Event Horizon

The birds chirped, the sun shone, and people began their day.

Thud

And Spitfire fell out of her bed with a nasty hangover.

“Uhhhh.” She moaned, covering her head with her hands. Her head pounded with the intensity of a small marching band.

“That was not smart Spits. Oh that was not smart...Uhhhhh,” she groaned, climbing back onto her bed and going into the fetal position under the covers. She felt like she had been hit with a baseball bat a dozen or so times She stayed under the covers, mumbling and complaining while trying to go back to bed.

Knock knock knock

Spitfire mumbled some more, then turned around and put a pillow over her head to try to stop the sound of the knocking.

“Spits, you alive in there?” A voice asked outside the door. The person sounded like they were right next to her, screaming in her ear.

“Hello? Spits, are you dead? Am I going to have to deal with a zombie?” The person asked in a joking tone. Spitfire responded by moaning again, trying to go back to sleep.

“Well, everyone sent me up here to wake you up, so ready or not, I’m coming in.” The voice said, opening the door. Spitfire grabbed a pillow, before flinging it where she thought the door was. She heard a small thud as the pillow slammed into something, hopefully the person trying to wake her up.

“Uh, why did you throw a pillow at your window?” The person asked again, a confused tone in their voice.

“I was trying to hit you, whoever you are. You woke me up!” Spitfire groaned, sitting up in her bed. Her eyes began to focus, trying to see who it was that woke her up. She slowly began to see the person, then laughed a bit.

“Sweet Celestia, how drunk did I get last night, Fleet?” She asked, looking around at her slightly trashed room. Fleet walked over at sat next to Spitfire, looking around at the messy room.

“Uh...To be honest, you only had like a couple of shots. You were fine when you got home, then you walked up and here and went to sleep.” Fleet said, recounting the events of last night. Spitfire was surprised by this, usually she could handle alcohol pretty well, and a couple of shots never gave her this much of a hangover.

“You said something about coming to wake me up, right?” She said, still feeling pretty crappy.

“Yeah, when we all woke up and found that you were still asleep at around noon, the team sent me up here to make sure you were alive.” Fleet responded.

“How nice of them...Say, do you something in your arsenal of Anti-Hangover supplies to get rid of this damn one?” Spitfire stated, her head still pounding less hard. Fleet turned and laughed a bit.

“Yeah, I should have something to fix it. Get up and follow me down to the cafe.” She said, standing up and grabbing a robe for her friend. She walked back over and helped her out of the bed, before being slapped away.

“I am not eighty years old yet, I can put on a robe for Lunas sake.” She said rather grumpily, in which Fleet just laughed a bit.

“Alright then, see you in the cafe Spits. Oh, and you have the robe on backwards by the way.” She pointed out, snickering as she walked out of the room and shutting the door. Spitfire looked down and sure enough, her robe as on backwards.

“I knew that..Damn it Fleet.” She mumbled under her breath as she fixed her robe and got up, before nearly falling over as a sudden wave of dizziness took over. She sat back down on the bed, waiting for the wave of if to pass.

“The fuck did I drink last night?” She said as she managed to stand up, before taking baby steps to the door. She reached the door and opened it, stepping out into the hallway. She slowly walked down the hallway, hearing some commotion down in the cafe. She reached the staircase, and put her foot out before misstepping and nearly falling down the entire staircase, only stopping herself by grabbing onto one of the side rails and hanging on for dear life.

“Easy Spits, easy. If you can be the Captain of the Wonderbolts, you can go down a flight of stairs.” She slowly got her balance back, before stepping very carefully on the next one, before repeating the pattern again.

“Ok, I think I got the hang of this. Of course I do, it’s stairs!” She said as she stepped down once again in the same manner, then another, and another before reaching the flat middle ground of the staircase. She could see the floor of the cafe, and the commotion of her friends. She took another careful step, not wanting to mess it up this close to being done, and right in front of them. She took another step, and another, before getting confident enough to take a big step, missing, and falling down four steps and landing on the cafe floor.

“The hell was that?” She heard someone call, followed by the sound of chairs moving.

“Uh Spits, why are you laying down?” Soarin said, sounding a bit confused.

“I’m admiring the floor! No really, I fell down some stairs, now could someone help me up?” Spits said, her cheeks red with embarrassment.

“Ohhh, that what that noise was. How did you fall down the stairs anyway?” Soarin asked again, chuckling a bit.

“I fucking teleported Soarin, now please get me up before I kick you in a place you don’t want to be kicked.” Spitfire growled, not in a mood right now to joke around. Soarin knew she wasn’t joking, so he went and picked her up, helping her to her feet.

“Thanks.” Spitfire acknowledged, regaining her balance again.

“Sweet Celestia, Spits, are you sick?” Blaze asked, walking over with the rest of the team to come and make sure she was okay, and to maybe get some laughs in.

“I feel like it, this is the worst hangover I have ever had.”

“We can see that. Fleet, get over here with that witch doctor cure of yours.” Misty called, turning her head to see Fleet standing by a table, stirring something into a cup.

“How bad do I look?” Spitfire asked, a worried tone in her voice.

“Take a look for yourself.” Misty replied, turning a mirror around. Spitfire gasped at the reflection that she saw.  It was her alright, the fire like hair always gave it away. But her face looked like someone that should belong in the Hospital, or in her teams case, their Care Center two floors below them. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her face looked as if she just flew to Baltimore and back six times.

“Uh...FLEET! HURRY YOUR ASS UP!” Spitfire yelled, wanting that cure more than anything else in the world right now, even more than getting back at the Shadowbolts, but not by much.

“I’m going as fast as I can! There! Done, now wait a second.” Fleet yelled back, getting up and speed walking over to her, carrying a cup of something. Spitfire looked at the cup, and reached back at the smell, along with the team/

‘What the hell do you have in that? Why does it smell like the locker room on a bad day?” Spitfire asked, covering her nose with her hand.

