In the midst of a feud between two rival groups, two ponies challenge that feud when they fall in love.
In an alternate Equestria, The Wonderbolts and The Shadowbolts are two organized groups that began as friends, but over the years, a feud between them has grown into a nearly all-out war between them. But when one of the sons of the Shadowbolts leader, Soarin, falls in love with a Wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash, the feud is challenged, and leads to even further conflict. Will the feud be put to rest, or will the lovers face the same fate as another famous tragic couple?
Equestria has tried to always remain the bright beacon of friendship and acceptance to all creatures all over the land, but there are two groups making friendship and peace difficult in Equestria, and have been for quite some time, The Wonderbolts, a wealthy, famous former flying troupe from Canterlot, and The Shadowbolts.
Now, things weren't always hostile between the Wonderbolts and The Shadowbolts. When the Wonderbolts first formed under Princess Celestia when she and her sister Luna were first coronated, the group were famous and rarely knew of any rough relations. That is, until the case of Swift Shadow and Sun Spot.
Both were young and upcoming flyers who wanted to wow everypony else with their flying. But, when Sun Spot was named as the next leader of the Wonderbolts, the friendship between him and Swift Shadow was forever stained, and Swift Shadow broke away from the Wonderbolts and created his own group of strong pegasi flyers, The Shadowbolts.
Almost from the moment of the founding of the Shadowbolts, they were constantly fighting for time in the spolight against the Wonderbolts. But it only got worse. As the years went on, the Shadowbolts became a straight up criminal enterprise, dealing weapons, drugs, even ponies for prostitution. Eventually, the Wonderbolts began to stoop to their level when 3 Wonderbolts were killed by a group of Shadowbolts.
Then, the straw that broke the camels back, was when Swift Shadow set up a meeting with Sun Spot to possibly end their conflict. But, it was a trap, and Swift Shadow killed Sun Spot, stabbing him 28 times with a switchblade.
This act guaranteed that the feud would certainly never end.
Of course, one would think that the authorities would do something about these group's criminal activities. But due to both group's wealth from their criminal activities, they paid off the authorities and managed to remain active throughout Equestria to this day.
In the modern day, The Wonderbolts primarily control cities like Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and Baltimare. While the Shadowbolts control Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Whinneapolis. But in recent years, one little town has brought upon a stalemate to the fight, Ponyville.
This small town has been contested over between the groups for years, and neither side is giving up, even moving their main bases of operation closer to the town.
The current leader of the Shadowbolts, a descendant of Swift Shadow named Night Stalker, now resides in a large plantation house in the Everfree forest near Ponyville.
The current leader of the Wonderbolts, a descendant of Sun Spot named Solar Storm, lives in her ancestors mansion on the outskirts of Ponyville, on the opposite side of town from the Everfree forest.
Now, things are business as usual, both groups are dealing their stuff, intimidating both eathother and the townsponies, and just doing their thing.
Little do they know, that things are going to get even crazier very soon, and it's going to start with a little thing called love...
It was another beautiful and bright day in Ponyville, birds were chirping, flowers were blooming, and many ponies were out and about in the town, shopping and whatnot.
Two such ponies out right now were Misty Fly, a yellow coated mare with a blue mane and Altitude, a white stallion with a dark blue mane. Two members of the Wonderbolts, easily distinguishable out of the rest of the townsponies from the navy blue jackets with the Wonderbolts logos they wore. They wandered through the market, with the intent to find something to eat for lunch, and to gather some things for their boss.
"So, tell me again why the list includes cough medicine." Altitude said to Misty Fly as he looked over the list again. This made Misty groan.
"Because Al, it has part of the ingredients for the drugs that the chemistry team makes." Misty responded with a slight whisper as they passed a few other townsponies. Misty silently spit in their direction.
"Uh, so many Earth Ponies here, why couldn't we have been sent to cover Cloudsdale, these Earthies disgust me." Misty said in a disgusted tone.
One of the many ironic similarities between the Wonders and the Shadows was their hatred for non-pegasi ponies, though both groups showed their hate differently. The Wonderbolts usually acted as condescending as possible to Earth Ponies, usually treating them as less and thus needing their help. They treated Unicorns with Envy, slightly jealous of their magic, which in some cases could let them fly without wings, this made them furious.
The Shadowbolts were a lot more straight forward with their hatred fro Earth Ponies and Unicorns. They were flat-out racists. They shouted slurs and profanity at them, and treated them as less than dirt. The current Shadowbolt leader Night Stalker even prefers the prostitutes that the Shadowbolts use to be Earth Ponies, just because their the easiest to treat as things that are just above slaves.
"I don't think it's that bad here, it's pretty and the air is fresh." Altitude said as he put the list back in his bag. Misty simply rolled her eyes as the two continued to walk through the market.
Eventually, Misty spotted the stand they were looking for and the two started to approach it, but from behind one of the unoccupied stand, stepped three ponies, Two Stallions and a mare. They wore dark purple jackets with the Shadowbolts logo on the back, a black storm cloud with a bright lightning bolt. The center pony, a stallion with a dark grey coat and a silver mane, stepped forward.
"Sorry Blunderbolts, but, this side of town is Shadowbolt territory, so why don't you turn around and safe yourself the trouble." the stallion said with a mixture of smugness and threat. Altitude stepped back, but Misty stayed defiant.
"We're just trying to get some things, we're not trying to start anything." Misty said, only for one of the other Shadowbolts, a mare with a blue coat and a white mane, to step forward.
"Oh no, you started something the minute you joined the Wonderbolts." she said, beating her hooves together. Altitude was too distracted by the mare's threat to notice the Stallion when he swiped the list sticking out of his bag.
"Hey, that's for our boss'!" Altitude said, trying to get the paper back, only to be stopped by the mare. The stallion looked over the list as he walked over to the other shadowbolt stallion, who had a baby blue coat with a navy blue mane. He looked mildly uncomfortable.
"OOOH, check this out Soarin, they're trying to cook some meth, isn't that cute?" the stallion said to the other stallion in a condescending tone. The other Stallion, Soarin simply chuckled, and the mare laughed.
"What should I do with it Fleetfoot?" he asked the Mare who was standing off with Altitude.
"Rip it up." Fleetfoot suggested. Upon hearing this, Altitude attempted to rush past Fleetfoot to get the list back, only for Fleetfoot to tackle and pin him down.
"Al!" Misty cried out before moving to help, only for the Grey stallion to step in front of her with his switchblade out.
"We tried to warn you both, but you didn't listen." he said threateningly.
"Look Thunderlane, we didn't mean any harm, just let us go, we'll even leave you the list. I know your dad's been looking for more drugs to sell." Misty said, trying to dissolve the situation. Thunderlane then frowned and ripped apart the paper by stabbing the paper with the switchblade several times.
"My father actually deals in quality drugs, not some chemistry project shit!" Thunderlane said as he walked back over to Altitude and Fleetfoot. He then kicked Altitude directly in the head as he walked passed.
"Don't worry Al, I'll get help!" Misty said before turning and running towards the Wonderbolt side of town.
"Should we go after her?" Fleetfoot asked, standing up with a leg wrapped around Altitude's neck.
"No, let's just deal with this one." Thunderlane said, raising the switchblade up to Altitude's neck. Altitude winced and started to whimper, when Thunderlane lowered the Switchblade.
"Eh, I'm actually not in the mood right now. Something about how helpless you look, it makes me not want to beat you senseless myself." Thunderlane said as he sheathed the switchblade.
"Hey, Soarin, how about you take a crack at this toothpick?" Fleetfoot asked Soarin, who had been pretty silent the entire time. Soarin stepped forward and Fleetfoot tossed Altitude to the ground.
Soarin stepped over Altitude and looked down at the pegasus, who had a look of fear in his eyes as a tear fell from one. Soarin reluctantly gripped Altitude's shoulder, and punched him across the face, not hard, but Altitude felt it.
"Get out of our territory." Soarin said in a semi-threatening voice before pushing Altitude back to the ground. Altitude nodded and quickly launched himself into the sky and flew away.
"What was that?" Thunderlane said annoyed as he walked up to Soarin.
"I don't know, he didn't seem like the kind of Wonderbolt that deserved a beating. I think he was a newbie or something." Soarin said. Thunderlane shook his head and slugged Soarin in the shoulder.
"You know what dad says, EVERY Wonderbolt deserves a beating!" Thunderlane said sternly. Soarin sighed and looked down.
"Dad's gonna kick your ass later over this." Thunderlane said. Soarin remained silent. Then Fleetfoot spoke up.
"Guys, I think we should get out of here." Fleetfoot said, pointing toward a group of Wonderbolts flying over the market. Soarin and Thunderlane agreed and the three left.
Soarin was a Shadowbolt. He had been one practically his whole life, though he didn't always act as bold or as mean as the others despite his upbringing.
Soarin never knew his father, he died after an accidental crash during his job as a weather pony. His mother had no job and eventually became desperate. She went to the Shadowbolts and became a prostitute under Night Stalker. She had Soarin, who was still a colt at this time, but Night Stalker saw something in Soarin, and took him under his wing, becoming a like a father to Soarin.
After Soarin's mother passed away, Night Stalker practically adopted Soarin, making him part of the family. Night Stalker had 2 blood related sons. The older one, Thunderlane, became best friends with Soarin, and the younger one was Rumble.
As Soarin grew up, he was taught to be ruthless and relentless like the rest of the Shadowbolts, and maybe one day lead the Shadowbolts. But Soarin was never like that, he was unusually nice, even when he was forced to do something, like with Altitude.
The three Shadowbolts eventually made it back to the Shadow Plantation, their headquarters. They walked into the courtyard and saw several Shadowbolts hanging around. Playing games, chatting, and getting high.
The plantation house was large and looming, like the setting out of a horror story. It was old and much of the wood was old and rotting, even though much of the mansion had been renovated many times since the Shadowbolts moved in.
Soarin and Thunderlane entered the front door and into the foyer. The mansion had dim lighting and looked just as creepy inside as it did outside. The history was that the plantation was once run by a Unicorn family that enslaved Earth Ponies to work the fields.
The two walked up the stairs, making creaks every step up. They walked down the upstairs hallway to the last door, where Night Stalker's office was. Thunderlane approached the door and knocked.
"Come in." a deep voice said from inside. Thunderlane opened the door and walked in with Soarin following him. Night Stalker then turned around in his seat and stood up upon seeing his sons coming in.
"Boys! Good to see you! How was the day?" Night Stalker asked. His coat was as black as night and his mane was white as the driven snow, a perfect contrast. Thunderlane chuckled as he slapped Soarin in the back.
"Well, Soarin got cold hooves today, again." Thunderlane said. Night Stalker sighed and shook his head as he walked around his desk and over to the boys.
"Thunderlane, leave us, I must talk to your brother in private." Night Stalker said. Thunderlane nodded and left the room. Soarin then noticed that they weren't alone yet. Over by the fireplace was an orange earth pony mare, who was busy dusting the mantle, and a bucket of water was nearby with a rag hanging over the side.
Night Stalker had brought in some extra help for around the mansion with some cleaners and butlers. Most of them were Earth Ponies, who Night Stalker had no problem treating terribly.
"What about her?" Soarin asked, referring to the earth pony. Night Stalker scoffed.
"Her, she won't tell anypony, and if she does, I'll gut her! Isn't that right Earthy?" Night Stalker said to the earth pony, who didn't look over to Night Stalker when she replied with a "Eeyup." in a country accent. Night Stalker then began to pace around Soarin.
"Now Soarin, I know that you think that you're doing the right thing when you show mercy to those pathetic Wonderbolts, am I right?" Night Stalker asked.
"Right." Soarin responded.
"But, what do I always tell you, every time you do this?" Stalker asked.
"You need to be cold to make it in this world." Soarin responded almost deadpan.
"That's right. In our world, you're either the hunter, or the prey, and which one are you?" Stalker asked.
"The Hunter." Soarin responded.
"That's correct. You can't be all soft to those Wonderbolts or anypony else for that matter. The only ponies you can feel for is us, the Shadowbolts, your family. Everypony else either wants you dead, or will slow you down, understand?" Stalker said.
"Yes." Soarin answered.
"Good, now what will you do to the next Wonderbolt you get a chance to hit?" Stalker asked.
"Punch them." Soarin answered. Night Stalker chuckled, "Yes, but how hard?"
"Harder." Soarin said with more intensity. Night Stalker grinned.
"Very good. Now remember this for next time, I don't want to have to discipline you. Understand?" Stalker asked.
"Yes sir." Soarin responded.
"You may go now." Night Stalker said as he walked back over to his desk and sat down. But just before Soarin left, Night Stalker stopped him. "Wait!" he heard him say. Soarin turned around and saw Night Stalker standing up again.
"Maybe to encourage you, you could use some tail. Earthy?" Stalker said, beckoning the Earth pony over to him. She stood up from washing the floor and walked over to Night Stalker.
"Yes?" she said.
"Go with my son to his room, and show him a good time, understand?" Night Stalker said threateningly to the mare.
"Y-Y-Yes." She responded before walking towards Soarin. The two left the room just as Night Stalker said one last thing.
Soarin stayed in awkward silence as he led the earth pony down the old and decrepit stairway that led to the masnion's basement that held his bedroom. It figured that the adopted son got the basement bedroom while Thunderland and Rumble got rooms upstairs, but Soarin never seemed to mind. In fact, he preferred it this way, it gave him more privacy.
But, here he was, walking into his room with a mare that his father expected to "show him a good time" which Soarin was really not into at the moment.
The reason he was so out of it earlier with Thunderlane and Fleetfoot was because he had just broken off with his previous marefriend, Vapor Trail. She was a Shadowbolt recruit who had made quite the impression. So, Soarin started to hang out with her, until eventually they started a relationship. But, it didn't last, just a few nights ago, Soarin had seen Vapor Trail kissing another Shadowbolt recruit named Sky Stinger. She never even said goodbye to him before kicking him to the curb to be with Sky Stinger.
So, to say that Soarin was uncomfortable now was an understatement, as he sat down on his bed with the mare now just standing in front of him. It was now that Soarin got a good look at her. He had seen her before. She was one of the owners of the apple orchard in Ponyville that Night Stalker had recently purchased. He hadn't seen her in weeks.
"So, how should I start?" she asked in a quiet tone. She looked awful, her hair was ragged and she looked like she hadn't slept or showered in days.
"You don't have to do anything Applejack, just, sit down." Soarin said with a soft expression to try to make her feel more calm around him. After hearing her name, Applejack perked up.
"Y-you called me by my name?" she said perplexed.
"I'm not like Night Stalker, I'm not gonna call you earthy, please just sit." Soarin said calmly. Applejack nodded and sat down in a chair that was opposite the bed.
"What happened to you Applejack? Me and Thunder go down to the apple orchard a few times a week for cider and we haven't seen you, how did you end up here?" Soarin asked. Applejack looked to the floor and started to silently weep. Soarin realized that he must've gone to far.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Soarin said. Applejack looked back at him and shook her head.
"No, it's not you. Night Stalker bought the farm, and demanded nearly four times than his cut of the profits. When we couldn't get him the money, he threatened to kick us off the farm. I begged that I'd do anything to keep the farm, and he put me to work as one of his prostitutes. He's also been making me cook and clean like the bitch he expects me to me, and to please him or anyone else he tells me to." Applejack explained, getting more and more choked up as she continued. Soarin took her into a gentle hug and calmed her.
"It's fine, it's alright, I'm not going to listen to him. I'm not going to make you do anything." Soarin said reassuringly, making Applejack slightly grin. Soarin then got up and went over to his closet and began to rummage around.
"How much do you owe him now?" Soarin asked as he pulled out a large lock-box.
"About 110 bits." Applejack answered. Soarin nodded and opened up the box, revealing a large number of golden bits stuffed inside and he began to count them out.
"No Soarin, I shouldn't except this, I haven't done anything yet." Applejack argued. Soarin shook his head no.
"I'm not gonna let him ruin you like the others. Your one of the only ponies in this town that I've seen that's not a complete ass. So take this to my dad, and say that I paid it for the "sex". But not now, tomorrow morning." Soarin instructed as he put the bits into a bag and gave it to Applejack. She gazed at the bag of bits and stuttered.
"I-I-I don't know w-what to say. T-thanks sugarcube." Applejack with a rather large smile. Soarin nodded and led her over to the window that was just above the desk and opened it.
"Now, climb out and go back to your family, I'm sure their worried sick about you." Soarin said. Applejack nodded and climbed through the small window, turning back when she was through.
"Thank ya Soarin." she said with a smile before turning and walking into the Everfree Forest toward Ponyville.
"No problem AJ." Soarin said to himself before shutting the window and turning to his bed.
Flying, one of the greatest feelings in the world. The feeling of the air going past you, the feeling of your hair sweeping back, the feeling of going faster and faster as you have all the space you need to fly while your in the sky. This was Rainbow Dash's favorite thing.
As Rainbow Dash flew around the Wonderbolt's flight course, she felt what she felt every time she flew, alive. She always felt more at home in the air than on the ground.
Rainbow Dash was The Wonderbolts most promising member. Ever since she was a filly, she was zipping around so fast, you could barely keep up with where she was. Her father, Bow Hothoof, was a Wonderbolt, but left shortly after Dash was born, but when the Wonderbolts saw Dash's potential, they couldn't ask her parents to let her in fast enough.
At first, her parents were hesitant, especially her mother, Windy Whistles. She was never a Wonderbolt, but she knew about all the private stuff that went on in the group thanks to Bow, but she eventually warmed up to the idea when Rainbow Dash won a race against 3 adult Wonderbolts when she was 12.
Rainbow Dash was reminded of that race as she finished another lap around the Wonderbolt's private track on the grounds of Solar Storm's mansion in Ponyville. She looked over and saw her audience, though small, made her smile.
Sitting in the stands were her closest friends. Fluttershy, who she has known since she was a filly, Scootaloo, her "honorary" little sister and #1 fan, and Blaze, the daughter of Solar Storm and future leader of the Wonderbolts.
Rainbow flew one last lap before performing aileron roll and landing next to the stands in a pose reminiscent of superheroes likes the Power Ponies.
The three ponies watching all clapped as Rainbow Dash bowed before them.
"That's a new record for 100 laps Dash, you've beaten my cousin's record!" Blaze said excitedly.
Blaze's cousin, Spitfire, was formerly known as the fastest Wonderbolt until Dash showed up. Her mother was Stormy Flare, Solar Storm's little sister. Blaze and Spitfire even looked so similar that many new Wonderbolts mistook them for sisters.
"Of course I beat it, I'm the fastest pony to ever take to the sky." Dash bragged. Fluttershy and Blaze rolled their eyes, used to Rainbow's bragging, while Scootaloo pranced around Dash doing her victory dance.
"You gonna try to break any more Wonderbolt records today Dash?" Blaze asked. Rainbow Dash slipped out of her sweat drenched flight suit and tossed it to the side for the cleaning staff to take care of.
"Nah, I think I'm good for today." Rainbow said as she stretched. Suddenly, they were joined by Spitfire who swiftly landed next to Blaze.
"We have a problem, your mom needs to see you." Spitfire said to Blaze. Blaze groaned as she stood up and started to follow Spitfire, though she turned back for split second.
"Nice job Dash." Blaze said. Spitfire also turned, but just gave Dash a glare. This made Dash giggle to herself as she sat down next to Scootaloo and Fluttershy on the bleachers.
"Come on Fluttershy, I'm 15, I'm allowed to say stuff like that!" Scootaloo argued.
"That doesn't mean you can just swear like that!" Fluttershy scolded. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
Rainbow Dash relaxed in her seat, feeling the hot sun beat down. She turned to Fluttershy.
"Are you coming to the Party this weekend?" Rainbow asked. Fluttershy, who was caught slightly off guard by the question, put her hoof to her chin to think about it.
"I'm not sure. I'm not good with crowds, and I heard the party got crazy last year." Fluttershy said. Rainbow was about to argue, but then thought back to the previous years summer sun celebration.
Every year, the Wonderbolts held a huge party at Solar Storm's mansion for the Summer Sun celebration, and every year, the party was crazy, with tons of alcohol, drug use, and some indecent exposure and consensual sex, though that came later in the night.
"It might get crazy, but if you stick with me and Blaze, everything should go fine for you Flutters." Rainbow said reassuringly.
"Can I come this year?" Scootaloo asked with a pleading look in her eyes. Rainbow thought for a second.
"Yes, but only until 10 o'clock, that's when the drugs and sex starts." Rainbow said.
"Awww" Scootaloo pouted.
Suddenly, there was a commotion over by the main house, and the three decided to check to see what was happening. As they approached the back patio, a group of Wonderbolts flew into the air towards town. Blaze and Spitfire were there with one of the newer Wonderbolts named Altitude.
"What's happening?" Rainbow asked.
"Me and Misty got mugged by some Shadowbolts in the market." Altitude explained, still slightly shaken and clutching his bruised cheek.
This made Rainbow frown. She only had a few run ins with the Shadowbolts during her time with the Wonderbolts, and she learned that they weren't nice, especially one named Fleetfoot, who Rainbow had fought hoof to hoof before.
"Did they take anything?" Blaze asked.
"Just the list that your mother gave us. Then they just intimidated us and let me go." Altitude explained. This made Spitfire slam her hoof down.
"We need to deal with these Shadowbolts!" Spitfire shouted in anger.
"Spitfire!" A voice called from the patio door. Spitfire quickly stood at attention as Solar Storm stepped onto the patio.
"At ease." Solar Storm said. She walked over to Altitude and Blaze.
"We will deal with the Shadowbolts someday. I promise, but for now, we must bide our time." Solar Storm said as she stroked her daughter's mane. Spitfire slammed her hoof on the table again.
"But they just cost us a weeks worth of supply, we need to stop them before we loose more bits!" Spitfire argued. Solar Storm turned to her niece, giving her a glare that made Spitfire recoil in fear.
"We will defeat them soon, I promise. But we must strike, like a Hurricane. We will strike quickly and fiercely, but before that, we must build up our strength and severity, do you understand?" Solar Storm explained as she slowly walked over to Spitfire until she was right in front of her.
"Yes Ma'am." Spitfire said as she nodded.
"Good. Now inside, I need every Wonderbolt accounted for in precisely one hour for the Summer Sun party preparations." Solar Storm said. Dash, Blaze, Spitfire and Altitude all nodded before Solar Storm went back inside. Rainbow Dash turned back to Fluttershy and Scootaloo.
"I need to go to this, can you take Scootaloo back to the orphanage Fluttershy?" Dash asked. Fluttershy nodded.
"Of course I can." she said. Scootaloo gave Rainbow Dash a quick hug before flying away with Fluttershy. This made Rainbow think about Scootaloo's chances of becoming an official Wonderbolt.
Scootaloo was 15 and she was still a very weak flyer. Some kind of rare disease that she was born with affected her wings' growth. She could fly, just not fast and not agile. The Wonderbolts only accepted the best flyers, and Scootaloo knew it. Despite this, Rainbow kept training her, helping her to continue working to become the best flyer she can be.
Rainbow watched as they disappeared from sight before walking in with Blaze. But as they entered, they were greeted by a familiar and frustrating face. Lightning Streak.
"Afternoon ladies." he said in a suave accent while flicking his blue mane back. Blaze and Dash rolled their eyes and kept walking. Lightning followed.
"Woah, come on ladies, slow down, I just need an answer to my questions." Lightning said as he stood in front of them.
"The answer is, I'll dance with you at the party, but I won't go any further." Blaze said. Lightning grinned at her answer.
"What about you Dash, Fire really wants at least a dance from you." Lightning said. Every Wonderbolt knew that Lightning wanted Blaze, but he was always looking out for his little brother Fire Streak as well, who wanted Rainbow Dash.
"Tell your brother, not in a million moons!" Dash said before walking past Lightning.
"Okay, well, come see me or Fire if you change your mind!" he called as the two mares turned a corner.
"Stallions." Rainbow Dash groaned.
"Tell me about it." Blaze said as they walked toward the meeting hall.
Soarin sat in the front courtyard of the Shadowbolt mansion with his sketchbook in his hooves and a pencil in a wing. He was focusing on a spot on the edge of the courtyard where 2 large trees parted to reveal a small clearing just beyond them, and it was something that Soarin thought was good enough to draw.
One of the few things that Soarin could remember about his mom was that she loved art, and whenever she could, she would provide Soarin with art supplies to create his own works of art, and that's exactly what Soarin did.
As much as he loved flying fast and being free in the air, he loved art, and more specifically, drawing. He had a large collections of sketches, drawings, and even paintings in his room and the rest of the house. Night Stalker even hung one of his paintings in the main hall, depicting a ship sailing on the ocean during a thunderstorm with a large lightning bolt striking it. Although, the rest of the Shadowbolts weren't very pleased with Soarin's skills in the arts, they rarely ever complemented him on his works. The only ones who ever did were Thunderlane and Rumble.
Speaking of whom, as Soarin sketched the trees at the edge of the courtyard, we saw Thunderlane, Fleetfoot, and Rumble approaching. Rumble was 16 and extremely energetic for doing crazy things. He was already flying fast, and he had already won in a fight against a Wonderbolt who was 3 years older than him.
Thunderlane sat down next to Soarin and playfully slapped him on the head.
"Another commission from the great "Soarindor Dali?" Thunderlane asked sarcastically. Fleetfoot audibly groaned.
"If you make another pun like that Thunder, I will break you." Fleetfoot said. Thunderlane smirked.
"Breaking me never stops me, and you know it Fleet." Thunderlane said. Soarin sighed.
"What do you guys want? I'm busy." Soarin said annoyed.
"We want to get you out of this sinker of sorrow you've found yourself in." Thunderlane said as he snatched the sketchbook out of Soarin's grasp and kept it out of his reach. Soarin frowned.
"Give it Back! What are you even talking about?" Soarin asked as he made a reach for the sketchbook, only for Thunderlane to toss it to Rumble. Rumble began to flip through the sketchbook until landing on a specific sketch.
"We mean, getting you over Vapor Trail." Rumble said, showing the sketch, which was of him and Vapor Trail in the center of a broken heart. "Man, you're emo." Fleetfoot chuckled after seeing the sketch. Soarin quickly grabbed the sketchbook from Rumble.
"I don't need to get over her, I'm fine." Soarin argued.
"No you're not, you've been wallowing in your own misery for weeks now. You need to get out there and find another piece of tail that will take your breath away." Thunderlane said suggestively, making Soarin blush slightly.
"And boy, do we have a plan for you." Fleetfoot said. Soarin rolled his eyes and went with it.
"What's the plan then?" Soarin asked. The three all smiled at eachother before Thunderlane responded.
"We're gonna go and crash the Wonderbolt's Summer Sun Celebration. We're gonna get wasted, and you're gonna get laid, that's the plan." Thunderlane said, then hoofbumping Fleetfoot.
"The party at the Wonderbolts Mansion? That's a terrible idea." Soarin argued.
"C'mon Soarin, don't be a stick in the mud, we're gonna have a great time, we just gotta be discrete." Thunderlane said. This made Rumble chuckle, Thunderlane turned and glared at his brother.
"What's so funny bro?" Thunderlane asked. Rumble chuckled again.
"You, Thunderlane, are the last pony I would ever think to be discrete." Rumble mocked. Fleetfoot nodded.
"Yeah, remember when you tried to get us beers with your fake I.D?" Fleetfoot said. This made Soarin laugh for the first time in weeks. He recalled Thunderlane getting kicked out of the store after trying to lay on a voice that was so fake, literally anypony could tell he wasn't actually 21.
"I've learned since then, and the party is going to be a masquerade, so all we need are some masks and we're in the clear to make that party actually interesting. Besides, the entire town is already going, so why shouldn't we?" Thunderlane explained.
"So, are you in Soarin?" Rumble asked. Soarin thought about it. It sounded like a stupid idea. One slip up, and all of them would get a one-way ticket to a beatdown. But, they were right about his sadness over Vapor Trail, so going to a night and getting shitfaced actually sounded appealing at this point.
"Alright, I'll go." Soarin said. The other three cheered and Thunderlane put a hoof on Soarin's back.
"Trust me dude, this party is gonna change your life, trust me." Thunderlane said.
Eventually, the day of the Summer Sun Celebration drew near, and ponies all throughout Equestria were getting ready to celebrate. Ponyville especially was a bustling hub of ponies decorating, shopping, and mingling while getting ready for the big party held at the Wonderbolt mansion.
In the large backyard of the mansion, where the party was going to be held, Blaze was flying around the yard inpecting the decorations, food, music, and even the seating arrangements to make sure they were perfect, as her mother ordered.
She eventually landed on the stage set up on the patio where a Unicorn with an electric blue mane and a pair of stylish purple shades was setting up her DJ booth.
"Are you all set......Vinyl? Was it?" Blaze asked. The DJ just turned to her and nodded then began to use the turntable and music with a deep bass started to play.
"Great! Music, Check." Blaze said as she held up the checklist her mother gave her. She looked over the yard from her position on the patio, decorations were up, the landscaping had been done by a group of Earth Ponies earlier in the week, and the tables and chairs were all set up for the refreshments and food. Everything looked set. Blaze finished checking the list when Rainbow Dash walked onto the patio.
"Hey Blaze." Rainbow said, less enthusiastic than usual. Blaze noticed this.
"Who pissed in your cereal?" Blaze asked. Rainbow Dash groaned.
"Fire Streak. He's been trying way too hard to get me to dance with him tonight." Rainbow said annoyed. Rainbow has had to put up with Fire's flirting over a year, ever since she became an official Wonderbolt. The worst part was that Solar Storm partially encouraged Fire Streak to pursue Rainbow, much to her annoyance.
"I really wish he would just take the hint that I don't like him. He's a douche, he's arrogant, he's rude and inconsiderate, and I just want him to leave me alone." Rainbow said angrily.
"Don't be a hypocrite Dash. You have to admit, you have your arrogant moments." Blaze said. Rainbow rolled her eyes.
"Yes, I know I can sometimes over hype myself, but Fire Streak is worse, he's a borderline Narcissist!" Dash argued. Blaze thought of an argument, but Dash was right.
"Look Dash, just stay by me, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo tonight and you'll be fine. I know Lightning is gonna try to get me to dance with him tonight." Blaze said reassuringly. Dash nodded.
