not going to get any sleep for next few days. What was that......thing anyway. In my dream. It looked like a pony. A familiar pony to be exact.  

Disturbing memories began to come back and began to fill her head.

'NO! I DON'T EVEN WANT TO RECALL THAT!' She told herself.

There was little she could do to stop her mind from thinking about it. She tried to hold back the tears that had been going on for the rest of the night. 

"Goddamnit what is wrong with me?" She whimpered aloud. 

She had been crying all night and found it pathetic that she was still shaken from the nightmare as horrifying as it was. She was now trying to suck it up like the tough mare she "pictured" herself as. She decided to crawl out of her bed and to her surprise she felt no pain. She felt like a new mare. Now she knew why the doctor was so awed when he first saw her. She didn't know how she healed so quickly and she didn't care to know how. She looked out the window and she could tell by the endless sea of skyscrapers and paved roads that she was in Manehattan, but it wasn't that, that surprised her. She could see a faint reflection of herself in the window. The red streak in her rainbow mane had been replaced with a white streak. She usually didn't care about the way her mane looked, but this just looked ridiculous. Surprisingly, because of all of the shit that has been happening to her she didn't care as much. She almost expected to see that shadow appear behind her. To try to soften the situation up, she wondered how Rarity would react. She had always complimented Rainbow Dash on her mane, not the way it was styled, just the way it was naturally multicolored and when ever Rarity spotted that was, so she called it, "an insult to fashion" she would flip out. It was quite humorous to the cyan pegasus. Whatever, it was just something she would have to live with, but she wasn't sure about the nightmares. If she was going to have those kind of nightmares for the rest of her life she wasn't sure if she could live with that. She assumed that the reason why her mane had changed was because of the crash or because of how fast she was going or something. She didn't really want to think about it. She was only looking forward as to when she would get out of here.



*********************************




Spitfire, the captain of the Wonderbolts, and her team entered the locker room after a tiring days worth of flight practice. Her wings were sore, but that was a good sign to her at least. She was retiring her flight suit in her locker when of course Soarin was the first to speak.

" Hey guys did you all hear what happened down at the Everfree forest? Someone burned down a fourth of the forest just by flying over it and then crashed." 

Spitfire glared at him. She could tell he was telling another one of his stories again. 

"Oh yeah! I heard about that. Whoever that was who was flying was said to have broken two speed barriers." Rapid Fire answered.

Spitfire now fully tuned in on the what they talking about. It was obvious now that it wasn't a story.

"Wait what are you two talking about?" Spitfire didn't like being left out on stuff like this, but somehow she would always be the last pony to know about stuff like this.

"You haven't heard? Well I mean of course you wouldn't know......." Soarin turned to face her from his locker.
Spitfire just rolled her eyes at him still maintaining the same glare. Sometimes she wondered why Soarin was her best friend.

"Just tell me."

"Ok." Soarin began. The rest of the Wonderbolts gathered around to listen. "Do you remember that one mare we met at the Grand Galloping Gala?" 

Spitfire shook her head, "Be more specific. Do you realize how many fans we met there?"

"Ummm....." Soarin tapped his hoof against the floor trying to remember. "Damn, I don't remember her name- OH! I think she was the one who saved my pie from falling. Remember?" 

Spitfire chuckled "Her name is Rainbow Dash. You know? The one you said that was cute?" 

Spitfire hasn't seen Rainbow Dash ever since the Wonderbolt Academy six months ago. She was currently in her final stage of training. Hell, Spitfire even had to admit herself she did look pretty cute at the time of the Gala, but that was something she'd rather keep to herself. It would be a cold day in hell before she would tell anypony that she was secretly into mares. However; she wouldn't really mind if Soarin found out because he's a very open minded pony, a good friend, and would never ditch her over something like that. She was planning on coming out and telling Soarin this once she had found a special mare, but for some reason Spitfire felt that wouldn't happen for a long time or probably never at all. It didn't really matter to her, because she never really understood relationships or just love in general. For her to actually say to herself that she was actually somewhat attracted to another pony made her a bit nervous that eventually those feelings would catch up to her. However; she probably won't see Rainbow Dash for another month until she graduates and actually earns the title of a Wonderbolt. She could almost see the adorable look Rainbow Dash will have on her face once she's handed the official uniform and emblem badge.  

"Hey Shut up! It was just a simple compliment!" Soarin lashed back in defense. His cheeks turned bright red.

Spitfire realized she almost went into a daydream about Rainbow Dash and was glad that Soarin stopped from going any further. Who knows what fantasies her negative mind would've come up with. 

"Mmhhmm, sure." Spitfire remembered his cute little crush well. She had a really good memory and knew when Soarin was lying.

"Whatever! That's not the point! It was her that burned down a fourth of the forest!"

"Bullshit!" Fleet Foot added with disbelief. 

Spitfire had to call bullshit too, but she wasn't seeing Soarin's usual signs that would tell if he was lying.

"And how do you know this?" She examined Soarin's eyes for any sign that he was lying still. She could read Soarin like a book and right now she could see that he was slightly angry. Probably because she mentioned his little crush in front of everyone, but no one seemed to care.

"Again, I saw it happen! There were apparently two speed barriers broken. One was the obvious one, the sonic barrier as we all know about and then..........another barrier was broken." Soarin's eyes widened. 

Spitfire still wasn't going to believe him. Neither Spitfire nor any of the Wonderbolts could break the sonic barrier thus performing the legendary Sonic Rainboom, and as far as she could tell, Rainbow Dash was the only pony that could do that, but for her to hear that she went even faster than a Sonic Rainboom made every instinct scream at Spitfire telling her Soarin was lying. 

A wave a doubtful comments spread among the Wonderbolts. 

"That's physically impossible!" Silver Lining called out. "And even if she did do it, she should be dead. The sheer G-force would've killed her. Her wings would've been physically torn from her body and earlier you mentioned that she crashed? Yeah dude, last time I checked, going mach 3 and then doing a head on collision into the ground tends to kill ponies."

"It's true." Rapid Fire added. "It was in the news this morning and they also said that she's in the hospital and survived the crash!"

"What?!" Silver Lining asked astonished and doubtful. "How?! There's now way she survived that!"

Spitfire didn't know Rapid Fire as well she knew Soarin, but she knew Rapid Fire wasn't the one for lying. 

"Okay Soarin if you saw it happen tell us when and what you were doing while you saw it." Spitfire sat on the bench with her forelegs crossed.

"Well..." He began. His eyes darted up to his top right, usually meaning he was trying to recall something. If Spitfire hadn't taken up flying, she would've been an excellent Psychologist. Just like her mother, but she never liked her mother and certainly not her alcoholic father. 

"I was on my way back to Cloudsdale from...well that's none of your guy's business."

Spitfire knew exactly what he meant though. He would usually go to Manehattan and get drunk off his ass from this one club......well actually a lot of clubs. In fact she bet that if anypony asked him to name all the clubs and bars in Manehattan he would actually be able to name all of the them on his first try. He's been doing this more often to the point where it was beginning to worry Spitfire. She was beginning to get tired of having to carry Soarin's drunk ass back home. She certainly was not about to go clubbing with Soarin ever again after a certain incident she did not want to recall. Well...... let's just say Soarin got a little too "touchy feely" around her and it was an incident they both agreed to put aside and forget about, but one thing was for sure about that night. He reminded her of her father and the cruel things he had done and said to her. She didn't want her best friend, hell her only "true" friend to turn into that kind of pony.

"Anyways.... I was flying back to Clouds Dale when I saw a huge fucking explosion of colors light up the sky and...... well what could I say it was the most beautiful damn thing I have ever seen." He was also developing a nasty habit of bad language which she didn't admire.

"Then out of the aurora of colors that cast through the sky, I saw a pony shaped object rocket through the sky, rainbow in its wake. That's how I knew it was that mare from the Gala." He paused then Soarin's eyes and his expression seemed to change into a gloomy look. "Then....... a second explosion happened only this time is wasn't beautiful in anyway what so fucking ever. It looked like.... well an explosion really. It fucking blinded me. It was the brightest damn flash I had ever seen. Then I saw what looked like a comet blaze across the sky at an impossible speed and then eventually crashed in the Everfree forest near Manehattan. It started a fucking forest fire!" 

'I swear to Luna if he curses one more time I'm going to punch him.' Spitfire swore to herself.

"Damn....."Fleet Foot broke the brief silence of the locker room. Of course somepony else besides Soarin had to curse.

While the rest of the team were talking about the event Soarin had just described, Spitfire took the opportunity to hit the showers. She never really washed up in these showers, she just let the warm water rush through her yellow and orange mane and her wings. It soothed her sore muscles and it gave her some time to think. Although she really didn't feel like thinking about anything. There were a lot things that have been happening around Equestria though. Princess Celestia died, but oddly enough everypony just seemed to carry on their lives and not care much about it probably because they knew her sister would take her place. The only problem was Spitfire thought Luna was being a little paranoid and taking her power a little too far. She's been acting like she's preparing for a war or something, but there hasn't been a war in Equestria since.......hell she didn't know how long ago, but she believes that her point still stands. Luna needs to chill out.

Spitfire thought she heard the locker room door open. The chatter in the locker room ceased.

"I am looking for a mare by the name of Spitfire." A voice boomed and echoed with authority. 