“Do you want to keep feeling like shit? No, then DRINK it!” Fleet yelled back, feeling slightly offended. Spitfire cursed under her breach, before grabbing the cub and gulping it down. It tasted nearly as bad as it smelled, nearly throwing up twice while trying to drink it.

“I swear, if this fails Fleet, I am going to hide a fish in your room.” Spitfire growled, trying to think about something else than the horrible taste.

“It ain’t going to fail. Do you really think I would give you something that nasty if it didn't work? Maybe to Soarin yes, but not to you.”  Fleet said, getting a laugh from the team. She and Soarin had been having a prank war since they had joined, and it was probably never going to end.

“True. Hey, this might be working. I feel a little bit less hungover.” Spitfire said, a smile on her face. She was starting to feel a bit better., and that was getting better and better by the second.

“Fleet, your room is safe from Fish for a long time now.”

“Told you it would work. If there is one thing I know how to do, it’s how to get rid of hangovers.” Fleet said, laughing a bit. Spitfire laughed as well, before standing up and slowly walking down towards the nearest chair, sitting down and letting the drink do its thing.

“So, did I miss anything?” Spitfire asked, yawning a bit. The rest of the team had come back over and were sitting around again.

“Not much, just making sure everyone has the plan down and set.” Blaze said, taking a bite out of a blueberry bagel.

“Alright, does everyone have it down?” Spitfire asked, getting the response of everyone having their hands up.

“Good, then let’s let the Shadowbolts know that we are, and will be the best team!” Blaze said happily, getting some cheers from everyone else, save Spitfire. For some reason, a reason she couldn't put a finger on, she knew that the plan they had was going to be overshadowed by something else.

Shadowbolts HQ

Twelve hours till the show

The birds chirped, the sun shone, and people began their day.

And Nightshade walked out of her room feeling more nervous and excited then she had ever been. Today was the day, when all of her and her teams hard work and planning would finally pay off.

She closed the door to her room, before looking at herself in one of the mirrors in the hallway. She looked as always, nice and for how hard she worked last night, she did not look tired at all. Her slender body was its usual tone, and she thought she looked good, as did quite a lot of people, although good is not what they would use. Smoking hot would be the more accurate one, but she prefered the term smoking cold.

After admiring her image for a bit, she walked down the stairs, not flying to conserve her energy incase anything out of the ordinary happened. She walked in with the full team, rookie in tow, eating a light breakfast.

“Morning Captain, want something to eat?” Charger asked, moving a chair out so that she could sit down.

“Sure.” She said happily, taking a seat. Charger got up and came back with another small fruit bowl, which she accepted with a thanks. She took a fork and began eating it.

“Captain, I would like to talk to you about something please!” The rookie said, her voice in her usual tone. Nightshade raised her eyebrows at this.

“Go ahead, also, where were you last night? I don’t remember you coming back here with us.” Nightshade remembered, the thought just now crossing her mind,

‘Hey, she’s right! Where were you last night rookie?” Blitz said, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. The rest of the team turned and looked at the rookie, a bit curious.

‘Well Ma’am, I went to a...restaurant afterwards, but I heard something-” She was cut off by Nightshade raising her hand, motioning her to stop.

“You went to a restaurant? After that hell of a practice? I’m impressed, but keep going.’ She said to the rookie, honestly impressed with her stamina.

‘Thank you Ma’am, but that is not why I am telling you this, When I went there, she and her sorry excuse for a team where th-” She was cut off by Nightshade standing up and leaning over the table.

“You saw her?” She said in a venomous tone, looking at the rookie with a stare that made her begin to sweat. The rest of the team backed up a bit, trying not to be in the blast zone.

“Y...Yes Ma...Ma’am. She and her friends were drinking at the bar, and I heard something.” The rookie stuttered out, feeling very small at the moment.

“What did you hear?” Nightshade said in the same tone, leaning even more forwards. The entire table was silent, even Blitz. The rookie gulped before continuing.

“I didn't hear that much due to the noise, but I heard some snips about a plan and attending something today. That’s all Ma’am.” The entire table was at a silence, waiting for Nightshades response, but none came. She just stood up, and calmly put her bowl in the sink, before turning around and facing the group.

“Rookie, thank you a lot for this information. So...The great Spitfire is planning something and it has to do with attending an Event...I wonder what that would be.” She said, her voice barely above as whisper as thoughts raced in her mind.

“Why does that not surprise me? I mean really, we get our little revenge and get our first major opening, and of course she has to come in and try to have the last laugh, like always.That little bitch, but what kind of plan would it be?” She asked out loud to her team, not knowing the answer herself.

“Captain, we both know that if she tries to pull something, she and her team, which I am guessing will show up, will be kicked out. We all know the rules, remember two years ago?” Starry said, recalling with the rest of the team, save the rookie, remember the incident that happened two years ago.

“I know this Starry, and I know for a fact she knows it as well, and that is what is bothering me. She won’t do anything stupid to jeopardize her precious team, so I’m guessing that it won’t be something very obvious at all.’ She said in a cold, calculating voice. Her thoughts were interrupted by Blitz laughing. She turned around, as well as everyone else, to see her laughing like there was no tomorrow.

“Silly Nightshade, they won’t be able to get the plan done tomorrow.” She said with a massive grin on her face.

‘What do you mean?” Nightshade said, looking right at her crazy eyes. Blitz just laughed again, making the rookie a bit scared.

“Something is going to happen that is going to make her little plan tiny compared to it.” She said, stopping her laughter by humming.

‘What is going to happen??” Nightshade said, walking over to Blitz and pulling her up, looking right at her. Blitz just laughed again, angering Nightshade.

“Something that is going to change the world forever! Or maybe not... Heh, I don’t know, we’ll have to find out!” She said, laughing again as Nightshade let go of her, The entire team was in silence, not knowing what to believe.

“Uh Captain, I am the only one worried a bit about this? I mean, she has said shit like this before and it’s come true, creepy enough.” Charger said, knowing what the team was thinking, save the rookie.