"He hasn't asked you yet?" Dash asked.
"Not yet today, unlike the past month." Blaze said. She then noticed that Rainbow had brushed down her hair, but was still not dressed for the party. "Aren't you dressing for the party? It's starting in just a few hours." Blaze asked.
"I refuse to wear a dress, I'll wear a mask, but that's it, I hate dresses." Rainbow said shaking her head. Blaze smirked as she walked past her to go inside.
"Good, so do I." Blaze said as she walked inside.
Rainbow Dash lingered a bit longer on the patio. She was not looking forward to the party. She just knew that the Streak brothers were gonna be bothering her and Blaze all night, and thus ruin it. Despite what some ponies thought, the reason Dash didn't reciprocate Fire Streaks advances wasn't because of her sexual orientation, she really did fins him and ass of a stallion. She longed for a day when she could meet a Pegasus stallion that was actually a decent pony. The Wonderbolts were full of the most loathsome stallions in Equestria. If Rainbow ever had a stallion, she wanted one that was nice, fast, athletic, and actually treated her with respect. Rather than seeing her as another notch in their belt.
"Who knows, maybe tonight will be the night...." Rainbow thought to herself before going back inside the mansion.
To say that Soarin had some "butterflies in his stomach" was an understatement as him and his friends were preparing to enter the party through the stealthiest means Thunderlane could come up with. They were so gonna get spotted.
"Is this really the best way to get in?" Fleetfoot asked as she looked up at the wall that went around the Wonderbolt mansion's backyard.
"Well, it's better than going in the front door." Rumble said as he slipped on a mask shaped like a wolf. Fleetfoot wore a black dress with an eagle mask, Thunderlane wore a suit jacket with a bear mask, and Soarin wore a fox mask.
"Look, if we move fast, we'll be fine, and once we get into the crowd and start mingling, we'll be golden." Thunderlane said. Rumble nodded in agreement and Fleetfoot shrugged. Soarin let out an audible gulp.
"You know what, screw it, let's do this." Soarin said as he slipped on his mask. The four then quickly took flight and flew over the wall into the currently uninhabited part of the yard, far away from the main party. Thunderlane quickly glanced around the area of the yard they were in and luckily, they were in the clear. And they began to head towards the party.
Rainbow Dash held her head in her hooves like a bored little filly as she sat at one of the tables in the courtyard, with her cat mask concealing her frown. There were ponies dancing, talking, and eating all around her, enjoying the party. Fluttershy, Blaze, and Scootaloo also sat at the table enjoying some of the food.
"You feeling okay Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked, looking up from her food. Rainbow Dash looked over and nodded.
"I'm fine Scoots, I'm just not hungry." Rainbow said.
"Well, then why don't we go dancing?" Blaze asked as she stood up from her seat. Rainbow shrugged.
"I don't know." Dash said. Blaze rolled her eyes and practically started to drag Dash out of her seat.
"No Rainbow, I'm not gonna let you just mope all night because you're sick of Fire Streak. We are Mares, and we wanna have fun, so lets have some fun." Blaze said as she started pushing Rainbow towards the dance floor with Fluttershy and Scootaloo not far behind. Rainbow tried to fight back, but eventually just submitted to the dancing.
"Maybe tonight will be better than I thought." Dash said to herself.
Soarin moved through the dancers, trying to reach the food table where a delicious looking collection of different foods were out, including entrees, appetizers, and desserts, including apple pie, Soarin's favorite.
Soarin finally managed to squeeze through the final layer of the crowd and immediately grabbed a slice of pie and scarfed it down quickly, which earned him a few glaring looks from the other ponies around him.
"Snobs." Soarin said under his breath before taking another bite of the pie. He looked back over to the dance floor to see if he could find the rest of his buddies since they immediately got separated once they entered the crowd.
Soarin decided to just grab some more food and sit and eat at one of the tables. The party was really starting to pick up steam, with plenty of ponies dancing to the music and looking like they were having a great time.
Soarin sat and listened to the music and ate his food as the party continued. Eventually, when a song ended, the DJ began to speak.
"Is Everypony enjoying the party, or what?!" the DJ asked with enthusiasm. The crowd cheered in response.
"We'll get back to the tunes in a moment, but now, a few words from this party's awesome hostess, Solar Storm!" the DJ said as Solar Storm walked on the stage and took the microphone.
"Thank you, thank you." Solar Storm said as the crowd cheered. Soarin shook his head. Solar Storm looked like the kind of pony that only spoke in condescension.
"Thank you all for coming to the annual Wonderbolt Summer Sun Celebration! This looks like our biggest crowd yet. Enjoy the food and the music now, because later you'll all be too drunk to." she said jokingly.
"Boooo" Soarin said under his breath.
"Thanks again for coming, and enjoy the party!" Solar Storm said before giving the microphone back to the DJ, and the music started to play again.
Soarin then spotted Thunderlane moving towards him with another pegasus who he'd never seen before. She had a white coat and a mane colored with green and pink.
"The food's great, even though the host sucks." Soarin said. Thunderlane laughed.
"You got that right. Anyway, Soarin, this is Blossomforth. I met her in town a few weeks back." Thunderlane said, introducing the pegasus mare to him.
"It's nice to meet you." Soarin said as they shook hooves.
"We were gonna head to the dance floor, wanna cut loose and have some fun?" Thunderlane asked. Soarin stood up from his seat.
"I might as well, or I just might eat myself into a coma by the end of the night." Soarin said.
"That's the spirit! Let's go!" Thunderlane said before leading them back towards the dance floor.
Rainbow Dash, Blaze, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo all stood near the center of the crowd, all dancing close together to the sound of an energetic pop song. Rainbow eventually lost herself to the dancing as she looked at her friends also dancing. For just a moment, she forgot about everything else. Until she felt something brush her flank...
Rainbow turned around and standing their, with a grin that could only be described as "shit-eating" plastered on his face was the one stallion she hoped to avoid that night...Fire Streak.
"Why, hello Rainbow, fancy seeing you here. You're looking fine." Fire Streak said in a voice trying to be suave, but only making Rainbow angry. Rainbow quickly looked back over to look for her friends, but saw that they were either gone, or far away like Blaze, who was dealing with Lightning Streak.
"How about a dance for a gentlecolt?" Fire Streak said holding up his hoof. Rainbow smacked it away with her own.
"In your dream Fire, now leave me alone." Rainbow said as she turned to find her friends, only for Fire Streak to step in her way.
"But my dreams are so boring, I want the real thing." Fire Streak said. Rainbow then frowned bigger than she ever had before, and a part of her snapped.
She smacked Fire Streak right across his muzzle, causing him to stagger back.
"Leave me alone, you pervert!" Rainbow said sternly before walking past him in time to see Blaze do something similar with Lightning Streak. That made her smile.
"Bitch." she heard Fire Streak say under his breath. Rainbow glared at him as he walked back through the crowd. Rainbow then tried to make her way back to Blaze, but then the crowd started to get crazy as another more fast paced dance song came on, making it difficult to move through the crowd.
Soarin lost Thunderlane and Blossomforth almost as soon as he entered the dance floor, and to make matters worse, the dancers started to get crazy, bumping into him, and almost leaping around to the dance music that played.
Soarin hated electronic dance music, he was more into the classics of rock and roll.
Soarin felt disoriented as he was pushed further into the crowd, trying in vain to escape this trap of a dance floor.
Rainbow Dash nearly fell onto her face at some point. It all became to much for her. She eventually tried to stay defiant and stay in one place in the center of the dance floor.
Soarin tried again to make his way out, but another rude pony pushed him in even further. Another pony made him stagger backwards where he bumped into another pony on accident and he heard them grunt. Soarin turned to apologize, but froze as soon as he turned.
Rainbow tried to not move no matter what happened, but then, a pony bumped into her, making her emit a squeaky grunt. She turned to yell at them, but froze when she did.
Soarin stared into her eyes. They were magenta colored, and shined like a jewel in a void.
Rainbow stared into his eyes. They shined like emeralds.
They found themselves just staring into eachother's eyes. The world around them bluring and becoming like a void where they were the only two occupants.
Soarin also noticed her hair, it had a wonderful multi-color look with the way it was brushed forward over her forehead. And her coat looked like the beautiful blue sky that Soarin had painted several times before.
Rainbow looked him over. His coat was baby blue, and his mane was wind swept and natural looking with its navy blue coloring.
"Hello." Soarin finally muttered after what felt like almost an eternity of silence.
"Hi." Rainbow responded, a blush creeping onto her face. She felt something while she looked at this stallion, something she'd never felt before, and she really enjoyed the feeling.
Soarin felt like the entire world had stopped as he looked at this mare. He never wanted it to end.
Eventually, the two were snapped from their trance-like state when the song ended and the DJ spoke.
"Alright, hope you all enjoyed that fast song, because now it's time to take it down a notch. Grab a partner for a nice slow dance." The DJ said before another song began to play.
Soarin cleared his throat before lifting his hoof.
"May I have this dance, Miss?" Soarin asked. Rainbow Dash hesitated for a second before taking his hoof and started to move in a dance.
The two, along with other couples, started to slowly dance around the dance floor as the song went on. Soarin kept looking into her eyes, like she did, as the slowly moved.
Soarin looked past her shoulder and saw Thunderlane and Blossomforth dancing, as well as Rumble dancing with an Orange filly with a purple mane.
"You're a good dancer." Rainbow said as they continued to move. Soarin blushed.
"Oh, it's just a slow dance, nothing too complicated, really. Your not too bad yourself." Soarin said, trying to complement her.
"Thanks, I like your mask." Rainbow Dash said. "Yours looks good too." Soarin responded.
"Enjoying the party?" Soarin asked. He noticed that she frowned.
"To be honest, no." She said looking down.
"I'm not having the best time either, to be honest, I hate parties." Soarin said.
"Really? You seem like the kind of Stallion who does this at all kinds of parties to get mares." Rainbow said suggestively.
The two didn't even realize it, but themselves, and other pegasus couples, began to dance in the air with their wings.
"What? No, I'm not like those guys. I'm actually kind of a loner." Soarin said.
"Well at least your honest about it." Rainbow Dash said. Soarin chuckled.
"Well, since you hate parties, may I offer to take you somewhere else after this dance?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Really?" Soarin asked. Rainbow responded with a nod and a smile.
The song began to wind down and slowly the two landed on the ground. The two then made their way off the dance floor and Rainbow turned to Soarin.
"I'll just be a second, I gotta go tell my friends where I'm going." Rainbow said, seeing Fluttershy and Blaze sitting at a table.
"Okay, I'll wait here." Soarin said. Rainbow grinned and went to tell her friends.
"Wow." Soarin said out loud after Rainbow left him to tell her friends. "She's the most beautiful mare I've ever seen." he then said quietly.
Rainbow Dash finally reached the table where Fluttershy and Blaze were waiting.
"You can't even see his face, I don't even know if he's cute yet." Rainbow said.
"I saw the way you were looking at him, what is it?" Blaze said, giving Rainbow a smug look.
"His eyes." Rainbow said. "Just looking into his eyes gives me this weird feeling."
"Well, that's very sweet Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy said.
"We're actually gonna get outta here, to many ponies. I'm gonna take him to the field. Fluttershy, can you make sure Scootaloo gets out of here before things get too crazy." Rainbow explained.
"You can count on me Rainbow." Fluttershy said.
"Have fun." Blaze said suggestively, making Rainbow blush.
Rainbow ran back to the stallion and the two began to head over to the empty part of the yard, probably to go over the wall.
"She's got a keeper, I can feel it." Blaze said.
"He looks familiar, who do you think he is?" Fluttershy asked. Blaze shrugged.
"Probably a stallion who's a billion times better than Fire Streak." Blaze said looking over at the Streak twins, who looked very angry.
Fire Streak slumped down at a table on the edge of the dance floor with a scowl on his face. He watched the dancers start to go crazy as another song started to play. He rubbed the mark on his cheek where Rainbow had slapped him.
Lightning Streak eventually squeezed his way out of the crowd and sat down next to his little brother.
"Any luck?" Lightning asked in a deadpan tone. Fire groaned.
"What do you think?" Fire said with an annoyed tone.
"Don't feel too bad, I didn't get far either." Lightning said as he stood back up. "I'll go get some beers." he said before walking off towards the beverage table.
Fire kept staring into the crowd. Eventually he saw Dash trying to move around in the chaos. She looked as beautiful as she always did to him.
It was no secret that Fire Streak admired Rainbow Dash, not just for her looks, but for her determination and speed as a Wonderbolt. When she first joined the Wonderbolts, Rainbow and Fire Streak were actually friends and Rainbow actually didn't mind him. But as the years went on, and Fire Streak got further into the Wonderbolts, he started to adapt his older brother's personality. The kind of Stallion that treated Mares as objects and was very aggressive, picking fights with Shadowbolts constantly. And it was when Fire Streak started creepily flirting with Rainbow that got on her nerves, and that was the end of their friendship.
All of these thoughts clouded Fire's mind so much that he didn't notice when the music changed to a softer and slower sound. He looked over and his jaw dropped.
Rainbow was now slow dancing with some Stallion on the dance floor. Suddenly, Fire felt a combination of emotions he never thought he could feel. A combination of rage, sadness, jealousy, and even fear. The stallion was wearing a mask, so he couldn't tell who he was.
Lightning Streak finally made his way back to Fire Streak with 2 beer bottles in his wings. Lightning noticed that his brother looked like he was going to pop.
"You okay bro? You look like you just flew around Equestria without stopping." Lightning said, noticing how red his Brother was getting.
Fire didn't say anything, he just pointed his hoof to Rainbow Dash and the Stallion, now dancing in the air. The two stared in disbelief until they eventually stopped when the song ended.
"I'm gonna need that beer now." Fire Streak muttered. Lightning Streak nodded and gave both bottles to Fire and he immediately opened one and chugged it.
Lightning Streak looked back at Rainbow and the Stallion and noticed a few things. The stallion's coat color looked familiar, so did his hair. He then saw the Stallion and Rainbow Dash heading to and uninhabited part of the yard and flew over the wall.
"Fire, would you like me to find out who that Stallion is for you?" Lightning asked. Fire finished downing the beer, let out a very rude belch and nodded. Lightning patted his brother on the shoulder before turning to pursue the mysterious couple.
Fire Streak opened the second beer and saw Altitude exit the crowd.
"Hey Altitude! Come over here!" Fire Streak shouted. Altitude walked over and Fire Streak put an arm around him.
"Ya wanna get Shitfaced?" Fire Streak asked.
"Uh, Sure, I guess." Altitude said.
"Good boy." Fire said before chugging the second bottle and smashing it on the ground.
"LET'S GET SHITFACED!" Fire Streak shouted, which got a cheer from the other Wonderbolts.
Soarin didn't really know what to say as he flew side by side with this mare. He noticed the way her mane flowed in the wind, like an actual moving rainbow. It made her look even better.
"So......are you taking me somewhere because you feel bad that I hate parties, or is there another reason?" Soarin asked, breaking the silence. Rainbow shrugged.
"Actually, I wanted to get out of there, and you seem like the kind of Stallion that isn't a jerk like the others." Rainbow said before halting unexpectingly in the air, making Soarin become startled by stopping so suddenly. He looked up and saw the mare giving him a very stern expression through her mask.
"You aren't one of those stallions, right?" Rainbow asked in a voice that made Soarin even more scared, but Soarin suddenly felt a surge of confidence.
"I guess you'll just have to wait and see when we get their miss." Soarin said. Normally, this would make Rainbow angry, but there was just something about the way he said it that made her more curious.
"Alright then Casanova, this way then, we're not far now." Rainbow said in a sultry voice.
The two then started flying again until they reached a spot on the outskirts of town where a pleasant little clearing was by the forest. Soarin had sketched there before. The two landed in the center of the clearing.
There was an awkward silence in the clearing for a few moments before Soaring cleared his throat.
"So, did you bring me here to stargaze?" Soarin asked. Rainbow blushed slightly and let out a chuckle.
"Well, is that what you want to do?" Rainbow asked.
"Not really, I could just stare into your eyes some more and call it stargazing." Soarin said, making Rainbow blush even more.
"Very flattering. I could say the same for your eyes." Rainbow complemented back.
"I could show you more." Soarin said, making Rainbow perk up, as she didn't know exactly what he meant. Soarin then grasped his mask, unhooked it and let it slip off his face and let it fall to the ground. Rainbow's eyes went wide.
He was perfect. His eyes were just the cherry on top compared to the rest of him. His smile was wide and sparkling, his hair was well kept and looked so soft. She felt her own smile grow. Though, she felt like she'd seen him somewhere before, now that she got a better look at him.
"Now your mask." Soarin said. Rainbow hesitated though, as she was still lost in his face. "Unless you'd rather not, which is fine." Soarin said, worried that she wasn't comfortable enough to.
"No, it's fine, I will." Rainbow quickly said. She then unhooked her own mask and let it fall to the ground with a thud.
Soarin let out an audible gasp as soon as he saw her face. Not only was she the stunning mare he almost knew she would be, but he knew exactly who she was now. One of the top Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash.
When Dash looked back at his face and noticed how shocked he looked she started to worry, because it wasn't the good kind of shocked face.
"Not what you were expecting?" Dash said in a disappointed tone as she looked down at the ground.
Soarin quickly walked over while shaking his head. "What? No, no, it's not that....it's just...." Soarin trailed off as Rainbow Dash looked up expectedly.
"What?" Dash asked.
"Do you know who I am Rainbow Dash?" Soarin asked quietly. Rainbow let out a small gasp.
"To be honest, no, but you look familiar. But you know me, have we met before?" Rainbow asked.
"Not until now, but I do know some ponies who have met you." Soarin said. Rainbow frowned.
"Alright, enough of the cryptic stuff, what's your name?" Rainbow impatiently asked. Soarin turned away and took a deep breath before turning back.
"My name is Soarin. Soarin Skies, if you want the full name." Soarin said, finally introducing himself. Rainbow stepped back, finally recognizing him. He was a Shadowbolt, not just any Shadowbolt either, but the adopted son of Night Stalker.
The two didn't say anything, choosing to stay in the awkward silence, not really knowing what to say to such a big revelation. Rainbow just wanted to share a night with a Stallion who wasn't a complete douche, but now here she was, in one of her favorite spots with a Shadowbolt. Soarin finally decided to break the silence.
"Look, I'm not going to do anything. If you want to pummel me into submission and then brag about defeating a high ranking Shadowbolt, then feel free." Soarin said, closing his eyes and sitting down. Rainbow Dash took a moment to process his words, and quickly shook her head.
"What? No! I don't want to hurt you." Rainbow said, almost in an offended tone. This took Soarin by surprise.
"Really? Even if I'm a Shadowbolt?" Soarin asked. Rainbow herself felt stunned by her own words and feelings. Even after hearing straight from his mouth that he was one of her worst enemies, she didn't want to beat him. She still thought he looked handsome, and his eyes were still shining bright. In a way, she already loved him. Rainbow shook her head again, giving Soarin all the answer he needed.
"Really? What about that time with Fleetfoot? She never stops whining about how she should've won that fight." Soarin said. Rainbow sighed.
"Yeah, that thing with Fleetfoot. To be honest, I'm one of those Wonderbolts who doesn't really "take part" in this stupid feud. The only reason I beat Fleetfoot then was because I had Spitfire and a few others watching." Rainbow explained.
"Wow, I like that." Soarin said. Rainbow groaned slightly.
"Why? because that makes me softer and easier to beat while alone?" Rainbow said coldly. Soarin's heart nearly dropped from that sentence.
"What? No, I like that because I'm the same way. Sure I use to fight Wonderbolts enthusiastically and regularly, but now this Feud has gone on so long, I really don't care anymore." Soarin explained. Rainbow then took a step forward.
"So, you don't automatically hate me just for being a Wonderbolt?" Rainbow asked.
"No, in fact, I want to get to know you, because, you are probably the prettiest mare I've ever met." Soarin blurted out, after which he covered his muzzle. Rainbow Dash rose an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry, that sounded creepy." Soarin said. Rainbow walked over so that she was directly in front of him.
"It's okay, I was going to say the same thing about you." Rainbow said before giving Soarin a peck on the cheek. Soarin's vision went fuzzy as he processed what happened.
"Di....I She.....just kiss me?" Soarin thought.
"So, tell me about yourself Mr. Skies." Rainbow said, snapping Soarin out of his trance.
Lightning Streak felt like a wave of feelings wash over him as he witnessed the exchange between the two pegasi as he watched from a nearby treeline.
It was a mixture similar to what his brother felt earlier. He felt nausea, rage, fear, and a loss of pride as Dash kissed Soarin on the cheek.
He had watched the entire conversation and was angry. Rainbow Dash was a tough Wonderbolt, but there she was, flirting with the enemy. Unless she was planning on tricking Soarin, Lightning saw this as a betrayal.
"Something must be done about this." Lightning said quietly to himself before he swiftly and silently made his way back to the Wonderbolt estate.
What started out as a relatively boring and unpleasant night for Soarin and Rainbow Dash, transformed into a night that both enjoyed immensely. After ditching the party to hang out away from the loud, obnoxious, and aggravating party, they started hanging out in a small field away from the chaos.
The night started out with just some chatting while they stargazed into the beautiful night. They shared stories of their childhoods, their interests, and their hobbies, and found they shared a few interests such as flying, food, and sleeping.
After good while just talking, they went for a flight together, making sure to fly over the uninhabited parts to avoid being spotted by anypony who wouldn't approve of them flying together. The calm flight eventually turned into a race back to the field, which Dash won and effectively showed Soarin her bragging side by rubbing her victory in his face somewhat, not that he minded.
Eventually, after a few hours spent together, they found themselves once again, laying in the center of the field, staring at the night sky. Both were lying on their backs, with Dash snuggled close to Soarin, with her head on his chest. Soarin softly stroked his hoof through her mane, thinking of something to say.
"How are ya feeling Dash?" Soarin whispered, slightly cautious that she might be asleep. Dash yawned before responding.
"Great, just a bit confused." Dash said. Soarin lifted his head up.
"Why?" Soarin asked. Rainbow tilted her head up to face Soarin directly, staring into his eyes again.
"I've spent my entire life being told by everyone I knew that all Shadowbolts were terrible ponies, my parents, my friends, everypony. But, you aren't like that, at all." Rainbow said. Soarin smiled at this.
"I can say the same about you Dash." Soarin said before leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers. This caught Rainbow a little off guard, but she quickly returned the kiss. After breaking the kiss, the two stared at eachother again for a few short moments before Soarin spoke.
"Do you believe in fate Dash?" Soarin asked. Rainbow raised an eyebrow.
"Fate? What do you mean?" Dash asked.
"Like, everything that happens is beyond our control. I think fate brought us together. Because, when we first met on that dance floor, I accidentally bumped into you, but maybe that was meant to happen, to bring us together, and I've never felt this way before towards another pony before. I think I love you, Rainbow Dash." Soarin said. Rainbow Dash smiled and kissed him again.
"I think I love you too." Dash said. Soarin grinned and kissed her again. Suddenly, the sound of a distant chiming of a bell brought them out of their embrace. "Midnight." Soarin thought. Soarin stood up, and helped Rainbow up as well.
"I'm sorry, I need to get back home, Night Stalker told all Shadowbolts to be back a little after midnight." Soarin explained. Rainbow Dash nodded in understanding.
"It's okay, I should probably get back too, Blaze is probably starting to get worried." Rainbow said. "Wanna, get together again sometime soon?"
"Of course, we just need to keep this secret, for now anyway." Soarin said. Dash nodded before embracing Soarin once more. She then kissed him again.
"See ya later." Dash said after breaking the kiss. She then turned and flew off into the sky.
Soarin smiled as he watched her fly off before eventually flying off himself.
Soarin landed at the front courtyard of the Shadowbolts mansion and quickly made his way inside. He headed for the door to the basement, but he was stopped by a familiar voice.
"There's our little player!" Thunderlane shouted. Soarin turned and saw Thunderlane, Blossomforth, and Rumble sitting at the dining table. Thunderlane's suit jacket looked ruined, as did Blossomforth's dress, and Rumble was drooling in the table.
"What's wrong with Rumble?" Soarin asked as he walked into the dining room.
"Fleetfoot decided to spike the non-alcoholic punch with Ecstasy shortly after you left, unfortunately, she didn't warn Rumble in time, and he had some of it." Thunderlane explained. Rumble then let out a giggle. "He should be fine in the morning." Blossomforth said.
"So anyway, how was your night?" Thunder asked Soarin, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Oh...well, it was....uh, okay, I guess." Soarin answered as casually and unimpressed as possible.
"Really? I was certain you were gonna get lucky tonight, I mean, I sure did." Thunder said nudging Blossom slightly. Blossom rolled her eyes and slightly smacked Thunder in the muzzle. "She's worth it." Thunder whispered to Soarin.
"Well, I'm tired, so I'm just gonna go to bed." Soarin said as he turned back towards the basement door.
Soarin went down to his basement room and flopped onto his bed, his mind only filled with thoughts of Dash. Her eyes, her mane, her voice, almost everything about her made Soarin smile, even just thinking about her, and knowing that she felt the same way about him made him even happier.
"I'm so glad I went to that party." Soarin said to himself as he began to doze off.
Rainbow Dash entered the Wonderbolt compound through the front door, as she could still hear the party happening out back. She immediately moved to head upstairs and go to bed, but was unfortunately stopped in the hallway by a very intoxicated Fire Streak.
"Heeeey Dash. Listen, I just wanted to apologize for that whole thing o-on....the dance floor earlier." Fire Streak slurred out, while struggling to stay upright. Dash rolled her eyes at this sad excuse for a stallion.
"Yeah, apology not excepted, now I want you and your brother to leave me and Blaze alone, okay?" Dash said sternly before pushing past him and going down the hallway.
She could hear him mumble something under his breath, but Rainbow Dash had no more patience to deal with anymore of Fire Streak's bullshit tonight. She walked upstairs and finally made it to her room. She entered and saw Blaze sitting at her desk brushing her hair.
"Hey Dash!" Blaze said as Rainbow walked over to her bed and flopped down on it. Blaze stopped brushing and turned to Dash.
"So, how did tonight go with that Stallion?! Tell me everything! Is he a good flier? Does he like stunts? Is he nice?..." Blaze began, bombarding Dash with questions, questions that Dash really didn't want to answer.
"Can I just go to bed Blaze? I'm tired." Dash said as she rolled over. Blaze then rolled Dash back over.
"No, I want to know how tonight went." Blaze whined. Dash then sighed.
"You aren't going to stop until I tell you, are you?" Dash asked with a deadpan tone. Blaze shook her head with a grin on her face.
Dash then sat up and placed her hooves on Blaze's and looked her straight in the eyes.
"Blaze, you are one of my closest friends, and I trust you, but I need you to promise, to not tell anypony what I'm about to tell you, do you understand?" Dash asked with a serious look on her face. Blaze's expression then turned from one of excitement, to one of confusion and concern, then fear.
"He didn't take advantage of you, did he?" Blaze asked worryingly. Dash's eyes then went wide.
"No.. not at all! I had an amazing time with him. In fact, he's wonderful, he's the exact opposite of the Streak brothers." Rainbow said. Blaze then raised her eyebrow.
"Then, why do we have to keep it a secret?" Blaze asked.
"The stallion I met tonight, his name is Soarin." Dash said. Blaze gasped, and looked like she was about to start shouting, but Dash covered her mouth before she could say anything.
"Please, just hear me out, and don't freak out, okay? Dash asked softly. Blaze slowly nodded and Dash removed her hoof from covering her mouth. Dash then retold the entire sequence of events that night to Blaze, and told her how different Soarin was to what she had been told Shadowbolts were like.
"He was so nice, and I think I love him Blaze." Dash said at the end of her retelling of events. The expression on Blaze's face was one of intrigue and confusion. Dash's expression saddened upon seeing Blaze's face.
"You're not mad, are you?" Dash asked sadly.
"No, no I'm not, I'm just surprised, and a little worried." Blaze responded with a short hug. "You sure your relationship can work?" Blaze asked. Rainbow shrugged.
"We don't know, and we don't care." Dash responded.
"Well, if you love him, and he loves you as much as you say he does, then I'll keep your secret safe." Blaze said reassuringly. Dash smiled upon hearing this and hugged Blaze.
"Thank you." Dash said as she hugged Blaze.
"Are you going to tell Flutters or Scoot?" Blaze asked. Rainbow Dash slightly gasped upon hearing the question. She wasn't sure how to break this news to anypony, let alone Fluttershy or Scootaloo. But if Blaze could keep this secret safe, so could Fluttershy and Scootaloo.
"I'll tell them tomorrow, but remember, not telling anypony, okay?" Rainbow reminded Blaze. Blaze nodded and walked back over to her own bed.
"Thanks again Blaze." Dash said quietly.
"No problem Dash." Blaze said with a grin before getting into her bed and turning of the light.
Rainbow Dash smiled as she closed her eyes, her head filled with visions of Soarin. She couldn't wait to see him again.
In the week that followed the Summer Sun Celebration, things seemed normal for both the Wonderbolts and the Shadowbolts, as they continued with their bickering, fighting, and intimidating, however there was something else going on, that only few ponies knew of.
Soarin and Rainbow Dash began to see eachother in secret, usually going back to the field where they officially met, although, there were times when they went a little more risk filled route, like sharing milkshakes at Sugarcube Corner. But whenever they planned to meet up, they had to keep making realistic excuses to the others.
Soarin had a fairly easy time being able to meet with Dash, since Night Stalker and the rest of the Shadowbolts either had other things to do, or were too laid back to pay attention, especially Thunderlane, who was too busy with his own special somepony.
Rainbow Dash, however, had a more difficult time trying to come up with excuses to be with Soarin, she even had to resort to skipping on practice with the rest of the Wonderbolt teams, which got her a good talking to by Solar Storm. What didn't help was the Streak Brothers. Fire Streak kept staring at her, often making her dreadfully uncomfortable, and Lightning Streak giving her death glares, even though she had no idea why.
But despite it all, they still had time to be with eachother.
"So, you just sketch things you see, and eventually turn them into paintings?" Rainbow asked as Soarin flipped through his sketchbook to get to an empty page. The two were sitting in the middle of the field where they first met face to face.