Spitfire shut the water off immediately. She assumed by the sound of whoever's voice that was that he meant business. She didn't really take the time to dry herself off either. When she came into the locker room she found her team staring at a tall grey stallion in some weird kind of uniform with a dark blue, grey and black pattern. He carried a messenger bag. She didn't like the fact a stallion in (from what she could tell) a UNLR uniform deliver her mail instead of Derpy. 

A thought that lingered in the back of her mind pushed its way to the front. When she had attended Celestia's funeral, she heard Luna say something about a draft. "I'm Spitfire." She answered.

When she saw the stallion reach into his messenger bag to pull out an olive green envelope, she didn't even have to guess what this meant.

"By the order of Princess Luna and her executives you and your team are here by drafted into the UNLR military." The stallion gave her the envelope. Spitfire gripped the envelope in her mouth. She was still trying to process what had just happened. She wasn't shocked that she got drafted, but her whole team was now drafted. This was bullshit.

"You are to report to the Cloudsdale outpost at exactly 0700 hours tomorrow where you will be transported to Fort Dawn."

"Fort Dawn? Where's that?" She had never heard of this fort before.

"You should know. It's where the Wonderbolts academy used to be." The stallion answered.

"USE TO BE?!" Spitfire yelled. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN USE TO BE?!"

The stallion kept the same indifferent expression on his face. "I mean the Wonderbolt's Academy is no longer the Wonderbolt's academy. Instead of it being used to train Wonderbolts it's now being used to train the Airforce, which you are now a part of. Failure to comply with this will result in the death sentence."

Spitfire could not believe what she just heard. Her academy that she worked so hard to establish was now converted into a military fort over the course of two days. She wasn't even informed of this. 

"That's bullshit! Princess Luna can't just take away an academy I established and then claim it as her own!" Spitfire yelled back. Her faith and respect for Princess Luna was destroyed right then and there.

"Look don't yell at me I'm just a messenger if want to yell at someone, take it up with Princess Luna herself. I'm just following orders. Have a nice afternoon...even though you probably won't." The messenger said as he exited the locker room.

Spitfire turned to her fellow Wonderbolts.....no they weren't Wonderbolts because she knew that in the next few weeks or months they would be soldiers. She didn't want to be some grunt that was just going to be thrown out there to serve some paranoid bitch that didn't know shit about leading a government and she sure as hell didn't want her team to be out there either. 

Anger flowed through her until she had to dish it out. "FUCK THIS!" She threw the envelope across the locker room. Fleet Foot ducked to avoid it. Spitfire then slammed her hoof into her locker as hard as she could. It left a huge dent. 

After a long moment of awkward of silence Soarin finally broke it."So.... what now?"

"I don't know Soarin. I just don't know." A tear began to form in her eye.




*******************************




Rainbow Dash was escorted to the front lobby in a wheel chair. She said she was fine, hell even the doctor himself said she was perfectly fine now, but of course, Hospital rules. When she was wheeled into the lobby she was greeted by the relieved and happy faces of none other than her friends. Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack got up from their seats to meet her.

"You guys came all the way up here to get me?" Rainbow Dash gasped. 

"Of course we did! Why wouldn't we!" Twilight answered. 

"DASHIE!" Pinkie Pie leaped at her knocking her out of the wheel chair and embracing her rainbow headed friend in a deathly tight squeeze. 

"Oh my god we thought you were dead! Well at least I thought you were dead, but we missed you so much and now that your back things will be back to normal again!" Pinkie rambled. It was good to see she was back to normal as well. She wasn't all sad and gloomy as she was at the funeral. Has everyone just forgotten about Princess Celestia that easily? 

"Pinkie I know I have said this a thousand times, but you are so random!" Rainbow Dash chuckled. She knew that if she was with her friends she would forget all about the pain and horrors she had recently experienced and if it continued, at least she knew she had somepony to talk to about it. Looking back on her past decisions now, she thought it was foolish to abandon her friends like that. 

"Heeeeeyyy, did you do something to your mane it looks different." Pinkie Pie pointed out. Rainbow Dash had almost completely forgot about that, but again she didn't really care. 

"Oh my god how did that happen? I'm not trying to be rude, but that white streak in your mane does kind of ruin it completely." Who else, but Rarity would comment on that. 

Twilight and Applejack both shot her a glare. "What?" Rarity said with an innocent look on her face.

"If you want Rainbow Dash, I know a good mane dresser that can fix that for you." Rarity offered generously.

"No its ok I can live with it and.... uh Pinkie.... can you uh.... get off of me." Pinkie Pie was uncomfortably close to her.

"Oops! Sorry." She apologized helping her friend to her hooves. 

"So are we going back to Ponyville or are we staying here for a bit."Rainbow asked.

"Are you kidding me?! And miss out on the fun this city has to offer?!"

"Now Pinkie, it's up to Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie is really wanting to go clubbing tonight in celebration that your back." Rarity explained.

Rainbow Dash wasn't a party animal like Pinkie Pie, but she guessed that a few drinks wouldn't hurt.

Fuck it I might as well just get wasted. It'll make all these worries and thoughts just float away, though I haven't really let myself get completely wasted before I'll try as hard as I can to not do anything stupid that might make a scene or anything. God I hope I don't end up doing what Pinkie Pie did on her twenty-first birthday. You know what I don't even care. Whatever happens, happens. I want to forget everything that happened to me this past couple of days.

Rainbow Dash smiled, "Actually clubbing sounds fun."

Her friends looked and glanced at each other with confused and even worried expressions. All except for Pinkie Pie who was hopping in joy and rambling on how much fun they were going to have. Rainbow Dash noticed her friend's expressions.

"What?"Rainbow Dash asked innocently.

"Uh, no offense sugar cube, but ya' don' really seem like tha' clubbing and ravin' kinda' pony."Applejack pointed out with the same worried expression.

Rainbow Dash sighed and decided to cut her act."Look. I have been having the worst and most stressful two days in my life and would prefer to forget about it over some hard apple cider okay?"

"That doesn't really seem like the best way to deal with your problems."Twilight advised, but Rainbow Dash never listened to her advice. She was stubborn like that.

"You got a better idea?"

Twilight put her hoof to chin trying to think.

"Exactly."Rainbow Dash proved her point with a smirk on her face.

"Rainbow darling, if you're always so wild and crazy when you're sober I'd hate to see what you are like when you are extremely intoxicated."Rarity said with a strict parental tone. 

Rainbow Dash hated when she used that tone. Rarity may be older than her, but that doesn't mean she should treat her like a filly. 

"Aaaaawww! Don't ruin Dashie's fun! Y'all don't have to come if y'all don't want to." Pinkie supported Rainbow's idea of drinking 'till you drop. Literally. She wasn't sure if it was because Pinkie wanted to show her friend a good time or if she just wanted to get wasted herself, but she knew Pinkie wasn't selfish like that. One of them would have to stay sober the whole night so that they could get back to Ponyville without any accidents of any kind.

"Well...I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but count me out if you are going to do that." Fluttershy said. Figures she would be the first one to chicken out.

"I don't really care for any clubbing and raving. I can't really handle alcohol too well." Rarity added.

"Yeah me neither." Twilight agreed.

"I don' mind drinkin', but all those clubs with their loud an' annoyin' music just ain't for me."At least Applejack was being honest as usual. It was true, she couldn't stand modern day music. Whenever she heard something with any kind of electronic beat of some sort she would just lose it. Sometimes Rainbow Dash would purposely play the music around her just to piss her off. She'd get a kick out of it every time.

"Well.....me and Dashie could still go. Is that okay with you Dashie?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Damn straight I'm going!" They bumped hooves and laughed. It was nice to know that Pinkie Pie was always there to cheer her up and support her. The only problem was that when the two hang out together they tend to get a little....out of hoof.

"Well it's still morning so let's just hang around the city for the rest of the day then when we head back to Ponyville we will let you two go off and have fun," Twilight explained. Good at least Rainbow Dash would get time to spend with all of her friends instead of one the whole time. She felt as if her worries and problems were slipping away already, but still she wanted to forget them completely. 

'It doesn't matter really. I probably won't even remember what will happen tonight anyway assuming I don't do anything stupid. The only problem is that I would have to convince Pinkie Pie to not drink the whole night or at least not too much so she would be able to carry my drunk ass home.' She thought to herself

It was sure to be a night that she would probably not remember.





***********************************















 







> Chapter 6: Snatch and Grab
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 	Later on when the sun had gone down, Soarin found himself going to Manehattan for what he usually did. Mull himself over a couple of drinks at a club called Scratch. He knew the bar tender here pretty well and the mare who owned this joint, which was none other than Equestria's number one DJ. He'd been here so often that he personally knew the bouncer as well.

"Comin' here for the usual eh Soarin?" The bouncer said as he opened the door letting him in.

"Damn straight Steel Hoof." Soarin replied to his friend as he entered. When he entered he was instantly hit by the loud pounding pulse of the exotic music that the DJ would always play. Every song that she played was her own creation, she never used other songs by other artists. He particularly liked the song that was playing. It had a catchy beat to it. He slightly nodded his head to the beat as he made his way past the dance floor that was flooded with ponies literally dancing there flanks off to the song as this one was DJ P0N-3's most famous song. He made his way to the bar expecting find the bartender Jazz Jax, but what he saw behind the counter was a white unicorn with an electric blue mane and a pair of exotic tented shades. It was DJ P0N-3 herself. 