“I know, but we have to put that aside. In less than 12 hours, we are going to put on the best damn show the world has ever seen, and nothing is going to get in our way. Not the Wonderbolts, not even Discord. Hell, not even an alien is going to get in our way!” She said proudly, drawing a cheer from the entire team. The thought of an alien suddenly arriving at their show was a funny one. Nightshade chuckled a bit at that thought.

“So,beyond what just happened, here is the schedule for today, so listen up good. We are going to be leaving at Noon precisely, so you guys have around two hours to go and do what you want, but you have to stay here, and no flying. You all know the rules.” Nightshade said in full order mode. The team listened to every word she said, not wanting to anger her, even if she had calmed down alot.

“After we arrive, we all have two hour to unload our stuff, eat some food and do some stretches. At 2:30, we are going to do a very light warm up, nothing like last night don’t worry. That should last for around an hour and a half. Then at four, You guys have around two hours until the people begin arriving for the show, so basically try to chill. At 6:15, we suit up and go over the show again, then at seven, it’s showtime!” She said proudly, determined not to let anything get in her team's way. She snickered again at the alien thought, for some reason she couldn't get it out of her head.

In fact, she would never get it out of her head...

Meanwhile, the rest of the team high fived each other and got pumped up for the show. However, something else was on the rookies mind entirely. Most of it was relief, easing the worrying that had been building that Nightshade would have asked if the rookie had stayed, or gone home after seeing them, because the rookie most certainly did not.

The rookie probably held the next biggest grudge, maybe even the biggest due to Nightshades history with them was rather murky as best, at the Wonderbolts, and at the bitch Spitfire. After all, the rookies whole dream had been ruined for the most part by her.

So when the rookie saw her and her friends get up to go talk to some fans, the rookie wasted little time in adding something special to her drink and her alone. The rest of them were not the rookies time to fuck with, they would get more than their share later.

It brought a smile to the rookies face as they pictured Spitfire waking up, stumbling around drunker than a newborn baby. And since it would last for at least twenty four hours, her and her plan would be taken out as well. Like the old saying goes, hitting two birds with one stone, or drug in that matter.

And it was only the beginning of the whole deal...

Wonderbolts HQ

Two hours till the show starts

Spitfire was standing on the balcony in her room, looking up at the great city of Cloudsdale that was her home. Memories were coming back to her, some great that made her heart sore, and some terrible that made her heart ache, and she had no idea why they were coming up.

“Hey Spits, were thinking of leaving a bit early to get everything set up.” Fleet asked, suddenly hoovering up onto the balcony, joining her.

“Alright, give me a minute to do some stuff and I’ll join you guys in a minute.”

“Deal, see you out front in a bit.” Fleet said as she took flight again, disappearing from view.

Spitfire kept staring outside, more zoning out than actually thinking about something, She could not seem to concentrate on one thing in particular, something very odd for her.

“Woah, zoned out there for a second.” She suddenly said out loud, remembering that she had to go out and meet the team. She quickly looked at herself in a mirror. After deciding that she looked good as always, she walked out her door and arrived at the front of the Wonderbolts HQ a few moments later, where the rest of the team was gathered.

“You guys ready to go?” Spitfire asked, already knowing the answer. They all replied with some sort of yes, some more excited than others.

‘Everybody have the supplies for our little revenge?” Spitfire said, going through the necessary questions. The members with several small objects replied back, letting her know that they had them.

“Alright, final check. Do you have the tickets?” Everyone looked at each other, and Spitfire facepalmed. Oh you have got to be kidding me

“I think Blaze has them.”  Someone said, drawing agreements from several people in the crowd.

“I can assure you, Blaze does not have the tickets. I had them at first, then I gave them to Fleet.” Blaze retorted, getting several that’s right and I knew that.

“Uh, I don’t have the tickets. And you never gave them to me, I think. Yeah, pretty sure you never gave them to me.”  Fleet fired back, the crowd responding again.

“You think? Woman, I gave them to you in a sealed envelope. You went and put it in your sock drawer to keep it save.” Blaze stated, the tone of her voice changing slightly.

“Da hell you calling ‘woman’? And I can tell you for sure that I don’t keep stuff like that in my sock drawer, I’m not twelve.” Fleet argued back, getting closer to Blaze.

“I’m calling you ‘woman’ due to the fact that you are a woman last time I checked. And I gave those tickets to you, and I saw you put them in your sock drawer.” Blaze said back, getting closer to Fleet.

“What are you not getting firebrain! I never got the tickets and I never put them in my sock drawer!” Fleet said, practically yelling now.

“The hell you calling firebrain? And even if you did not put the tickets in your drawer, I still gave you the tickets Coldheart!”

 The two of them stared daggers at each other, waiting for the other to say something more. Misty leaned over and whispered into Spitfires ear.

“Should we do something about this?”

“Probably, but first we should find the tickets.Then we can stop them from killing each other.”  Spitfire whispered back, looking back to the standoff still going on.

“Uh Fleet...” Fire Streak said, moving towards the standoff.

“Kinda busy right now, but what?”

“I have the tickets in my pocket right now...” Everyone turned to look, even Blaze and Fleet, at Fire who was slowly backing up, an envelope in his right hand.

“How the hell did you get those?” Fleet asked, walking over to Fire and taking the envelope, making sure that all the tickets were there, which they were.

“I found them under a table in the kitchen. No idea how they got there, so don’t bring me into this.” Fire said, grabbing the tickets back from Fleet who looked really embarrassed.

“Uh...I guess I owe you a sorry Blaze.” Fleet said with a sheepish grin on her face.

“No problem Fleet, and sorry for calling you Coldheart.” Blaze said back in a happy tone. They gave each other a smile before looking at Spitfire who was watching it with a smile on her face, an evil thought on her mind.

“You two would be a cute couple, just saying. Now, everyone, let’s go back to our stadium!” The team gave off a mighty cheer, save for Blaze and Fleet, who were now the color of tomatoes. The team took flight at the same time, flying up through the clouds and into the city of Cloudsdale itself.