"Well, sometimes. I only ever turn a sketch into a full painting when inspiration really strikes me. Most of my sketches, just stay sketches." Soarin said as he continued slipping through all the sketches. Eventually, he landed on the sketch he had regretted not ripping up, the sketch of Vapor Trail.
"Woah, who is that and why is she in there?" Rainbow asked as she swiped the sketchbook out of his hooves. Soarin awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as Rainbow Dash's face went from one of confusion, to one of anger.
"Who is she?!" Dash angrily asked.
"That's....and old sketch I made, back when I was with my old marefriend, Vapor Trail." Soarin said slowly, hoping that Dash would calm down. Dash did indeed calm down.
"What happened with you two?" Dash asked. Soarin sighed as he grabbed the sketchbook back, ripped out the sketch, and shredded it to pieces.
"She decided to be with another stallion, said I wasn't good enough. I thought she was the one." Soarin said sadly before turning to Dash and putting a hoof around her. "But, then I found you." Soarin said before planting a kiss on her cheek.
Dash smiled as she snuggled closer to his embrace. Soarin, while still holding her close, flipped to an empty page in his sketch book and began to make a sketch of the clearing they were in. Dash watched his movements carefully, the way he smoothly using his wing to move the pencil around the paper, creating an image that was striking with detail of and smoothness.
"You're a good drawer, I'm surprised you didn't get a cutie mark for art." Dash said, impressed with Soarin's work.
"Yeah, well, I didn't get into drawing until after I got my cutie mark." Soarin smiled as he remembered getting his mark. "I'll never forget my mom's face when I showed her. That was the most she ever smiled, or ever would smile for that matter." Soarin said sadly again. Dash brushed her hoof across his cheek in an attempt to comfort him as his happiness faded.
"What happened to her?" Dash asked. Soarin held her closer and sighed.
"She got sick, some kind of disease she got while working for Night Stalker. Some kind of sexually transmitted disease." Soarin explained. Rainbow gasped and held him closer.
"I'm sorry I brought it Up, I..." Dash was cut off as Soarin kissed her on the lips. Dash melted into the kiss, wishing that it would never end. Eventually, the two had to stop for air, and Dash gave Soarin a confused look.
"It's fine, in fact, it's nice to have a pony who at least can be concerned. Besides Thunderlane, Rumble and Fleetfoot, the rest of the Shadowbolts don't give a flying feather." Soarin said. Rainbow gave Soarin another peck on the cheek before glancing at his sketchbook, and she got an idea.
"Oh, I have a great idea for a sketch." Rainbow said as she slipped out of his embrace slowly.
"Do tell." Soarin said intrigued. Rainbow then flew up into the air, her back to the sun, causing an amazing image to come into Soarin's mind. Rainbow, hovering above the clearing, directly in front of the setting sun, with rays shooting out around her, making her look like an angel sent from above.
"Sketch me." Dash said simply, striking a pose in midair. Soarin, now full of inspiration, swiftly nodded, and started drawing the sight in front of him.
After a while of hovering while Soarin sketched, Rainbow began to tire out, but she knew that she could handle it, if not for herself for him. Luckily, Soarin stopped sketching and waved for her to fly down to him. Rainbow flew down to him and he unveiled the sketch to her. Rainbow covered her mouth in shock.
Despite the lack of color, the sketch still looked incredible, and it took up nearly the entire page.
"Soarin, this......this is Awesome!" Rainbow said ecstatically before kissing him again.
"Thanks, but it's not done yet." Soarin said with a smile. Rainbow was at first confused, but then realized what he meant.
"You don't mean....?" Rainbow started, Soarin nodded, confirming her suspicion.
"I think it'd look much better on a canvas with some color, don't you?" Soarin asked. Rainbow nodded and the two embraced once again.
"I'll start on it first thing tomorrow." Soarin said.
"Unfortunately, the passage of time caught up with the couple, and dusk began to set in, and the two pegasi flew back to their separate worlds.
When Soarin arrived back at the Shadowbolts manor, he didn't even bother walking in the front door, instead, he just went in through the small window to his room in the basement. He quickly ripped out the sketch of Rainbow Dash in the clearing and pinned it to his inspiration board where a number of his more important sketches were, most of them having already been turned into paintings.
Soarin began to rummage around through his room, eventually finding his paints and brushes and other art tools, but unfortunately, he was missing quite a few things, including certain paint colors and a canvas.
"I'll have to pick some up tomorrow." Soarin said, writing down a note to remind himself. He then flopped onto his bed to get some shuteye.
"She's going to love this painting." Soarin said to himself as he dozed off.
Rainbow Dash approached the front door to the Wonderbolts Manor when she was stopped by one of the two stallions she was beginning to feel more than uncomfortable around. Lightning Streak stood in front of the door, blocking her way, and giving her a death glare that he had been giving her for the past week.
"Let me in Lightning! I don't know what your problem is, but you can tell your brother that he can get bent, I'm not interested." Rainbow said angrily, thinking he was doing a favor for Fire Streak. Lightning chuckled.
"Fire isn't the one getting bent, you are." Lightning said with a wicked and smug grin. Rainbow gasped and frowned.
"What are you talking about Lightning?" Rainbow asked angrily. Lightning then stepped closer, looming over her.
"I know about you and that Shittybolt Soarin. I saw you the night of the party, and I know about your little affair." Lightning said threateningly. Rainbow stepped back, trying to find a way out of this situation.
"I...I don't know what your talking about...Who?" Rainbow lied, not very well though.
"Look, I haven't told Solar Storm yet, or anypony for that matter, but, if you don't break it off with that douche, then I will tell somepony. Don't make me do something both of us might regret." Lightning explained threateningly before stepping off the porch and walking off, mumbling under his breath.
Rainbow Dash quickly ran inside and made her way up to her room where Blaze was waiting. Blaze quickly noticed Dash's worried expression and went to comfort her.
"What's wrong Dash? Did things not work out with Soarin?" Blaze asked quietly. Dash shook her head.
"Lightning Streak know about me and Soarin. He's threatening to expose us if I don't break it off with him. And I don't know what to do!" Dash explained. Blaze continued to comfort her as she tried to think of something she could do.
"Dash, I need to know something." Blaze said. Rainbow looked up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "What?" Rainbow asked.
"Who do you love more, Soarin, or the Wonderbolts?" Blaze asked. Rainbow then found herself tripping over her words as a lump formed in her throat. This was a question she was not prepared for.
"I....I....I don't know. I love the Wonderbolts, you guys are practically my family! But, when I'm with Soarin, I feel, complete. Like my life has become better when he's around, and in the short time I've known him, he's been one of the best things to happen to me. But, if your asking me to choose, I don't know what to do." Rainbow stuttered out, more tears forming in her eyes.
"It's okay Dash, I know it's hard to choose, so just give it some time to think about it. All I can say is, choose what will make you the happiest, I don't really care, as long as you're still my friend. Maybe you should talk to Fluttershy about it tomorrow, maybe she could tell you some advice." Blaze explained. Rainbow smiled and wiped her eyes again.
"Thanks Blaze, for being so supportive." Rainbow said, hugging her.
"It's what friends are for." Blaze said, hugging back.
The next morning, Soarin woke up much earlier than he usually would. Normally, he would sleep in, but today, he was on a mission. He quietly snuck out of the mansion through his window, and headed into town.
As he flew, he glanced at the small list he made of the supplies he needed for another painting, mostly colors and a few different sized brushes he needed. This painting needed to be perfect, it was going to be perfect, for her.
Soarin landed in the Ponyville Market, which was quiet, being this early in the morning, with many of the shops just opening up for the day. Soarin began to browse through several stalls, looking for one that sold art supplies.
As he walked, he was suddenly called by a voice from the other side of the Market. He turned and saw a pony, slumped down next to a stall, waving him over with a hoof. He was pale, with a mane like fire. And he held a half empty bottle of liquor by his side. Soarin walked over carefully, a little unsettled by this pony, who Soarin recognized.
"Hey.....I....I...know you, your that....Fruckin guy from the...party" the pony said, clearly hungover.
"Uh, do I know you?" Soarin asked. The pony wiped his muzzle with a hoof and stood up, stumbling as he did so.
"I'm Fire Streak......Wonderbolt and single stallion lookin for love." Fire Streak said with a frown. Soarin took a step back.
"What do you want with me, I'm busy." Soarin said, trying to avoid conflict so early in the morning.
"I know that was you at the....party, with Dashie." Fire Streak said angrily.
"So?" Soarin said defensively.
"You stole her from me, she was mine." Fire Streak shouted, throwing his bottle to the ground. Soarin took another step back before turning around.
"I don't have time for this, so long." Soarin said quickly as he walked away, not wanting to escalate things further.
"You stay away from her Skies! Don't test me Motherfucker!" Fire Streak shouted, getting attention from some of the open stalls. Soarin quickly moved around a corner, away from the unstable pony. Soarin began to worry, if any other Wonderbolts knew about him and Dash, things could get ugly, fast. Luckily, Soarin's thoughts turned good again as he spotted the art supply stall.
The morning had also reached the Wonderbolt mansion, and as the sun came up, the Wonderbolts all left their rooms and gathered in the dining room for breakfast.
Rainbow Dash reluctantly woke up along with Blaze, and the two made their way to the dining room, grabbed their breakfast, and sat down next to eachother. As they ate, Dash saw Lightning Streak sitting at another table, his stare still making her uneasy.
"Don't look at him, just ignore him, and I'll deal with him later." Blaze whispered. Rainbow smiled and continued eating. Then, another pony sat down across from Blaze and Rainbow at the table. The two looked up and saw Spitfire, giving Dash an angry look.
"Good morning Spits, what's going on today?" Blaze asked, slightly annoyed by her cousin's sudden appearance.
"Good morning girls. Dash, we're training the team for a show in Canterlot in a few weeks, I really hope your planning on attending the entire practice for once." Spitfire said, clearly agitated. Rainbow rolled her eyes, she'd been making excuses to skip practice to be with Soarin, but Spitfire was starting to get agitated with Rainbow's truancy.
"Uh, just get somepony else to be in the show, I did the Fillydelphia show last month, let somepony else perform in this one." Rainbow argued, taking another bite of the apple with her breakfast.
"You're on thin ice Dash! Are you a Wonderbolt or not?" Spitfire shouted, slamming her hoof on the table. Blaze then stood up in front of her cousin.
"Look Spitfire, if Dash doesn't want to perform in this show, she doesn't have to, didn't you choose not to fly in the Blatimare show last year?" Blaze said, adding smugness to the end, knowing fully well that Spitfire opted out of that show for the purpose of being lazy. Spitfire was about to rebut, but Rainbow spoke.
"It's okay Blaze, I'll attend practice today, it's only fair, since I've already missed so much." Rainbow said. Spitfire grinned.
"Good, see you guys at practice." Spitfire said as she stood up and walked away.
"You didn't have to do that Dash. What about Soar?" Blaze asked quietly.
"I can just meet him after practice, it'll be fine." Dash said reassuringly.
Soarin ruffled through his saddlebag full of the art supplies he purchased as he approached the Shadowbolt mansion. He was about to enter the house, when a voice called his attention.
"Whatcha got their boy?" Night Stalker asked as he sat up from one of the chairs on the porch.
"Oh, I just grabbed some stuff from the market this morning, nothing big." Soarin said as nonchalantly as possible.
"What kind of stuff?" Night Stalker asked.
"Art supplies, I'm gonna start another painting." Soarin explained, slightly regretting just blurting out the answer so carelessly.
"Oh, how nice. Maybe we'll have another one of your works decorating the halls." Night Stalker said as he sat back down on the porch bench.
"Heh, yeah, maybe." Soarin said awkwardly before quickly heading inside and going downstairs to his room. Soarin began to unload his haul from the market and began to set up the canvas and his paints. He then flipped to the sketch in his notebook and placed it on the table next to the canvas so he could easily see it.
"Time to make a masterpiece." Soarin said to himself. He took a deep breath, before dipping one of the larger brushes into the green, and beginning the painting.
"Great job today Dash, it's nice to see you've still got skills after missing so much practice." Misty Fly complemented as herself and the rest of the female Wonderbolts cleaned up in the locker room.
"Thanks Misty. Although, I'm pretty sure I'll always be as great, no matter how little I practice." Rainbow said slightly cockily. Blaze chuckled at Rainbow's confidence.
Rainbow and Blaze eventually finished cleaning up and left the locker room. Rainbow was about to head out to her and Soarin's spot, when she was stopped by Lightning Streak. Rainbow felt like her head was going to explode, all she wanted was for Lightning to leave her alone.
"Have you considered what I've asked you?" Lightning asked threateningly. Rainbow furrowed her brow and was about to tell Lightning to blow himself, when Blaze spoke up from down the hall.
"Hey Lightning? Can I talk to you for a sec?" Blaze asked as sensually as possible. Lightning looked around for a second, almost completely forgetting about Dash.
"Really?" Lightning asked excitedly as he walked around Dash and over to Blaze.
Rainbow took the chance to sneak out the door, snickering to herself at Blaze's ability to act. Rainbow knew that she now owed Blaze something for being a good friend. As soon as Rainbow made it out the door, she took off to the field. Practice ran later than usual that day, so the sun was now setting, making the countryside look as amazing as it usually did around this time.
Soarin sat in the field, waiting for Dash. He held a bouquet of flowers that he bought in the Market that morning for her. His face and hooves were also still covered in dry paint. He had worked practically all day on the painting, it was pretty much finished, it just needed to dry.
Soarin smiled as he saw Rainbow fly over the trees and land on the other side of the field. She slowly walked over to him.
"Hey, sorry I'm late, I had to go to practice today to please Spitfire." Rainbow said apologetically. Soarin gave her the bouquet of flowers and kissed her cheek.
"It's fine, I was also here a bit later than usual too, I've been working on something for you." Soarin said. Rainbow's interest peaked.
"Ooooh, where is it?" Rainbow asked excitedly.
"Follow me, and be careful, we're going to my home." Soarin said before he and Rainbow took off.
They flew close together until they reached the outskirts of the Shadowbolt mansion grounds. They landed by the treeline closest to Soarin's bedroom window. Soarin glanced around the yard, and luckily, didn't see any Shadowbolts around, so he led Rainbow as quickly as they could to the window and quickly climbed into Soarin's room, and shut the window behind them.
Once Soarin and Rainbow were in the room, Rainbow spotted what Soarin was talking about, and gasped.
There, sitting on the desk, was a completed painting of the sketch that Soarin had taken of her last night. It was one of the most beautiful things that Dash had ever seen.
The way the colors all blended together and hopped off the canvas made Rainbow start to tear up.
"I spent all day on this, do..do you like it?" Soarin asked with a smile upon seeing Rainbow's reaction to the painting.
Rainbow, almost as soon as she heard Soarin's question, answered it by throwing her forehooves around him, and kissing him. The kiss started simple, but began to increase in intensity, eventually leading to them falling onto Soarin's bed.
"I'll take that as a yes." Soarin chuckled as he and Rainbow stopped kissing for air.
"It's the most awesome painting I've ever seen." Rainbow said as she stared at it. Soarin smiled as he began to kiss her cheek and neck as she laid on him. She then turned back to him so she could kiss him.
After another period making out, Rainbow pulled back and looked into Soarin's eyes.
"I...I think I'm ready." Rainbow said with a tinge of lust in her voice. Soarin's eyes widened in excitement, arousal, and shock.
"Are...are you sure?" Soarin asked carefully. Rainbow grinned.
"Does this answer your question?" Rainbow asked before slamming her lips back onto his. Soarin let himself melt into the kiss, and readied himself for the night of his life.
Soarin slightly shifted in his bed and slowly opened his eyes, being blinded by the morning sun seeping in through the window. His eyes slowly adjusted, and he noticed the mass of color in front of his snout. He looked down, and saw Rainbow Dash, sleeping peacefully as she's cuddled up next to him.
Soarin smiled and bent down to kiss her forehead. He looked over and saw the painting. It was definitely his most valuable and best work to him.
Soarin then heard a yawn, and Rainbow stretched out her limbs and flipped herself over to look into Soarin's eyes.
"Good morning sexy." Rainbow said before kissing Soarin's cheek. "Have fun last night?" she asked.
"Best night of my life." Soarin said with a smile before kissing Rainbow back. Soarin pulled back after the kiss, stroking Rainbow's mane and gazing into her eyes.
"I love you so much." Soarin said.
"I love you too Soar." Rainbow said. "Wanna do something today, there's no practice for me today." Rainbow asked. Soarin's smile then faded.
"Sorry, Thunderlane and Rumble want me to join them for a day out, I hope your not mad." Soarin said. Rainbow nuzzled Soarin's neck and kissed it.
"It's fine, I don't mind." Rainbow said. She then remembered something important that she was going to ask yesterday, but got, "distracted".
"Soarin? I have a very serious question to ask you, about us." Rainbow said as herself and Soarin sat up on the bed.
"Sure, ask away." Soarin said.
"would.....would you run away with me if we had to?" Rainbow asked. Soarin felt caught off guard by the question.
"What?" Soarin asked, his mind feeling a little sluggish by the question.
"There's this Wonderbolt named Lightning Streak, he knows about us, and he threatened to expose us if I don't leave you. And...I love you so much, and I don't want to leave you, but I'm not sure if I can leave the Wonderbolts, and I feel like I have no choice." Rainbow stuttered out, her voice breaking as she went on. Eventually, Soarin embraced her in a hug, in an attempt to calm her down.
"Rainbow, I understand your scared, I am too. But I promise you, I will protect you from anypony who thinks that our relationship is wrong, and I don't care what anypony thinks. I love you, and I will stand by you, always." Soarin whispered, embracing Rainbow tighter. Rainbow looked up, teary eyed, at Soarin, who wiped the tears from her eyes and gave her a comforting smile.
"But, what about the worst case scenario? What if everypony finds out, and we do have to run?" Rainbow asked.
"Then, I would go with you. But, as for now, is there anypony you can trust, who will stand by you no matter what?" Soarin asked.
"My friends Blaze and Fluttershy, they know about us, and my little sister Scootaloo, I'm sure I could trust her too." Rainbow explained.
"Hopefully, if things get to bad, we can rely on them." Soarin said. Rainbow nodded before embracing him again. After their hug, Rainbow glanced at the clock, which read 10:30am.
"When do you have to meet with Thunderlane?" Rainbow asked. Soarin glanced at the clock along with Dash and lightly gasped.
"11am, I need to get ready, you know how to get back right?" Soarin asked.
"Yep, I'll see you later." Rainbow said. She gave Soarin one last kiss before opening the window and flying off into the sky.
Soarin then proceeded to get ready for the day ahead. Eventually, he heard a call from upstairs.
"Soarin! Wake up sleepyhead, we have to go!" Soarin heard Rumble shouting from upstairs.
"Coming!" Soarin shouted before throwing a sheet over Rainbow's now dry painting, and heading upstairs.
Rainbow Dash flew over Ponyville, not yet planning on heading back to the Wonderbolts HQ just yet, instead, she decided go and spend the day with Fluttershy, and get a chance to ask her about her predicament, like Blaze had suggested.
Rainbow eventually made it to the timid Pegasus' cottage on the outskirts of town, and knocked on her door. Fluttershy answered and her face lit up with joy.
"Rainbow Dash, what a nice surprise, please come in!" Fluttershy said gleefully, hugging Dash before inviting her in.
"Hey Flutters, I need to talk to you about something." Rainbow said as she followed Fluttershy into her living room, where quite a number of small animals were making themselves at home, including Fluttershy's favorite pet, Angel, who was sleeping in his small bed on the floor.
"Well, I have all day, so I'll make us some tea and we can talk." Fluttershy said as she walked into her kitchen to get started on making the tea.
"Thanks Flutters." Rainbow said as she took a seat on Fluttershy's couch, a little uncomfortable with all the animals around, since Dash was not well known for being the best with animals.
Eventually, Fluttershy made her way back to the living room with a tray containing a teapot and two cups. Rainbow wasn't the biggest fan of tea, but she always had it when Fluttershy offered because it made her so happy. Fluttershy placed the tea on the table and poured two cups and gave one to Rainbow Dash.
"So, is this gonna be about Soarin? Because if it is, I want you to tell. me. Everything!" Fluttershy said excitedly. Rainbow chuckled slightly at Fluttershy's enthusiasm.
"Everything's been going great between us Flutters. It's everything else going on that's really worrying me." Rainbow explained, her smile fading. Fluttershy placed a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, giving her a reassuring look.
"I'm listening." Fluttershy said in her quiet, soothing tone.
"Lightning Streak knows about me and Soarin. He threatened me if I don't break up with him, but I just love Soarin so much, and Soarin gave me the best gift I ever received, and I don't want to loose him. But I also don't want to leave the Wonderbolts, but I know as long as this feud exists, me and Soarin won't be free." Rainbow said, getting more and more distraught as she went on. Fluttershy, kept patting Rainbow on the back to comfort her. Eventually Rainbow looked up at Fluttershy with pleading eyes.
"Rainbow, I know you've been loyal to the Wonderbolts for a while now, and you deserve to be in such a great stunt troupe, but now you have a special somepony, and the way you talk about him, he loves you as much as you love him, and if you two get found out, all I can say is, tell both the Wonderbolts and the Shadowbolts that your in love and nothing they say or do will change your minds." Fluttershy explained in her soothing tone.
"And what if they try to tear us apart?" Rainbow asked.
"Then....get out, if they try to hurt you for your love, then they can go clop themselves." Fluttershy said, unusually bitterly. Rainbow gasped after hearing Fluttershy say something so vulgar.
"I'm sorry for my language, but it's what I think you should do if they try." Fluttershy said, her tone back to normal.
"Well, they haven't completely found out yet, Blaze is going to talk to Lightning Streak, hopefully she can get him to calm down a bit." Rainbow said before taking a sip of tea.
"Wow, that's really brave of her. Also, what was this gift you were talking about?" Fluttershy asked
"Oh, Soarin painted a picture of me, and it's amazing, in fact, it's the most beautiful painting I've ever seen." Rainbow said, her eyes glazing over as she thought back to the painting.
"I wish I could see it." Fluttershy said.
"Maybe someday, me and Soarin can show it to you. I know I want Scootaloo to see it." Rainbow said, taking another sip of tea. "Thanks for the advice Fluttershy." Rainbow said with a smile.
"Anytime Dashie. Also, while your here, I was wondering if you could help me with some tidying up." Fluttershy said, motioning to the mess that some of the animals made. Rainbow downed the rest of the tea in her cup, wiped her muzzle with a hoof and nodded.
"Sure, it's the least I could do for your help."
The pencil moved along the page as Soarin sketched. He studied the paper carefully, with occasional glances to the fountain in front of him as he sketched. The sketch was of the fountain in the Ponyville park, along with Rainbow Dash added in.
Soarin glanced up from the sketchbook and saw Thunderlane and Rumble roughhousing in the field with Blossomforth cheering Thunderlane on. Soarin smiled at the sight. For him, Thunderlane and Rumble were a great example of brothers, they loved eachother very much, but they would tease and fight from time to time.
Soarin looked back and smiled at the sketch he made. It was as good as his usual sketches, and he considered for a moment turning this one into another painting, when a voice shattered both his concentration, and his day.
"She's looking good, even when drawn by a douche." Soarin turned around and saw Fire Streak standing behind the bench he was sitting on.
"What do you want?" Soarin asked angrily.
"I want to know if you've done like I asked. Did you leave my Dash alone." Fire Streak asked, this time not hungover.
"Go blow yourself!" Soarin shouted before turning to go and join Thunderlane and the others. Suddenly, Soarin was shoved down from behind, and he slammed his snout into the ground. He quickly turned and saw Fire Streak with rage in his eyes.
"Hey!" Thunderlane shouted as he rushed over and stood in front of Fire Streak. "Did you just hurt him, Blunderbolt?" Thunderlane asked, using his usual Wonderbolt insult.
"Heh, your friend there is sniffing some tail that's mine." Fire Streak said smugly. Thunderlane turned to Soarin, who gave him an approving look to beat Fire Streak up as Rumble and Blossomforth.
"Hey, he can get any tail he wants, since he knows how to be a good freakin stallion you creep." Thunderlane said, stepping closer to Fire Streak. Fire Streak then glanced to Blossomforth and grinned.
"Oh, I'm the creep? You're piece of tail looks damaged, are you sure she's even old enough?" Fire Streak asked, referring to Blossom.
*Punch*
Fire Streak's head snapped to the side after Thunderlane punched him. He fell to the ground and clutched his eye, which was starting to swell and turn purple.
"Go, now, before I punch the other eye too." Thunderlane said threateningly as he stood over him. Fire Streak quickly scrambled to his hooves and leaped into the air to fly away.
"My Brother will hear about this!" Fire Streak shouted before flying away. Thunderlane turned to Soarin, a little confused.
"You okay Soar?" Thunderlane asked concerned.
"Yeah, thanks. That guy's been giving me shit ever since the party. I think I danced with the mare he was after at the party." Soarin explained.
"Yeah? Well, if he brings back his older brother to defend him and kiss his boo-boos, he can answer to us." Thunderlane said confidently.
"Alright, now lets go get something to eat, it looks like the sun's going down soon." Blossomforth suggested.
"Oh, Yes, let's go to sugarcube corner!" Rumble said excitedly. The group then began to walk from the park back into town.
Rainbow Dash finished sweeping the floor of Fluttershy's cottage as Fluttershy finished feeding the animals outside. Rainbow looked out the window and saw the sun beginning to set once again. Fluttershy entered the room as Rainbow dumped the sweepings into the trash.
"Thanks again Rainbow, I fell a little behind on cleaning this week." Fluttershy said.
"It's fine Fluttershy, what are friends for?" Rainbow said happily. Fluttershy and Rainbow were about to just chill for the rest of the evening, when a loud knock sounded at the front door. Fluttershy quickly got up and opened it.
"Hey Fluttershy, is Rainbow here?" a frantic voice said as she barged into the cottage. Rainbow looked and saw Blaze enter the room with Fluttershy right behind her. Blaze's eye was purple and swelled.
"Blaze? What happened?" Rainbow asked as she stood up and walked over to check on her hurt eye.
"I was talking to Lightning Streak, and I thought I was getting through to him about you and Soarin, but then Fire Streak came in with a black eye, and he told Lightning that Soarin and Thunderlane did it. He then got angry and when I tried to stop him, he hit me. Then I came to find you as soon as I could. I don't know where he went or what he's going to do, but I know it's not good." Blaze explained as Fluttershy got a damp rag to hold over Blaze's eye.
Rainbow's heart nearly stopped. Lightning had snapped, and now Soarin was in danger, and she had to do something.
"I'm going to find Soarin, I need to do something before Lightning does anything drastic." Rainbow said as she ran and threw open the door.
"Be careful Rainbow, please." Blaze called out as Rainbow flew off away from Fluttershy's cottage.
"Nice call Rumble, that was great." Soarin said as he and the other left Sugarcube Corner after their treat. The sun had almost set now, and the amount of ponies out in the streets had decreased, leaving the streets of ponyville mostly empty.
As the group walked home, Thunderlane bumped Soarin's side.
"So, have you seen that mare anywhere after the party?" Thunderlane asked with a wink. Soarin blushed slightly.
"Yeah, but we haven't really hung out much." Soarin lied. Thunderlane chuckled.
"Oh, you're such a bad liar." Thunderlane said. Soarin gulped.
"How...wha...how did you....?" Soarin tried to ask.
"Come on Soarin, did you really think I wouldn't notice how you were sneaking off in the past week. Don't worry, I won't tell anypony." Thunderlane said with a smirk.
"Thanks Thunder, but yeah, sorry for lying. She's amazing." Soarin said.
"I'll bet she is, have you gotten any yet?" Thunderlane asked suggestively. Soarin blushed harder.
"Thunder! Not here!" Soarin said quietly. Thunderlane chuckled before moving back over to Blossomforth's side. The group kept walking until a Pegasus landed in front of them, blocking their way.
"There you are." Lightning said, his voice raspy, and full of rage. Thunderlane stepped forward, in front of the group defiantly.
"You're Fire Streak's brother right? Well, just so you know, I'm not sorry and your brother had it coming." Thunderlane said angrily.
"I'm not here for you Thunder, I'm here for you!" Lightning Shouted, pointing his hoof at Soarin. Soarin stepped net to Thunder.
"What do you mean Lightning?" Soarin asked. Lightning then took off his blue Wonderbolt jacket, and threw it to the ground.
"I'm here to stop you from poisoning Rainbow Dash's mind further with your Shadowbolt lies!" Lightning shouted. Soarin audibly gulped, and Thunder turned his head to Soarin, giving him a confused look.
"What do you mean Lightning?" Thunder asked.
"Oh, you don't know? Your friend there is screwing around with a Wonderbolt." Lightning said, hoping that Thunderlane would get mad. Thunderlane turned back to Lightning before taking off his won Shadowbolts jacket and giving it to Rumble.
"Thunder? What are you doing?" Blossomforth asked, rushing to his side.
"Blossom, please, just stand aside, I need to beat this one too." Thunderlane said, turning back to Lightning.
"You...Your not mad Thunder?" Soarin asked. Thunderlane turned back to Soarin.
"I'm furious Soarin, but also proud, and I'll kick this guys ass for you." Thunderlane said before turning back to Lightning, who was even more furious.
"You..Your just going to let him get away with this, he fucked your enemy, lied to you about it, and now he's affecting other ponies." Lightning argued. Thunderlane laughed.
"I know, it's brilliant!" Thunderlane said. Lightning gritted his teeth and quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his switchblade.
"I'm not here for you Thunder! I'm here for him!" Lightning shouted before darting toward Soarin. Soarin quickly shut his eyes and braced himself for impact, but instead of it coming from in front, it came from the side, and he was pushed to the ground.
Soarin opened his eyes and looked over to where he was standing, and he gasped. He saw Lightning Streak, standing in front of Thunderlane, with his switchblade buried in Thunder's gut. Lightning had a devilish grin on his face as he pulled the blade out and stabbed Thunder again, and again, and again. After stabbing Thunder several time, Lightning pulled the blade out, and blood began to pour onto the ground. Lightning stepped back and Thunderlane fell backwards onto the ground with a grunt.