"Vinyl? What are doing working at the bar? Where's Jazz?" Soarin was probably one the only ponies that she let use her real name. He took a seat while it took a while for her to notice him. 

She sighed and shook her head,"You know...I use to think Princess Luna was okay, but now she crossed the line here." 

Soarin assumed that she was in a way answering his question,"What happened to him?"

"He got drafted that's what happened. Not only that, but most of my Bouncers besides Steel Hoof and some others got drafted."

She seemed severely stressed. He couldn't really see her facial expressions under those shades of hers, but he could still tell she was under a lot of stress. He didn't blame her, she practically now had to run this pace by herself now and this was one of the most popular clubs in Manehattan. 

"Why the long face Wondercolt? Mare problems again?" She would always call him that as a silly nickname. 

Soarin looked at her realizing that he had the gloomy expression on and that his head was hanging low."Don't call me that anymore." 

"Why?"She chuckled with a smirk on her face. She would always have that same smirk on her face that for some reason was annoying the hell out of Soarin right now. 

"I'm not a Wonderbolt anymore." Again, Soarin could not see her reaction through the shades but he imagined she was shocked and was probably making hundreds of wild assumptions.

"Oh my god what happened? You didn't quit did you? Did you get kicked off? Tell me dude!" 

"No I didn't get kicked off or anything."Saorin forced a fake chuckle. Vinyl was always so eager to get into others business. 

"Then what!?"

It was hard to hear her over the loud music, let alone think.

"I got drafted ok? Not just me, but Spitfire's entire team." 

The DJ just stood there looking at him while in awkward silence (well not really silent considering that its a club) while Soarin tried to guess her reaction behind those purple shades. She certainly didn't have that smirk anymore.

"Well....." She began while scratching the back of her head.

"That sucks I was gonna ask you if you wouldn't mind helping around this place. You know as a second job."

Soarin got paid a good bit of money for every show he and his team performed, but still, he could have used the extra bits and he felt guilty for not being able to help her out when she could really need it. Or could he still help her?

"Listen, I already know what the answer might be, but just think about it. How about I help you around just for tonight because I ship out tomorrow." Soarin asked generously. "I mean I could work around the bar while you do what you do best."

The DJ put a hoof to her chin, "I don't know. I don't really trust you around alcohol." It was true no one trusted Soarin around alcohol except for Jazz Jax, but he would always just think it was funny watching the light blue pegasus stumble around in his drunken stupor.

Soarin put a serious look on his face,"Vinyl I'm offering to take some weight off of your shoulders for the night and your not going to accept it? Come on, I'll stay sober all night if I have to."

Vinyl gritted her teeth still contemplating whether she could trust him or not, "I still don't know."

The Wonderbolt sighed, but it was only then when he thought of something clever. He turned around in his seat and looked at the DJ's booth sitting above the dance floor. 

"Wouldn't you rather up there in your booth doing what you do best than sitting here serving drinks? I'll serve up the drinks while you serve up the wubs. Deal?" Soarin didn't know why he was so persistent on helping her. He could really use a drink right now to lift off some of his stress. As if he wasn't always stressed. He could never find some time to relax, the only time he would feel relaxed is when he was drunk off his ass, but at the same time he didn't want to see one of his good friends deal with more stress than he was. Plus it would give him something to do this time than getting drunk. 

Soarin could see that the DJ couldn't resist an opportunity to get back in her booth and wow the crowd instead having it stuck on a play list."Ok fine, but there are a couple things I need to show you before I let you loose."

"Alright cool, but Vinyl?" 

"Yeah? Whats up?"

"Can I just have one drink and that will be the last one I have for the night."Soarin promised.

The DJ thought it over, but Soarin could tell that all she wanted to do now was to get back to her booth so she didn't really think that much.

She sighed,"Fine...but this is the only drink you will ever have tonight." She spoke in a surprisingly assertive tone. Almost parental.

Soarin flashed a grin as he received his drink.  



*********************************************** 



Later that night.....



"This is Azure one maintaining a visual on the target." Shroud updated her team on the coms.

"Azure 2 here, solid copy. I've got eyes on."

"Azure 3 here confirming visual on target."

Shroud stalked her prey upon a roof top directly above using the night to conceal her. Azure one and two provided over watch from the roof tops from across the street. She looked over the edge of the roof to look down upon a group of six ponies. One of a which was her target. Only this time, her objective wasn't to kill the target, but kidnap it.

"Azure 2 here, uh just to clarify our target is the cyan pegasus, correct?" There was a hint of nervousness in his voice. Shroud didn't blame him. Trying to kidnap someone while they're in a large group in a highly populated area was no rookie's job. They needed to be precise and swift and use every advantage they could take. 

"Affimative, the one with the Rainbow mane." Shroud answered two.

"Why is the Great Leader so interested in this random mare?" Azure 3 asked. He was always the one to question the mission. Shroud thought he just thought to much and needed to keep himself focused on the mission. Shroud's assassins may have minor flaws in their behavior, but they were still considered the best in the Enlightenment. 

"Hell if I know. You should know by now that when the Great Leader sends us out on a mission you know he has a good reason. Just focus on the target." Azure two rarely corrected Three on his behavior. It surprised Shroud somewhat, but she didn't pay much attention to it. She was putting all her attention on her target. That cyan pegasus. She tuned out the world to study her every movement pattern, her awareness level, and even focused all of her hearing to try to listen in on the conversation below. It was rather difficult to tune out the sounds of the city and listen in on one particular conversation.

The group of six mares just came out of the diner that she stalked on them from above, only just minutes ago. Her team had been following them for about half the day since noon. They were growing impatient and even Shroud was growing tired of waiting for an opportunity. She couldn't allow herself to get too anxious or else she might compromise the mission. 

"Uh two here, I think we got problem." 

"Go ahead" Shroud answered.

"You see the black unicorn hangin' back about ten meters away from the target to my west?"  

Shroud broke her attention from her target and looked to her left down the side walk. A black unicorn with a white mane stood ten meters away from the group just minding his own business. He looked like he was waiting for something.

"Yeah? What about him?"

"I've been seeing this guy following that group for the past two hours something's not right here." 

"Are you sure it's the same guy?" Azure 3 asked. 

"Yes, I'm sure. Just look at his body language. See how he's constantly peeking a glance at them?" 

Shroud studied the unicorn. He did look awfully strange. You didn't really see pitch black unicorns a lot. She could see what two was talking about, he was indeed glancing at them constantly. Something did feel off about this guy she had to admit though. Just by looking at him she instantly got some bad vibes coming from him. Really bad vibes. The more she looked at him the more nervous she became. She began to tense up. She didn't know why and began to breath more heavily as if it were becoming harder to. She didn't feel right. 

What the hell is wrong with me?! Calm down! Deep breaths! Focus! 

"Yeah there's something not right about him." She finally answered. Shroud thought she had calmed herself down when she noticed that the unicorn glanced up directly at her. Their eyes met at a distance. He knew she was watching him. 

Shroud stepped back from the edge of the roof in an attempt to conceal herself from the unicorn.

"I think he just saw me." Shroud said amazed on how easily this strange looking unicorn spotted her so easily. It was as if he always knew she was there. 

"Yeah I see him peeking glances at me too. I might have to change position." Azure 3 added. 

"Same here. I think we are all going to have to relocate." Azure 2 suggested.

Shroud was trying to rationalize. Maybe he coincidentally glanced up at her and he didn't even know. No. That didn't seem like a good enough reason. He was staring directly at her. Not just her, but also the rest of her team. Who ever this guy was, he obviously wasn't some random pony that just so happened to see them and follow the same group they had been following. Who ever this guy was he obviously had plans of his own with their target. Either he was trying to nab her before they did or their was another reason why.  She could tell by the way he was glancing at her that he had bad intentions. The only problems were that it was a busy street so taking him out would be out of the question. If he was smart he would keep to a crowd at all times. For now all she could do was just continue to stalk her target and keep an eye on that unicorn.

"Azure 3 here, the group just split up. Four of them are walking away and the target seems to be leaving. However she is still accompanied by a pink earth-pony." 

Shroud risked peeking over the edge to see the cyan pegasus trotting down the side walk to her east with her pink companion at her side. She glanced back to see the black unicorn begin to follow them, keeping himself at a reasonable distance. 

"I'm watching you buddy." She muttered to herself. "Alright guys lets keep moving. Don't lose sight of the target."

"Copy."

"Rodger that."

Shroud glided, leaped, and even climb up from roof top to roof top. Not letting the rainbow pegasus out of her sight. She would check about ten meters behind them to see that the same black unicorn was still following them. 

"Azure 2 here, any intel on their intended destination boss?"

Shroud didn't listen in on the targets conversation ever since she noticed the unicorn had spotted her. She would have to listen in on their conversation. To not only get intel on their destination, but to get basic information on the target. Which she hadn't got much of. The only reason why she hadn't been attempting to listen in was because she feared the unicron would spot her again. 

Oh well, he already knows I'm following them.

She jumped ahead of the two mares and waited for them to pass by on a low roof top of some old closed down shop. She tuned everything out to focus all her perception on the two mares conversation.

They began to pass by. "So how much farther until we reach this club?" The cyan mare asked her friend. Shroud could faintly hear them over the buzz of crowds and the sounds of the lively city. 

"Not too far." The pink earth-pony replied."Just up the street and around the corner." 

"Is this place legit?" The pegasus asked.