Cloudsdale was the team favorite city, not due to most of them being born there, but to the relaxed attitude of the city.  It was one of the very few places that flying teams could go, hang out like and be a regular person without being bothered every two minutes by a fan, which most teams didn't mind, but it did get very old pretty fast. The city treated you like pretty much any other person, albeit with some minor discounts, but that was pretty much it.

As the team flew threw the streets, they got several hellos and cheers by the people, but that was pretty much usual. As they neared the Aerodrome, Spitfire suddenly flew to a stop.

“What’s happening Spits?” Soarin said, hovering next to her as the team caught up. She simply went and pointed a finger at the Aerodrome, where a huge crowd of people were in line to get into the stadium. Shadowbolts posters hung up around the massive stadium, giving a very odd look.

“Sweet Celestia, that is huge crowd, even for us.” Soarin remarked as he looked in awe at the crowd. The rest of the team showed up and had similar reactions.

“Why are there so many people?” Fleet asked in shock as the team hovered.

“Uh, I think I found out. Look there.” Misty pointed at a small convoy of guards slowly moving towards the stadium due to people trying to talk to the person in the middle of it.

The Royal Princess of the Night, Luna had come to see her team's first performance, and that of course brought  a lot of people with her, either on purpose or accident. And from what the team could see with the crowd, she was having the time of her life.

“This is going to put a kink in our plan, a royal kink.” Spitfire sadly said as she realised that with this size of a crowd and a Princess, they might have to call off the plan.

‘I have to agree with you on that, but let's first try to get into the stadium before the show starts.” Lighting Streak stated, surprisingly not that bothered by these turn of events. The team nodded, before flying close to the crowd to see if there was a VIP entrance for them, due to their tickets.

However, they did not make it that far. Someone called them out, and soon a lot of people were yelling at them to come down and sign something. But then, someone really called them down, someone you can’t really ignore.

“Hello Wonderbolts! I did not expect you all to be here!” Luna yelled, sending a visible shock wave through the air. Spitfire covered her ears, trying to save her hearing. Even though Luna was the leader of her rivals, she still was good friends with the Princess. She motioned the team to follow her down to where a group of her night guards were trying to at least try to hold people back. The team swooped down and hovered by Luna, who had a massive grin on her face, clearly enjoying herself.

“Hello Luna, how are you today?” Spitfire ask with a genuine tone, coming over and greeting the princess with a hug.

“I am doing quite well as you can see! I never would have guessed that you and your team would show up to this, granting your...relationship.” She stated, knowing Spitfires problem.

“Well, they did send us free tickets to a great spot, so we decided to say, screw it, let’s go!” Spitfire said sheepishly, not telling a full lie.

“Ah, that is quite unusual, as of the tradition, but I guess things change. Also, their is a VIP entrance open on the other side of the crowd, but my...lovely nephew decided to come with me, but he went in that way to avoid the ‘common’ folk.” She said with gritted teeth, giving the Wonderbolts a small warning. She also gave Spitfire a odd look, but she did not act on it.

“Thank you for the warning your Majesty, now we have to sadly leave you now. I hope you have fun!”

“Oh, you bet I will.” And with that, Luna went back to talking with people and the Wonderbolts flew off to the VIP entrance, a lot more on their minds. How could they have completely forgotten about Luna?

The team flew around the massive crowd, and somehow they either avoided the entire crowd, or simply the crowd really did not care. They saw a big banner that said ‘VIP and  Suite Entrance’, with several Aerodrome employees standing around, looking rather angry. Their looks of anger quickly changed to looks of surprise as they saw the team fly down and land outside the gates, walking towards them.

“Uh...Is anyone else seeing what I am seeing.” One of the employees asked, wiping at his eyes.

“Thank Celestia I am not the only one. Why the hell are they here?” Another one asked, very confused. Fleetfoot walked up to him and handed him an envelope.

“Uh...Please forgive my forwardness, but why are you guys here? Aren't the Shadowbolts supposed to be your bitter rivals?” He said, opening up the envelope, and pulling out enough tickets for the entire team. He quickly went and called over the two other people with him.

“We have our reasons, can you guys let us in please?” Blaze said with a quiet voice, trying not to attract attention.

“Sure, sorry if I was intruding. Just go in and go up the right staircase to the top, then take a left and your box should be there. Hope you enjoy the show...I think.” He said rather awkwardly, opening the gate and allowing the team to enter. They flashed them smiles, to which they received some smiles as well.The Wonderbolts climbed up the posh wooden staircase that led up to the box level, passing several Canterlot nobility on the way up. Several of them tried to say something, but the team just kept moving along, not stopping for anything.

As they reached the top of the staircase, they were greeted by another gate with some more Aerodrome employees, who had similar reactions to the ones on the ground. They asked to see their ticket again, in which they handed over and were allowed to enter the box level once again.

“Huh, in all the times we’ve performed here, I don’t think I’ve ever been in one of these.” Lighting Streak thought out loud, getting some agreements from the team. They passed a room guarded by two of Lunas Night Guard, so they guessed that is where the princess was going to be. They went down several more boxes before coming to box number thirteen.

“Box thirteen, here we go.” Spitfire said as she took the key out of her pocket and inserted it into the keyhole It opened with a click and the team walked inside.

“Wow, this is pretty nice.” Soarin remarked as he admired the fully stocked box suite. The room was separated into two different levels. The kitchen and dining room was the first thing you saw when you came in, as it took up nearly the entire level where the door was. There was a small ramp leading down to the second level, where a bunch of seats and couches were positioned directly in front of a window, so you could see outside if it was raining or you didn't want to go outside and sit on the main seats on the balcony outside.

The kitchen had a hardwood floor, and the rest of the place was covered in a soft carpet. Unlike the young flyers stadium, which was made completely out of clouds, the Aerodrome was made out of materials that everyone could walk on. It was an amazing place for it to still be floating, but made of wood and other materials such as that.

“I have to agree with you on that Soarin, this place is nice.” Misty said as she flopped on one of the couches. The rest of the team made themselves at home, climbing into chairs, getting some food and flopping onto the couches.