"THUNDERLANE!" Soarin shouted as he ran over to Thunder. He was swiftly joined by Blossomforth and Rumble, who also tried to hold his wounds. Blossomforth sat with Thunderlane's head in her lap as she began to cry.
"Help!" Blossomforth cried out.
Rainbow Dash started to get increasingly worried about Soarin as she frantically searched for him over Ponyville, eventually, one sound finally drew her attention.
"Help!" Rainbow heard somepony crying from down below. She looked, and she saw Soarin along with Rumble and Blossomforth huddled around Thunderlane on the ground, and Lightning Streak stood just feet away. Rainbow quickly dove down to where they were.
Rainbow landed near the group around Thunderlane and the three looked up at her. Soarin was surprised but happy to see her, Rumble growled and Blossomforth just kept focusing on Thunderlane.
"Rainbow Dash, nice of you to show up and finally see these shittybolts for who they are, nothing but filthy degenerates who spend their days doing nothing but getting stoned and fucking up ponies lives." Lightning said. Rainbow frowned at him and said nothing as she rushed to help Soarin. She knelt down next to Soarin and watched the panic in his face.
Thunderlane opened his eyes a slit and smiled at the ponies around him. Blossom clutched his head and continued sobbing.
"Well...looks like I got what was coming to me." Thunderlane croaked out. Soarin applied more pressure, even making Rumble use Thunder's jacket to try to stop the bleeding. Thunder coughed up blood before speaking again.
"You must be Rainbow Dash." Thunder said. Rainbow nodded and Thunder smiled at Soarin. "You lucky dog, you treat her right, you hear me." Thunder said. Rumble frowned at his brothers words.
"But Thunder, she's a Wonderbolt!" Rumble said angrily.
"I don't give a shit anymore Rumble!" Thunderlane said before he devolved into a fit of coughing and blood. Soarin nodded at Thunder's request.
"You take care of him too Dash." Thunderlane said before looking up to Blossomforth. "You be safe Blossom, I love you." Thunder said. Blossom leaned down and kissed him, her sobbing becoming louder.
"And take care of Rumble Soarin." Thunder croaked. Rumble then buried his face into Thunder's neck and started to cry.
"I will Thunder, I promise." Soarin whispered. Thunderlane smiled, before he slowly closed his eyes and his chest stopped moving, and he let out one last gasp.
Silence.
Silence followed, everything was drowned out as Soarin looked down at the body of his best friend, he looked down at his hooves, covered in Thunderlane's blood. He looked at Dash, who gave him an apologetic look before hugging him. And finally, Soarin turned and looked at Lightning Streak, who was still standing there, with a look of pure hatred and rage in his eyes. Soarin then felt something inside him snap and all his anger that festered in him ignited in a blazing fire. He quickly grabbed Thunderlane's jacket and pulled out Thunder's switchblade and stood up to face Lightning.
Soarin knew what he had to do, what he needed to do. Lightning just killed Thunderlane, and he must pay...
Everything in Soarin's peripheral vision had faded, and every noise apart from the beating of his heart had been drowned out as he stared at Lightning Streak. His blood felt like it began to boil, and he felt his rage swelter within him. He gripped the switchblade in his hoof. He was about to attack Lightning, when a voice brought him out of his rage induced state.
"Soarin. What happened?" Soarin turned and saw Rainbow Dash by his side, her face full of concern. Rainbow noticed the anger and sadness in his normally bright and glistening eyes. Soarin wanted to just take Dash, Rumble, Blossomforth, and Thunderlane's body and get out of there, but he already made his decision.
"Dash, get out of here, please." Soarin said quietly, his voice trembling.
"Yeah Dash, the big boys need to talk." Lightning said sarcastically. This made Soarin snap again.
"You shut you mouth you FUCKER!" Soarin shouted. Rainbow stepped back, a little frightened by his outburst. Rainbow then looked back over at Thunderlane's body, that was now being lifted up by Rumble and Blossomforth.
"Soarin? What're you doing?" Rumble asked, curiously through his tears. Soarin turned to Rumble and Blossomforth.
"Take Thunder back to the house. Dash, please, get out of here and go somewhere safe, I need to take care of this snake." Soarin said, looking back in Lightning's direction.
"Sounds good to me, give me the challenge that Thunder couldn't give me!" Lightning said psychotically. Soarin was about to respond, when Rainbow pulled him to the side and gave him a deep, affectionate kiss. Afterwards, Rainbow looked into Soarin's eyes.
"Please, if things go bad, get out, don't get yourself killed, please. I'll be at Fluttershy's cottage." Rainbow explained, she then gave Soarin one last kiss before turning to Lightning Streak and giving him a death glare.
"You're life ends tonight Lightning." Rainbow muttered under her breath before flying off. Soarin watched her fly off before looking back at Lightning.
"Do you really want to do this Soarin? It's not like you stand a chance." Lightning said condescendingly. Soarin finally flipped open the switchblade and raised it.
"I'm going to kill you for what you did to him!" Soarin shouted with rage. Soarin glanced over his shoulder quickly, where he saw Rumble and Blossomforth flying away, with Rumble giving Soarin a nod of approval. Soarin turned back and readied himself. Lightning chuckled evilly.
"Alright Shittybolt..." Lightning began before using the sleeve of his jacket to wipe the blood off his switchblade, "...Let's Dance!"
Lightning dashed forward quickly, almost like a bolt of lightning. Soarin quickly leapt out of the way as Lightning took a swipe at him. Soarin then took advantage of Lightning's swiping arm to grab it and flip him onto the ground. Soarin tried to bring his switchblade down onto Lightning, but Lightning quickly punched Soarin in the gut with his free hoof and stood back up.
Soarin then began to attack fast, swiping left and right with his switchblade, trying to hit Lightning anywhere he could. Lightning then caught Soarin off guard by stabbing Soarin's stabbing hoof. Soarin yelped in pain and dropped his switchblade. Luckily the wound wasn't too deep. Soarin then lunged at Lightning, bringing them both to the ground.
Soarin then began to rapidly punch Lightning, who attempted to block Soarin's punches. Eventually, Lightning used his back legs to kick Soarin off him. Soarin landed on his back and saw his dropped switchblade, he quickly picked it up and made another dash for the recovering Lightning Streak, who had dropped his own switchblade.
Soarin stabbed Lightning's side and caused him to fall to the ground again. Soarin made for another stab while Lightning was on the ground, but Lightning quickly rolled to the side and punched Soarin in the side of his face. Soarin quickly recovered, and as Lightning was making another move to attack him, Soarin swiped his switchblade at him, cutting his cheek.
During their fight, they ended up moving back down the street towards Sugarcube Corner, until they were fighting right outside it. Soarin eventually got Lightning back onto the ground and punched him very hard in the back of the neck. He then grabbed Lightning, lifted him up and threw him through the front window of Sugarcube Corner.
Lightning slowly stood back up after being thrown in, panting heavily. Soarin climbed into the broken window, armed with his switchblade, his eyes filled with rage. Lightning shook his head, and rushed passed Soarin and took off into the sky. Soarin frowned and took off after him.
"You're not getting away Lightning!" Soarin shouted. Lightning kept trying to fly faster, but his every flap of his wings caused him pain due to the glass shards in them. Soarin inched closer and closer to Lightning, until Soarin got close enough for the kill. Soarin grabbed Lightning in mid flight, and stabbed Lightning directly in his right wing.
Lightning cried out in pain as he and Soarin began to go down. Eventually both of them crashed in the Ponyville Park. They both landed next to the fountain, but Soarin was thrown off of Lightning after he crashed. Soarin felt a little disoriented after the crash, but his rage and adrenaline kept him going, and he looked over and saw Lightning climbing to his hooves using the fountain.
Soarin stood up and began to move his way to the fountain, limping due to his left forehoof getting hurt in the crash. Lightning completely stood up, when he was suddenly pushed over again, landing in the fountain. Soarin then climbed into the fountain, and raised his switchblade high, and plunged it into Lightning's chest.
Lightning sputtered as Soarin used his other hoof to hold Lightning's head under the water. Soarin then lifted the blade again and stabbed Lightning again, and again, and again.
The fountain's water began to turn red as Soarin stabbed Lightning so many times he lost count. He just kept stabbing until Lightning stopped moving. Soarin was panting heavily as he got out of the fountain slowly. Soarin dropped the switchblade as he stepped out. He walked over to a tree to lean against it, catching his breath as his mind began to clear.
The rage fueled haze that clouded Soarin's mind finally cleared, and he looked back over to the fountain, and sure enough, it had happened. There, floating in the bloody red water, was Lightning Streak's corpse, his face one of permanent pain.
Soarin felt both proud and scared at what he did. Dash did say that Lightning had threatened her, but did Soarin have to kill him? He could have just reported Thunderlane's murder to the royal guard or something, but Soarin made a choice, one that he couldn't take back. Soarin didn't know what was going to happen now, but he knew it wasn't good.
But, none of that mattered now, Soarin needed to see Rainbow Dash, she needed to see that he was still alive. Soarin quickly flew off towards Fluttershy's cottage, leaving Lightning's body in the fountain.
Soarin's mind was racing a million miles an hour as he quickly flew over Ponyville towards the quaint cottage on the edge of town where Dash said she'd be waiting for him. Had he really just done that? Had he really just murdered somepony?
Soarin kept trying to balance all the thoughts and anxieties in his head. In the back of his mind he knew that this fight between himself and Lightning Streak would probably spark a conflict between the Wonderbolts and Shadowbolts. He knew that Night Stalker was waiting for a reason to attack the Wonderbolts, and the death of his son would probably push him over the edge.
But, none of that mattered now, he just needed to see Dash. They would deal with all that when the time came. Soarin finally saw the cottage poking out of the trees ahead of him and he sped up.
He landed roughly by the front door, his leg still bleeding from the fight. He quickly knocked on the door. After a short commotion from inside the door flung open, and Soarin found himself being embraced by Rainbow Dash.
"Thank Celestia you're okay." Dash said as she hugged him. Soarin chuckled as he hugged her back. He looked up to see Fluttershy standing in the doorway.
"Oh my, you look like you hurt yourself pretty bad. Why don't you come in and I'll bandage you up." Fluttershy said, inviting them back in. Rainbow quickly pulled away from the hug and went to support Soarin to help him inside.
"I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll be fine." Soarin said dismissively. Rainbow ignored him and guided him inside to the living room and onto the couch. Fluttershy entered with a damp rag that she gave to Rainbow, who immediately started to apply pressure to Soarin's leg wound.
"What happened to Lightning?" Rainbow asked as she cleaned the wound. Soarin let out a sigh.
"I killed him. I stabbed him to death, in the fountain at the park." Soarin said with a tinge of guilt. Rainbow brushed a hoof across his cheek.
"Don't worry, you did the right thing." Rainbow said reassuringly. Soarin turned away.
"You...you aren't scared of me for doing something like that?" Soarin asked. Before Dash could answer, another voice spoke up from the doorway to the dining room.
"You kidding? Lightning got what was coming to him, that jerk deserved it." Blaze said as she entered the living room and sat down on the chair opposite the couch, clutching an ice pack to her black eye. Soarin looked a little confused.
"And...you are?" Soarin asked.
"Soarin, this is Blaze, she's the friend I told you about, she's cool." Rainbow said as she began to tend to Soarin's wings and back.
"So Dash, this is the hunk you told be about?" Blaze asked with a hint of sarcasm. Rainbow groaned.
"Yes Blaze, this is Soarin." Rainbow said. Blaze took a moment to eye up Soarin, something that Soarin found a little uncomfortable.
"Wow Dash, you scored!" Blaze shouted just as Fluttershy came back into the room with a first aid kit. Rainbow and Soarin's faces began to turn a slight shade of pink from blushing.
"Blaze, not right now. I'm trying to clean up my injured coltfriend, okay?" Rainbow said, shooting Blaze a glare. Blaze sunk back into her chair in response, still holding the ice pack to her eye.
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash went on with helping Soarin, cleaning up his wound and bandaging it up, cleaning the blood from his coat, and washing his face. Afterwards, Soarin, Rainbow Dash, and Blaze all left the cottage.
"I'll see to you tomorrow Fluttershy." Rainbow waved as they walked away from the cottage. After reaching the end of the path, Blaze stopped them.
"Well, what's the plan now? You both know that tonight isn't gonna be the end of the fighting. The violence between the Wonderbolts and Shadowbolts is probably going increase to a full out war soon." Blaze said.
"I'm not sure. Soarin?" Rainbow asked, looking up to Soarin, who's head was low, deep in thought.
"I don't know, but I need to go back home, I need to see Thunderlane." Soarin said. Rainbow shook her head slightly.
"After what happened tonight, do you really think it's best to go back there?" Rainbow asked.
"I'm sorry, I just need to see my best friend be properly laid to rest, and I promised him I'd take care of Rumble, it was his dying wish." Soarin said, tears forming in his eyes again. Rainbow embraced him again.
"You do what you have to, but what about after that?" Rainbow asked. Blaze cleared her throat, getting the attention of the two of them.
"I think, if things get too ugly, we should leave." Blaze said. Rainbow raised an eyebrow, not really understanding Blaze's suggestion.
"What do you mean "we"?" Rainbow asked.
"I mean you, Soarin, myself, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo should all leave Ponyville unless we can somehow talk the Wonders and the Shadows out of war." Blaze explained.
"Hopefully it won't come to that, but if it does, then yeah, that's a good idea." Soarin said, nodding in agreement.
"For now, let's just go back to our compounds. It's been a long day." Rainbow said, nuzzling into Soarin's side.
Soarin and Rainbow Dash shared in one last goodnight kiss before parting their separate ways. Hopefully for not to long.
As Soarin flew back to the mansion, he felt the nagging worry in the back of his mind that things were about to get worse. He knew Night Stalker would want vengeance, which Soarin had already exacted earlier that night, but Soarin knew that it wouldn't be enough for Night Stalker.
Soarin landed in the courtyard of the Shadowbolts mansion, where most of the Shadowbolts were gathered. The crowd was all gathered around the front porch where Night Stalker, Rumble, Blossomforth and Fleetfoot stood. Soarin carefully made his way through the crowd eventually emerging up front. He finally saw Thunderlane's body, laying on the porch in front of Night Stalker, who's eyes went wide when he saw Soarin.
"My boy, there you are." Night Stalker said with a shaky voice as he flew over to Soarin. He noticed tears in Night Stalker's slightly bloodshot eyes, something Soarin never though he'd ever see. "Where have you been? Did you see what happened?" Night Stalker asked, pointing to Thunderlane's body. Soarin nodded.
"I killed the Wonderbolt responsible. I killed him with Thunderlane's blade." Soarin said, a little loud to make sure the rest of the Shadowbolts heard. A small smile formed on Night Stalker's face before he embraced Soarin, something Soarin never imagined Night Stalker would ever do.
"Thank you Soarin, thank you." Night Stalker said after the embrace. Night Stalker then flew back over to Thunderlane, Soarin followed close behind. Soarin looked down at Thunderlane's body, the stab wounds clear as day and the copper stench of fresh blood still lingering. Night Stalker knelt down and kissed his son's foreheard before turning to the rest of the gathered Shadowbolts.
"Shadowbolts! The time has come! The Wonderbolts have now attacked us, murdering my son in cold blood! Luckily, Soarin managed to step up and avenge his death!" Night Stalker bellowed over the crowd, earning cheers and whoops from the Shadowbolts. "But, this isn't the end, we must act before they come for any more of us, and we must fight until every one of those Wonderbolts perishes!" Night Stalker shouted. The crowd erupted into cheers. Soarin wanted to object, but he knew that he would just make things worse, so he kept quiet.
Before Night Stalker could continue his speech to the Shadowbolts, some gasps were heard and the crowd moved as out from the trees marched a large group of Wonderbolts, led by Solar Storm, with Fire Streak, who carried the still damp and bloody corpse of his older brother. Night Stalker stepped forward towards the Wonderbolts, glaring at Solar Storm.
"I'm sorry, but this is private property, explain your reason for trespassing?" Night Stalker said angrily. Fire Streak carefully dropped his brother's body next to him. A few of the Shadowbolts began to chuckle at the sight, which made Fire Streak furious.
"Which one of you degenerates did this?" Fire Streak shouted angrily at the crowd of Shadowbolts. The crowd remained silent, all looking like they're ready for a fight. Fire Streak scanned the crowd before locking eyes with Soarin, who stepped passed the rest of the Shadowbolts up next to Night Stalker.
"I did." Soarin responded. Both sides kept staring eachother down, until Solar Storm stepped in front of Fire Streak as he was about to pull out his own blade.
"I'll make this quick and simple for you neanderthals. Give us the one who killed Lightning so that he may be punished for his crimes, or we will return with the rest of the Wonderbolts and burn down this sorry excuse for a mansion." Solar Storm explained rather casually.
"Crimes? That dead Wonderbolt there killed one of us! Ever heard of eye for an eye?" Night Stalker shouted angrily, the rest of the crowd cheering in agreement. Solar Storm chuckled in response.
"I see it less as eye for an eye as a Heart for a Finger." Solar Storm said dismissively.
"We won't give him to you, you bitch!" Night Stalker growled. The rest of the Shadowbolts began to approach the Wonderbolts to fight, Until Solar Storm stepped back.
"Fine, I'll give you time to reconsider, but if he isn't in my compound by 6pm tomorrow, this place is going up in flames." Solar Storm said threateningly before turning and leading the rest of the Wonderbolts out. Fire Streak turned and gave Soarin a death glare before flying off. Soarin felt a little worried after that threat. Night Stalker then rested a hoof on Soarin's shoulder.
"Don't worry, we won't give in to her demands, we just need to prepare." Night Stalker said to Soarin before turning to address the rest of the crowd. "We must prepare to fight back!" Night Stalker said, rallying the crowd to start cheering. Soarin quietly slipped away from the crowd and made his way to the window to get into his room.
He climbed in and was met with the painting he had made for Rainbow Dash. His most treasured work, probably forever. He quickly took a spare bed sheet and covered it before moving it to the corner of his bedroom. He then laid down on his bed. After a long night like tonight, he needed a rest, especially for what was going to come next.
As Soarin lay in his bed in his basement bedroom, he could still hear movement above him. It sounded like Nightstalker was calling the whole force currently in Ponyville together. He tried to just close his eyes and fall asleep, but he then heard Nightstalker's voice. It was a little muffled, but he could still hear clearly as his voice traveled through the air ducts.
"You wanted us to meet with you sir?" Fleetfoot asked, standing along with several other Shadowbolts in the mansion's dining room. Nightstalker sat at the end of the large dining table facing the rest of the force. On the table lay Thunderlane's body, covered in white sheets. Next to Nightstalker stood Rumble, who wore a look of both sorrow and anger at the same time. Blossomforth also stood next to the table, fresh tears still streaming down her face as she stroked one of Thunder's forelegs through the sheet. Nightstalker stood up and addressed his followers.
"My loyal Shadowbolts, the time we all knew was coming, is here." Nightstalker began, pointing at his dead son. "A Wonderbolt has finally attacked one of us, fatally, ending in the death of my son, and my heir, Thunderlane." Nightstalker said, his voice sounding shaky before composing himself again. "But, Soarin, one of our most trusted Shadowbolts, slayed Thunder's killer. And of course, the Wonderbolts seek to destroy us if we don't hoof him over." Nightstalker finished. There was numerous conversations among the gathered Shadowbolts, until Nightstalker raised his hoof to silence them.
"Before you say it, I would never consider handing him over. We do not play nice with the Wonderbolts, and if they come back, we will KILL THEM ALL!" Nightstalker bellowed to his congregated audience, who started cheering in response. Nightstalker cleared his throught to gather their attention again.
"Tonight, I have a mission for all of you. We must go and bring in reinforcements. We must bring the rest of the force here, and bring the hammer down on them when they strike." Nightstalker explained. He walked around the table to Fleetfoot and stood before her.
"Fleetfoot, you are one of my fastest Shadowbolts, therefore, I need you to move as fast as you can to retrieve our most valuable ally." Nightstalker explained. Fleetfoot nodded.
"Ok, Where and Who?" Fleetfoot asked. Nightstalker smirked.
"Go to Manehattan, and retrieve my brother......
"Nightshade."
As soon as that name hit Soarin's ears, his stomach dropped. Nightstalker always spoke of his older brother Nightshade as a fierce Shadowbolt, probably even fiercer than he was, and how he had no sympathy for those who stood in his way. According to Nightstalker, Nightshade secured his first Wonderbolt kill at the age of just 10.
Soarin knew now that Nightstalker was ready for an all out war against the Wonderbolts, because Nightshade wasn't a pony you sent for help defending, you sent him to attack, and Soarin knew that they would attack the Wonderbolts back, and it was going to be bloody.
He needed to get him and Dash out of here before it was too late.
Back upstairs, the Shadowbolts had all received their orders and were about to fly out to gather their reinforcements. Fleetfoot lingered a bit longer though, wishing to ask Nightstalker something.
"Uh, Sir, should I relay any orders to Soarin before I leave?" Fleetfoot asked, noticing that Soarin was not there for the debrief. Nightstalker shook his head.
"Let him rest, I will fill him in tomorrow. He needs to sleep now. He'll need plenty of energy for the fight ahead.
Rumble began to walk out of the dining room, his mind swimming in conflicted feelings. He know what he heard and saw earlier. Soarin was....dating....a Wonderbolt? The whole night Rumble was hit with all sorts of emotions. His own brother died, and the other stallion who felt like another brother to him was a traitor? Rumble couldn't handle it. He wanted to tell his father, but something held him back from it.
Maybe it was how well he knew Soarin, or maybe it was the fact that his dead brother's last wish was for Soarin to take care of him, or something that was keeping him from ratting Soarin out.
Before Rumble left, he turned back to face his father, and saw him standing over Thunderlane's body. He was crying. That was something Rumble never saw his father do. Rumble simply stayed silent and left the dining room, leaving his father to mourn.
"I'm....I'm sorry Cloudy. I'm sorry I couldn't protect him. I'm so sorry." Nightstalker weeped as he stood over his son's body.
Over at the Wonderbolt compound, Blaze and Rainbow Dash finally touched back down in the backyard area of the mansion. Fluttershy's cottage was on the opposite side of town, and the flight was longer than it was as they tried their best to avoid contact with both Shadowbolts AND other Wonderbolts. After what happened tonight, they needed to either pick sides, or face their wrath.
"I'm just not sure what we can do now." Rainbow said as she helped Blaze over to the back door. Blaze could still see, but her eye had swelled quite a bit.
"Look, tomorrow, we'll go and find Soarin and we'll think of something, for now, we'll just see how things will turn out. Maybe I can get my mom to just chill out." Blaze said confidently. Rainbow huffed.
"Yeah, I'm sure that'll work." Dash said sarcastically. Blaze didn't respond. Eventually, they both finally reached the door and stepped inside. They walked down the back hall towards the front hall where the stairs were. They reached the main hall when a voice spoke.
"Where were you two?" the voice asked. Blaze and Rainbow turned to see Fire Streak sitting by the large fireplace off to the side in the main hall. He was looking at them angrily. The two remained frozen in place as Fire Streak sat up and started approaching them.
"Where were you?" Fire asked again. The two didn't answer, instead, backed up the stairs behind them, until another voice came from up the stairs.
"ANSWER HIS QUESTION!" the voice behind them shouted. They turned in fear and saw Solar Storm descending the stairs towards them. Eventually, Rainbow saw that they weren't the only ones.
Many other Wonderbolts began to emerge from the shadows, from upstairs, and from the other hallways. Blaze quickly stood between Dash and her mother.
"Mom? What's going on?" Blaze asked. Solar Storm did no answer her daughter. She walked up to Blaze, pushed her aside and grabbed Dash by the neck and held her up so their faces were inches apart. Dash could see the fury in Solar Storm's face and started to panic.
"Where. Were. You?" Blaze repeated, only not as loud, but with emphases on each word that made Dash feel like she was being punched in the face with each word.
"A....at Flu...Fluttershy's." Dash stammered out. Solar Storm let go of her and pushed her back onto the floor at the bottom of the stairs. Dash landed on her back and looked up at Solar Storm, petrified.
"Bullshit! I know you were with him! Probably talking about your little romps and plans to elope and betray the Wonderbolts!" Solar Storm shouted angrily. Blaze got back to her hooves and rushed to her mom.
"Mom Sto- Aaaah!" Blaze started to say before her mother grabbed her in a headlock, holding her steady.
"Quiet you rotten child, I know you were in on this!" Solar Storm shouted at her daughter. Dash got back to her hooves and glared back at Storm.
"We don't know what your talking about!" Dash shouted. A sinister chuckle caught her attention. She turned and saw Fire Streak standing a few feet away, flanked by a few more Wonderbolts.
"We know all about your sweet little romance with the degenerate of a stallion." Fire said with an evil grin. Dash's eyes widened.
"What?" Dash stammered out.
"Your affair with Soarin Skies. Fire told me everything." Solar Storm suddenly said. Dash turned back to her leader, her face still one of pure anger as she held Blaze in her headlock. Dash felt her windpipe begin to constrict. She felt unable to breath. Her stomach dropped, and she felt more afraid than ever before. Solar Storm dragged Blaze with her as she stepped down off the stairs in front of Dash.
"You are pathetic. The Daughter of one of our finest Wonderbolts, reduced to a stupid filly looking to get into false romances with a pony you've been taught to hate." Solar said angrily. Rainbow frowned, finally gathering her courage together.
"It isn't false!" Rainbow argued. She heard a scoff as she felt a hoof begin to brush through her mane. She turned and glared at Fire Streak, flashing her his most shit-eating grin ever.
"What, you really think you love him? That he loves you? Really? He's playing you like a flute!" Fire Streak said angrily. Rainbow stepped away from him, batting his hoof away. In that moment, Dash lost all restraint.
"I do Love HIM! and HE loves me! We're happy no matter what you all say, and he's TEN TIMES the stallion you'll ever be Fire!" Dash shouted angrily. She heard gasps all around her. She saw some of her other Wonderbolt friends like Misty Fly, who had a look of disappointment in her eyes. Fire chuckled.
"Well, at least I can assume that you play his thing like a flute." Fire said suggestively. Rainbow's eye twitched and her rage bursted. She flew forward and socked Fire Streak across the jaw, sending him flying back into a few other Wonderbolts. Solar pointed at Dash and several other Wonderbolts flew and restrained her. Dash thrashed, kicked, and screamed but eventually gave up. She was turned toward Solar Storm.
"You are a whore, and you are a disgrace to the Wonderbolts. I don't know a proper punishment for you yet, but for now, I am placing you under house arrest in your room until further notice." Solar Storm explained with a hint of disgust in her voice. She then turned to her daughter, still in the headlock. "As for you Blaze, I am also placing you under house arrest along with Dash, maybe that'll teach you to follow your mother's words." Solar Storm explained. Blaze simply hung her head in shame. Solar Storm then looked up and waved for Spitfire to come forward. She quickly flew over to Solar Storm's side. Solar Storm looked back at Blaze and forced her head up to look at her cousin.
"You see your cousin Spitfire? She's the true example of who will be a great Wonderbolt leader! Strong, determined, and loyal to the Wonderbolts! Much more of a leader than you are, and because of that, I am naming her my new heir to the Wonderbolts. She will lead when I retire, not you!" Solar Storm yelled. Spitfire's eyes were wide, both from being named the next heir to the Wonderbolts, but also at the look of pure pain and sadness on her cousin's face. It was hard to look at. Solar Storm then released her daughter and threw her to a group of Wonderbolts waiting.
"Take them to their room, bar the windows, and lock the door. Fire Streak?" Solar Storm ordered before calling out to Fire Streak. He quickly approached. "You're in charge of watching them, make sure they don't try anything." Solar Storm ordered. Fire Streak nodded. The Wonderbolts began to drag Dash and Blaze off. Blaze tried to call out to her mother again.
"Mom please! Just liste-"
"SILENCE YOU TREACHEROUS MARE!" Solar Storm shouted, silencing her daughter and making them remain silent for the rest of their trip to their room.
Blaze and Rainbow Dash were thrown into their room with little care and the door was shut behind them and several locking sounds could be heard. Dash quickly got up and went for the window, but saw that the bars were already in place.
"No..." Dash said quietly as tears began to well up in her eyes. Everything had fallen apart so quickly, she didn't know if she could take it. She turned and saw Blaze climbing onto her bed and looking over at her. She too looked utterly destroyed by what they just witnessed.
"I'm so sorry." Blaze said. Dash shook her head and quickly walked to her and threw her forelegs around her in an embrace.
"Don't be." Rainbow said before she began to silently cry into her friends shoulder. Blaze tried her best to comfort her, rubbing her hooves over her back and whispering in her ear.
"It's okay, it'll be okay." Blaze said, trying to calm her down. She then looked out the window at the moon hanging high above the sky.
The morning sun rose above Ponyville in the early hours of the morning as the townsfolk awoke from their slumber to begin their day. One citizen in particular walked with a purpose towards the Wonderbolt's compound.
Fluttershy walked slowly down the road leading to the compound. She wore her usual concerned and shy expression as she passed a few Wonderbolts standing around outside the compound. They all gave her neutral looks and let her walk by. Fluttershy was a regular at the compound, so seeing her heading towards it was nothing new to the Wonderbolts.
Tucked under her wing was a basket filled with a few pastries baked by Flutters herself. Though she wasn't the best baker, she did possess some talent in the kitchen. She was going to share some breakfast with Rainbow Dash and Blaze so they could talk about what to do next. With all that happened the night before, Fluttershy was incredibly worried about what was going to happen next.
She walked through the front door of the compound and began to walk towards the stairs, but stopped when her name was called from the nearby hallway.
"Hello Fluttershy. What brings you here this morning?" Solar Storm asked as she approached Fluttershy.
"Oh, good morning Ms. Storm, I was just stopping by to give some things to Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy explained. She moved to continue walking up the stairs, when Solar Storm extended her wing and stopped her.
"I'm sorry Fluttershy, but I'm afraid Rainbow Dash isn't here at this time." Solar Storm explained. This made Fluttershy confused. She had just seen Dash last night, and she wasn't here?
"Oh, where is she?" Fluttershy asked. Solar Storm began guiding Fluttershy back down the stairs and towards the front door.