"Are you kidding me?! Its only the most ultra, super-duper, fantastic,-"

"Ok Pinkie I think I get the point." The pegasus chuckled. Her pink friend, "Pinkie" was starting to annoy Shroud. The simple sound of her voice made her want to kill her. Unfortunatley she would have to continue listening in. She needed as much information about the target as she could get. That was one of her objectives and so far she hadn't even gotten, that target's name. 

"I even know the pony who runs the place. She's only the best DJ in Equestria." The pink mare "Pinkie" continued.

"You think you could hook me up with some drinks on the house then?" 

"Ha! Don't push your luck Rainbow Dash. She never gives away anything for free." 

Rainbow Dash. Good, now Shroud had a name and really that's all she needed to know. She just wanted to get this over with, but there was no way she was ever gonna nab the target out in the open. In fact she was beginning to think that an opportunity would never present itself, but she reminded herself to never doubt her patients. 

As the duo passed by she backed off and began to just simply track them once more. She didn't need to listen in on their conversation anymore. She had all the information she needed. The target's name and their destination. Their destination was a night club so that meant a lot of other ponies. There was no way they could grab her while she was in there. So for now the only solution Shroud had at this point was to sit outside in a good over watch position and wait until they exited the club. 

Shroud switched on her team COMM. "Alright guys listen up. The target and her friend said they're going to a night club. It's not far from here, it's up the street and around the corner. So while they're in the club we're just gonna sit tight and wait for them to leave. Hopefully the two will part ways then the target will be easy picking. Copy all that?"

"Copy."

"Rodger that."

Shroud continued to stalk them. Following them at their pace and gliding from roof top to roof top. They were just about to hit the corner of the street. 

"Damn that unicorn is still following them." Two whispered. He sounded extremely irritated. He was getting impatient. That was a sign that Shroud knew well. 

Shroud looked a little ways behind the two mares to see that the same black unicorn was indeed still on their trail. 

"I don't get it. What does this guy want?" Two continued.

"Perhaps he's protecting them? Like an undercover body guard?" Azure 3 suggested. Shroud found his assumption quite interesting. Maybe his goal wasn't to snatch her up before they do, but to prevent her team from snatching her up.

Shroud examined the unicorn's body language. He didn't seem to be content, nor did he look anxious. He had a look on his face. Shroud couldn't really describe it. It was more or less a determined look. Like he was ready for her and her team to strike. He knew they were there watching him so why didn't he do anything? Why hasn't he tried to warn their target that she was in danger? This unicorn's reasons and motives for protecting her, if that was even his goal, didn't to make sense to Shroud, but for now she would have to agree with Three.

"I think you're right Three." She said.

"Maybe." Two added in. "I don't know."

The two mares finally hit the club. The bass pounding music could be heard slightly from outside. The target and her friend were waiting in line to get be let in by the bouncer. Shroud kept track of them as they gradually moved up in the line. Finally they were next to be let in. Shroud was about to update her team with new orders on the COM when she noticed a familiar black unicorn in line behind them. 

What made it worse was when he turned around to look up at Shroud once again and flashed a taunting smile. His teeth, looked as sharp as her daggers and briefly his eyes changed to black with glowing white irises. Behind Shroud's balaclava and goggles she she wore a horrified expression. The unicorn changed back to normal. Nopony seemed to notice his sudden change.

"DID YOU GUYS JUST SEE THAT?!" Shroud whispered loudly over the mic.

"How could I not? Or the better question is how did anypony not see that?" Three answered.

"I told you! This guy is a fucking freak!" Two nearly shouted.

As Shroud watched them and the unicorn enter the club. Fear and worry was threatening to overtake her mind. She needed to keep her cool, but there was no telling what that black unicorn was gonna do. After that demonic smile he gave her, she severely doubted that he was trying to protect their target. One particular assumption slipped through her concentration. Shroud couldn't help it because it was something that she should have considered the first time she saw that freak. He was trying to kill Azure Team's target. That way they wouldn't get whatever they needed from her. 

Shroud couldn't take the paranoia anymore. What she was about order her team to do was risky, but she had no other options that would satisfy her.

"Azure! Drop your gear and weapons in the back alley of the club. We're going in there undercover."







Sorry this took so long, but I had certain things I had to tend to over the last few months. Mostly school and some other shit. At First I considered cancelling this story, but I figured that I should continue it because things are about to get interesting. Again be sure to leave likes and comments if you enjoyed it, because I need feedback here. I'm still thinking about cancelling this story.
    
   


    



 

  




 






   
> Chapter 7: Under the Radar
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
"OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH..." 

"Uuhh...is she ok?" Soarin asked Pinkie Pie gesturing to Rainbow Dash who was absolutely freaking out.

"Nah, she does that sometimes." Pinkie answered cheerfully.

"I see..."

Rainbow Dash realized how much of an idiot she was making of herself and forced her mouth shut. Her cheeks grew red and flashed an embarrassed smile. She didn't expect one of the most famous Wonderbolts working behind the counter of a bar in some random club. Her mind was flooded with swears and profanity that she cursed on herself. She couldn't believe she just lost it in front of a Wonderbolt. 

"Sorry about that," Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously. "I just didn't expect anypony like you to be here."  

Soarin didn't directly answer her. Instead, he slightly narrowed his eyes as if he was trying remember something about her. Then his eyes widened in sudden realization.

"Oh wait! I remember you! You were the one who caught my pie from falling at the Gala!"

"Really?!" Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up with glee. "I wouldn't think you would remember that considering that was like, what, three years ago?" 

"Uuh..." Soarin began, scratching the back of his head. "I remember a lot of faces. Plus you were in the newspaper you know?"

Rainbow Dash's mind began to filter back to the events of her flight that put her in the hospital and was not surprised that a lot of other ponies knew about her little accident.

"You heard about it?" 

"Heard about it? I saw it!"

Rainbow's heart jumped in her chest. 

"Aaaww I wasn't there to see it! Not fair!" Pinkie complained.

"Well it's too bad you didn't! That had to be the most awesome thing I've ever seen. In fact I don't that's ever been done...well...ever!"  

Rainbow's cheeks grew a bit red. She didn't expect Soarin to be so ecstatic about it. She wanted to be proud of what she managed to do, but she couldn't. She couldn't make herself proud over something that nearly ripped the flesh from her body. She guessed that's what happened when an organic being hits mach 4 or however fast she went. It still bothered her how the sheer g-force didn't kill her or make her pass out. All these questions would have to wait because Rainbow Dash was pretty sure she was gonna get hammered with questions.

"uuhh...thanks I guess. It was nothing really." She chuckled nervously.

"Nothing?! You broke mach 3! No pony has ever done that before! Ever! In fact some ponies say its physically impossible for anything to fly that fast. Guess you showed them huh?"

"Nothing's impossible for Dashie here!" Pinkie patted Dash on the head that for some reason really pissed her off.

She wasn't sure why a friendly pat on head pissed her off. Then again she didn't know a lot of things and right now she didn't care to have to answers for them quite yet. She just remembered the reason she came here in the first place.

"Anyways" Dash chuckled. "Mind hittin' me up with the good stuff?"

"What'd you have in mind?"

"The toughest shit ya got." 

Soarin looked at rainbow maned dare devil as if she were the most insane pony he'd ever met.

"umm....you mean one of Jazz's specials?!" The Wonderbolt put a grin on his face. "Guarantied to knock you right on your ass on the first glass." He said as if he were quoting that from somewhere.

HA! Just what I was looking for! 

"Hit me up with that." Rainbow ordered with an indifferent expression. 

She looked over Pinkie Pie who, for some reason didn't seem the slightest bit concerned for her. 

"You're paying right?" Dash whispered.

"Yeah."

"Good."

Soarin looked a bit worried for the poor girl, but he couldn't deny what the customer wanted.

"Ok, but don't say I didn't warn you. This'll take a minute for me to get. It's a recipe the old bar tender here made. I need to go get the stuff for it. Be back in a second."

As Soarin went around to a back room behind the counter. Rainbow Dash swiveled around in her seat to survey the rest of the club. She had to admit it was a rather impressive set up. Although they could have chilled out with neon lights. They extended all throughout club; from the bar, to the booths, obviously the dance floor, and even to a back hall way past the dance floor where the restrooms were. The colors of the lights ranged from multiple shades of blues and purples. Mostly cool colors. One of the most impressive sights however was the dance floor. The floor and walls near the dance floor were actually some kind of screen that projected a background depending on the mood of the song that was played. Of course, above there were strobe lights and colored laser projectors. Right now the song that was playing was deep bass pounding dubstep so the background on the screen was a raging fire. It had a bit of a catchy fast paced beat to it that began to get stuck in Rainbow's head. 

In the DJ's booth she thought she could see the silhouette of a unicorn with a pair of shades head banging to the intense bass rattling beat of the music. Sending her mane into a frenzy. Rainbow wondered how the DJ didn't go deaf sitting next to those giant subwoofers. It seemed as if the music was some kind of demon that was possessing the DJ, causing her to spazz out like that. She appeared ten times more of the party animal than Pinkie Pie and that's saying a lot for her.

"So that's DJ PON3 huh?" Rainbow gestured to Pinkie.

"Yep! If you think I'm crazy? Ha, wait till you see her!" Pinkie answered nudging her shoulder.

"I can already see that." Dash chuckled. Pinkie looked over to DJ's booth where Rainbow Dash was looking at and began to chuckle with her.