After everyone was settled in, Spitfire got the groups attention.

“Ok, we are going to take a vote. Since Luna is here, I very much doubt that she would be a fan of the plan we have, so here is my proposal. We put the plan on pause, and try to do it at a later time when she is not around, and when there is a slightly less chance of being caught, even though it’s legal. Luna is a great friend of mine, and the last thing I want is to have her mad at us.”

“And the second option?”  Fleet asked, lying down on a couch.

“Uh...We go ahead with the plan...?” Spitfire said a bit awkwardly. After waiting a minute for everyone to come up with a decision, she called the vote.

‘All in favor of delaying the plan raise your hand.” Spitfire, Soarin, Surprise, Misty and Fleetfoot put their hands up.

“All in favor of doing the plan right now raise your hand.” Blaze, Fire and Lightning Streak and Wavechill raised their hands.

“Well then, looks like the plan will be on hold until another day.” The people that voted to delay it high fived each other a bit, while the people that wanted to do it today groaned and went back to doing what they were doing.

“So...We have about an hour and thirty minutes to spare, anybody got an idea to pass the time?” Blaze asked, a bit annoyed that the plan was not going to happen.

“Star Trek?”

“Shut up Soarin.”

Team Meeting Rom

Cloudsdale Aerodrome

Knock Knock Knock

“Someone is at the door Captain.” Charger said, cracking his knuckles out of boredom. The team had gone through all of the stuff Nightshade had assigned them, and were now waiting until it was time to suit up and begin.

“It’s probably Starry, go and let her in.” Nightshade called from another room. Charger sighed before standing up and walking over towards the door and opening it.

“Thanks Charger. So, I need to talk to Nightshade, any idea where she is?”

“I think in the other room over there.” He said, pointing to a door where he thought her voice had come from. Starry thanked him before walking over and knocking on the door.

“Hey Night, it’s me. I need to tell you something.” Starry called, ceasing her knocking.

“I know it’s you, what do you need to tell me?” She called back, the door still shut.

“The Wonderbolts just arrived and-” She was cut off by Nightshade laughing.

“Did they really now? Oh that’s funny.” Nightshade exclaimed, still laughing. It took her a minute to stop laughing for Starry to continue.

‘Also...Princess Luna is coming to the show. Her and her royal entourage out trying to get in right now, but with the sheer amount of people outside, they aren’t going to get here anytime soon.” Nightshade stopped snickering, and an awkward silence followed. Starry heard the sound of footsteps before the door opened and Nightshade walked out. She had a surprised look on her face.

“What do you mean she’s having trouble getting in? How many blasted people are coming to this?” Nightshade asked in wonder, walking over towards one of the many windows.

‘Take a look. I’ve never seen a crowd this big for the first show of a flight team.” Starry said absentmindedly, looking at her nails. Nightshade looked out the window before gasping and hiding against a wall, drawing a small giggle from Starry.

“Sweet Celestia! How many people are out there?! Where did they come from?” Nightshade said, a bit panicked by all of this. She was expecting some people to come, but was just insane. You would only see this amount of people at the Wonderbolts yearly opener, or if two teams were performing together.

“Hey guys, come here! Were on the TV.” Blitz called from yet another room, drawing the entire team in. The TV was set to the Equestria Broadcasting Corporation, one of the five major TV networks, with quite a good deal of smaller stations scattered about.

“And lastly, Princess Luna will be attending the opening of the newest flying team today, the Shadowbolts. The Shadowbolts are lead by the mysterious Nightshade, a former Wonderbolt and five time young flyer runner up. Coverage of the Event will be on our sister station, the Equestria Flyer. Hope to see you there, I know will be tuning in.”

‘Well what do you know, this whole thing is going to be televised. Heh, I think our little friends ‘plan’ is going to have a small dent in it.” Charger stated, a smug grin on his face. The team shared a small laugh, before going back to what they were doing originally.  The rookie however, had something else on their mind.

What did she say? Nightshade was a former Wonderbolt? And five time young flyer runner up? I know she is an amazing flyer, but I never knew this...

“Alright, since this is going to get way more attention than I thought it would,which is awesome, we are going to start going over the show now.” Nightshade said, looking outside at the massive crowd trying to get in the stadium.  The team, for most of them having an escape from their boredom, sat around at the table where Nightshade had sat down.

“Okay, here we go. The show starts off with us flying through our symbol in the diamond formation, then turning up and going into a starburst, landing behind our symbol once again. Then, the announcer announces us individually, and you guys do the trick that you choose and I reviewed, so no problem with that. After that, the real show can begin...”

A short time later...

“So, everyone got that down?” Nightshade asked to her bored looking team. They responded with something along the lines of yes, all in a bored tone save the rookie. Nightshade looked at the clock and saw that there was an hour to show time. She was getting kind of nervous, something that very rarely came up.

“Ok, we got one hour left, so that means time to get changed. See you in the locker room.” And with that, the team was off to get ready for the most important show of their lives so far.

‘Wait, go back to that.” Blaze said as he stood up, pointing at the flat screen television that hung on the wall. Fleet flicked back to the station, wondering what he had saw.

“And lastly, Princess Luna will be attending the opening of the newest flying team today, the Shadowbolts. The Shadowbolts are lead by the mysterious Nightshade, a former Wonderbolt and five time young flyer runner up. Coverage of the Event will be on our sister station, the Equestria Flyer. Hope to see you there, I know will be tuning in.”

“Well well well...Their first show and they are getting all this? I’m kind of jealous to be honest. What?”  Misty said, drawing some looks from her teammates.

“Don’t rub it in.” Fire Streak said grumpily, taking a big bite out of an apple.

“I’m not, I’m just saying that this is pretty amazing for their first performance.” Misty said back, throwing a paper ball into the trash can.

“Hey Spits, I never knew that Nightshade was a former Wonderbolt. When was she here?” Blaze said, looking at her, Spitfire took a swig of her drink.