"Something happened last night, and I sent her home on leave, and I asked Blaze to accompany her." Solar Storm explained. Fluttershy nodded slightly, unsure if what Solar Storm was saying was truthful. The two finally reached the front door.
"Do you know how long they'll be gone?" Fluttershy asked as Solar Storm opened the front door. Solar Storm shrugged.
"I'm unsure, I told them to take as much time off as they see fit. I'd tell you more but I'm very busy at the moment. When Dash returns I'll have her come find you. Have a nice day!" Solar Storm finished with a rather cheery voice before closing the door behind Fluttershy in a rather rushed way.
Fluttershy stood dumbfounded on the front steps of the compound, confused as to what had just happened. Fluttershy decided to just let it be for now and began walking away when she heard a sound.
"Psssst."
Fluttershy turned back towards the front door where the sound cam from and saw a Wonderbolt standing slightly behind the bushes next to the front entrance. She was waving her hoof for Fluttershy to come over. Fluttershy quickly listened and trotted over to the Wonderbolt, recognizing her as Misty Fly.
"Hello Misty, what's wrong?" Fluttershy asked as she joined Misty behind the bush. Misty glanced around before crouching down lower to the ground and motioning for Fluttershy to do the same, which she did.
"Everything Solar Storm told you was a lie." Misty whispered to Fluttershy. She let out an audible gasp that was a bit to loud for Misty's liking. Misty quickly covered Fluttershy's mouth with a hoof. "I'm not supposed to say anything to anypony, so don't get us caught, okay?" Misty asked. Fluttershy nodded her head and Misty retracted her hoof.
"What do you mean? Where is Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked with a whisper.
"Fire Streak spilled everything about her and the Shadowbolt Soarin." Misty responded. Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Solar Storm was furious. She locked Dash in her room and barred the windows. And since Blaze was in on it with her, she locked her in there too. I don't know what's gonna happen to them now, and.....I don't forgive Dash for her actions either, but you deserved to know the truth Fluttershy." Misty explained. Fluttershy nodded.
"Thank you Misty." Fluttershy whispered. Misty formed a small smile on her lips.
"Don't mention it, now get out of here, before anypony sees us." Misty said. Fluttershy nodded and quickly emerged from behind the bushes when nopony was looking and made a break for the main gates of the compound. Once through, she stopped along the wall to rest for a moment and wrap her head around everything. Her best friend had her own allies turn on her and now she was imprisoned. What could she do?
"Soarin." Fluttershy whispered to herself. She had to tell him the situation. He'd probably know what to do. Fluttershy was about to take off towards the Shadowbolt mansion when another voice caught her attention.
"Hey Fluttershy!" Fluttershy turned and saw Scootaloo walking down the path towards the compound's main gate. Fluttershy quickly stopped her from moving any further down the path.
"Wait, are you going to see Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked. Scootaloo nodded enthusiastically. Fluttershy closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. Scootaloo had to know the truth. She didn't know about Dash and Soarin's situation, but if Dash was now in danger, she needed to know. Fluttershy draped a wing over Scootaloo's back and began to lead her away from the compound. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Uh, what's wrong? Is Rainbow Dash okay?" Scootaloo asked. Fluttershy glanced over her shoulder, she didn't see anypony following them. She turned back to Scootaloo.
"Rainbow Dash is in trouble, and we need to help her." Fluttershy whispered. Scootaloo's eyes widened and she audibly gasped.
"What! What's wrong?!" Scootaloo asked, a little too loudly. Fluttershy shushed her.
"I'll explain everything, but for now, we need to get help." Fluttershy said as she lifted into the air. Scootaloo followed close behind. "I'll explain everything on the way." Fluttershy said as they flew off towards the Shadowbolt mansion.
After quickly getting rid of Fluttershy, Solar Storm quickly headed upstairs to Dash and Blaze's room. Outside the door, Fire Streak was sitting in a chair, looking rather bored. He quickly stiffened up as Solar Storm approached.
"Anything happen since last night?" Solar Storm asked. Fire Streak shook his head.
"Not a peep since we put 'em in there. I can check if you want me to." Fire Streak offered. Solar Storm shook her head.
"No, I'm going in alone right now. I need to get this straightened up now. The sooner we can, the sooner we can move forward.....and avenge your brother's death." Solar Storm explained. Fire Streak nodded and unlocked the door. Solar Storm slowly stepped into the room.
Upon entering, she saw both Blaze and Rainbow Dash laying on their beds. Blaze was looking up at the ceiling, giving her mother a sidelong glance as she entered, and Rainbow Dash was also laying on her bed, facing away from the door.
Solar Storm stepped fully inside and closed the door behind her. She cleared her throat and expected the two to start groveling at her hooves, begging for forgiveness and swearing their loyalty to the Wonderbolts once again, but nothing happened for a solid 30 seconds. Solar Storm finally spoke.
"So.... what have you to say for yourselves?" Solar Storm spoke softly. Blaze finally rolled over to face her mother.
"What do you want us to say? Huh? What did you come up here for?" Blaze asked. Solar Storm glared at her daughter.
"I came up here to see if you changed your minds. More her than you..." She motioned to Rainbow Dash, "...and to see if you've finally come top your senses." She walked over to Dash, who was still facing away. "What's the answer Dash. Have you seen the error of your ways, and realized that you were lured into a destructive mindset by that dirty, underhanded Stallion, and that your family is here, where we are against those Shadowbolts, and we will destroy them for what they did to Lightning Streak?" Solar Storm asked. Dash didn't show any visible reaction to her words, and stayed silent. Solar Storm shrugged and turned to face Blaze.
"What about you honey, have you realized how wrong you were for believing and helping this traitor?" Solar Storm asked. Blaze glared at her and opened her mouth to curse her off, but somepony else cut her off.
"No"
Solar Storm and Blaze both turned their eyes to Dash. She was now facing them, her eyes bloodshot and the coat around her face dried with old tears. Solar Storm raised an eyebrow.
"No?" Solar Storm repeated what Dash said. Dash sat up completely on the bed and glared at Solar Storm.
"No, you're wrong Solar Storm. I will never stop loving him. I will never submit to you! He's a better stallion than any of the filthy, rotten, and pervy Stallions in the Wonderbolts. As far as I know, Lightning got what was coming to him. If you want me to hate Soarin, i'm sorry, but that's never happening. I'd rather die than to turn against him after all the love he's shown me, and I've shown him in return. And if your going to keep up this feud for your selfish pride to keep me away from him, go fuck yourself!" Dash shouted defiantly before going back to facing away from Solar Storm, this time, the soft sound of sobs emanated from her. Solar Storm frowned.
"Then you are still lost, and you will remain imprisoned here until you see otherwise!" Solar Storm shouted before turning back to Blaze.
"What about you? Have you come around?" Solar Storm asked. Blaze frowned.
"Mom, I think Dash is right. This stupid feud has lasted far too long. I'm not saying all of the Shadowbolts are good, but Soarin really isn't that bad. If anything, he was avenging his own friends death. And if this feud keeps going, then many more than Lightning Streak are going to die, on both sides!" Blaze pleaded. Solar Storm frowned, and a look of disappointment appeared on her face.
"I thought I taught you well, I can't believe all that I've taught you has gone away because your friend shagged a Shadowbolt! Need I remind you that your ancestor was lured into a trap and MURDERED by a Shadowbolt! Is this what Sun Spot would have wanted!?" Solar Storm screamed angrily before turning back to the door.
"You are both disgraces to the Wonderbolts!" Solar Storm shouted angrily before slamming the door and storming off down the hall. Fire Streak quickly locked the door again.
After Solar Storm left, Dash's sobs began to grow louder, and Blaze quickly rushed over to comfort her friend. Dash looked up at Blaze with tear filled eyes.
"So that's it then, I'm out of the Wonderbolts, and I'm never going to see Soarin again." Dash squeaked out. Blaze hugged her, trying her best to calm her.
"No, don't think like that, there's gotta be a way for us to get out. We just need to find a way." Blaze whispered. Dash sat up and looked at Blaze in disbelief.
"The window's barred and the door's locked and guarded, how can we get out?" Dash asked.
"We'll find a way, we just need to start looking, okay?" Blaze asked. Dash wiped the tears from her eyes, and gave a determined look to Blaze.
"Okay." Rainbow said confidently. The two then began to search the room, looking for any way to get out.
"I'm coming Soarin, I'm getting out." Dash said quietly to herself.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
"Soarin? You awake? Open Up!"
Soarin sat up from his bed, feeling groggy as he looked over at the door to his room, hearing the loud banging and the voice on the other side of it. The banging emitted from the door again and Soarin quickly sat up fully.
"Come on! Get up already!"
"Don't shout angry like that, maybe you should be little nicer sounding."
Soarin recognized the voices of Rumble and Blossomforth outside.
"Just a second guys." Soarin said as he got out of bed and staggered over to the door and opened it, letting the two into his room.
"About time you got up, cause it's time to give me some answers!" Rumble said angrily as he pushed against Soarin up to the desk. Blossomforth tried to pull Rumble away.
"Rumble! Just calm down! You don't have to say anything Soarin, it isn't our business." Blossomforth said as she struggled to hold Rumble back. Rumble finally freed himself and stood muzzle to muzzle with Soarin again.
"Oh no, you are going to explain to me, uh... US, right now, how you know that Rainbow Dash Wonderbolt!" Rumble shouted in Soarin's face. Blossomforth pulled Rumble back again and pressed a feather to his lips.
"Well, why do you want to know?" Soarin asked. Rumble growled.
"Because, she showed up when Thunderlane was dying, and he was saying some things that I didn't bring up then because I was caught up in that moment. But now I want you to spill, or I just might bring it up with dad first!" Rumble said angrily. Soarin sighed and sat on the edge of his bed.
"What do you want to know?" Soarin asked.
"What's the deal between you and her. What Thunderlane said makes it obvious, but I want to hear it from you." Rumble said. Soarin nodded.
"Yeah, me and her are.....dating, you could say." Soarin explained. Rumble looked disgusted, while Blossomforth smiled. She was suddenly distracted by something as Rumble continued.
"Wait....so, You are dating a WONDERBOLT! Despite everything dad told us, and what we've been doing for years while you've lived with us, you suddenly have the hots for them? Unless you're planning on betraying them...." Rumble rambled, Soarin suddenly stood up defiantly.
"NEVER! It's not like that, it's real. And she really likes me too!" Soarin defended. Rumble was about to talk back, when Blossomforth suddenly spoke.
"This.....this is beautiful..." Blossomforth said as she stood by Soarin's closet, admiring what was inside. Rumble and Soarin looked over at what she was admiring.
Soarin's painting of Rainbow Dash.
"Woah..." Rumble muttered as he and Soarin stepped over to Blossomforth. Blossomforth was tracing her hoof along the edge of the painting, admiring every detail on it.
"Did you do this?" Blossomforth asked. Soarin nodded as he reached out to touch it.
"Yep. This is the most prized work I've done. The others are great, but this one was made out of something else." Soarin said as he stared at the image of Dash in the center.
"I wanted to capture everything beautiful about her in one image. Her radiant mane, her rosy eyes, her adventurous, brash and bold personality, and everything else that makes me love her so much." Soarin said. Blossomforth smiled and looked over at Soarin, who looked as if he had just seen the most prized treasure ever to be found.
"You really love her? Don't you?" Blossomforth asked. Soarin nodded, his eyes shining like emeralds as he gazed at the painting.
"I love her, so much. She means the world to me. More than anything else." Soarin said softly. He turned to look at Rumble, who was also looking at the painting with a look of surprise. He knew about Soarin's talent and seen other paintings he had done, but this was on a different level for Soarin. This was a work of art worthy of royalty. Soarin smirked at the shocked colt.
"So, does that answer your question?" Soarin asked. Rumble nodded.
"Okay, so you really love her. What about dad? what's he gonna think of this?" Rumble asked. Soarin shook his head.
"No, He can't know about this, or us. If he does he might do something crazy, and with Nightshade coming, along with more reinforcements, more violence is inevitable, and I can't let her get hurt. We need to leave soon." Soarin said frantically. Rumble opened his mouth to protest, when suddenly the basement window opened over Soarin's bed. The three occupants in the room looked over and saw two pegasi looking down at them.
"Oh, is this a bad time? We can come back later if you need us to." Fluttershy said quietly as she and Scootaloo poked their heads through the window. Fluttershy moved to close the window, but Soarin quickly jumped up to stop her.
"No, no, just get in here before somepony sees you!" Soarin said as he quickly ushered the two into the room.
"Who are these fillies?" Rumble asked. Soarin motioned to them.
"This is Fluttershy, she's Rainbow Dash's friend, and she is...." Soarin trailed off, not remembering who the orange filly was. She trotted over to him and began to closely inspect him, eyeing him up and walking in a circle around him. Eventually she stopped in front of him and smiled.
"You don't look like a bum, which is good enough for me." She extended her hoof, "I'm Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash's Surrogate sister!" She said enthusiastically as Soarin shook her hoof. Soarin nodded and motioned to Rumble and Blossom.
"This is Rumble, Thunderlane's little brother, and that's Blossomforth. She was Thunderlane's marefriend." Soarin said sadly as he introduced her. Fluttershy put a hoof to her mouth.
"Oh, I'm very sorry about what happened." Fluttershy said. Blossomforth smiled.
"Thank you." Blossom said with a little smile.
"Hey, aren't you that filly I danced with at the Summer Sun Celebration?" Rumble asked Scootaloo. She squinted her eyes at the colt and smirked.
"I think I was. I wonder if your dancing skills have improved since then, cause you had 4 left hooves on that dance floor. We can try again if you wanna?" Scootaloo said smugly.
"Eh, pass." Rumble said grumpily. Soarin quickly turned back to Fluttershy.
"So what are you guys doing here? is everything okay?" Soarin asked. Fluttershy shook her head.
"No, I went to see Dash this morning, but Solar Storm told me she was "on leave". I was just going to leave it at that, but then another Wonderbolt named Misty Fly pulled me aside and told me that Dash and Blaze have been locked up at the Wonderbolt compound." Fluttershy explained. Soarin gasped.
"What? But Why?!" Soarin asked angrily.
"She said that Fire Streak spilled everything to Solar Storm about you two, I guess that's why she did it." Fluttershy said. Soarin gritted his teeth and stumbled over to the desk and slammed his hoof down.
"That bastard! We have to get them out!" Soarin said as he turned to the rest of them. Rumble shook his head.
"Woah, we? I think this is a "you" problem. I don't do things for Wonderbolts." Rumble said. Soarin glared at him.
"I thought you understood me when you saw the painting!" Soarin said.
"Yes, I understand you, but I don't want to get mixed up in this." Rumble said.
"But I need help, they need help!" Soarin argued. Rumble just glared back at Soarin, both giving eachother angry looks, when suddenly Blossom spoke up.
"I'll help you." Blossom said as she stepped forward. Soarin stared in slight disbelief before shaking his head.
"No, I can't ask you to get involved Blossom, you've been through enough already." Soarin said. Rumble frowned.
"Oh, she'd been through too much but I haven't, so I have to help?!" Rumble shouted. Soarin was about to protest when Blossomforth stepped between them.
"Stop, both of you!" Blossom said sternly. Both shut up. Blossom then turned to Soarin.
"I'll help you get her out, whether you're okay with it or not." Blossom said before turning back and walking over to the painting.
"But...why?" Soarin asked. Blossom looked back at him and smiled.
"Losing Thunder was.....hard. Probably the most difficult thing I've ever had to endure in my life. He was everything to me. I cried to much last night, and I'm surprised I'm not crying right now. But After seeing this...." She motioned to the painting, "...and hearing what you had to say, I believe you. You love her, like I loved Thunderlane, and if I can help in any way to stop the same thing happening to you two, leaving either you or Dash alone, then I'll help." Blossom said, tears falling from her eyes. Soarin smiled at her.
"Thanks Blossom." Soarin said.
"I'm helping to!" Fluttershy suddenly said, "Rainbow Dash is my oldest friend, and I'd do anything for her." Fluttershy explained. Soarin smiled at her as well. Scootaloo suddenly spoke up too.
"I'm helping too! What kind of sister would I be if I didn't?" She said with a determined tone. Soarin nodded at her before turning to Rumble, who still looked unsure. Soarin took a step towards him.
"Please Rumble, it's what Thunder would have wanted." Soarin said. Rumble took a deep breath in and shook his head out.
"You know what, fine, I'll help, but I'm not getting dragged in further. You're a great guy Soarin, but my place is here with Dad and the rest of the Shadowbolts, I don't want to risk losing my place here." Rumble explained. Soarin nodded
"Thanks Rumble, it means a lot to me." Soarin said.
"Yeah, whatever." Rumble scoffed.
"Okay, but now, we need a plan, before the reinforcements get here." Blossom spoke up. Soarin nodded and flew over to the window and opened it.
"Let's get out of here first, we'll go to Fluttershy's cottage to plan, is that okay?" Soarin asked Fluttershy.
"That's fine by me." Fluttershy responded. Soarin nodded as he led the others out of the basement, and when nopony was looking, took off from the mansion grounds towards Ponyville.
The small group of pegasi quickly flew over Ponyville from the Shadowbolt mansion to the edge of town and landed in front of Fluttershy's cottage. They swiftly made their way inside and gathered around in Fluttershy's kitchen, where they began formulating their plan to get Rainbow Dash and Blaze out of their situation.
"Alright, if we're gonna get them out, then we need to get them out as soon as possible, tonight if possible." Soarin began as he addressed the others. Rumble stepped forward and shook his head.
"Are you crazy? That place is like a fortress, we'd never be able to get in there and out with them with our tails intact!" Rumble argued. Soarin was about to argue back when Blossomforth interrupted.
"Wait, Rumble, isn't your father bringing in the reinforcements to protect the mansion?" Blossom asked. Rumble thought for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, he's taking Solar Storm's threat seriously, ready to defend the house." Rumble explained. Blossomforth smirked.
"That's how we get in." Blossomforth said confidently. Soarin smiled and pointed at her.
"That's it! If the Wonderbolts really are planning on attacking the mansion tonight, then that can be our ticket to getting Dash out!" Soarin said happily. Fluttershy stepped in.
"Maybe, but I don't think they'll leave the compound unguarded, even if they need lots of Wonderbolts for the offensive attack." Fluttershy brought up. Soarin nodded and furrowed his brow trying to think of a way around this. Scootaloo quickly slammed her hoof down on the table to get everyone's attention.
"We'll need a distraction, something to draw their attention away while the rest go to break Dash and Blaze out." Scootaloo explained. Soarin smiled.
"That's a great idea, but we need to find something to use in a distraction. Hopefully one that can minimize casualties." Soarin said as he pondered with a hoof to his chin. The others all fell silent as they tried to come up with more ideas that could help in their plan, when Rumble thought of something.
"Fire Bottles." Rumble suddenly blurted out, startling everyone else around the table.
"So, fire-starting?' Blossomforth asked, Rumble smirked and nodded.
"All we need is some bottles of alcohol, some rags, and we can start a fire on the compound grounds, maybe burn a few of their trees, and while they're distracted with putting the fire out, we can get to Dash and Blaze." Rumble explained. Soarin's eyes widened with how that plan wasn't completely awful.
"Wow, that's risky, but it could work. But who's gonna do it?" Soarin asked, Rumble quickly stood up and took out his switchblade.
"I'll do it, I can buy you some time to get out, and if I get into any scrapes, I can take out some Wonderbolts in the process." Rumble said confidently, with Fluttershy and Scootaloo wincing at his words. Blossomforth put a hoof on Rumble's shoulder.
"I'll help you, you'll need somepony to watch your back." Blossom said. Soarin nodded, agreeing with their part before turning to the other two.
"That means we are the ones who are going in to save Dash and Blaze." He said to Fluttershy and Scootaloo. They both nodded. "I hope one of you know your way around?" Soarin asked.
"We know where Dash and Blaze's room is." Fluttershy clarified. Soarin nodded before turning to face everyone and clearing his throat.
"Okay then here's the plan. Today, we get what we need, bottles, rags, matches, rope, and anything we may need if this gets hairy. Fluttershy, you and Scootaloo keep watch over by the compound today and one of you come get the rest of us when the Wonderbolt force moves out to attack the mansion." Fluttershy and Scootaloo nodded. "Blossom and Rumble, once we all get there, you two will use the bottles to start fires, throw some at the trees they have around the back and front yards, hopefully they'll burn easily." He turned to face Scootaloo and Fluttershy again. "While they distract, the three of us will make our way inside and up to their room, I'll take care of any Wonderbolts in our way, and hopefully we can get them out with ease, but I'll break down their door if I have to." As Soarin explained his plan, he could feel his confidence rising, he felt stronger and more determined than ever before. He was going to do this, he was going to save Dash.
"What's gonna happen after you get them out?" Rumble asked. Soarin looked out the window towards Ponyville and sighed.
"We need to leave. Between Nightstalker bringing in reinforcements and Solar Storm planning an all out attack, I have a feeling Ponyville might suffer the same fate as Quirky Creek." Soarin said. Rumble's eyes widened for a second and he nodded.
Quirky Creek was another small town that the Shadowbolts and Wonderbolts found themselves fighting in, but when they started the heavy fighting, the town ended up burned to the ground, and sever civilians ending up dead as a result. Soarin looked at everyone around the table with a sad look on his face.
"I don't know if any of you want to stay here, but if you do want to stay, I won't stop you." Soarin explained, seeing mixed reactions around the table. Fluttershy looked sad, Scootaloo looked confused, Rumble nodded with a stern expression and Blossomforth shrugged with disinterest.
"I'm sorry Soarin, but I can't leave." Rumble spoke up. "I can't leave dad. I know you didn't always see eye to eye with him, but now he needs me more than ever. With Thunder gone, I need to support him, I hope you understand." Rumble explained. Soarin nodded and placed a hoof on Rumble's shoulder.
"I get it.....just.......take care of yourself kid, and make sure you don't get yourself killed." Soarin said. Rumble snorted slightly and batted Soarin's hoof away.
"Look, I know Thunder said something about taking care of me, but I don't expect to be safe in the Shadowbolts. I was born and raised in this group, and if I die protecting or serving this group, then that's what happens." Rumble explained. Soarin nodded again and Rumble walked to the door and opened it. "I'll get started on those fire bottles, come get me when it's time, I'll be waiting in my room." Rumble said before shutting the door and flying away. Soarin turned back and saw Blossomforth hesitating to speak up.
"What is it Blossom?" Soarin asked.
"I'll probably stay here too. With Thunder....gone.....I can look after Rumble. It'll be the least I can do for Thunder, to honor his dying wish." Blossom offered. Soarin nodded and Blossom smiled. She quickly rushed forward and hugged Soarin.
"Thank you. I'll go help Rumble, see you later." Blossomforth said before releasing Soarin and leaving. Soarin chuckled as Blossom left and he turned back to see Fluttershy and Scootaloo, both still looking conflicted about what to do. Fluttershy began to speak.
"I....I don't know if I can leave. My animals here, they need my help and care, and if Ponyville really is in danger, then those animals may need my help even more." Fluttershy explained. Soarin nodded.
"I understand, Scootaloo?" Soarin said as he turned to Scootaloo after Fluttershy. Scootaloo was biting her lip and darting her eyes back and forth between every surface in the cottage, unable to find an answer.
"It's okay if you don't have an answer, we can talk about it later." Soarin reassured her. Scootaloo took a deep breath and nodded. "You two should get over to the compound. Find a place that's close enough to see, but far enough that they won't see you, and watch them, when it looks like they're starting to mobilize, then come get the rest of us, I'll have us wait outside the mansion grounds. Okay?" Soarin recapped to the other two. They both nodded and all flew off to set their plan into motion. Soarin knew this wasn't going to be easy, but he'd do anything for Dash, and he vowed that he'd get her out of there.
Blaze placed her head against the floor of her room, trying her best to find an angle that could give her a clear picture of what was going on in the hallway from the crack under the door. While she did this, Dash rummaged through every drawer in the room, looking for any item that could help them escape, so far she found a few bobby pins, but nothing else.
Blaze focused on the figure she could see leaning against the wall next to the door. The pale coat was pretty much a dead giveaway that it was Fire Streak. Blaze suddenly moved away from the door when another pony approached in the hallway.
"How's prison guard duty?" the voice of a stallion spoke. Blaze recognized the voice as Altitude's. Fire Streak lightly banged his head against the wall and groaned.
"It's uninteresting, but at least I get to guard some precious cargo." Fire Streak said smugly. Altitude let out a chuckle of agreement before continuing down the hallway.
For the next few minutes, Blaze peered under the door at Fire Streak, watching as he mumbled several coarse things to himself and paced around his post. Blaze wanted nothing more than to bend his spine back and bury his head in his own plot for being such a douche. Him and his brother were the worst, and expected everything just because their family had been Wonderbolts for generations.
Blaze quickly moved away again when she heard her mother's voice and saw her approaching from down the hall.
"How are they?" Solar Storm asked. Fire Streak shrugged.
"Dunno, haven't heard a peep from them for a few hours." Fire Streak explained. Solar Storm sighed
"Well, we'll just have to carry on without them then. We'll be launching our attack on the manor tonight after sundown, make sure they stay locked in there and give them their dinner. I'm leaving Misty Fly in charge while we attack, so go to her if there are any problems, understood?" Solar Storm explained. Fire Streak saluted.
"Yes ma'am." he said enthusiastically. Solar Storm nodded at him to "at ease" and walked away. Fire watched her leave before turning to the door.
"You know, you both could have been great for me and Lightning. Two of the best mares with the two best Stallions, but instead you just had to go and mess everything up." Fire Streak said with a smugness in his voice through the door. Rainbow gritted her teeth and let out a quiet snarl at his words.
"Dashie, if you want out, you just gotta say, and I'll take ya for a wild ride that'll make you glad to be a Wonderbolt. I might even give you one too Blazey." Fire Streak said smugly. Dash nearly blew a gasket, but kept her cool and continued looking, while Blaze had a hard time not becoming enraged from his tone. "It's just an offer, I'll be right outside if you decide to take it." Fire Streak concluded before leaning against the wall once again and continuing his watch.
Blaze looked back and Dash and saw that she had completely ransacked the room, and looked very worried.
"So, did ya find anything useful?" Blaze asked as she stood up from the door and walked over to Dash. Dash rose her hoof to show her.
"Nothing much, just some bobby pins, some pillows, and bedsheets, as well as out uniforms, but nothing else useful." Dash explained. Blaze looked at what they had and thought for a moment, before a lightbulb went off in her head.
"I know, we wait until dinner time, and we stuff these pillows under the blankets to make it look like we're sleeping, and when they come in to give us dinner, we escape, forcefully if we need to." Blaze explained. Dash nodded and smirked, liking the plan.
"Sounds good." Dash said in agreement. Now all they had to do was wait.
Spitfire quickly flew through the halls of the Wonderbolt compound on her way to her aunt's office. She had just been called to speak with her on the upcoming plan of attack, and it was definitely happening that night.
Spitfire had millions of doubts and anxieties swimming through her head as she neared the office door. Was she ready lead soon? Were they ready to attack? Could they win? What would happen if they lost?
All these questions made Spitfire even more anxious, with her beginning to visibly shake, but she quickly took a few deep breaths outside of the office before knocking on the door.
"Who is it?" Solar Storm called from inside.
"It's me Aunt Storm." Spitfire responded, "you wanted to see me?" She asked.
"Yes, come in." Solar Storm answered. Spitfire opened the door and slowly walked over to Solar Storm's desk, which was cluttered with things, like a map of the surrounding area, scrolls containing messages from other Wonderbolt chapters, a planning board, and a mug of coffee. Solar Storm took a sip from the mug before leaning back in her chair and looking back at Spitfire. "Do you know why I wanted to see you?" she asked.
"To go over the plan for tonight, right?" Spitfire responded. Solar Storm nodded and stood up from her chair and began to walk around her desk.
"We attack tonight, we go there around 6pm, get into positions in the surrounding forest, and attack it from all sides." Solar Storm explained, Spitfire was about to agree with the plan, when Solar Storm interrupted her.
"But.....you, along with a few other selected Wonderbolts, will be staying to defend the compound." Solar Storm finished. Spitfire frowned.
"What!? I'm one of the strongest Wonderbolts here! I should be helping with this fight!" Spitfire argued. Solar Storm shook her head.
"That's why I need you here, what if they send a group to attack the compound while we attack them, we need to be ready for any possible plan." Solar Storm explained. "And as the next leader, I can't risk you dying." She continued. Spitfire rolled her eyes and groaned in frustration.
"Then why couldn't you just leave Blaze as the heir, she's already safe enough in her makeshift prison cell." Spitfrie snapped back. Solar Storm turned and glared at Spitfire, her gaze one of anger and disappointment.
"She already lost her chance, with her and Dash's betrayal." Solar Storm said bitterly.
"But don't you think their punishment is a bit much. I'm sure it's just a spur of the moment kind of thing. Like hormones, they'll come around." Spitfire argued. Solar Storm lowered her head and low growl sound escaped her throat. She turned back to Spitfire with a glare as cold as ice.
"I visited them this morning. Dash has no interest of admitting she did wrong, and continues to claim her love for that predator of a stallion in her state of denial, and your cousin is still following her. They are lost, and I don't know what to do with them next." Solar Storm explained. Nearly coming to tears, but managing to hold back before glancing at the clock. It was 3pm. She turned back to Spitfire.
"Go....prepare to defend this place. I need to prepare the attacking force. The time for the battle is near." Solar Storm commanded. Spitfire nodded her head and turned and left the room.
As Spitfire walked through the halls, she could see several other Wonderbolts all getting ready to either go on the attack or stay and defend. Spitfire had a bad feeling about everything. Solar Storm always said that the Wonderbolts needed to attack like a hurricane, build ones strength before attacking quickly and violently, but Spitfire knew that the Wonderbolts weren't ready. Many of the Wonderbolts at the compound were new recruits, barely able to hold their own against Shadowbolts.
Eventually, Spitfire passed by Blaze and Dash's room. Fire Streak was sleeping outside and there was no sound coming from the room. Was Dash wrong? Were they both wrong? Spitfire was raised to believe only the Wonderbolts and to condemn the Shadowbolts for everything they did, no matter what. But as Spitfire began to think more and more about it, the more pointless everything seemed to get to her. This feud was just getting Ponies killed, all because two Wonderbolts from the past didn't like eachother, and ever since Swift Shadow killed Sun Spot, it's been nonstop violence, violence that is only going to ultimately end in everypony dying and nopony winning. Which Spitfire feared was about to happen.