"Yeah she tends to get carried away like that. She used to be a good friend of mine too." 

"Is that so? I would imagine you two making good friends."

"We were. In fact she used to live in Ponyville, but she moved to Manehattan to move in with this other mare who she told me she was madly in love with and I think her name was Octa-" Pinkie quickly slapped her hooves over her mouth and her eyes widened

"Sorry! Sorry! You weren't suppose to hear that." She squeaked frantically.

"It's ok I don't really care. It's her business." Dash shrugged.

"Oh! I almost forgot I've been wanting to ask you something." Pinkie's voice fell to a more serious tone. Which was unusual and was starting to make Dash feel uneasy.

"Go ahead."

"What's been going on with you lately? Before Celestia's funeral, I've noticed that you haven't been really....well....you." Pinkie stated.

Rainbow Dash knew that she would be asked this question eventually, but she never really got around as to how she would answer it. It's not that she didn't think of an answer, it's that she couldn't think of an answer. She couldn't really describe what was happening to her. She was changing in some way. That's the only solution she was able to come up with.

"I....I don't know. I'm being completely honest when I say that. I don't know." Rainbow Dash spun around in the seat to rest her head on her hooves. "It's like...I just have a lack of motivation to interact with anyone. I can't sleep either. Then I'll have these random episodes where my emotions just go....all over the place and then I'll get very angry and start thinking of...the most gruesome and horrible things I could do to other ponies. I don't know Pinkie everything's just going to shit."

There was a long pause between them. A long awkward pause. For a moment all they heard was the music and the buzz of other ponies conversing, laughing and having a good time. 

"Uuumm..." Pinkie began with an extremely worried look. "Do you think you need to see somepony about this, because the part where you said about getting violent urges I'm afraid will get worse if you don't do something about it."

Pinkie had a good point. This will only get worse. Sooner or later Dash might not be able to control herself the next time she has one of those violent urges. She was beginning to fear it might turn into the same experience she had when she was flying at mach 3. She had absolutely no control of her body and had to use every ounce of her will power to make herself crash into the ground. 

"Don't worry Dashie." Pinkie rested her hoof on Rainbow's back reassuringly. "I'll help you get through this. I'm sure the others will be happy to help too. You know why? Because I'm your best friend. So is Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack. Whatever is going on with you, I'm sure we'll figure something out and then you'll be back to normal before you know it." 

Rainbow Dash had never seen this side of Pinkie Pie before. Her words made her feel more comfortable. Perhaps she should ignore all of those urges to be alone and actually tell her friends what's going with her. Pinkie reassured Rainbow Dash's confidence and hope. Maybe she could return to normal.

"Thanks Pinkie." Rainbow Dash leaned into a friendly hug which Pinkie offered.

"Aaaaaww!" Said another voice. 

Both mares turned back to the bar. Soarin had returned with Rainbow's drink. 

"Wait..." Soarin paused. "You two aren't...going out are you?"

"Uuuh...no?" Both Pinkie and Rainbow replied awkwardly separating from each other.

"Oh...ok then. Not like I had a problem with it or anything if you two were dating, but I was just curious." Soarin blushed rubbing the back of his head. 

"Here's your drink by the way." Soarin slid the large glass over to Rainbow.

Rainbow frowned at the sight of it.

"This is....it's green..." Rainbow commented.

"Yeah...I know. That's Jazz's special recipe." 

Rainbow looked at Pinkie who shrugged.

"Go ahead and try it." She said.

Rainbow gripped the glass and took one last look of the green liquid.

"Bottoms up." She muttered to herself.


*******************************
   


Shroud and Azure team entered the club and seated themselves over in a booth that was farthest away from the dance over in a secluded area where no pony was around. The music was loud and obnoxious and felt like it was molesting her eardrums. It didn't even sound like music just random noise. Azure two however was slightly nodding his head to the beat of the song that Shroud couldn't pick up. She never liked dubstep. She also felt uncomfortable without her flight suit on or her mask. They almost never took it off because they were so used to wearing it that it became like a part of their skin. Seeing her team out of uniform made them look like completely different ponies. Like Azure 2 for instance. He was so attached to his flight suit and mask that most of the time he kept it on. It was very rare that Shroud would see his face, let alone his whole self without it. It was probably because of the color of his coat. It was a high contrast orange, combined with his short blonde spikey mane and you could spot him from a mile away. Azure 3 had the most blank expression Shroud had ever seen. It showed no emotion what so ever. Shroud never really saw Three's face that much either, but he definitely showed it more often than Two. He had a dark green coat with a messy brown mane. His grey eyes however; was his most disturbing feature. He would occasionally stare off into the distance at the same spot for a long time with the same flat expression and most of the times he wouldn't even blink. Just the look of them made Shroud uneasy around him. 

"Man this place is awesome!" Two commented admiring his surroundings. 

He looked over to the dance floor and smirked.

"Hey boss! Wanna' dance?" He gestured over to the dance floor with a joking smirk.

" By dance, you mean kick your ass in front of everypony on that dance floor? Yeah sure I'll dance with you." Shroud sarcastically remarked with a smirk of her own. 

"Aaaaawww your know fun!" 

"That's because we're here for business Two. Now the both of you scan around real quick for the target." She ordered. 

Shroud looked around the place for any signs of a multicolored mane. That was her target's most recognizable feature. Azure 2 didn't seem to be actually searching for the target, he looked like he was just admiring the scenery. Three on the other hand seemed to be trying the hardest. He was glancing left and right and his soulless grey eyes were darting all over the place. He still kept the same, creepy, blank expression. 

"Found her." Three called out. "Over by the bar." 

Shroud turned her attention to a small bar just down the row of booths which they sat in. There she was. Her pink friend was still with her. They were having a conversation with the bar tender. 

"Got eyes on." Shroud reported.

"Same" Two said. "Where's that demon unicorn bastard?" 

"I don't see him anywhere." Three reported. 

This was beginning to worry Shroud. What if that unicorn was somewhere they couldn't see him and was watching them right now. She didn't like that feeling. She was the hunter not the prey. 

"I say we nab the girl now before he comes back." Two suggested anxiously. 

"And make a scene and get us compromised? We were strictly ordered not to be seen or make a scene when kidnapping her." Shroud reminded Two with authority.

"I'm sorry, but we've been following this bitch for about half the day and have not found one chance where we could grab her boss. We need to do something now." Three agreed with Two which was extremely rare. 

Maybe they were right. It's time they did something, but what? Shroud couldn't think of anything. She was stumped.

The team sat there in silence for a moment thinking. Shroud had already given up and hoped somepony else would eventually have a suggestion.

"I got an idea." Two said with a smile of content. "It's risky though."

"Go ahead" Shroud encouraged him.

"You know how good I am at going undercover and the playing the role of someone right?"

It was true. Azure 2 was a master when it came to the undercover stuff. He was good for getting information out of ponies when needed, but she wasn't sure how that would apply here other than the fact of blending in with the crowd. Still she was interested in Two's plan.

She nodded and gestured him to continue.

Two sighed. "I was thinking of a direct interaction approach. I could play the role of some pony who's interested in her. You know, work my charm on her. Maybe get to know her and gain her trust and then nab her once her and I are alone together in a secluded area. Preferably the back hallway where the restrooms are. I think there's a door that leads to the back alley in there."

Shroud had to admit it was very clever, but he would have to rely only on his charm and slick words. He was good at that kind of stuff. It was mostly because of his natural look. In Shroud's opinion he was handsome, not cute, but handsome. It was mostly the sly look he would always have that made him look charming. The grin he would have combined with a certain sly look he would have with his bright blue eyes would make almost any mare fall for him or at least find him somewhat attractive. As much as Shroud hated to admit it she use to have a small crush on him when she was first assigned this team. However later on in her career with him she realized he was just an immature and undisciplined kid with good looks and a gift with words. 

"Sounds good to me. I like it. It's a real dirty trick, but I like." Shroud approved.

"It's alright, but it could do without the whole seduction part if that's what you were implying when you said 'alone together'." Three criticized.

"Hey what would be the fun without that?" Two joked. "But seriously though, the reason why I'm including that part is to make her feel comfortable being close to me. I don't want her to get suspicious and think. I want all of her attention and thoughts on me. This will distract her and make her vulnerable for me to knock her out and drag her around back where I will meet you guys for exfil. When you see me go around back where the restrooms are that's your cue to go around to the back alley and wait for me. Sound like a plan?"

Both Shroud and Three agreed on his plan. 

"Just one question though." Shroud said. "Are you gonna use an Alias?"

Two contemplated the idea for a moment.

"Nah I think I'll just use my real name. It's not like anyone will know who I am anyway. I haven't lived in Equestria for a long time ever since I was kicked off of the Wonderbolts and that was like eight years so I highly doubt anyone will recognize me."

I hope your right when you say no one will recognize you." Shroud said. 

"Oh don't you worry boss I highly doubt anyone remembers Maverick Stardust. Hell, I wasn't that well known of a Wonderbolt anyways." 

"Is "that" your full name? Man, I can't believe I've known you for seven years and I have never known you actual name." Three said.

Shroud didn't know Two's full name either, but he knew his name was Maverick. Just like she knew Azure 3's real name was Shamrock, but she never really called them by their names just like her team always called her "Boss" instead of Shroud.

"Alright I'm going, watch my back." Two said as he left the table and strode to the bar where the target was sitting.

"He better not screw this up because this is all on him now." Three pointed out.