“You wouldn't, she left the year before you got accepted on the team. Ironically, you took her spot, that was also the year I got promoted to Captain when Frosty left.” Spitfire said, recounting the memories of that time. It was only four years ago, but it felt like yesterday,

‘Why did she leave?” Blaze asked, wondering why someone would leave this family.

“Complications that I really don’t want to talk about right now. Hey, who wants to go check to see if Luna is still out there? Getting kind of bored of sitting around.” Spitfire said, jumping up and walking towards the door, being joined by the Streak brothers and Wave. The rest of the team was either watching TV, eating, or asleep. She closed the door and walked out into the deserted hallway, looking to see if she could see anyone walking or coming out of any rooms.

‘But Aunt...Why do I have to go and say hello? It’s not Air continued and I really don’t want to be around the common folk.” A high pitched, wheezy voice said.

“Welp, guess she got in.” Wave said quietly as the voices slowly got closer.

“All in favor of going back inside for the sake of sanity?” Spitfire said, not wanting to get near Blueblood at all. She had meet him at last year's gala, and had hated him ever since he had mistaken Soarin for a fanboy and had tried to embarrass him in front of everyone.

“Aye!” Everyone said and they quickly walked back into the room, locking the door from the inside so no one could just walk in.

“Well, that was fast.” Soarin joked as he walked over to the group.

“Luna got in alright, and she has someone with her that is testing her self control to the fullest.”  Wave said as he pulled a drink out of the mini bar.

‘And who would that be?”

“Why, his royal highness Prince Blueballs of course.” Lightning joked as he sat down on one of the bar stools. The entire team burst out laughing at their private name for the Prince. Fleet was laughing the hardest, rolling off her couch and onto the floor.

“I swear, that was the best nickname we have ever come up with.” She breathed out, laughing way too hard.

“Agreed, but it fits so well!” Surprise said as she started laughing again, drawing even more laughter from the team. The laughter was only broken up by a massive cheer echoing from outside.

“Well, looks like something is happening.”

“Let us go see what said something is happening.” Soarin said with an odd accent as he opened the door to the balcony and stepped outside, the team following him close behind. The stadium was packed to the brink, and as far as they could see, there were no empty seats.  Ironically enough, the cheer had stopped as soon as the Wonderbolts went outside. Spitfire checked her watch to make sure the show had not started early.

There was still forty five minutes left until the officially began, but with her level of experience, it was really about thirty minutes so that the team could have a couple of practice laps, then they would go back inside to excite the crowd some more, then the real show would begin.

So, it was time for the waiting game once again, but this time with a countdown if that mattered.

35 Minutes Later

“Ladies and Gentleman!” A booming voice echoed across the stadium, silencing the crowd, including the chattering Wonderbolts.

“Thank you all for coming to tonights show! The show will start as soon our special Guest gives a small speech, so don’t fret! Please welcome, Princess Luna!” The voice boomed out again, which was met with a thunderous applause as her majesty made her way to the platform. There was no microphone, and for good reason.

“Hello spectators! It is I, Princess Luna!” She boomed, a visible shock wave emanating from her mouth. The crowd stopped talking and began to listen to what Luna had to say.

“Exactly three years ago today, the Shadowbolts were officially created. It was through myself, my close friends, and even Celestia that all this is possible. But, I would like to thank you most importantly!” She said, getting a roar of approval from the massive crowd.

“Without your help, this would have never happened! So, thank you all for making this all possible, and without further ado! May I present, the Shadowbolts!” The crowd roared once again, ready to see how good this team was going to be. Luna raised her hand, disappearing suddenly and leaving a smokey symbol of a skull with a deep purple, smokey like fire on top in her place.

“Well then, let’s see what they are made of.” Fleetfoot said as she leaned back in her lounge chair, and folded her arms across her chest.

The lights in the stadium suddenly went out, spare a few spotlights, giving the stadium a creepy glow.  With Celestia's sun going down, Luna had probably teleported to raise the moon, which would explain her sudden exit.

The spotlights began spinning around the stadium, then one by one, they all stopped and pointed at the symbol, giving it an even odder look. The suspense was rising higher and higher, a trick that most flying teams used to rouse up a crowd, in which the Wonderbolts were a member of.

“Ladies and Gentleman, we will start off the night by introducing the members of the team one by one! In no particular order, here we go!” The crowd roared to life once again, ready to see the infamous team.

“The first member of the Shadowbolts, Starry Skies!” A figure zoomed out of the skull, with the spotlights following her around as she flew around the stadium, before flying straight up, performing a series of impressive flips, and landing in a handstand on the skull itself.

“The second member of the Shadowbolts, Charger!” Another figure zoomed out of behind the skull, the spotlights following him around the stadium as zoomed around in a circle, going faster and faster, before suddenly stopping, forming a small wall of fire behind him, as he flew down and landed on the skull as well, joining Starry.

“The third member of the Shadowbolts, Blueball Blitz!” A neon blur zipped out from behind the skull, the spotlights trying to keep up with her but failing. A line of electricity followed behind her as she got faster and faster, doing flips and other acrobatic stunts, before flying straight up, turning around and diving straight down. The crowd held its breath, before at the last moment, she turned at a ninety degree angle, with a static shockwave going down through the cloud floor of the stadium. She whizzed back to the skull, joining her comrades.

“The fourth member of the Shadowbolts, Stratus!” A slower figure zoomed out of the skull, but still at a fast speed. He had a trail of something that looked like smoke and small bolts of white lightning. He performed several hard aerial maneuvers, did several flips, before landing onto the skull.

“And now, the Captain of the Shadowbolts, Nightshade!” The crowd began cheering at the name, and for good reason. A black like blur zoomed out of the skull, nearing the speed of Blitz. Nightshade began to spin in a circle, getting closer and closer together, while getting faster at the same time. Clouds began to form around her as she gathered more and more speed, spinning around until they began to form a funnel. As soon as the funnel was complete, Nightshade zoomed up and stopped. The funnel suddenly shook, before turning into a shape that strongly resembled a black flower with a pair of wings adorning it. It stayed there for a second, before dissipating as Nightshade gracefully landed in the middle of her team.