Spitfire glanced at Blaze and Dash's door one last time before continuing down the hallway.
Nightstalker stared out of the window of his office, looking down on all the other Shadowbolts preparing to defend their home if they needed. That day, already several other chapters of the Shadowbolts from several other cities had arrived to assist, but now, Nightstalker was just waiting on one last arrival.
A knock emitted from his door.
"Sir, it's Fleetfoot." he heard from the hallway. Nightstalker grinned as he turned towards the door.
"Send them in." Nightstalker yelled. The door opened and in strode four Shadowbolts followed by Fleetfoot.
Up front was a Stallion with a pale, bluish coat and a spikey purple mane. He wore the standard Shadowbolt jacket.
"Nightshade."
Walking up to the right of Nightshade was another stallion, this one with an even paler white coat, a cool blue hued mane, and a scar over his muzzle.
"Stratus"
To the left of Nightshade was another stallion, this one taller and more built than the others. He had a grey coat with a silvery mane.
"Charger"
Finally, following behind them all was the only mare among them, with a purple coat and pink and white mane.
"Starry Skies."
They all walked forward until they reached Nightstalker's desk. With a wide grin, Nightstalker reached out his hoof towards Nightshade with his elbow bent on a way that one would hoof wrestle. Nightshade smirked and placed his hoof against Nightstalker's. The two gave eachother competitive looks before they began to hoof wrestle. It was a stalemate, with neither side giving in, until at one point, Nightstalker began to gain the upper hoof, and slammed his brother's hoof onto the desk. Nightshade stood back with a glare and Nightstalker chuckled.
"I've still got it." Nightstalker said smugly. Nightshade let out his own chuckle.
"You definitely do." Nightshade said before grabbing his brother around the neck, pulling him across the desk, placing him in a choke hold, and giving his hair a rough noogie.
"How's the glorious leader been huh?" Nightshade asked after letting his brother go. Nightstalker recovered from the little roughhouse before processing his brother's question and his smile faded. Nightshade's faded as well.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be here to help him." Nightshade said. Nightstalker put his hoof up.
"None of that, you couldn't have known, but now, we have a chance to really get the Wonderbolts back for this. Thank you Fleetfoot." Nightstalker nodded to Fleetfoot, who quickly turned and left the room. After she was gone, Nightstalker and the rest of the Shadowbolts from Manehattan gathered around the desk.
"Though Thunderlane is gone, his death was avenged by Soarin." Nightstalker explained. The other gasped.
"Soarin? That painting fruitcake killed a Wonderbolt?" Charger scoffed in disbelief.
"Yes, he's been uninvolved, but he did do it for his fallen friend. After the Wonderbolt was killed, Solar Storm herself came with the body and demanded I hoof Soarin over. I refused of course, But now she's bringing the hammer down on us, and we need to prepare to defend our castle." Nightstalker explained. The others nodded.
"What do you need us to do?" Stratus asked.
"Yeah! We can make those Wonderbolts tuck their tails between their legs and go climb under a rock if they come to attack!" Starry Skies said enthusiastically. Nightstalker shook his head and smirked.
"I've got things here, I want you four to go to the Wonderbolt compound while they attack here, and take out any Wonderbolt there, then, burn it to the ground for all I care. That'll show them." Nightstalker explained.
"If that's what you want, then we won't let you down, or Thunder for that matter." Nightshade said.
"Breaking, entering, mass murder, and arson?! Now you're speaking my language." Starry Skies said wickedly.
"It's been a while since I've done an infiltration, I'm in." Stratus said as he took out his knife and began to polish it.
"If it means I get to pound some Wonderbolts till their spines are paper, then I'm in." Charger said. Nightstalker looked at all of them and nodded.
"Thank you. Now go and prepare, one of my scouts says the Wonderbolts will be on the attack at 6pm. We must prepare." Nightstalker ordered. The Shadowbolts all nodded and saluted before leaving the office. As they left, Nightstalker turned back to the window and observed the force he had acquired.
"The Wonderbolts end today." Nightstalker said to himself as he watched his small army prepare.
The day passed quickly for the ponies around ponyville, though none of them really knew what was coming. The Wonderbolts had gathered forces from some of the nearby towns as well as reserves from Cloudsdale to help in their siege, while the Shadowbolts gathered reinforcements to help defend the mansion. With both sides ready for a fight, everypony involved knew of the risks...
There was going to be a fight, and it was going to be bloody.
Over at the Wonderbolt compound, the courtyard was full of ponies getting ready to head out and fight. Solar Storm proudly stood in front of the large force of Wonderbolts that she had gathered. All of them had determination and confidence in their eyes and wore Wonderbolt flight suits meant exclusively for combat. Solar Storm grinned as she looked them over, feeling so much pride.
"Fellow Wonderbolts!" Solar Storm bellowed to the crowd, making them all stand at attention, some saluting. As the force began to pay attention, Spitfire walked up next to her aunt, ready to defend the compound while the rest attacked. Solar Storm continued, "Today, we make history. After generations of fighting and building our strength against the Shadowbolts, we are finally going to take them all down!" She rallied, making the crowd cheer.
"Long ago, my Ancestor Sun Spot was murdered by a Shadowbolt, and since then they've been a scourge on Equestria, and just yesterday, one of our greatest Wonderbolts, Lightning Streak, was murdered by another Shadowbolt. A moment of silence for him." Solar Storm ordered. The entire force fell silent, as they all payed respects to Lightning. After half a minute, Solar Storm spoke again.
"Let his death inspire you all to fight your hardest out there, we will not allow the Shadowbolts to continue to torment us, or this land any longer!" Solar Storm chanted. The rest all cheered and began to rally themselves for the fight. Solar Storm smiled at the forces as they prepared and turned to Spitfire.
"Keep an eye on the other Wonderbolts staying here. Fire Streak will be guarding Blaze and Dash, but keep an eye for them just in case." Solar Storm commanded, Spitfire nodded and saluted. Solar Storm nodded back and began to walk away, until Spitfire spoke up.
"What should I do if they escape?" Spitfire asked. Solar Storm stopped. She knew this question would come up, but she wasn't prepared to answer just yet. She would never wish severe harm upon her own daughter....but Dash.....
"Restrain Blaze if you can, and lock her back up. If Dash gets out...." Solar Storm paused, deliberating if she should give Spitfire the order, but she eventually made up her mind.
"...Kill her."
Spitfire audibly gasped upon hearing her aunt's order to kill Dash if she escaped. She was that mad at Dash, to order the rest of the loyal Wonderbolts to take her down if she escaped. Solar Storm waited for Spitfire to respond to the order, and noticed the hesitation in her expression.
"Aunt Storm, isn't this all too much?" Spitfire asked. Solar Storm furrowed her brow and glared at her niece with a piercing gaze of anger.
"What do you mean?" Solar Storm said with a low growl that made Spitfire tremble.
"It's just, are you sure we're ready for this. We are going directly to them to start a fight. Are you sure we can win? Even if we can, it won't be without casualties." Spitfire argued, trying to convince her aunt to call off the attack. Solar Storm shook her head and turned away.
"It's too late Spitfire. If we don't do this now, then they'll win. We must act now if we have any chance of wiping them off the face of Equestria. If I die tonight, then I will take as many of them with me as I must." Solar Storm said in a quiet and calm voice. Spitfire still wasn't sure, especially about killing Dash if she needed.
"What about Blaze and Dash. Isn't killing Dash too much? She's been a stand out Wonderbolt for years, and now your just going to lock her up like a prisoner, after all she's done?" Spitfire said, trying to convince her, but bringing up Dash only made her angrier.
"She WAS a standout Wonderbolt, but she decided to throw away her place here when she went after a Shadowbolt, and now she actually believes she loves him. She has betrayed us, and I'll see her die before she can betray us anymore. Understand?" Solar Storm explained before glaring at Spitfire once again. Spitfire opened her mouth to protest more, but knew it was pointless. She shut her mouth and nodded.
"Yes Ma'am." Spitfire said with a salute.
"Thank you." Solar Storm said before turning back to the crowd.
"Alright, It's time that we get out there, and take care of those Shadowbolts. It's time to give them a taste of what happens when somepony messes with the Wonderbolts!" Solar Storm shouted before taking to the sky,
"OO-Rah!" The Wonderbolt force chanted as they followed her into the skies.
As the force all flew off towards the Shadowbolt mansion, Spitfire stayed and watched with a frightened look on her face. It wasn't going to end well, and Spitfire knew it. She found herself frozen and unable to think straight. Her aunt was flying into a suicide mission, her cousin as well as her cousin's friend was locked up for treachery, and the war between the Wonderbolts and Shadowbolts was upon them.
Spitfire knew everything was about to ignite. The candle was landing on the powder keg, and everything was going to ignite into something that would potentially take many lives. Despite all her years of being a Wonderbolt, Spitfire found herself unable to go along with it. She didn't want to, she couldn't.
She had to get out......but first, she had to get others out too.
At the Shadowbolt's mansion, things were also in preparation mode. The reinforcements from all of the major Shadowbolt chapters had arrived and the small team lead by Nightshade was ready to start their own mission. As this all went on, Rumble was in his room with Blossomforth.
The two of them had spent the afternoon gathering bottles, filling them with oil, and making them into Fire Bottles. After making enough to set the Compound ablaze about 3 times over, they simply laid back and waited for Soarin to come and get them for the escape plan.
Luckily, they didn't have to wait much longer, Soarin finally arrived back at the mansion and flew for Rumble's bedroom window and Rumble opened it for him. Soarin clumsily fell through the open window and quickly stood up and dusted himself down.
"Do you guys have the bottles?" Soarin asked. Rumble opened up his backpack, which was filled with fire bottles, all ready to be lit and thrown.
"We had quite a fun day today, getting all these ready. But if we're gonna do this, then let's just do this." Rumble said. Soarin nodded and turned to Blossomforth, who was now clad in one of Thunderlane's old Shadowbolt jackets and waving a switchblade in front of her.
"Are you ready Blossom?" Soarin asked, though by the way she was dressed and her demeanor, she was probably ready.
"Let's get this done." Blossom confidently said as she grabbed her bag and followed Soarin and Rumble out the window.
The three took off from the second story window, but before they could get very far, a voice from below caught their attention.
"Soarin! Rumble!" The trio turned and saw Nightstalker on the balcony to his office waving for them to come down. Soarin started to panic. Was he going to try to get them to help defend? If he was, then they had to find some way out of it.
The three landed on the balcony by Nightstalker, who had a very stern look on his face as he smoked a cigarette.
"Where are you three going?" he asked menacingly. The trio all froze and glanced in different directions, neither of them knowing how to get out of this situation.
"We're leaving." Rumble suddenly said confidently. Soarin's eyes widened and his pulse quickened. He wanted to speak up to try to give Nightstalker another excuse, but he couldn't. Nightstalker simply looked down at his son and walked up to him. Rumble was prepared for his father to be angry or disappointed, but instead, he did something that none of them expected.
Nightstalker knelt down and pulled Rumble into a hug. Rumble was slightly surprised by his father's action, but did end up also wrapping a leg around his dad and returning the hug. During the hug, Nightstalker gave Soarin and Blossom a look, one of sternness and pleading. After a minute, Nightstalker stepped back from his son and looked at them all.
"Good, I want you as far away from this as possible son." Nightstalker said to Rumbler before looking to Soarin and Blossom, "You two keep him safe, please." Soarin and Blossom both nodded, surprised that he was going this way.
"But dad..." Rumble tried to argue but was cut off.
"No Rumble. I.....I promised your mother that I'd keep you and Thunder safe, but I failed her, and if you die as well....It.....it would be too much to bear, so please, get out of Ponyville, and don't look back." Nightstalker said sternly. Rumble wanted to argue, but he glanced over to Soarin, who gave him a slight nod, and Rumble turned back to his father.
"I will. But, what about you?" Rumble asked. Nightstalker put a hoof on his shoulder.
"I'm afraid I can't promise I will get through this battle unscathed, but I will fight my hardest. But all I care about right now is you being safe. So please, do your old man one more favor Rumble." Nightstalker said sadly. Rumble nodded and embraced his dad one last time before joining the other two. Before they took off, Nightstalker pointed at Soarin.
"You keep him safe Soarin. Please." Nightstalker said. Soarin nodded.
"I will." Soarin simply said before he took to the sky with Rumble and Blossomforth. Nightstalker watched them disappear into the sky. He took another puff from his cigarette before he heard somepony walk out onto the balcony.
"Shall we go now?" Nightshade asked. Nightstalker turned around and nodded.
"Burn that compound to the ground." Nighstalker said coldly. Nightshade nodded and took off from the balcony, where he was quickly joined by the rest of his team. Nightstalker watched them leave as well, afterwards he went back into his office and and walked over to the desk. He pressed a small concealed button on the side of the the desk that opened a hidden compartment under the desk. Inside was a pair of wing blades. Ones that once belonged to Swift Shadow. And now, it was time for Nightstalker to use them.
"If I die tonight, I will take as many of you bastards with me as I can." Nighstalker said as he strapped the blades to his wings.
"For you, my son."
Soarin, Rumble, and Blossomforth all flew over Ponyville, heading towards the compound, ready to put their plan into motion.
"Where's Fluttershy and Scootaloo?" Rumble asked.
"There's a hill overlooking the compound, they said to meet them there." Soarin explained as they got closer. Eventually they got in close enough and Soarin pointed out the hill, and the three rapidly descended towards it. Sure enough, Fluttershy and Scootaloo were both waiting for them.
"About time you guys got here, I think they're ready to go and attack." Scootaloo said as she looked down at the courtyard through a pair of binoculars.
"So, what are we gonna do?" Fluttershy asked.
"First, we wait until they leave, we lie low. Then when they leave, Blossom and Rumble will move in with the fire bottles." Soarin motioned to Rumble and Blossomforth. "Make Sure you guys just focus on those trees out front, that should hopefully be enough to distract them. If things get too risky, GET OUT OF THERE, the rest of us will have to improvise while inside anyway." Soarin explained to Rumble and Blossom, they both nodded and checked their supplies. Soarin then looked to Fluttershy and Scootaloo. "Fluttershy, would you be willing to go in their with me, or would you like to stay out here with Scootaloo?" Soarin asked. Scootaloo immediately frowned and stomped over to Soarin.
"Why do I have to stay out here?" Scootaloo said angrily.
"Because it's too risky, just stay out here until I get Rainbow Dash and Blaze out." Soarin said, but Scootaloo shook her head.
"No way, if Rainbow Dash is in danger, I'm gonna help save her, and that's final!" Scootaloo argued. Soarin wanted to argue further, but decided to let her.
"Fine, just stay with me while we're inside, I'll deal with any resistance." Soarin said sternly, Scootaloo nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Fluttershy spoke up.
"I'll go in to." She said slightly louder than she usually did. Soarin looked over at her cautiously.
"Are you sure?" Soarin asked. Fluttershy looked him directly in the eyes and nodded. Soarin nodded back. Just then, they heard a loud cheer and saw the large force of Wonderbolts take off and begin flying away from the compound and towards the Shadowbolt mansion. The group stayed low and out of sight so none of the Wonderbolts flying overhead could spot them and waited for the large group to be gone.
Soarin looked over at the courtyard once the main force was gone and saw that it was mostly empty, save for a few Wonderbolts wandering around. Soarin turned to Rumble and Blossom.
"Showtime. We'll head in when we see the fire. Just try to light up the trees, and keep casualties to a minimum if you can." Soarin asked.
"Where should we go afterwards?" Rumble asked. Soarin hesitated after he asked, he hadn't thought up to that point, all he wanted to do was leave, but he still didn't know where.
"We'll meet up at the farm at the edge of town, we'll think of where to go from there." Soarin explained. The two nodded and went down to the compound to begin the plan. As Soarin watched them leave, he looked back over at the compound. He had only been apart from Dash for a day, but he already felt like she had been away for an eternity. It was all gonna change tonight, they were finally going to leave.
"Don't worry Dash, I'm coming for you." Soarin said quietly.
Rumble and Blossom both flew low to the ground as they approached the compound's wall. Rumble slowly floated up to peek over the wall and into the yard. The yard was very spacious, with several big and small trees and bushes dotted around the yard, leading over to the porch and path to the main gate, where a few Wonderbolts were patrolling around.
"See anything?" Blossom asked. Rumble looked down and nodded.
"A few of them, mostly by the entrance though." Rumble said.
"How should we do this?" Blossomforth asked. Rumble looked back up and looked over to where the backyard was, he could see the practice area as well as some more bushes and trees.
"Lets split up the fire, I'll light up the backyard, you cover the front yard." Rumble explained. Blossomforth gave Rumble an unsure look.
"Isn't that too risky?" Blossom asked.
"Maybe, but it'll definitely cause a big distraction, hopefully one big enough for the others to get in and out with little resistance." Rumble said.
Blossom thought it over for a second before taking out one of the bottle and taking a deep breath.
"Let's do this." she said before quickly leaping over the wall and hiding in one of the bigger bushes. Rumble quickly did as she did and went for the backyard.
Back on the hill, Soarin, Fluttershy and Scootaloo waited patiently for the distraction to begin. Things were still rather quiet down there, and though Soarin saw Blossomforth and Rumble jump the wall, they were still out of sight, and nothing was happening yet.
Soarin looked over at Fluttershy, who was visibly trembling, looking like she was standing in an earthquake. Soarin went over to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. She jumped a little and looked up at Soarin with a look of fear.
"Are you okay?" Soarin asked. Fluttershy looked away. Soarin sat beside her as she continued to shake. "Your scared, aren't you?" Soarin asked. Fluttershy looked over and slowly nodded. Her pink hair was covering most of her face, something she did when she was afraid, or very shy.
"To be honest, so am I." Soarin said. Fluttershy looked back over at him, her expression one of surprise.
"I-I don't know if I can do this. What if everything goes wrong. What if.....what if somepony gets hurt, o-or worse?" Fluttershy stuttered out. Soarin looked directly into her eyes with a calming expression.
"I'm worried too, but I will keep us all safe to the best of my ability, I promise." Soarin said. Fluttershy gave him a small smile, but it quickly faded.
"I....I still don't know if I can do this." Fluttershy said softly. Soarin once again made her turn to look at him.
"Rainbow Dash is your best friend, right?" Soarin asked. Fluttershy nodded slightly.
"Yeah, she's my oldest friend. For a long time, she was my only friend." Fluttershy said sadly.
"Then let that motivate you. Do you think Dash would believe in you to do this?" Soarin asked. Fluttershy thought for a second before nodding. "Exactly. She'd believe in you, and now, she needs you. So do that for her, believe in yourself." Soarin said. Fluttershy smiled and hugged him.
"Thanks Soarin, I really needed that." Fluttershy said before pulling away. Soarin smiled. "Don't mention it."
Before Soarin could say anything else, a large and bright ball of fire erupted down in the yard in front of the compound. Just a few second after the fire appeared, another ball of fire appeared in the backyard. Soarin looked between Scootaloo and Fluttershy and looked towards the house.
"Let's do this, I'll take care of any Wonderbolts that get in our way, stay by me." Soarin said. Scootaloo and Fluttershy nodded and followed Soarin down to the compound as the alarm began to sound.
Outside of Rainbow Dash and Blaze's room, Fire Streak paced in front of the door, trying to think of something to say to the two mares in the room. He had been watching the room all day, and he hadn't heard a single sound from within. Either they finally decided to be quiet, or they were up to something.
Fire stopped pacing and looked over at the door. He slowly approached it and pressed his forehead against the door before speaking loud enough to be heard through it.
"Dashie? Blazey? You two good in there?" he asked. There was no response. Fire scowled. He was furious that Dash would do something like what she did. He knew that Solar Storm wouldn't let her get out of this easy, or without a severe punishment. He didn't want her to die, but he still wanted her.
"You know Dash, I'm not mad at you, but I'm just disappointed...." he started slowly, "You were one of our best, but you were lost to a haze of lust for a colt that decided to fill your mind with lies and facades that made you turn against us, but I want to make you a proposition..." Fire said through the door. From inside, Dash and Blaze were both under their beds, with pillows and clothes under their blankets to make it look like they were sleeping. Blaze frowned at Fire's words, while Dash looked scared. Blaze gave her a stern look and shook her head, as if telling her non-verbally that Fire was just trying to get in her head.
"I can make all of this normal again, all you need to do is a little something for me, okay?" Fire Streak asked. He waited a few moments, waiting for an answer from within. Fire Streak smacked his hoof against the door in frustration. "Fine then rot away in there you bitch!" He shouted.
Just then, the compound alarm went off, startling Fire Streak as well as the two inside. Fire Streak looked over at the alarm in the hallway with confusion. After a few seconds, Spitfire flew around the corner in front of Fire Streak.
"Fire, there's been some fires started in the yard, I need you to help the others put them out!" Spitfire commanded. Fire Streak motioned his head to the door.
"I'm watching those two now, I can't." Fire Streak said. Spitfire frowned.
"I'll watch them, get out there and help now! Before I lose my patience with you!" Spitfire ordered. Fire Streak rolled his eyes and flew down the hall to go see what the problem was. After he was gone, Spitfire walked over to the door and unlocked and opened it. She stepped into the room and called out their names.
"Blaze? Dash?" She called. The two quickly got out from under the beds, having heard Spitfire and Fire's conversation just then.
"Uh, Spitty? What are you doing here?" Blaze asked. Spitfire looked down and sighed.
"I'm letting you guys go." Spitfire said. The other two were shocked that Spitfire had a turnaround so quickly.
"Really? But...but why?" Dash asked.
"Because....the war's begun. The Wonderbolts and Shadowbolts are going to tear eachother apart and I don't want to see it happen. I'm leaving tonight, and I want you two to leave as well." Spitfire explained. Blaze stepped forward.
"Spitfire, are you sure?" Blaze asked. Spitfire gave Blaze a serious look.
"You're mom's lost it Blaze. I'm so sorry, but there was nothing I could do to stop her. She's flying into a suicide mission and even ordered me to kill Dash if she escaped." Spitfire revealed. Dash's eyes widened in horror. She turned to Blaze.
"We need to leave." Dash said. Spitfire nodded in agreement.
"Just go, I'll tell the others I couldn't stop you. Just....get out of here before anything else bad happens. Please." Spitfire asked sincerely. Blaze and Dash glanced at eachother for a second. Blaze then quickly pulled her cousin into a hug.
"Thanks Spitty, you're the best." Blaze said. Spitfire returned the hug.
"No problem cuz." Spitfire said before she pulled away. "Now get out of here." Spitfire said, small tears formed in the corners of her eyes as Dash and Blaze ran out behind her. Spitfire stood in the empty room, the sirens blaring fading in her peripherals.
Rumble threw another fire bottle at one of the other farther trees before taking cover again in a bush. He had now fully exhausted his supply of fire bottles. The backyard was mostly an inferno, with several Wonderbolts trying to put out the fires.
Rumble stood still and tried to find the best time to fly back to where Blossom was. He was about to make his move when he saw a Wonderbolt close to him, staring directly at him.
"Hey!" The Wonderbolt shouted.
"Crapbaskets." Rumble muttered before chucking his bag at the Wonderbolt and zooming back to the front yard. As he rounded the corner, it was like he was in hell itself. The front yard was glowing with orange flames and Rumble saw Blossomforth in the corner by the wall. He zoomed over to her.
"Nice job Blossom, now lets get out of here before we fry or get beaten." Rumble said quickly, but Blossom didn't move. She stared at the Wonderbolts who were now making there way out to combat the fire, and the ones who had spotted her and Rumble. She looked down at the grey colt.
"Rumble, get out of here." Blossomforth said sternly. Rumble blinked, was she serious?
Blossom, are you crazy? We need to-"
"No! WE don't need to leave, but YOU do!" Blossom shouted as she looked into his eyes. They were determined, but had a softness to them.....like his brother's.
"Blossom, please!" Rumble begged. Blossom shook her head.
"Get out of here Rumble, I need you to be safe. Thunder.....needs you to be safe. Please." She said with a small smile. Rumble quickly embraced her.
"Thank you." he said before flying over the wall and into the nearby woods for cover.
Blossom reached into her bag and pulled out her last two fire bottles. She looked forward and saw a few Wonderbolts rushing at her. She looked down at the jacket and smiled. She quickly lit the bottles and stared back at the Wonderbolts with a smirk. The Wonderbolts closed in on her.
"This is for Thunderlane you BASTARDS!" Blossomforth shouted out in rage. Just as the Wonderbolts were upon her, she threw down the fire bottles on the ground directly in front of her. The liquid from the bottles quickly splashed all over herself and the nearby Wonderbolts...
....and caught fire instantaneously.
The Wonderbolts all quickly began to scream and flail about as the fire began to spread over them, but Blossomforth was calm. She had a small smile on her lips as the fire spread around her white coat, to her pink and green mane. And she closed her eyes before the fire reached them.
The pain was excruciating, but with her eyes closed, Blossomforth thought of Thunderlane, which brought her peace, and closure.
"I'll see you soon Thunder, my love." Blossom thought as the fire consumed her.
Nightshade glided through the sky above Ponyville, his large wings spread out fully as he descended towards the large building at the other edge of town. Behind him, the rest of his team followed close behind him. But as they came closer and closer to the compound, Nightshade noticed something odd that made him stop suddenly and hover in the air. He raised his hoof to the others behind him.
"Stop, something's going on." Nightshade said as he looked down at the brightly lit compound below. Aside from how bright it was down there, the sounds of shouting and screaming could also be heard. "Stratus, what's going on down there?" Nightshade asked. Stratus quickly took a pair of binoculars out of his bag and looked at the compound yard through them.
"Uh...." Stratus opened his mouth to respond to Nightshade, but quickly stopped in confusion. Starry hovered up beside him.
"What is it Strat? Ya catching a glance at some Wonderbolts making Hanky Panky?" Starry asked suggestively. Stratus simply looked up with a confused expression on his face.
"The Compound is already on fire." Stratus said. Starry's smug smile dropped to a confused frown while Nightshade and Charger both rose an eyebrow. Nightshade quickly grabbed the binoculars and looked through them himself. Sure enough, the yard was engulfed in flames, with a few Wonderbolts moving around the yard trying to combat the fire, and a few other unfortunate enough to catch fire themselves.
"What the hell?!" Nightshade said in confusion.
"Maybe they're trying to kill themselves so we don't have to." Starry said with a laugh. Charger scoffed.
"If they are, then let's hurry up. I want to get at least one crushed skull tonight." Charger said as he cracked his neck and forehooves. Nightshade nodded in agreement and gave the binoculars back to Stratus.
"It doesn't matter what's happening now, in fact this might help us. Now let's just get down there and start the fun." Nightshade said with a grin before continuing his glide down to the compound with the others following close behind.
Shortly after the chaos began on the ground, Soarin, Fluttershy and Scootaloo all quickly made their way up to the Compound's roof, where they began looking for a way in. Eventually, Fluttershy found a window big enough for them all to get through, and they were in.
After shutting the window and taking a look at where they were, they found themselves in a hallway on the top floor of the compound. There were only a few doors on that floor, one was labeled stairs, and another was labeled with a large Wonderbolt logo with Solar Storm's name beneath it. The walls were also aligned with several display cases of medals, trophies, uniforms, and photographs of former teams as well as commemorations for Wonderbolts that had passed.
"Okay, where's Dash's room Fluttershy?" Soarin asked. Fluttershy glanced over to the door labeled stairs and pointed.
"We have to go down, her room is on the second floor of the east wing, that's where the female dormitories are." Fluttershy explained. Soarin nodded and followed Fluttershy and Scootaloo to the stairs and made their way down a few flights to the second floor.
While inside, the alarm was continuing to be rung due to the distraction outside, but Soarin knew they probably didn't have long before things dies down and the Wonderbolts came back inside.
The trio finally reached the second floor stairwell door and opened it a crack, Soarin's stomach nearly dropped when he saw a Wonderbolt turn the corner at the end of the hall and began moving to where they were. Soarin was about to leap out and attack him when he was stopped by another Wonderbolt.
"Dude, we need everyone outside, we've got injured!" the further Wonderbolt shouted. The Wonderbolt that was moving towards the stairs stopped and turned around.
"Why? What the hell's happening?!" he shouted.
"Some crazy bitch just burned herself along with a few of us in the yard. We need to get them to the med bay!" the further one shouted. The closer one shrugged and went to follow, disappearing around the corner.
The whole exchanged that the three witnessed left them shocked. "Crazy Bitch" and "Burned Herself". It didn't take long before Fluttershy looked at Soarin with fright.
"Were they....r-referring to B-blossom?" Fluttershy stuttered out. Soarin tried to wrap his head around what he heard, but pushed it from his mind. If that's what happened, then Soarin DID feel bad, but now wasn't the time. They had some ponies to save.
"We'll deal with that later, but now, we have to find Dash and Blaze, c'mon." Soarin said as he pushed open the door and continued to move down the second floor corridors, still wary of other Wonderbolts.
Blaze and Dash quickly moved to the end of another east wing hallway. As they reached the end, they stopped and Blaze peeked around the corner, eyeing where the stairs were, just one hallway left before they could reach the ground floor and find a door to get out. With the security system now fully activated, all the windows had been locked, with exterior doors now being the only way out. Blaze turned back to Dash and nodded.
"Coast is clear, let's go." Blaze whispered. Dash nodded and the two began to make their way down the hallway. They were about halfway to the stairs when somepony leapt from a nearby doorway and grabbed Dash around the neck. Dash immediately started to struggle in the assailants grasp until another hoof wrapped around her. Blaze turned when she heard Dash's struggle and narrowed her gaze into an angry glare.
"Just where do you think you gals are off to?" Fire Streak said as he tightened his grip on Rainbow Dash. She continued to struggle, eventually she tried to bite his hoof, but could look down far enough.
"Just let us go Fire Streak. We don't want anything more to do with this you bastard!" Blaze shouted angrily as she took a few steps forward. Fire Streak stepped back with Dash and drew his switchblade, holding it to Dash's throat.