"You know what Three." Shroud said matter-of-factly, "I'm actually confident he won't screw this up."

"If that boy fucks this up....." Three started in a low growl. "I'll kill 'em."


***************************************



Maverick licked his hoof and ran it through his mane as he approached the bar. He adjusted the way his grin looked to give his most charming appearance. He was thinking of more of a soft approach considering he didn't really know that much about her and wasn't sure if she would think of him as an asshole he did the whole "Hey babe" approach. It was mostly because he didn't want a repeat of the Manehattan Governor's daughter incident. The mission was a solo OP and he had to play the role of the Governor's daughter's coltfriend. The mission was a failure before it started because it turned out she wasn't into Stallions and was homosexual. That was awkward. He hasn't done something like this ever since that accident and was worried it would turn out the same. 

As Maverick examined the rainbow maned mare more closely, he realized she had more of a tom-boyish look. That was never a good sign. He prayed to the Great Leader that she was straight or at least Bi, he could work with that. However; if Maverick get's the tip that she's not interested in stallions than his whole plan to finally kidnap their target would be shattered. To be safe Maverick would sit near the target and covertly study her before making an approach. Maybe listen in on a couple of her conversations to see what her basic personality was before he made his move. It was always good to know your target. That way he could get her where he wanted her easily. He also noticed that she was drinking as well which would make things even more easy. 

Maverick put aside his nervousness and his worries to maintain his charm. As he approached the seat that was a seat down from the target, the bartender that him as familiar for a second took notice of him. He didn't like the look he was giving him. The sky-blue stallion briefly squinted his eyes at him as if he couldn't believe who he was seeing. Then his widened in sudden realization. 

"Maverick?! Dude is that you?!" 

Once Maverick heard his voice he too recognized who he was looking at. It was Soarin. A old friend of his during his Wonderbolt days. 

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! What the hell is he doing here?! Oh shit, what should I do? This is just my luck too!

"Uh...Soarin! Long time no see?" He answered while awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. 

Maverick couldn't back out now. He promised the rest of Azure team he had this. Not only that, but for once Boss seemed to be fully confident in him. He didn't want to let her let down nor the rest of team because he knew if he screwed this up he would not only be in trouble with Boss, but with the Great Leader himself. He didn't even want to think about what he would do to him. The thought just made him more nervous than he already was and needed to be relaxed while doing this. 

Maverick slowly approached a seat right next to the cyan Pegasus where Saorin had invited him to sit,still trying to keep his cool. As he took his seat, he confirmed that it was indeed his old buddy Soarin.

"Holy crap dude it is you! Where have you been I haven't seen you for eight years! I din't recognize for a moment because you've gotten so big apparently" Soarin said taking notice of his changes. 

When he took a seat Soarin looked astonished.

"Damn....have you been working out or something? Your certainly aren't a twig anymore."

Back then Maverick was skinny for an athlete, but was a damned good flier. When he was recruited into the Enlightenment however; The Great Leader saw his potential and trained him to be an Assassin. He knew the intense training he went through benefitted his body a lot, but no one ever told him how different he looked from his old self and apparently he looked extremely different size wise.

"And you still look the same as you always were ya' big marshmallow." Maverick chuckled. 

Marshmallow was a nickname they gave Soarin back then for being the big softie of the team. He remembered Spitfire or somepony made up that name for him, but he couldn't remember how he got it. 

"Aahh, you still remember that? Anyways I'd like you to meet somepony. Maverick, this is Rainbow Dash." Soarin introduced.

Perhaps this would be easier than Maverick anticipated. Apparently Rainbow Dash was a mutual friend of his. A direct introduction to his target would decide whether the this "Rainbow Dash" was interested in him or not.

They shook hooves. "Nice to meet you Rainbow Dash." He put on his most charming smile and examined the target's expressions.

"L-likewise." Rainbow Dash broke I contact with him and nervously smiled back. Her cheeks turning bright red. She was constantly breaking eye contact with him and the more she looked into his eyes the more she blushed. It was way too obvious. She liked him.

That's it.

He smiled wider.

I've got her.









 

 





 


> Chapter 8: A night she won't forget
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rainbow's heart was racing. She thought she was nervous when she met Soarin, but she was twice as nervous now meeting Maverick. His bright blue eyes were like shining crystals. She tried to remain eye contact with him, but that proved to be even more of a challenge. The look he was giving her didn't help either; however, after a short time she eventually was able to remain direct eye contact with him. For some reason the simple presence of him made Rainbow feel relaxed and more comfortable. She was lost in Maverick's eyes unable to look away from them. She was drawn to them like a moth to a light. The air around her began to get warmer.

"Uuhh...are you gonna let go of my hoof?" 

It took Rainbow a while to process what Maverick had just said to her and again she realized she had made herself look completely stupid.

Rainbow yanked her hoof away. "Oh! Uh...yeah sure...I was...uh...um..."

Before Rainbow could finish the rest of nonsensical babbling Maverick reached out and put his hoof on her shoulder. Rainbow's body tensed. Every muscle stiffened and locked and her heart froze.

"Relax." He said in the smoothest most gentle tone. "You look like you're about to pass out. You ok?"

His touch began to feel more comforting the more she looked into his eyes, but she did her best not to get lost in them again.

"Y-yeah I'm fine it's....it's just the drink I had kinda...messed with me." Rainbow wasn't sure if he would buy that, but she was pretty sure she was doing a bad job at hiding it.

What more could she say she thought this Maverick guy was cute. 

"I told you that stuff would mess with your head." Soarin chuckled.

Soarin then turned to Maverick.

"So Mav." He started. "What say you and I catch up a bit. What have you been doing these past eight years ever since you were kicked off of the Wonderbolts?" 

Rainbow heard this as she was gulping down her drink and almost spat it out when she heard that Maverick was a Wonderbolt.

"You're a Wonderbolt?!" Rainbow eyes shined with glee. 

"Was." He corrected. His tone was low and was close to a growl. He sighed, "Look, I don't wanna' talk about it."

"Meh, fair enough." Soarin shrugged, "I assume you want to forget your extremely violent history, not to mention your colorful criminal history. Actually, did you get that cleared up?"

"DAMMIT SOARIN!" Maverick slammed his hoof on the table. 

Everyone around him fell silent. Soarin had a smirk on his face, as if that were intentional. Maverick finally raised his head level with Soarin's and mimicked his stupid looking smirk.

"Got anything more you have to say that's old news?" Maverick chuckled. 

Rainbow wasn't sure whose side to take here. She hated being the middle pony.

"The fact is Soarin," Maverick stated putting his hoof down on the table. "I've changed. Yes, I was an immature delinquent who liked to starts fights for stupid reasons, but that was 8 years ago. A lot has changed since then and I've felt guilty about myself ever since especially FleetFoot, but let's not get into that."

Maverick relaxed in his seat and sighed. 

"I came to have a nice time and have a few drinks, just like everypony here so I would appreciate it if you would stop bringing up shit I did when I was an asshole and didn't know any better."

Rainbow Dash felt a sort of sympathy for Maverick. She knew ponies could change and turn their life around anytime they want to. She figured Maverick was one of those ponies. Maybe he's just a lonely guy with no pony to turn to for help. Instead of his friends forgiving him they shunned him and never looked back at him. He must have done something really bad. As much as anypony would say this was a bad idea she would be happy to have Maverick as a friend;however, she secretly hoped he would be more than a friend. 

"Hey Soarin leave him alone cut him some slack. Ponies can change you know." Rainbow Dash budded in. 

Maverick turned to Dash with a warm grin on his face. 

"Yeah come on give him a chance!" Pinkie seconded. "I'm Pinkie Pie by the way! Sorry for the late introduction."

Rainbow had forgotten to introduce Pinkie to Maverick, then again Maverick hadn't thoroughly introduced himself either. Maybe it was because Soarin said his name so much. Rainbow didn't think a formal introduction was necessary now especially with how embarrassed he must have felt.

"YO! Bartender dude! Over here!" Called a voice further down the table. It was a bunch of irresponsible college colts with punk looking hair and college sport jerseys.

"Duty calls." Soarin sighed. "Catch you folks later...oh, and Rainbow Dash before you leave I need to tell you something. It has to do with your Wonderbolt training." 

"You got it." Dash called back as he went down the table to serve his other customers.

"You're a Wonderbolt Cadet?" Maverick asked. 

Rainbow Dash had been in the Wonderbolt academy for 4 months now. She had two months to go and the final selection process to go through before she would fulfill her life long dream. As much as Dash wanted that thought to cheer her up, it did next to nothing. 

"Yeah, I just passed Nightmare week about 2 weeks ago." She answered as her cheeks flushed red again. 

It was starting to piss her off how she couldn't stop that every time she talked to him. She felt like one of those stupid prep girls from Flight School who would blush every time a cute boy talked to them. Rainbow never had that experience until now and it was strange because she had recently worked out that he was probably older than her and seemed to show some sort of interest in her, but why? What was so special about her? She didn't care at this point because she may leave here tonight with her first coltfriend. 

Don't get ahead of yourself Dash! Just play it cool and everything will be fine.

"No way! You made it through Nightmare week?!" Maverick seemed somewhat surprised. "Well, I don't know if they changed the training since I was gone, but after Nightmare week, it should be smooth sailing for you."