The crowd gave a massive cheer at the spectacular trick, and even Soarin admitted that it was pretty nice. Most of the crowd thought that the team was complete, but that was not the case. The spotlights began to spin again, drawing confusion from the crowd, and the Wonderbolts.

“And now, the last member of the Shadowbolts!” The announcer said, drawing murmurs from the crowd.

“The hell? I thought it was only those five.” Wave Chill remarked, looking confused. The rest of the team shared his confusion. Last time they had checked, there was only five members of the Shadowbolts.

“Yeah, that is what I thought as well.” Soarin said, trying to think of who would join the Shadowbolts. His mind racked up zero people, so this was going to be one big surprise.

“The Rookie, Lightning Dust!” Every single Wonderbolt froze at that name. They couldn't believe their ears.

Nearly instantly after her name was called, Dust zoomed out from behind the skull at speeds slightly below Blitzes speed. Her all too familiar trail followed her as she performed several flips and ninety degree turns, before flying up, then turning around and diving straight at where the Wonderbolts were sitting. She made several zigs and zags, before turning at the last minute, sending a small  shockwave at the Wonderbolts, knocking Soarin out of his chair. She landed on the skull as well, looking back at the recognizable shape of her cutie mark.

“Did not see that one coming at all. Need some help Soarin?” Fleet asked as she got up out of her seat and walked over to Soarin, who gladly took her hand to get up. He dusted himself off, before sitting back in his seat.

“Thanks, but I never saw that one coming. You alright there Spits?” Soarin said as he looked at his friend, who had the same expression that she had seen a ghost and been punched in the stomach at the same time.

“Yeah, I’m fine...” She stumbled out, staring at the floor.  The Wonderbolts attention was brought back to the stadium as the entire crowd stood up and cheered. The Shadowbolts bowed, before jumping up and flying together, before pulling apart in a trick called the starburst.

The crowd cheered again, before sitting back down in their seats and preparing for the show that was going to happen. Drinks were purchased, along with peanuts and all other sorts of food.

This was going to be a show that no one was going to forget for a long time.

High above the planet known as Equie

A massive burst of light lit up the dark reaches of space, sending waves of particles and energy in all directions. Through the light, a small object zoomed out at high speeds as the light source stopped admitting light, and space returned to its usual black.

As the object continued to move through the silence of space, a completely unsilent problem was occurring in the object.

In the inside of the spaceship, every alarm imaginable, plus the two that Logan never knew existed, was currently attempting to perform a symphony of chaos, and it was going pretty well. All in all, it sounded like a car alarm from hell.

“Can you please turn them off!” Logan yelled above the alarms, putting his hands over his helmet in habi, even though it did nothing. After a few more moments of musical hell, the alarms shut off.

“Thank you! What is the status of the ship?” Logan said, looking at the flashing panel of lights in front of him that closely resembled a rave he had been at.

“Status? This thing is pretty much destroyed. I have no idea what we just went through, but it fried and broke nearly everything save for life support, reactor containment systems and artificial gravity, not that it is really going to do us any good. With RCS and the main engines out, we are currently flying straight towards the planet.” Lily responded from inside Logans suit.

“Planet?”

“Yeah, sensors are picking up a planet, though they can’t tell what it is due to them being damaged.”

“How close are we to it?” Logan asked, concerned that they may have been dropped off in the middle of gas giant's atmosphere.

“No idea. I’m getting readings that say one hundred meters, to four A.U.” Lily responded back, trying to understand the readings.

“Can I undim the main window? Maybe we could just look outside.” Lily thought about this for a minute.

“Don’t really see why not. Undimming the screen now.” Lily said, turning off material that protected the crew from high levels of sudden light.

“Good we can see-” Logan stopped talking as he looked at the view that he was being presented with.

“Lily...Where the hell are we?” Logan breathed out, as he looked at the blue planet in front of him, with bands of white clouds circling about.

“I have no literally idea. The navigation is down, and this planet doesn't match any records.” Lily said, sounding quite amazed at the spectacle in front of her. She was using the camera in the helmet of the suit, and was quite amazed at the planet in front of her.

Logan began to notice that the planet was rapidly getting bigger and closer to him, and that did not bode well.

“Lily, how close are we to the planet?” Logan said, the planet getting closer and closer.

“We’re about ten thosand kilometers away, and closing rapidly. Oh no...” Lily said, genuine worry in her voice.

“What is it now?”

“With the engines off line, we are going to literally slam into the atmosphere unless we find a way to slow down.” Logan eyes opened up a bit more in surprise.

“Wait, we are going to slam into it?” He said in a hushed voice, the planet getting bigger and bigger.

“In about thirty seconds we are! The ship has multiple hull breaches, and the only engine that is working right now is the emergency RCS in the front. If we send all power to it, it should be able to slow the ship down enough to get into orbit, but the problem is that we are going to need to send everything to it. Life support, artificial Gravity, pressurizers, and a lot more.” Lily said on a somber, but hopeful note.

“Wait, WHAT!? Can’t we teleport down or something like that?”

“No good, teleporter is down, and without a stable beacon down there, you and I will become dust if we try to. Twenty seconds till impact.” Lily said, a bit more panic in her voice. Logan began to think of any way he could get out without doing an orbital drop, but none came to mind.

“Ten seconds!” Lily pretty much yelled. Logan made up his mind right then and there, he was going to jump. He grabbed the emergency cockpit release lever and pulled, the roof the cockpit opening up, exposing the insides of the ship to the vacuum of space. He took one look behind, before grabbing and pulling himself out of the ship, and into the dead calmness of space.

At least, before he hit the atmosphere, which he would describe as hitting an invisible carpet that was trying to burn you alive. Fire and friction burned around the suit, trying to stop him from entering the planet.

He and Lily were pretty much screaming the entire time this was going on, due to the fact that not everyday you dive onto a unknown M class planet.

This was going to hurt.