"Oh no, you aren't getting away this easily. Not after what you two did to my brother, what you did to me, what you did to the Wonderbolts. You're both better off dead for what you've done!" Fire Streak shouted. Blaze became angrier.
"What we've done? You and your brother did nothing but harass us, and look what Lightning did to me!" Blaze shouted, pointing to her blackened eye. Fire scoffed.
"Maybe he wouldn't have done that if you just gave him a chance." Fire Streak said, almost too matter-of-factly. Dash tried to struggle some more, but Fire held the switchblade even closer to her throat. "Maybe you can give me a chance now Dash?" Fire said quieter, leaning into Dash's ear as he held her against him. Dash shivered as he spoke to her. She always hated Fire Streak, but now he was crossing every boundary that had ever existed.
"Get off me." Dash said sternly, loud enough for Fire and Blaze to hear.
"I might, if you give me what I want. What I've wanted since I first saw you." Fire whispered to her. Dash felt like she was caving in. She looked at Blaze with desperation, but refused to fully cave in. Blaze's expression changed from anger to fear. Terrified of what Fire was going to do if she couldn't stop him.
Fire suddenly leaned into Dash further and stuck his snout into her mane. Dash shivered as she felt him inhale. Fire let out a pleasured exhale before leaning back to her ear.
"So, what'll it be Dashie?" Fire asked. Dash was about to tell him off, when something she never expected happened.
Somepony emerged from another one of the hallways that was connected to the hallway they were in, flying so fast that Dash couldn't make out who. She closed her eyes and hear a loud and rough impact on Fire's face. He lost his grip on Dash and was thrown back from her. She felt herself begin to fall, only to be caught by somepony else.
"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU ASSHOLE!" The voice above her shouted.
A very familiar voice. She opened her eyes and looked up. Soarin was there, holding her in his arms, glaring harshly at Fire Streak, who was now lying in a heap on the other side of the hallway. Soarin looked back down at Dash with concern.
"Are you okay?" Soarin asked. Dash didn't even respond before grabbing his face and bringing their lips together in a mental explosion of passion and relief. He was there, and he saved her. After sharing a kiss, they separated, and Soarin helped Dash back to her hooves. She stared into his eyes, beyond overjoyed that he had come to save her.
"I am now." Dash said. Soarin smiled and hugged her tightly.
"I'm so glad you're okay." Soarin whispered. As he hugged her, she saw Fluttershy and Scootaloo rush in next to Blaze, both looking relieved. After Soarin finished embracing her, she ran and hugged Fluttershy and Scootaloo as well.
"You guys.....came for us?" Blaze asked. Fluttershy smiled at her.
"Of course, though, we probably wouldn't have gotten this far without Rumble and Blossomforth." Fluttershy explained. Soarin suddenly cleared his throat.
"Look, we can talk and be happy later, but first, we need to escape, come on." Soarin said, pointing to the stairs.
"NOOO!" a loud voiced boomed from behind them. They all turned to see Fire Streak, who was now standing, his cheek was already starting to swell from the punch that Soarin gave him. His gaze burned like a bonfire and he clutched his switchblade shakily. He growled and started to step forward. As the group was distracted by Fire Streak's sudden outburst, suddenly another pony burst from the stairway and immediately stopped upon seeing the situation in the hallway. The pony, who everyone recognized as Altitude stood confused before finally speaking up.
"What in Grogar's beard is going on!?" he shouted. Fire Streak grinned towards Altitude and waved his switchblade.
"You're just in time Al, now we can take care of these degenerates together." Fire Streak said with a wicked grin. Altitude was taken aback slightly, reaching back for his own switchblade just in case. He looked over at the others and noticed Blaze and Rainbow Dash along with their friends and a very familiar stallion. Blaze suddenly spoke.
"Al, you don't have to get involved, just let us go." Blaze said as she started slowly walking towards him. Altitude stepped away, still unsure what to do.
"Come on Al! They're traitors, and they're going to kill us all!" Fire Streak shouted. Altitude looked back and forth between Fire Streak, Blaze, Rainbow Dash, and the stallion that he finally remembered was Soarin.
But before Altitude could mutter another word, another pony was suddenly towering behind Altitude. Blaze looked up and saw the pony first, but before she could warn Altitude, the pony grabbed Altitude around the neck, lifted him off the ground, took out their own blade, and slowly dragged the blade across Altitude's neck, slitting his throat.
Everypony gasped in horror, Fluttershy let out a small scream and shielded Scootaloo's eyes. Soarin's eyes widened in horror upon recognizing the pony. It was Starry Skies.
"Huh, it's not as fun if they don't fight back, eh, oh well." Starry said before dropping Altitude's body to the floor. She looked back at the group in front of her as Blaze moved away in shock. Starry's eyes landed on Soarin.
"Well, what do we have here guys?" Starry asked as she stepped towards them.
"Looks like somepony's got some explaining to do." another voice came from behind Fire Streak. He quickly turned and found Charger looming over him. He growled at him, but Charger didn't even flinch. From somewhere behind Starry stepped Stratus, glaring at the group. Finally, from one of the perpendicular hallways, Nightshade emerged, carrying the bodies of two dead Wonderbolts. He dropped both to the ground as he stared at Soarin in a mix of confusion and anger.
As the four approached, Fire Streak suddenly launched himself at Charger with a frenzied look in his eyes and his switchblade ready. Charger quickly dodged Fire's initial attack, grabbed Fire Streak's arm holding the blade and swung his arm elbow first into Fire Streak's.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Fire Streak wailed out in pain as Charger took his blade and kicked him to the floor. Charger placed a hoof on Fire Streak's chest to keep him from getting up.
"Wonderbolt Scum." Charger said before raising the blade and plunging it into Fire Streak's neck. He let out a sputter as blood began to pour from his neck. He squirmed and sputtered up blood for a moment before finally ceasing his movement and becoming silent.
Soarin hooked his hoof with Rainbow Dash's as he watched Fire die before them. Dash looked back at him with a face of fear, Soarin gave her a calmer face, but one that still showed some unease, like he was telling her to be strong despite the circumstances. Blaze was growling and glaring daggers at the Shadowbolts. Fluttershy was still shielding Scootaloo from everything as she shed her own fear tears.
Charger stepped off of Fire Streak and went to Nightshade's side. Nightshade nodded in satisfaction at Charger's actions before turning back to Soarin and the others.
"Well, now that it's nice and quiet. Soarin, what are you doing here?" Nightshade asked menacingly. Soarin gave Dash's hoof another firm squeeze before stepping forward.
"I'm here to......get some friends out." Soarin admitted, seeing no other way out of this. Nightshade looked even more confused, Charger frowned even heavier, Stratus scowled, and Starry started chuckling.
"You...came....to get FRIENDS?!" Starry asked while chuckling. "Your telling me your actually friends with these lowlife Wonderbums? Your fruitier than I thought!" Starry said between chuckles. Nightshade ignored Starry's laughing and continued.
"Friends? What do you mean?" He asked. Soarin looked back at them briefly before looking back at Nightshade.
"Nightshade, just let us go. We don't want anything to do with this stupid feud anymore." Soarin explained. Nightshade shook his head.
"What do you mean Friends! Have you really betrayed us! My brother raised you, fed you! You were Thunderlane's best friend, and now, your off gallivanting with his killers? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Nightshade shouted. Soarin quickly pointed to Rainbow Dash. Nightshade looked between her and Soarin, trying to piece it together.
"Her." Soarin said simply before walking back over to Dash. "I love her. She's shown me more appreciation, more care, and has helped me feel the best I've ever felt since my mom died, but now, thanks to this feud, everypony wants to keep us apart." Soarin said as he held Dash's hoof. Dash smiled and blushed at Soarin's words as he flashed her a smile. "But now, no more!" He shouted as he turned back to Nightshade. "I'm done with this feud, I'm done with the Shadowbolts, the Wonderbolts, and everything with this feud! I'm taking her and my friends and we're leaving!" Soarin shouted at Nightshade. Soarin stepped back over to the others after his outburst. He turned to Fluttershy, who was still shielding Scootaloo.
"Futtershy, do you know a different way out besides down the stairs there?" Soarin whispered. Fluttershy nodded and motioned over to one of the other perpendicular hallways. Soarin nodded. "I need you to take the others and get out of here, I'll take care of these guys." Soarin explained. He suddenly felt a hoof on his shoulder.
"No, I'm not leaving you." Dash said as she hugged him. As she did, Blaze came into Soarin's view.
"I'll stay with you to." Blaze said before turning to Fluttershy. "But you two need to get out of here." Blaze whispered. Fluttershy nodded. Dash pulled back from Soarin and he looked back at Nightshade, who looked furious.
"Well then, if you are no longer a Shadowbolt, and wish to work with these Wonderbolts, then you are now our enemy." Nightshade said before taking out his own blade.
"Kill them." Nightshade said to the other Shadowbolts, who quickly moved to attack.
Soarin barely had enough time to react as Charger lunged forward at him and his friends. Luckily he had the reaction time to keep everyone alive.
"GO!" Soarin shouted, quickly diving to the side, somehow grabbing both Fluttershy and Scootaloo and landing further down the hall from Nightshade and Charger. He saw Dash and Blaze had jumped the other way, and were now in a standoff with Stratus and Starry Skies. Soarin let Fluttershy and Scootaloo down.
"Get out of here, and don't look back. I promise we'll see you at the farm." Soarin said sternly before turning back to Charger. Scootaloo opened her mouth to protest, but was quickly pulled away by Fluttershy and the two ran back down the hallway to find another way out. Soarin turned back to face Charger, who was recovering from his missed attack. Nightshade was standing idly off to the side as he observed Charger for a second before looking at Stratus and Starry Skies as they stood ready to fight Blaze and Dash.
"What's wrong Nightshade? Gonna sit it out while making your crew fight us?" Soarin snarkily asked. Nightshade simply chuckled.
"I just don't want to end this fight too fast. I want to watch you all die slowly. It's more satisfying that way." Nightshade said as he shivered pleasurably. Soarin growled before turning his attention back to Charger, who was baring his teeth and growling back at Soarin.
"Well, let's get this over with then." Soarin said confidently. Charger then let out a battle cry and pumped his wings, shooting towards Soarin very fast. Soarin managed to side step his attack and delivered a swift kick to the side of Charger's gut.
"Ah, erk." Charger grunted as he got back to his hooves and began to frantically attack Soarin, who managed to dodge each punch and kick. Charger may have been mostly muscle, but he was unrefined, and attacked with too much rage. Soarin didn't like to fight, but using the skills that he learned, he was able to maneuver around Charger, waiting for another opening for an attack.
As Soarin avoided Charger, Blaze and Dash stood facing Stratus and Starry Skies. Starry flipped back open her razor blade and waved it around while Stratus took out a cigarette and lit it.
"Uh, really? At a time like this?" Starry asked. Stratus scoffed.
"I only do it when I'm enjoying myself, and I plan to enjoy this." Stratus said as he took out a switchblade with a longer blade than the usual ones. Dash felt intimidated by the two, but refused to show weakness. Blaze gritted her teeth and glared at the two harshly, ready to do her worst.
"Who do you want Starry?" Stratus asked. Starry eyed the two pegasi up, giving each a teasing gaze that they both responded to with a growl.
"Oh, you gals don't swing this way do ya? Oh well, time to die. I'll take the one that leads to the gold." Starry said as she pointed her blade at Dash. Stratus nodded and looked at Blaze.
"I guess it's you and me flame." Stratus said as he rolled his switchblade over his hoof and charged.
Stratus began to rapidly swipe his switchblade around Blaze, who managed to quickly dodged each attempted strike, waiting for an opening to make a move of her own against him. As Blaze dodged around Stratus, Dash and Starry began to skirmish as well. Dash was a little smaller than an average pegasus, and used this to avoid Starry who was swinging her blade around wildly while giggling to herself.
"You're a slippery one ain't ya?" Starry taunted as she tried to strike Dash again, only for her blade to be wedged in the floor, giving Dash a chance to kick her directly in the snout and away from her weapon. Dash quickly tried to pull the blade from the floor as Starry stood back up.
"You've got a lotta spunk colors..." Starry began as she walked back over to Dash, who was struggling to pull the blade free. "But it can only carry you so far." Starry finished before she grabbed Dash by the back of the neck and forced her to the ground next to the blade.
"AH!" Dash grunted in pain as she was forced down. Blaze looked over at Dash from her fight with Stratus and attempted to fly to her aid, only to be intercepted by Stratus who grabbed her and flung her against the wall.
"Sorry, only two per tango." Stratus sneered.
Soarin noticed the others struggling to fight, but was too busy holding his own against Charger to help them. No matter how many times Soarin punched him, Charger never seemed to budge. Soarin quickly glanced over at Nightshade, who looked like he was inching away towards the stairwell.
"Alright, it looks like you guys can take it from here, but if you'll excuse me, I've gotta fly!" Nightshade taunted before darting into the stairwell and disappearing. Soarin tried to follow after him, but was stopped by Charger. Soarin tried to force his way past, but ended up butting heads and hooves with Charger. The two pressed against eachother with all their might, waiting to see who broke first. Soarin also glanced at the others. Blaze was getting up after being flung at the wall, and Starry was on top of Dash's back, pressing a hoof sharply into her wing joints.
"AHHHHH! EERRG!" Dash cried out in pain as the muscles in her wings started to pop and strain. Starry was laughing even harder.
"NO! GET AWAY FROM HER!" Soarin shouted as he struggled against Charger, who was beginning to push Soarin back inch by inch. Starry chuckled at Soarin's reaction.
"Oh? The fruitcake really is protective of you. I want to hear more." Starry said as she pressed harder. Dash gritted her teeth and tried to hold in all the pain she felt, but let by many grunts and cries.
"Stop! Please!" Blaze shouted in anger. Starry laughed even harder as she kept hurting Dash.
"GO ON! SCREAM! SCREAM FOR ME BITCH!" Starry shouted before cackling madly, the sounds of anger and pain like music to her ears. She was about to finish the job, when something hit her incredibly hard in the jaw and she was flung back away from Dash and crashed into Stratus, knocking them both to the ground.
Blaze gasped as she saw who had just rushed in and saved Dash. "S-Spitfire?" Blaze stammered out as she rushed to Dash's side and helped her up.
"So, you're the sorry excuses for ponies that Nightstalker sent? I'm gonna kill you." Spitfire said with intimidation and anger in her voice.
Spitfire's sudden appearance was also enough to distract Charger, enough for Soarin to kick Charger's knees out and headbutt him back away from him. Charger turned and growled at Spitfire before turning to the rest of his team. Stratus and Starry both stood back up and scowled at Spitfire.
"Oh, Another One? This is our lucky day!" Starry said sarcastically. Stratus shrugged.
"If that means one more Wonderbolt to kill, then I'm fine with it." Stratus said before taking his switchblade again and launching at Spitfire. As they came to blows, Blaze helped Dash back to her hooves.
"Are you okay? Are your wings hurt?" Blaze asked. Dash stretched out her wings and flapped them a few times, showing that they weren't broken.
"Fine, but they'll be sore in the morning." Dash said, relieving both Blaze and Soarin, who was still in a standoff with Charger, waiting for the beast to make a move. Starry let out a sinister laugh as she approached Blaze and Dash.
"Oh, but you won't live to see the morning, so technically, they won't be sore!" Starry said with fake cheeriness before attacking again.
Blaze and Dash began to move around Starry as she fought them, both tried several times to land hits on her, only to either miss or do little to nothing against her. Blaze was struck in the snout at one point, making her right nostril bleed, but she didn't slow down one bit.
Stratus and Spitfire moved around eachother, with the two also exchanging blows, though Stratus only managed to give Spitfire a small nick on the arm with his blade. Stratus groaned as Spitfire expertly avoided his attacks.
"STAY STILL!" Stratus shouted in anger. Spitfire blew a raspberry in response to his rage boiling over. "What is it about the Wonderbolts that just love to breed ponies that look like candles?!" Stratus taunted, trying to make Spitfire loose her temper as well. Spitfire remained calm and swiftly punched Stratus across the muzzle, making him stumble back and drop the switchblade.
"At least I can land a punch Shittybolt." Spitfire taunted. Stratus narrowed his eyes into a piercing gaze of anger and howled in rage before lunging at Spitfire and tackling her to the ground. He tried to bite and punch her as they rolled around on the ground. Spitfire tried to gain any kind of upper hoof, but eventually ended up on her back, with Stratus over her, his hooves closing around her throat. Spitfire sputtered and wheezed as Stratus began to laugh.
"DIE! DIE! DIE!" Stratus yelled as he squeezed his hooves tighter around Spitfire's neck.
"You go Stratus!" Starry shouted from over where she was fighting Dash and Blaze. Blaze tried to help Spitfire, but was grabbed by Starry and dragged back to the fight. Soarin was also preoccupied with fighting Charger again.
Spitfire glanced around her her breathing became difficult and her vision began to go fuzzy, but she spotted Stratus's switchblade just an inch from her left hoof. She strained and used the last bit of strength she had and wrapped her hoof around the blade and plunged it into the side of Stratus' neck.
Stratus let out a choked grunt and spit a few drops of blood out of his mouth. His eyes widened and darted around, registering the pain he was now feeling. Spitfire quickly kicked Stratus off of her and stood up, looking over her enemy, now choking and writhing in the middle of the hallway. Stratus let out several more grunts and sputters before his movements ceased and his eyes glazed over.
Starry had stopped fighting Blaze as she witnessed Stratus die, same with Charger. Charger was the first to react with rage. He turned back to Soarin and slammed him into one of the walls, picking up their fight.
"I'm Gonna KILL. YOU. ALL!!" Charger shouted as he continued to grapple with Soarin, who was absorbing as many hits as he could, but didn't know how much longer he'd last.
After Stratus stopped moving, Spitfire rushed over to Blaze's side and checked if her cousin was okay. Blaze nodded and turned to Dash, who was looking worryingly at Soarin's fight. Blaze placed a hoof on Dash's shoulder.
"Go help him, me and Spitfire got her." Blaze said, pointing to Starry, who was glaring back at Spitfire, her eye twitching. Dash nodded and flew over to assist Soarin. Starry didn't even notice Dash fly by as she kept her eyes locked on Spitfire, her inner rage building.
"That wasn't funny.....That wasn't funny at all you bitch!" Starry shouted as she picked up her blade and readied herself to charge. Blaze moved up next to Spitfire.
"You ready cuz?" Blaze asked. Spitfire smirked and nodded.
"Let's wreck her shit." Spitfire said a second before Starry charged straight at them.
Soarin was punched in the gut again by Charger, Soarin retaliated with a headbutt and a swift kick to one of his legs. Charger barely flinched though, and grabbed Soarin around the neck.
"You.....you've got some fight in ya colt." Charger said as Soarin struggled in his grip. "But every fight ends, so might as well end it here." Charger said as he moved his hooves to Soarin's neck. Soarin began to desperately struggled against Charger, fearful that it was about to all end, when he heard the sound of a hoof connecting to Charger's face and he was pulled from his grip. He landed on the floor with a grunt and looked at the pony now standing between him and Charger.
"Don't you dare lay a HOOF on him!" Rainbow Dash shouted in anger at Charger, who was still standing, far from being beaten. Dash looked back at Soarin and gave him a confident smile, something that gave him more confidence as well. He stood up and moved next to Dash.
"Dash, you should get out of here. I can handle him, you should get out before you get hu-" Soarin started before Dash pushed a hoof over his mouth. She shook her head.
"I'm not leaving you alone to fight Soarin. I'll stick by your side through thick and thin, even if it's dangerous. I love you." Dash said while looking directly into his eyes. She lowered her hoof and gave him a quick kiss. Soarin smiled back at her.
"I love you too." Soarin said before turning back to Charger. "Are we gonna end this Charger? Or what?" Soarin taunted. Charger chuckled.
"Heh, now I get to kill two of you, just what I wanted." Charger said menacingly before launching forward to attack. Soarin and Dash quickly split apart to avoid Charger and began to attack him from two directions. Soarin continued to attack from the ground, going for Charger's legs in attempts to knock him off balance while Dash attacked from the air, punching him in the head several more times. Charger kept absorbing hits, but began to show a bit of exhaustion and from the constant beating.
Eventually, Soarin managed to get a well placed kick in on Charger's foreleg knee. Charger grunted in pain and fell to the ground for just enough time for Dash to try another aerial attack. But as she moved in for the attack, Charger thrust out his wings and hooves, knocking Soarin away from him and hitting Dash in the face, making her crash in front of him. Charger placed a hoof over the back of Dash's neck and held her while raising his other hoof to fatally strike her.
Soarin looked over and saw Charger raising his hoof to hit Dash's neck. His eyes widened and he felt a quick burst of adrenaline course through his veins. He got back to his hooves and launched himself towards Charger.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Soarin let out a battle cry as he rushed towards Charger. His hoof connected with Charger's snout and the force knocked Charger back first towards the wall, where one of the hallway's many light fixtures were. Charger's body impacted against the wall with a loud crash. However, after the impact, Charger stayed in the spot where he hit the wall, with his back hooves dangling a few inches from the ground.
Soarin helped Dash back to her hooves and the two looked towards Charger and both let out a surprised gasp. Charger was still hanging there. Blood was dripping from his mouth and down his body, turning his green coat and Shadowbolt jacket red. A piece of the light fixture was jutting from Charger's neck and broken glass was littered at his hooves. It was a gruesome sight.
"Are you alright?" Soarin asked as he looked over Dash, who had some bruises and scrapes all over. Dash nodded.
"Yeah, I'm good." Dash said before turning and seeing Spitfire and Blaze trying to fight Starry. Dash gasped and pulled Soarin's arm. "Quick, they need help!" Dash said. They both wasted no time flying over to help them.
Blaze landed another punch to Starry's back, who quickly tried to hit back with a swipe of her blade. Starry growled as the two mares flew around her, disorienting her and making her angry. Spitfire moved in for a kick, but Starry managed to block the attack and tried to cut her with the blade, but Spitfire made a quick retreat.
"Okay you two, you're starting to really PISS ME OFF!" Starry shouted in anger. Blaze snickered as she made another passing punch.
"What? Is the big bad Shadowbolt worried she might actually lose?" Blaze taunted. Starry growled and tried to attack them again, only to hit neither again. The game of exchanging blows continued for another moment before a loud crash sounded throughout the hallway. Starry looked over towards the source of the sound and gasped.
She saw the body of Charger, now hanging on the wall with Dash and Soarin getting up. Starry's brain nearly broke at the sight. Now both Charger ad Stratus were dead, two of the strongest Shadowbolts, defeated by these lowlife wretches. Starry knew that she was most likely not going to get out of this alive, but she knew she couldn't go down alone. As she continued being attacked by Blaze and Spitfire, she moved from trying and failing to attack, to dodging and waiting for a perfect moment to strike.
Blaze leaped forward for a quick strike on Starry, but she managed to dodge, but before Blaze could back out of the attack, she was distracted by Dash and Soarin rushing to to help them. Starry noticed Blaze's distraction and quickly wrapped her arm around Blaze's neck and held her blade to it.
"NO!" Dash and Spitfire cried out almost simultaneously. Blaze struggled in Starry's grip as she began to press the blade against her neck ever so slightly.
"Ope, no no no, stop moving or I'll turn your throat into a waterfall!" Starry growled at Blaze before glaring at the rest. "That goes for you too, one step and she's slit open!" Starry threatened. They all froze. Dash and Spitfire both glared daggers at Starry, though in their heads they were terrified, unable to figure out how to get her out of this situation. Soarin was the first to speak after a moment of silence.
"Just....put her down Starry. There's been enough bloodshed. We can all just walk away with no more deaths." Soarin said calmly. Starry scoffed.
"Pff, that's a pretty sermon coming from the traitor! As long as the Wonderbolts breath, there will NEVER be enough bloodshed. Only one group can come out on top, and it's whoever is the strongest." Starry shouted, rustling around Blaze in her arms as she spoke.
"Please! Let her go! She didn't want any of this, neither of us do! We just want to get far away from this conflict!" Dash pleaded, looking at one of her best friends with fearful look.
"Really? You didn't want this? You signed up for this when you joined the Wonderbolts, and these two agreed to it the moment they were born." Starry motioned to Blaze and Spitfire. Starry then noticed that Soarin had taken a few subtle steps forward.
"Starry......if you want to go on and continue fighting in this war, then we won't stop you. Just......let her go, let us go. We're leaving, and getting away from this town." Soarin said with a sense of calm confidence. Soarin gave Starry a pleading gaze and hoped that she would listen to reason. Starry's eyes darted around and she almost looked to be considering his words before stepping away from him with Blaze.
"No Soarin. I'm a Shadowbolt, loyal through and through. No matter where you run, you will never escape this conflict. It will hang over your heads like a ghost, and eat through your souls like rats until the day you die. We are bound to these groups, we took oaths, and now, we shall carry out what we promised." Starry explained in a voice that was much more softer and calm sounding than Starry's usual crazy tone. Soarin tried to understand what she meant, but none of them had any time to comprehend what she had said before Starry pressed the blade hard against Blaze's neck and slid it across her throat.
"NOOOO!" Spitfire cried out. Blood began to creep out of Blaze's neck wound and Starry tossed her to the floor, where she began to squirm. A smirk appeared on Starry's face, and Spitfire lost it.
She fired at Starry and the two clashed in another close quarters fight. Soarin and Dash were both caught heavily off guard by Spitfire's sudden attack, but quickly rushed to assist Blaze. She was clutching her neck and letting out choking and gagging noises as her eyes darted around in terror. Dash was the first to reach Blaze, and she immediately placed her hooves on Blaze's neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Soarin looked down at the two, wanting to try to help, but deep down, knowing that unless they could get her to intensive care in a very short time, Blaze wasn't going to make it. Soarin watched as Dash desperately tried to help, but to no avail.
"Blaze, Blaze, just look at me, you'll be fine, just stay with me, please." Dash stammered out as she tried to stop the bleeding, but Blaze was actually shaking her head, denying what Dash was saying. Dash stopped and looked into Blaze's eyes, who were actually....calm, and Blaze had a slight smile. Dash saw that Blaze was looking past her. Dash turned and saw Soarin behind her, with a hoof placed on her shoulder. She looked back at Blaze as she opened her mouth. Using that last of her life, Blaze managed to choke out her last words to her friend.
"G--get.....O-out." Blaze managed to say with a strangled choke. Tears began to fall from Dash's eyes as Blaze reached her hoof up and brushed some of her mane out of her eyes. Dash managed to smile back. Blaze's hoof then slide across Dash's cheek as it fell back to her side limply, and Blaze's smile faded, and her eyes glazed over. Her her chest stopped moving up and down and the last of her breath left. Blaze was dead.
The world around Dash felt like it had froze. She looked back at Soarin, who had a sorrowful look on his face as he kept his hoof on her shoulder. She looked over at Spitfire and Starry Skies who were still brawling in the middle of the hallway. Dash felt the tears fall from her eyes and land on Blaze's blank face, and the anger began to quickly build.
A growl escaped Dash's throat as she turned back to the fight between Starry and Spitfire. Starry landed a strong punch against Spitfire's gut and propelled her into the wall, leaving quite a mark in it. Starry then raised her blade to attempt to finish her off, and Dash acted.
She flew and slammed her front hooves directly into Starry's head and sent her to the ground. Starry barely had enough time to react before Dash continued to attack her viciously. She growled and snarled as she attacked with both her hooves and even tried biting her.
Dash's sudden attack made Starry drop her blade, which Spitfire quickly noticed and grabbed. Dash and Starry were now locked into a similar fight that Spitfire was just in. Soarin moved up beside Spitfire.
"I'll knock her into a good position. When she's vulnerable.....go for it." Soarin explained. Spitfire nodded and Soarin lunged forward into the fray. He wrapped his hooves around Starry's neck in an attempt to wrestle her away from Dash.
"Oh CAN YOU JUST PISS OFF FRUITY!?" Starry shouted in frustration. Starry stumbled away from Dash and was left in a vulnerable position in the middle of the hallway. Spitfire noticed the opening and thrust forward. Soarin quickly unlatched his grip from Starry and moved out of the way. Before Starry could move, Spitfire drove the blade into Starry's gut and it emerged out her back and blood poured from the wounds.
"Ack!" Starry grunted and staggered back. She gripped the blade as she looked at the situation she was in. She looked up at the others surrounding her and chuckled.
"Well, I hope Nightshade does better." Starry managed to say, followed by a few coughs before she fully collapsed to the floor. Spitfire and Dash both walked up to her crumpled for and glared down at her.
"That's for Blaze." Spitfire said quietly. Dash spat directly into Starry's face, but she barely flinched. Instead Starry started to chuckle again.
"What the fuck is so funny?" Spitfire asked angrily. Starry simply looked up at Spitfire and grinned.
"You can't win. None of you. The Shadowbolts will crush you, and burn you with all the fires of Tartarus." Starry choked out. Before any of the others could retort, a loud bang was heard throughout the building and a tremor shook the hallway. Dash, Spitfire, and Soarin all looked at eachother worryingly. Starry then began to laugh even harder despite the pain.
"He got it! Yes! Haahahahahahahah!" Starry began laughing maniacally. Spitfire reached down and pulled up Starry's head, making her wince in pain, but kept laughing.
"What do you Mean!" Spitfire angrily asked. Starry kept laughing.
"You'll all burn, and the Shadowbolts will stomp on your ashes." Starry simply said before breaking down into a fit of insane laughter. Spitfire turned back to the other two with a terrified look on her face.
"We need to get out of here, now!" Spitfire said frantically. Soarin and Dash nodded in agreement.
"Lead the way." Soarin insisted. They took off quickly, entering the stairwell and going down, leaving Starry, bleeding out and laughing in the hallway beside her dead comrades.
The trio emerged from the stairwell and quickly flew through the first floor, passing by several bodies as they made a break for the main entrance. As they made their way though, they began to feel a heat, and eventually noticed the flames beginning to spread throughout the mansion.
Flames began to engulf the walls around them, and smoke began to fill the air, making it hard to breath and see. But they continued to press on. They eventually reached the main entrance area, which was still free of fire, but not for long. They quickly made for the front door, but were stopped in their tracks by Nightshade.