Nightmare Week was the 3rd week in the 3rd month of a Cadet's training. It was seven days of non-stop physical training with only 3 hours of sleep in between and two shitty meals a day. It was designed to weed out the ponies who didn't have the mental strength to be a Wonderbolt. It was more a mental test than a physical test. 

Rainbow Dash actually found the week to be fun. It was the ultimate test for her physical abilities and made her push past her limits and she didn't really think it was that bad. This was something she had wanted to do her whole life and she would never give it up when it was so close.

Maverick chuckled, "Wow, so you're tough and pretty. Who would've guessed?!" He flashed a charming grin.

There was an awkward silence between the two. They just sat there and looked at each other for a while. Dash was getting lost in his eyes again. She wanted to be lost in them forever and never be found again. Her heart began to pound more and her face flushed red, the air around her grew extremely warm and her wings twitched. She squeezed her wings tight to her sides in order to keep them from popping out. That was the usual sign of a pegasus that's excited.

She hadn't noticed that Maverick's hoof had been sneaking it's way towards her's. She didn't care at this point, because she knew it and he knew it. They were in love.

"Well!" Pinkie broke the awkwardness between them. "I see what's going on here so I'll leave you two alone. I might go talk to Vinyl it's been a while since we talked. Catch you two love birds later." Pinkie giggled as she walked away towards the DJ's booth. 

Dash saw Pinkie briefly turn around to mouth a few words to her. She gestured a hoof to Maverick, "You got this." Dash read her lips. Pinkie winked and happily trotted off.

Rainbow Dash should have known Pinkie Pie would do something like that to embarrass the both of them. It's how she rolled.

"Well.....that was awkward." Maverick finally spoke. "You know....that thing we had going on when we just stared at each other." 

"Yeah....that was....um..." She giggled nervously, "Awkward..."

Dash's face was completely taken over by red and the air around her grew to a scorching temperature and her wings began to fight back more at her struggle to keep them to her side. She noticed Maverick's wings twitched a little bit too; however, his wings looked a bit strange. They were more thick and bold than that of an average pegasus, but it seemed normal to him considering he was pretty big. 

"So..." Maverick started, "Tell me a little about yourself Rainbow Dash."

"Well....like most Pegasi, I was from Clouds Dale." She began with a nervous chuckle. 

She continued to share more information about herself with her supposed new Coltfriend, unaware that the very Colt she was in love with was making mental notes in his head to give to the Enlightenment Intelligence Office once they kidnap her. She was falling into a trap that she would never see coming. 

Despite all of the emotions Dash was feeling, she had this overwhelming sense telling her that something was watching her.


******************************************************************



Shroud had noticed that Maverick was taking his sweet time reeling the girl in. She had never seen first hand how long this process of his took, but if she had known earlier that it took this long, she would have listened to other alternatives. 

Shroud had already seen that somepony had already recognized him. He called him Soarin and even Shroud at this distance could tell that he was suspicious of him. The way Soarin would clean glasses and then take a moment to glance at Maverick with a look of scorn as he continued to flirt with the girl made him look either jealous or he was on to Maverick. Hopefully he was just jealous. 

The pink one had just now walked away from the duo hopefully making Maverick's job a little more easy.

"Oh shit...." Shamrock muttered. 

"What?" 

Shamrock's head was slightly lowered to the table, but he was looking left out the corner of his eye. 

"He's watching us. Whatever you do don't look to your right."

"You mean Demon Face? Where is he?" Shroud said, resisting the urge to look for him.

"He's in the booths adjacent to us, located by the dance floor." He continued to mutter in a calm tone. "He's looking right at us."

"Do you think he knows?" Shroud asked.

"Quite possibly......he knows I see him. Whoever this guy is, he's not a push over."

"Well we need to do something about him Three." Shroud urged. 

"I thought the Rules of Engagement were defense only, therefor we can't make a scene." 

Shroud was well aware of that; however, she felt that something needed to be done soon. There's no telling what his objective is or R.O.E. is, and he was showing obvious hostile intention towards them. It's only a matter of time before he does something and they need to be prepared in case shit goes critical. 

She sat there resting her hoof on her forehead trying to think of a way to get rid of this guy without attracting attention, but she was finding no solution to her current situation. She always hated these kinds of assignments, where she can't be seen by anypony and must go incognito to complete an objective that she had no idea of it's serving purpose. She hated to admit it, but she was stumped. In all her years of service in the special Storm Hoof Division, she has never been in a situation where she had to make such a critical decision. 

Shroud nearly jumped when her hidden earpiece squawked.

"Azure actual this is Emerald actual, how copy?"

Shroud's eyes widened in shock. Emerald team wasn't assigned this task, and worst of all it was Emerald team. They were a bunch of loose cannons who don't know the meaning of the word stealth, they're more of a go in guns blazing kind of crew. There better be a good reason as to why they were here or else Shroud would probably tear her mane out with stress. They were the last ponies she would want to hear from. 

Shamrock looked like he heard the COMs just now as well, he too seemed confused.

"Emerald, this is Azure actual, I read you Lima Charlie. Interrogative, what the fuck are you doing hear, were in the middle of a covert OP, over." Shroud replied gritting her teeth in anger trying to keep her voice in a whisper. 

"Azure actual, The Great Leader's patients has grown thin, he figured it's about time we let the ponies of this troubled Kingdom know who we are, he's given us permission to initiate code Black-Jack on your mission. This is our gig now, out." 

"Oh shit!" Shroud almost shouted. 

Code Black-Jack was a code used when a covert operation has gone critical and you were to drop everything and go in loud, in order to complete your objective as quickly as possible. The strange thing was, was that this Operation wasn't THAT critical right now. For the Great Leader to hastily order something like this meant that something was going wrong, something he hadn't planned for. 

At this point Shroud had about 10 seconds to warn Maverick of the situation at hand, but he was still talking to Rainbow Dash. 

'Fuck it!' She thought, 'He's gonna have to make a hasty snatch n' grab.'

5 seconds left, and no other options. Shroud raised her hoof to her earpiece and came eye to eye with Shamorck. They nodded to each other, understanding what was going to happen.

She drew a deep breathe and began to transmit on squad COM's.



******************************************************************


Maverick couldn't believe how easy this was becoming and he first thought Soarin had fucked up everything for him, but it turns out this girl was more gullible than he had ever imagined even though she was slightly intoxicated, which made it even more easy. In fact it was getting so easy that he might be able score on her before he knocked her out cold.

Hmm....You know she's not that bad looking, besides the weird white stripe in her mane, but yeah I think I'll bang her, why not? That is if Soarin doesn't fuck it up again. You know what I think I'll just kill him if he does that again, whatever it's about time I rap this up. She's already piss drunk from all the drinks we ordered. Man just lookin' at her makes me a bit jealous, I haven't been able to get drunk in years because of these stupid augmentations, wait...is that who I think it is?

As much as Maverick didn't want to see him, Demon Face was over there sitting in a booth adjacent to Boss and Three looking at him, he seemed to have a rather amused look on his face. It was a rather content expression that just screamed, "Do it, I dare you!"

The strangest part was that nopony seemed to notice him at all. It was quite obvious that Boss and Three could see him, but ponies would just stroll right by him and not display any sign of acknowledging his existence despite his easily noticed menacing appearance. Maverick didn't dare make direct eye contact with him, for looking into his eyes was like staring into a mirror of your soul, opening a gate way for him to enter your mind and stimulate every single aspect of discomfort and fear. He did his best to keep him in his peripheral vision. 

Maverick had thought that he spent enough time taking notes on her during their conversations and now it was getting to the point where this chick was so drunk she couldn't stay on topic for 5 seconds, plus he didn't want Demon Face over there constantly looking at him; however, he feared that taking her alone with himself was just what he was waiting for. Too late, he already had a plan in motion, he would just have to wing it. Time for the sweet talk.

"You know Dash," He began,"There's something about you that makes you different from the all of the other mares and it's because you understand me and I can't thank you enough for at least just giving me a chance."

He slowly crept his hoof over to her's, again she went red. 

"Maverick," She began hesitantly,"I....I really enjoy your company and I was wondering maybe.....we could....I don't know, do this again sometime? Maybe keep in touch?"

BINGO! She trusts me 100%! Maverick you sexy beast you've done it again! Now for my final act! 

With a sly grin Maverick connected his hoof with her's and spoke, "Why don't we go somewhere a little more private and I'll give you the answer." 

Maverick didn't think her face could get any redder, but it was now a scarlet color, her wings were visibly twitching. 

"Uuummm...." She tried to reply.

Maverick's grin went away quickly when he nearly jumped from his seat as he heard a squawk from his hidden earpiece.

"All Azures, all Azures, this is actual, Code Black Jack! I say again Code Black Jack! Go Loud!"

As soon as the message ended a loud clang could be heard from above. Two vent grates crashed to the floor and five black figures gracefully landed in the middle of the club. They wore The Enlightenment's Storm Hoof division combat uniform, which consisted of the Enlightenment's standard Combat Flight Suit or C.F.S. donned with an urban camouflage scheme consisting of a digital pattern of blacks and greys. They also sported light Kevlar saddle vests and even bothered to wear the combat helmet; however, what really set Maverick off was the weapons they had on them. 

"EVERYPONY DOWN!" One of them shouted with a rough female voice.