Cloudsdale Aerodrome

The crowd cheered again as the Shadowbolts pulled off a perfectly executed sunset simmer, before turning around and going into a delta wing and performing a one hundred and eighty degree backwards night dive, gathering even more cheers from the audience, and more envy and worry from the Wonderbolts.

Their fears were slowly becoming a reality. The Shadowbolts were very, very good for the  size of their team. They were crisp, clean, and nearly perfect on all of their moves and tricks, and that was worrying the team.

“How the hell...Hey, what’s everybody pointing at?” Fire Streak said, noticing that several dozen members of the crowd were looking up into the now night sky, and were pointing at something.

“The hell if I know. Hey guys, I think we should leave.” Blaze said in an angry tone, clearly not wanting to sit and watch the show any longer.

“I’m kinda with him on this. I’m not going to sit here and be well...” Fleet said, standing up and walking towards the door that led to the inside box.

“No guys, really. What the hell is that?” Blaze said, standing up and pointing to a object in the sky. The rest of the Wonderbolts finally noticed, as did most of the crowd. High up in the night sky, a small light was present, and was moving at a very high speed.

:”The hell is that?” Soarin asked, squinting his eyes to try to see the light better

“It looks like a meteor.” They heard someone in the box next to them say, drawing several more agreements. The light was getting closer and closer, drawing even more attention as most of the stadium was now watching it instead of the show.

The Shadowbolts stopped mid trick as they began to notice that they were not the ones being stared at now, and looked at the light getting closer and closer to their position.

“He he he, here it comes!” Blitz suddenly giggled out, causing the team to stop and look back at her, before it dawned on them that she maybe was right about this. The object was getting closer and closer, and now you could truly see the red hot heat on it.

And now, the crowd began to get restless. People were talking, and some were even getting out of their seats, walking or flying out of the open.

“Hey Spits, that thing seems to be heading towards the staduim.” Soarin said in slight panic as the object seemed like it was going to hit him right in the head.

“It does...Fleet, going to take you up on the leave offer!” Spitfire yelled as the crowd began to panic, with the announcer and some security trying to get order. The light was getting closer and closer, before it quite literally flew right through the middle of the stadium, silencing the entire crowd.

The light zoomed through the cloud floor, punching a hole in it. Spitfire could feel the intense heat coming off of it, but the thing that was the kicker was the massive shockwave and boom seconds after it had arrived. Half of the lights in the stadium went off as a noise that would have made the weather factory’s best storm jealous. The visible shockwave slammed into everyone and everything milliseconds afterwards, knocking people out of their seats, or in the Shadowbolts case, blasting them back into a protective cloud barrier on the walls of the stadium that had amazingly withstood the heat. As the noise, heat, and shock wave disappeared, the stadium was left with an odd silence.

“What the fuck was that?” Soarin said, getting up after have been getting knocked down by the massive shockwave. Fleetfoot, holding her head, gave no answer.

Spitfire turned her attention towards the hole in the cloud floor that the meteor had punched open. It was not going straight down, but it was at a steep angle. The few medical teams that were there were trying to see if anyone was seriously hurt, but it seemed that no one had really gotten any life threatening injuries.

And that is when Spitfires phone began ringing.

She put her hand in her jeans and pulled out her phone, and answered the call.

“Hello?” She said hesitantly, wondering who the hell was calling her. A panicked voice answered her.

“Spitfire! I need you to come down to base as fast as you can!” The voice of Doctor Heartbeat said in a panic.

“Were a little bit busy up here!” Spitfire said, watching as her team was preparing to take off and see if anyone was hurt.

“Listen to me! Something just slammed into the hangar and I need you guys to come down here, please!”  Heartbeat said, a slight panic in her voice.

“Oh you have gotta be kidding me! Sigh, we’ll be down as fast as we can.” Spitfire sighed, not believing her luck. She put the phone back into her jeans, before looking at her teammates, who were ready to go and help people.

“Guys, you are not going to believe this, but that meteor, it just slammed into our hangar, so we need to go down there and help.” Spitfire said, still in shock about her luck.

“You’re kidding me right!? These people need our help, and we are just going to go and run down to the hangar?” Misty said furiously, wanting nothing to go and help.

“You can stay here if you want, but I have to go and make sure the base is alright. Soarin, Fleet and Blaze, can you come with me?” They looked at each other, before agreeing to go with Spitfire down to the hangar, while the rest of the team would go and try to help anyone that was hurt.

Moments Later

As the four man team flew down to their base, they noticed the massive hole in the closed door of the hangar where the meteor had punched through it, smoke pouring through the hole

“Sweet Celestia, Heartbeat wasn’t kidding.” Spitfire said as she landed on the lobby entrance, opening the door and being greeted by Heartbeat and the head of groundskeeping, Green Thumb.

“Heartbeat, what do you need us to do?” Fleetfoot said, noting a few broken windows.

“I need all four of you to come with us right away, and not to panic that much.” Heartbeat said, turning around and basically running towards the staircase that led down to the hangar, followed closely by the four and the Green.

As they got closer to the hangar, they noticed that Heartbeat was carrying a medical bag slung on her back, and Green was carrying a fold up stretcher on his back.

Why in the name of Luna would they have a medical bag and a stretcher for a rock? The hell are they going to do, turn it into a pet?

As they neared the door that led directly into the hangar, Heartbeat put her arms out, stopping Soarin from opening the door.

“All of you, listen to me. You are going to promise me that you four are not going to freak out and run screaming away, understand?” Heartbeat said in a serious voice.

“Why? What, was there a super intergalactic alien rock that crashed?” Soarin joked, drawing a couple of laughs from the Wonderbolts. Heartbeat did not look amused as she opened the door and let some of the smoke escape. As soon as enough of it had cleared, she carefully walked inside, the rest of the group behind her.

As soon as Spitfire walked into the dark, smokey hangar, her gut told her that someone, not something, was in here, and that creeped her out. Which is why when she saw a black figure laying in the middle of the room where the meteor would have hit, did she put two and two together.

And then she screamed.