"Well, if it isn't the Pathetic Posse. Where's my crew?" He asked. The just glared at him, giving him the answer.
"Oh? I see. Looks like I underestimated you. But no matter. I won't allow you to leave alive." Nightshade said as he blocked the door. Dash and Soarin exchanged frightful glances. Suddenly, the flames began to engulf the area around the ceiling above them, and a large piece of burning supports broke away and fell. Dash noticed it just in time to get out of the way. She moved even closer to Soarin, who placed a wing around her to calm her. Flames erupted all over from behind them, forcing them closer to Nightshade.
"That's it, make your choice. Die to the flames or to me." Nightshade said menacingly.
Spitfire glared at him before looking back at Dash and Soarin. The two looked terrified, they were holding onto eachother, trying to defend the other from the danger around them. Spitfire knew what she had to do now. Her home was destroyed, her cousin was dead, and she was about to die, but she had to give them a chance, a chance that this feud was about to take from them....unless she did something. Spitfire stepped toward Nightshade, glaring at him.
"Do we have a volunteer?" Nightshade asked as he reached for his blade. Spitfire didn't let him get any further before she launched from her spot and began to fly quickly around Nightshade. He was left disoriented as he tried to figure where Spitfire was going to go, when she suddenly attacked him from the side, latching onto his neck and knocking him to the side of the entrance. She lifted her head up and opened her jaws wide....
She bit down on Nightshade's ear.....HARD!
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Nightshade howled out in pain. Dash and Soarin went to assist her, but she quickly put up a hoof to stop them and looked at them with pleading eyes. Shaking her head as she held Nightshade's ear in her mouth. Soarin and Dash still hesitated though and Spitfire let go of Nightshade's ear.
"GET OUT OF HERE! GO!" Spitfire shouted as Nightshade began to flail around. Spitfire retaliated by biting into the ear again, this time, deep enough to severe it, making Nightshade howl in pain again.
Soarin and Dahs glanced at eachother before listening to Spitfire and quickly moving out the front door. They burst through it into the yard and turned back just in time to see Spitfire close and bolt the door behind them.
"NO!" Dash shouted as she flew back to the door. Dash looked through the door's window at Spitfire, pleading for her to come with them. Spitfire calmly shook her head as the flames grew behind her.
"Go Dash, with him. NOW!" Spitfire said sternly. Dash felt more tears squeak out of her eyes and she nodded.
"Thank you.....Spitty." Dash said before turning and flying away from the compound with Soarin. Spitfire watched them fly away before turning back to Nightshade who had recovered from his ear bite.
"Suicide Huh? You are a coward." Nightshade said. Spitfire growled back at him.
"My family's legacy is ending tonight, if I die along with it, then I'm taking you with me, and we're going down all the way to Tartarus!" Spitfire said as the flames grew in intensity around them. Nightshade cleared his throat and cracked his neck.
"Well then, let's finish it then." Nightshade said before lunging at Spitfire. She lunged back at him, as the flames grew around them, engulfing the mansion.....
Soarin and Rainbow Dash flew high over Ponyville, making haste for the small apple farm on the edge of town. Dash flew close to Soarin, never wanting to even let him out of her sight. She made quick glances back behind them, thinking about all that had happened.
Dash eventually found herself tearing up, with everything that had occurred that night striking her all at once, like being struck in the heart with a dagger. She could remember the look on Blaze's face before she died, Spitfire's insistence that they leave, and of course, the compound going up in flames. Her home for the past year had just been destroyed.
"Ah.....ah..." Dash muttered out as tears began to stream down her face, getting Soarin's attention. He reached a hoof over and placed it on her shoulder, giving her a sympathetic look.
"We'll be safe soon, just a bit further." Soarin reassured her. She nodded slightly and continued to fly beside Soarin until they finally reached the farm. The many storm clouds had rolled in and the rumble of thunder could be heard above them.
As they flew over the farm, Soarin pointed to the barn, where lights could be seen inside. They two hovered down as raindrops began to fall from the clouds. The two quickly entered the barn as the downpour began.
The second after Dash and Soarin closed the door to the barn, Dash fired herself at Soarin and squeezed him in a tight embrace that made Soarin feel like he was about to burst. Dash buried her face into his neck and let out all of the emotions she had been forced to hold in that night. Soarin quickly wrapped his arms back around Dash as he felt her tears begin to dampen his fur, but he didn't care, she needed his calming embrace.
As Soarin stayed still and held Dash for as long as she needed he looked over and noticed that the barn was indeed not vacant. Fluttershy and Scootaloo were standing a few feet away, but weren't moving as they saw Dash break down in Soarin's arms. Behind them, Rumble sat on a hay bale, looking on with a sorrowful expression. The last occupant was one of the ponies who ran the farm, Applejack. She gave Soarin a faint smile and nodded to him, as if telling him that the barn was theirs for the night. Soarin nodded back at her before she turned and left the barn.
After a good few minutes of an embrace, Dash stepped away from Soarin, her eyes now red and still a little wet from the tears. She turned to look at Fluttershy and Scootaloo, who looked extremely concerned. Fluttershy took a step forward.
"Dashie? Where's Blaze?" Fluttershy asked. Dash simply shut her eyes and threw herself at Fluttershy. The two hugged tightly, with Dash also signaling for Scootaloo to join. She did and the three shared a moment of shared sadness over their fallen friend. As they did, Soarin trotted over to Rumble.
"Rumble, where's Blossom? Wasn't she supposed to come back here with you?" Soarin asked. Rumble blew air out of his nose before looking back up at Soarin.
"She.....didn't make it." Rumble said quietly. Soarin let out a silent gasp and his eyes widened.
"Wh.....what happened?" Soarin asked with hesitation, unsure if Rumble would be able to recount what happened. But surprisingly, Rumble quickly answered.
"She burned to death on the lawn. Took out a few Wonderbolts with her. She.....she did it to herself......entirely on purpose." Rumble explained. Soarin's eyes became even wider. She self-immolated?
"Any idea why?" Soarin asked. Rumble shrugged.
"No.....but I guess she's back with my brother now." Rumble said as he looked up through one of the barns windows into the stormy sky. Soarin and Rumble then turned their attention back to the others as they finally broke off their hug. Dash quickly wiped her eyes and gave Fluttershy and Scootaloo reassuring looks before returning to Soarin's side.
"So, what's gonna happen now?" Scootaloo asked. Soarin and Dash exchanged worried glances before Dash spoke.
"The Compound....it....it burned to the ground." Dash said, making Fluttershy and Scootaloo both gasp. Soarin growled.
"It was the Shadowbolts, Nightstalker sent in his brother Nightshade and his team. We took out 3 of them, and when we made a break for the exit, Nightshade blocked us." Soarin recounted. Rumble walked up beside Soarin.
"Uncle Nightshade? Dad was serious about this." Rumble said in disbelief.
"Spitfire was the only reason we managed to escape before the place burned down. She.....stayed and fought him." Dash said shakily. Scootaloo quickly went and gave Dash another hug to calm her down as she looked ready to break again. "I...I don't know what's going to happen now, or where we'll go." Dash said. Soarin rested a hoof on her shoulder and looked at everyone else.
"For now, let's just get some rest, and we'll figure out everything tomorrow, Ok?" Soarin suggested. The others nodded and dispersed to get ready to hit the hay. But before Soarin could start turning off the lanterns in the barn, a loud knock was heard at the barn door. Everyone froze, Soarin looked towards the barn door and walked over to it.
"Who is it?" Soarin asked.
"It's Applejack Sugarcube, somepony's here, says she needs to speak with you." Applejack's voice could be heard beyond the door. Soarin exchanged glances with the others, and Dash joined him at his side. Soarin and Dash both nodded to the other before looking back at the door.
"Come in." Soarin said. The barn door opened, and in stepped Applejack, she turned around and motioned to someone just outside the doorway. Then, in stepped Fleetfoot, her usual shadowbolt jacket she wore was not on her, and she had several injuries, including a bleeding cut on her back and a limp in her right hind leg. Soarin and Rumble's eyes widened when they saw her, while Dash failed to hold in a slight growl.
"What are you doing here?" Dash said with a hint of menace, unsure if she was there to take Soarin. Soarin tapped Dash on the shoulder and stepped towards Fleetfoot. Rumble did the same, stepping up next to Soarin.
"Fleet? What are you doing here?" Soarin asked. Rumble went up to her and began to inspect her wounds, Fleetfoot mostly ignored Rumble and looked at Soarin.
"That god I found you. I didn't know where to look, but I needed to warn you." Fleetfoot said as she winced due to her injuries.
"Warn us about what?" Soarin asked. Fleetfoot took a deep breath.
"The mansion, it's been......destroyed. The Wonderbolts managed to take many of us down, so many that the Shadowbolts began to retreat. In the fighting I saw Nightstalker and Solar Storm clashing, but I didn't see the outcome before the mansion became overrun with Wonderbolts. I barely managed to get out unscathed before the mansion caught fire." Fleetfoot explained. Soarin gave her a confused look.
"The Wonderbolts burnt down the mansion too?" Soarin asked. Fleetfoot nodded before also giving a confused look.
"Wait, too? Did....did Nightshade burn down the compound?" Fleetfoot asked. Soarin nodded and Fleet smirked. "Huh, great minds think alike I guess. But that isn't really why I came here, it's Anarchy right now in town, Shadowbolts and Wonderbolts alike are clashing and pretty soon every chapter of the Wonderbolts and Shadowbolts will be fighting." Fleetfoot explained. Dash covered her mouth, realizing that this could mean a kind of war between the two groups, and others might get caught in the crossfire.
"What do we do then?" Soarin asked. Fleetfoot looked down before looking at Soarin, then at Dash.
"I want you to do what I did. If you have anything that gives away your allegiance to either the Shadowbolts or Wonderbolts, get rid of it, and get out of Ponyville. Go into hiding if you have to." Fleetfoot looked back over at Dash. "I don't know what you're doing with her, but I frankly don't want to know, just get out of Ponyville and don't look back." Fleetfoot explained. Soarin was unsure what to think of this, but he saw the panic and fear in Fleetfoot's eyes, something she only ever shown in very rare circumstances. Soarin nodded and stepped over to Dash.
"Thanks Fleet." Soarin said. Fleetfoot smiled.
"Don't mention it. If you two make it out of this alive, come find me in Fillydelphia, I'll buy you guys a drink." Fleetfoot said before quickly turning and heading back into the storm. After she left, Soarin turned back to the others in the room. Rumble was looking after where Fleetfoot had gone, Scootaloo looked extremely worried for Dash, and Fluttershy was staring wide-eyed and looked like she had just realized something horrifying.
"I....I...I need to get home." Fluttershy suddenly said and made a move for the door. Soarin quickly moved in front of her.
"Woah, hey, you heard what Fleet just said, it's a warzone out there. It's best to wait till morning before planning our next move." Soarin said. Fluttershy shook her head.
"Exactly, I have animals there, and if they get caught up in this fighting then they could get hurt or worse. I NEED to make sure they get out okay!" Fluttershy argued. Soarin was ready to argue back when Dash tapped on his shoulder. He looked over and Dash gave him a pleading look.
"Soarin, don't. If her animals are in danger, then nothing is going to stop her." Dash said. Soarin frowned but sighed in defeat and nodded. Dash turned back to Fluttershy and gave her a hug.
"Please be careful Flutters. I Promise you will see me again. Just....don't do anything too risky, okay?" Dash said. Fluttershy nodded. Before she could move for the door, Rumble spoke up.
"I can come with you. Protect you if you need to." Rumble offered. Fluttershy was caught off guard by the offer, but grinned at him.
"That's...very kind of you Rumble." Fluttershy said. Rumble nodded.
"Besides, I have to see if anyone survived at the mansion......see if my dad is OK." Rumble said quietly. Soarin glared at Rumble and walked over to him.
"Rumble?! Are you serious? Did you heard any of what Fleetfoot said?" Soarin shouted angrily. Rumble glared back over at Soarin.
"Yeah, and that's exactly why I need to go back. My family is in danger, and I'm NOT going to run away!" Rumble shouted back, louder than he ever had before and Soarin was taken aback by it. Rumble took a deep breath and walked up to Soarin. He placed of hoof on his shoulder.
"I can't go Soarin. I'm not gonna lie and say that I am 'proud' of my family's history or the conflict with the Wonderbolts, but it's still. my. family. I HAVE to go back." Rumble said sternly. "To give you some hope, if my father.....really.....is......dead.....and if uncle Nightshade is too, then I'm the leader then. And if I can, I will try to the best of my ability to run the Shadowbolts better, and if possible, end this stupid feud." Rumble explained before drawing Soarin into a hug. "I'm gonna miss you bro, but I need to stay. Have a goo life, and keep her safe." Rumble said, motioning to Dash. Soarin gave him a nod before Rumble walked over to Fluttershy.
"Let us be off then." Rumble said. Fluttershy nodded and the two flew off into the storm, leaving Soarin, Dash, and Scootaloo alone in the barn. Soarin turned back to the other two and sighed.
"Alright, I guess now we can hit the hay." Soarin said. Scootaloo had look of hesitation. Dash walked over to her.
"What's wrong squirt?" Dash asked.
"It's just.....so much has happened, and I don't know what I'm gonna do. I can't go back to the orphanage, can I?" Scootaloo asked. Dash gave her a reassuring hug.
"No, you shouldn't, none of us should stay in Ponyville." Dash said.
"But where can we go?" Scootaloo asked. Soarin walked up to the two of them.
"We'll figure that out tomorrow, but for now, we should just get some sleep." Soarin suggested. Dash and Scootaloo nodded. The three then chose their sleeping spots. Applejack had placed sleeping mats and blankets in the corner and in the loft. Scootaloo chose the loft while Dash and Soarin laid in the corner.
Dash snuggled up to Soarin and the two laid in silence in the now dark barn, with nothing but the patter of the rain and the occasional sound of thunder being heard. Soarin felt Dash stir as she snuggled as close as she could to him. He smiled at her through the darkness.
He was beyond happy that they managed to get out alive, but now they had to deal with more trouble on the way it seemed. But Soarin knew that as long as he and Dash were together, nothing would stop them.
"I'm so glad you're okay." Dash suddenly whispered. Soarin smiled.
"I'm glad you're safe too Dash." Soarin whispered back, tightening his grip around her.
"I....I'm kinda scared Soarin. I don't know what's gonna happen, and I'm worried that something worse WILL happen." Dash whispered with a shaky tone. Soarin leaned in and planted a kiss on her lips, Dash was immediately drawn into the kiss and all her worries seemed to melt away as she felt the comforting and warm feeling of his lips against hers. After holding it for a few minutes in blissful darkness, the two pulled away.
"I love you Rainbow Dash. I have fears too, but I am certain that as long as we stick together, watch each other's backs, then we can overcome any hardship. I promise you, I will stick by you and we will pull through." Soarin whispered before planting another kiss on her cheek. Dash smiled wide through the darkness and kissed his lips again.
"I love you too Soarin. I promise that I will always be with you." Dash said before snuggling back into the crook of his neck. Soarin smiled as he felt himself gently drift into sleep.
Rainbow Dash's eyes slowly opened as the morning light flooded into the barn. She let out a long squeak as she stretched out as much as she could, but she couldn't really move around that much. She smiled as she felt the arms still holding her tight.
Her eyes opened again and she could clearly see Soarin's face directly in front of her's. He was still sound asleep, but with a small smile still on his face. His arms continued to shift, seemingly pulling Dash as tightly to him as he could even in his sleep. Dash felt her heart swell as she remained still, savoring this little precious moment with the stallion she had fallen in love with.
Of course, her thoughts soon drifted to what would happen next. Where could they go? Pretty much every major city in Equestria had at least one Wonderbolt and one Shadowbolt chapter in it. No matter where they went, they would probably still be stuck in the feud, whether they wanted to or not.
But almost as quickly as the thoughts entered her head, as soon as she focused back on Soarin, all of it vanished. She knew it was tough, but she was tough, and Soarin was tough. As long as they were together, Dash didn't care about the danger they may soon be in. As long as she was with him, she knew she'd be safe.
After another few minutes of silence, Soarin began to stir and he released a long groan and a yawn before his eyes opened. He looked over and saw Dash's smiling face in front of his and he smiled back, happy that they were still together, happy that they managed to get away the night before.
"Morning." Dash whispered, leaning in to peck Soarin on the cheek. Soarin felt his smile get wider before he stopped her from leaning back and placed a kiss on Dash's mouth, keeping her drawn in.
Dash let herself melt into the kiss, it felt like forever since the two had gotten a real chance to be together, with all of the conflicts having gone down, but now they could just be together, for these special moments, no matter how short they were.
Soarin and Dash finally pulled away from one another and stared into eachothers eyes. Both not saying or really doing much, just taking in the sight of the one they loved more than anything.
"Did you sleep well?" Soarin whispered, still looking longingly into her uniquely colored irises. Dash let out a yawn and shuffled to get in a more comfortable position.
"I'm not used to sleeping in the hay, but it wasn't so bad. Good thing you're so comfortable." Dash whispered back with a wink. Soarin chuckled.
"Oh am I? I didn't realize." Soarin joked. The two began to slowly lean in again, almost in an automatic way, like they didn't realize it. They were still enraptured in eachothers eyes, until a voice spoke...
"So, are you guys gonna kiss again? Or should I just leave to let you...you know..."
Soarin and Dash quickly pushed away and looked over at the other side of the barn. Scootaloo was awake and up from where she was sleeping. She had her head resting in her hooves with a smug grinning look on her face.
"Uh, how long have you been watching us Scoots?" Dash asked with a nervous chuckle and a blush emerging onto her cheeks as she and Soarin got up from their laying positions.
"Oh, about an hour. I even saw you wake up Dash." Scootaloo said with a snicker. Dash frowned, her blush growing.
"How did neither of us notice her?" She asked Soarin. He simply shrugged and held in a laugh at Dash's state of how embarrassed she was.
"I've mastered the art of invisibility." Scootaloo said in a fake dramatic tone. Dash scoffed and walked over to her. She wrapped her hoof around her and gave her a noogie.
"Little eavesdropper." Dash said as Scootaloo struggled and laughed. Soarin started laughing as well. Eventually, Dash let Scootaloo go and the three looked at eachother.
"So, what now?" Scootaloo asked. Dash and Soarin looked at eachother. They hadn't really gotten a good chance to discuss what the plan was next. Dash didn't really have any ideas about where they could go. They'd need bits, and to get bits, they'd need a job somewhere. Before Dash was a Wonderbolt, she worked a minimum wage job with the weather patrol in Ponyville, but now that was out of the question, so they needed something else.
"You got any idea Soarin? Cause I've got nothing." Dash said with a defeated look. Soarin stood up and began to fold up the makeshift bedding that Applejack had given them the night before. Dash and Scootaloo joined to help.
"I think, the best course of action right now, is to drift. Go from place to place until we can find somewhere to be free, free from the Wonderbolts and Shadowbolts. I don't care if we have to travel the far reaches of Equestria to get away, but we WILL be free from them, I promise you two." Soarin explained as they finished folding up the blankets. Scootaloo and Dash gave eachother glances, looking for either to be skeptical or unsure of the plan, but only saw nods.
"It's better than no plan at all, so let's do it." Dash said confidently as she hugged Soarin. The two looked over at Scootaloo, inviting her to join.
"Aw, if she's in, then so am I." Scootaloo said as she embraced the two older ponies. Dash felt a realization hit her as she hugged the two back. Part of her life had just ended, her time in the Wonderbolts was over, but now, she had a new chapter in her life to look forward to, one she could hopefully spend the rest of it, with her little sister, and the love of her life.
The three slowly moved apart and gave eachother looks of confidence and assurance. Soarin smiled at the two of them.
"Well, let's go."
After giving the makeshift bedding supplies that they had been lent the night before, Applejack was nice enough to give them a few spare backpacks with some extra supplies so they could make it to wherever they decided to head to first. They said their farewells to the farmer and proceeded back to the town. Of course, they made sure not to go directly into town, but they were lucky, since all they needed to do was get to the train station, which was on the edge of town, far from the remains of the Wonderbolt and Shadowbolt mansions.
As they approached the station, they noticed a few townsponies around, and luckily, none of them recognized them. That is, until Dash noticed the yellow one waiting by the ramp leading up to the platform.
When Fluttershy noticed Dash and the others approaching she smiled wider than Dash had ever seen her smile and she flew up to Dash and hugged her tight. Dash was slightly surprised by the sudden embrace, but quickly moved to return the gesture and embraced her oldest friend. She suddenly heard a sniffle and something drip onto her neck as Fluttershy held her. She was crying. Dash slowly pulled away after a few minutes of hugging and Fluttershy wiped her eyes with a hoof.
"I had a feeling you'd be leaving." Fluttershy said with s sniffle. "Just....be careful, OK." Fluttershy managed to sputter out before hugging Dash again.
"I promise I will Flutters. And don't worry, I will see you again. I promise." Dash said as she embraced her best friend. She eventually found herself starting to shed a few tears. She let go of Fluttershy to wipe her eyes. "Darnit, now you've got me all sappy." Dash said through her sadness. Fluttershy giggled and reached into her saddlebag. She pulled out three paper bags, each with the threes initials on them.
"I made you lunches for the train ride. Where are you going?" Fluttershy asked as she gave them each their bag.
"We haven't decided yet, probably wherever's cheapest." Soarin said as he jiggled the coin bag on his back, showing how little bits were in it.
"Thanks for the lunches Flutters, I promise that wherever we end up, i'll write you a letter as soon as we get there. In fact, I'll write frequently." Dash said, giving Fluttershy one last hug. Fluttershy smiled as they separated one last time. She then turned to Scootaloo and gave her a hug.
"Stay safe Scoots, and good luck out there." Fluttershy said as she hugged the smaller Pegasus. Scootaloo nodded and Fluttershy finally turned to Soarin. She then, unexpectedly, pressed her hoof firmly to Soarin's chest and gave him a glare that Soarin didn't expect.
"Take care of them." Fluttershy said in a much harsher tone than Soarin had heard from her thus far, but it quickly faded and her usual soft tone returned. "Please." she said softly. Soarin smiled and nodded.
"I promise. I'll protect them no matter what." Soarin said. Fluttershy hugged him quickly.
"Thank you." She said one last time before grabbing her stuff and walking back towards the town from the station, waving back at them as she went. The three waved her off before turning back and climbing up the ramp to the platform.
"You two go take a seat, I'll go get the tickets." Soarin said, pointing to a bench. Dash and Scootaloo went and sat down while Soarin walked over to the teller.
"Good morning." The teller said happily to Soarin.
"Morning." Soarin simply responded.
"What'll it be?" The teller asked. Soarin glanced at the train arrival times and saw that the next train arriving was for Fillydelphia. While not the best place to end up, it was at least a starting point. If they were lucky, they could find a place similar to Ponyville, a small town that hopefully didn't have a Wonderbolt or Shadowbolt chapter in it yet. Soarin knew Fillyfelphia was a mostly Shadowbolt city, but hopefully that wouldn't be there for long.
"Three tickets to Fillydelphia please." Soarin said. The teller nodded and pulled out three tickets.
"That'll be 15 bits please." The teller said. Soarin took the coin sack from his backpack and opened it, counting out 15 bits, leaving only about a dozen remaining. The teller took the bits and slid the tickets over.
"Thanks." Soarin said as he picked them up with his wing. The teller nodded.
"Have a nice day now." He said with a wave. Soarin waved back. He remembered how nice most people in Ponyville were. If it weren't for the Wonderbolts and Shadowbolts in the town, the place would be perfect. Hell, after last night, things may get better for the town.
As Soarin walked back over to where Dash and Scootaloo were, he saw the two locked in a very interesting conversation, one that Soarin couldn't hear, but could see Scootaloo going on and on about something to Dash, involving many hoof motions and fluttering of wings. Dash was also laughing quite a bit at whatever Scoots was going on about. Soarin found himself smiling as the two interacted.
Most of his life, he didn't really have much of a family. Since his mother died, he was left in the care of Nightstalker. He was a rotten bastard, and the only reason Soarin stuck around was his sons. Thunderlane was the closest Soarin had to a brother, but now he was gone. But as Soarin looked at Dash and Scootaloo, he realized that he now had a new family, in a more of an abstract sense. He wasn't related to them, but they were two ponies he had to protect from the world that didn't like them. He loved Dash more than anything, and Scootaloo was an unfortunate kid who got dragged into all this. But he was going to make sure that they all got through, together.
Soarin walked over to the bench and sat down next to Dash. He gave them each their tickets. "So, what are you silly fillies talking about over here?" he asked. Scootaloo was quick to answer.
"I was telling Rainbow Dash about this time I did a pressure drop during one of my practice sessions a few days ago. It was awesome!" Scootaloo said enthusiastically. Soarin chuckled.
"I don't doubt it." Soarin said as he looked around the platform. There were a few other ponies their, but most of them were just normal townsfolk going about their daily business. That is, until Soarin saw a familiar face land by the ramp. He looked over and saw Rumble walking onto the platform holding something. Soarin stood up and waved Rumble over.
"Rumble, what is Celestia's name are you doing here?" Soarin asked. Rumble walked up with a tired look on his face.
"I....I wanted to give you something before you guys left.....and....." Rumble hesitated. He stopped talking.
"And?" Soarin asked. Rumble exhaled and looked over at Scootaloo.
"I wanted to say bye to Scootaloo." Rumble said. Soarin's eyes widened and he looked at Dash, both of the remembering their short talk the night before. Soarin looked back at what Rumble was carrying.
"What is that you've got for us?" Soarin asked. Rumble took it off his back and held it.
"Last night....the mansion caught fire during the fight. Most of the upper floors were charred.....and the basement was burned up pretty badly, save for this." Rumble said, taking the cloth covering it off. Soarin and Dash both gasped at what Rumble managed to drag out of Soarin's room.
It was Soarin's painting of Dash. It was still completely together, with no evidence of any damage to it. Soarin took it from Rumble and he and Dash looked at it in disbelief. Every brushstroke, line, bit of color, all of it was still intact, and still beautifully done.
"Rumble....I.....how did you find this?" Soarin asked. Rumble shrugged.
"I was combing the smoldering ruins for anything that may have survived the inferno, and I managed to pull that out of the basement. It was in your closet, and strangely enough it was the only thing in your room that wasn't destroyed. I can't say the same for the rest of your art stuff, sorry." Rumble explained. Soarin simply chuckled and looked back at the teenage colt. He quickly embraced him.
"Thanks Rumble, thank you so much." Soarin said before pulling away. Rumble looked back at Soarin with a faint grin.
"No problem Soarin." Rumble said. He then turned to Scootaloo.
"You...you can come with us Rumble, you can get out of this with us, we can get out of this together." Scootaloo tried to get Rumble to come with, but Rumble shook his head and took Scootaloo's hoof.
"I wish I could, but I need to keep watching my father. He survived the burning, and I hope and pray that I can get him to possibly change his ways. Maybe soon I can join you, but not now. With Thunderlane still recently dead, I need to be there for him. I'm sorry." Rumble explained. Scootaloo quickly leaned in and hugged Rumble.
"Just, be safe okay. I hope I'll see you again soon." Scootaloo said before pulling away. Rumble smiled and nodded.
"I hope so too, Scootaloo." Rumble said. He then turned to Soarin and Dash. "You guys stay safe, and I hope to see you all again soon." Rumble said as he spread his wings and turned toward the ramp.
"You stay safe too Rumble." Soarin said back to him. Dash waved as well, and Rumble took off back to town.
The three went and sat back down on the bench. Soarin and Dash both kept looking at the painting. It was still on the thick piece of canvas. Dash and Soarin both exchanged smiles as they admired the painting again. Hopefully, it would be around to symbolize their love forever, as the two ponies who took on a blood feud to find love in eachother.
Soarin eventually took the cloth and covered it again. Dash nudged him in the side.
"Maybe you can get a job doing art commissions somewhere." Dash said. Soarin shrugged.
"I'd need new supplies, since the rest of my stuff is now gone in the fire." Soarin lamented. Dash simply rested against his side, hoping to give him comfort that everything will work out.
After another ten minutes or so of waiting, a train pulled into the station and screeched on its brakes. The doors opened and out stepped several ponies. Once all the ponies arriving got off, the conductor stepped onto the platform with a whistle and a pocket watch. He blew the whistle and shouted.
"ALL Aboard the 10:30 train to Fillydelphia!" He shouted for the rest of the platform to hear. The trio quickly gathered their stuff and entered one of the cars. The took a seat near the rear of the car and all sat down. Soarin and Dash next to eachother, with Scootaloo across from them. The conductor went through the car, taking the tickets from them, before the train finally started moving.
Soarin looked out the window as the train moved along the landscape. He looked back and saw Ponyville disappearing in the distance. He finally left that place behind, that place that brought him so much loss and pain, but also the greatest thing he could have ever received. He looked over at Dash, who was resting her head on his shoulder, her eyes were closed, trying to get to sleep. He looked across at Scootaloo, she was lying completely down in the train seat, asleep. Soarin smiled.
He was heading towards the next part of his life, one that would hopefully end much more happily than what he had just escaped. He had a good feeling. He looked back over at Dash and started to softly stroke her mane. As long as she was by his side, he felt like he could take on the whole world, and nothing would stop him.
They may have been heading into the unknown, but he was ready. Dash was also ready, confident that she, Soarin, and Scoots could find someplace where they could all be happy. But only time could tell.
Dash opened her eyes again and saw Scoots already dozing off on her seat. She looked up at Soarin who was staring out the window. She reached a hoof up and stroked his cheek. Soarin looked over and smiled at her.
"Hey Soarin?" Dash whispered.
"Yeah Dashie?" Soarin whispered back.
"We'll get through this, juts like we did before. You, me, and her." Dash said, motioning to Scoots. Soarin nodded.
"I'm more than certain. As long as you're by my side." Soarin said, reaching over and pulling her closer to him. Dash smiled.
"I love you Soarin." Dash said.
"I love you too Rainbow Dash." Soarin said, and they leaned in and kissed, shivering with the great feeling they felt every time their lips connected.
The train continued to clatter and clink along the train tracks, heading towards Fillydelphia. The future uncertain for the two of them, but they were certain in their hearts that as long as they were together, they would pull through, no matter what blood feud got in their way.