She raised her hoof into the air and two very loud bangs along with short flashes of light followed. Everypony dove to their bellies screaming in terror, Maverick grabbed Rainbow Dash and threw her on the other side of the bar table where they both hid. The terrorizing pegasus leaped off the ground and hovered above the other four operatives, this time she brought two hooves up and aimed them directly at the DJ's booth. A thundering chatter rumbled throughout the club that tore into Maverick's eardrums. The DJ's booth was torn to shreds as projectiles turned the sub-woofers and turn-tables into swiss-cheese. A white unicorn scrambled out of the booth and tumbled end over end down the steps leading to the booth. 

The firing stopped, two small trails of smoke could be seen exhausting from oddly shaped metallic brace that extended half way up her two forelegs. Maverick recognized them, they were HM-45's, prototype weaponry that was modeled from ancient weapons recovered from what The Great Leader called "The Verschollen Wars" centuries ago. The very wars that modeled the Enlightenment. These forbidden weapons were in every way crude and could kill a pony in the blink of an eye, but Maverick knew exactly who these people were, Emerald Team. They were one of the only squads in Storm Hoof Division to be issued these kinds of weapons and were essentially the guys you send in if everything has gone wrong, but to Maverick, everything was going as planned. He was as every bit as confused as Dash looked.

The white unicorn, who was presumably the DJ. Frantically righted herself to get a good look at the five masked and heavily armed pegasi that just destroyed her thousand Bits setup. Her purple shades had shattered at her hooves she looked down at them with astonishment then back to her booth and a furious looked came about her. Her eyes, although magenta, seemed to flare bright red with anger.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!" She barked, tears now streaming from her eyes, "YOU KILLED HER!"

Maverick glanced over to Dash who's face was stricken with a sudden horror of realization.

"Ma-Maverick..." She stuttered.

"What?"

"P-Pinkie Pie was up there with her......"

Friggin' morons, what was Emerald Actual thinking!? Civilian casualties are absolutely unacceptable! No....wait a minute, that bitch looked like she did that on purpose!

"SHUT UP OR YOU'RE NEXT!" Emerald Lead heartlessly yelled at the unicorn.

"FUCK YOU! SHE WAS MY FRIEND!" The DJ cried back at her at the top of her lungs.

Emerald Lead swoop down at the DJ and struck her with a hind leg, knocking her cold. 

Maverick wanted to know so badly, what was going on, but there was no way for him to find out without blowing his cover. Whatever they were here for they obviously meant business if they were showing no regard for civilian life, and Maverick didn't want to find out why. 

Wait a minute...Boss called Code Black Jack what am I still doing here? I could just whack this bitch up the side of her head and get out of here. No wait, how about I pretend I'm saving her. I'll grab her and fly as fast as I can out the door and take her around to the back alley where I stashed my gear, I'll be her big hero, bang her, and then knock her out, mission accomplished. I just hope they know Azure is under cover here, plus this entire mission has taken far too long already! I just wanna get this over with fuck it! 

Maverick looked over at Dash, surprisingly she wasn't shedding a single tear, but looked as if she were trying to be sad; however, her sadness quickly formed into anger. She growled loudly and then began to mumble to herself. Although Maverick couldn't hear what she was saying, she began to shake uncontrollably and violently. Her face became so twisted with anger that it almost made her not look like a pony anymore. It looked quite disturbing.

Maverick let out a hoof to her.

"Hey, Dash are you o-"

Dash swiped his hoof away with blurring quickness, she looked up at him and what Maverick saw nearly made him shit himself. Dash gnarled at him with razor sharp teeth, her eyes showed the same horribly disturbing inside out colors as the unicorn had. 

"HOLY SHIT!" He screamed.

He had no time to think, at this point he had to do. Maverick swiftly knocked Rainbow Dash in her temple, her eyes rolled back as she fell unconscious. There was no time left he had to get out of here, it was now or never. Maverick touched his hidden earpiece with his hoof and began to transmit on an open frequency hoping Emerald and Azure would both hear this.

"All callsigns be advised, this is Azure, I'm pulling out with the objective now! Watch your fire!"

Maverick grabbed Rainbow Dash who was returning to her normal look, once he had her in his forelegs; however, all hell seemed to break loose. A black aurora of magic struck near Emerald team, they spun towards the source of the magical discharge only to be met with a wicked looking black unicorn who shared the same horrifying demonic attire as Dash showed a few seconds ago, only this time, tribal marks glowed along his body, they seemed to trail up to his horn which was glowing bright red. 

"It's him! Open fire!" Emerald leader barked.

Within a split second, the entire club erupted into into a hail of gunfire along with red and black bolts of deadly magic causing chaos the likes of which Maverick had never seen. He didn't wait another second, he kicked off the table and flew as quick as he could for the doors. He burst through them and swung around the building into the alley where he set Dash down beside the dumpster while he quickly collected his gear. He hoped the rest of his team bugged out of there in time.

He silently cursed to himself as he frantically began putting on his Combat Flight Suit, then came the Saddle Rig. When Maverick reached back into the dumpster for his helmet; however, he saw something out of the corner of his eye at the end of the alley that he didn't want to see. An all too familiar bright blue pegasus, Saorin.

Oh, crap, that's right! Soarin was behind the table as well when I was hiding with Dash. He must have saw me knock her out and followed me out of there. Great, now I got a new set of problems!

"MAVERICK STARDUST!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, "I should have known you were up to no good! You haven't changed a single bit, now you let that girl go or I'll make you wish you-" He froze mid-sentence to get a good look a Maverick, realization had struck him.

"You're.....you're working with the same people that held up the place, fucking Celestia, you've gone from doing petty crimes to terrorism?! What the hell is wrong with you?! Who are you working for and why are you kidnapping her?!"

Maverick burst into laughter, he couldn't believe he was just called a Terrorist. 

"Ahahahaha, ooohh shit! A Terrorist?! Really, that's what you think I am?! Oh, Soarin my old friend if only you could understand, but you can't, you never will. Now I'm giving you one last chance to turn around, walk away, and pretend nothing happened because otherwise I'm gonna have to kill you."

Soarin growled and gnashed his teeth.

"I won't let this turn into another Fleet-Foot incident, her life will never be the same because of you! I won't let you do the same to Rainbow Dash you sick bastard!"

Again, Maverick exploded into a fit of laughter, in fact he nearly doubled over on his side he was laughing so hard. He thought Soarin couldn't get anymore ignorant.

"Oooh, crap dude, don't get me wrong she's OK looking, but I don't think I would go that far with her! We need her for a different purpose." Maverick replied catching his breath.

"We?" Soarin asked confused, "Who are you working for dammit and why do you need her?!"

Maverick paused for a bit. It was a good question, a question he had been asking himself all day. Why was this girl so important? It had to have been for that weird stuff she pulled on him when she snapped, there's something strange about this mare that The Great Leader took notice of, but how did he know about her in the first place and why the hell did Emerald team bust in an open fire on an innocent civilian, and what was up with that black unicorn? The events just didn't add up and although Soarin was being a complete pain in the ass right now, Maverick had to admit that he brought up a really good point.

He nodded solemnly, and then spoke, "To be honest, I don't know. I'm just following orders and even if I did know what makes you think I would tell you?"

"Maverick you either tell me everything right now or I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill! I should have done it long ago!"

*SHING*

Maverick deployed his augmented blade wings and got into a low defensive stance with a challenging smirk. Soarin's eyes widened in awe and terror.

"I'd love to you see you try Soarin. I'm twice your size, specially trained, and physically augmented! What makes you think you can kill me?! I could kill you in half a second right now if I wanted to!"

Soarin began backing away in fear.

"If I were you right now bro, I wouldn't try to be a hero. In fact I would just fly away while I still could." Maverick slowly began creeping up to Soarin.

Soarin somehow seemed to build up the courage to stand his ground. With a look of determination, he planted his hooves on the ground.

"NO!" He shouted, "I won't let you take her! I won't let you ruin her life, she has too much to live for!"

Maverick gave a curious chuckle.

"Why do you care about her so much anywa-" Maverick stopped mid-sentence, realizing the connection. He was surprised he hadn't noticed it earlier.

"Aaaaaw, Soarin has a crush." He teased. Soarin's face turned red with anger.

"Well let me tell you something my old pal, love makes us do crazy things, believe me I know, but think about it, is she really worth it? She probably doesn't even care about you in that way, other than the fact that you're famous. Either way it doesn't matter, I'll have my objective complete, you'll be dead, and the whole world is going to change in ways you never thought possible."

Maverick inched his way closer to Soarin, wings blades at the ready. He began laughing maniacally.

"There's a storm coming my friend, a storm that will change this fucked up Kingdom forever, and the best part is Soarin, I'll be doing you a favor because you won't be around to see it!"

Maverick lunged at the defenseless pegasus; however, when he was about a meter away from Soarin, a dark voice blared through his mind, "And neither shall you!"

The black unicorn materialized out of no where shielding Soarin. Maverick was stopped in mid-air as he was trapped in its insanely strong magical grasp. It felt like he was crushing him slowly. 

"You ignorant fool," the unicorn spoke again. He didn't speak with his mouth, but telepathically. His razor sharp teeth were gnashed and his eyes glared into his soul. For a moment Maverick was scared shitless.

"There is another storm on it's way Sergeant Stardust, and you know what the best part is?" The unicorn leaned in close, and let out a demonic chuckle. "This storm has already begun."

White light flared Maverick's vision, excruciating pain shout through his body, his ears rang and he could no longer hear his scream, then there was nothing, but silence and a blackness.