"Welcome home, Rainbow! You too, Thunderlane!" said Pinkie Pie as she, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Thunderlane's relatives, including little Rumble, ran up to greet the new Wonderbolts.

"Ya finally got yer heart's desire, Rainbow! Ya must be over the moon!" said Applejack, her eyes brimming with tears.

"I must say, the stallions will be all over you now that you've become a full-on Wonderbolt," said Rarity, who actually looked somewhat envious.

"Well... between us six, I actually already have my eyes on a stallion," said Rainbow, who then started jerking her head towards Thunderlane, who actually happened to be doing the same thing in her direction.

Pinkie gasped. "YOU HAVE A-" was all she was able to get out before Rainbow covered her mouth with her hoof.

"Not so loud! He doesn't really know yet!" hissed Rainbow.

"Rainbow, when were you planning on telling him?" asked Twilight.

"During the party tonight," said Rainbow, blushing as she spoke.

"Speaking of the party, I've pulled out all the stops this time!" squealed Pinkie, bouncing in place as she spoke.

"Well, come on girls, let's get ready!" said Twilight.

On that note, the six mares left to go get prettied up.

What Rainbow didn't know was that Thunderlane had had a very similar conversation with his parents and little brother, and likewise had a plan to tell Rainbow how he felt during the party.

I just hope it all goes as I hope, thought Thunderlane.

~
Meanwhile back at the news station a captive stallion was just about finished with readying the final portion of the newsreel and ready to record, on live TV, a broadcast from the pegasi who had captured him

“And we’re live in five, four, three, two, one…” He said and then pointed to a pegasus mare with purple and yellow hair.

"Greetings, Equestria. Don't bother adjusting your sets. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Blackthorn. I am the captain/founder of the organization known as the Shadowbolts, not to be confused with the Wonderbolts. Allow me to begin your first lesson. The subject for today is Historical Empires," said Blackthorn with a sneer. “There have been several great empires, the three most prominent of these are the Romare Empire, the Crystal Empire, and Equestria. You know what they have in common? Fatal flaws."

Blackthorn stood up, the camera following her. "The Crystal Empire, despite it's recent rejuvination, allowed an all-powerful tyrant to seize control and, when he was beaten, caused the whole empire to vanish with him."

“The Romare Empire, while a proud and strong military force, was subject to the idiotic claim of being next to gods. Now what kind of bad joke is that?” asked Blackthorn with a twisted smile. The camera continued to follow her as she then ignited a black fireball in her hoof.

“And now our last and final empire. The empire of Equestria. Honestly, I'm surprised it's lasted as long as it has. Its military can't even fight of a group of oversized shape-shifting insects without fleeing for the hills! And as for the... Wonderbolts... I have never seen such a bunch of circus acrobats in my life. And they're supposed to be Equestria's aerial defense! Point is, this country deserves a better class of criminal. And me and my Shadowbolts are going to give it to them. End of Line!" said Blackthorn as she threw the fireball, killing both the feed and the captive stallion.

~

“WOOOOOOO! THIS PARTY IS THE BEST THING EVER!” Rainbow yelled as she pinned a fake tail on Pinkie. Instead of yelling in fear of a new tail Pinkie just went about her merry buisness.

“What? But…. how-”

“Thunder don’t question it. It’s Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow said with a laugh. Thunderlane chuckled as well.

“You know Dash getting into The Wonderbolts is pretty cool huh?” asked Thunderlane. Rainbow smiled and blushed a little.

“Well yeah but…. I know something that would-” before Rainbow could say her piece Twilight barged into the room.

“Has anypony seen the news?!”

Rainbow frowned. Normally the only thing that would drive Twilight as far up the wall as she was now would be accidentally forgetting to send a letter to Princess Celestia, but with Twilight a princess now, that was no longer needed.

"Why? What's wrong?" asked Rainbow.

"Come quickly!" said Twilight as she ran back out of the room.

Looking at each other and shrugging, both of them also mentally cursing Twilight for ruining their big chance to tell each other how they felt, Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane followed Twilight.

~
“Well what’s so important you had to drag me and Thunderlane out here?” Rainbow asked a little irritably. She instantly regretted her tone once she saw the TV. There, Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane saw a pegasi wearing a discolored Wonderbolt costume going on about how the Wonderbolts were a circus act, before throwing a black fireball at the camera, cutting off the feed.

"What was that all about?" asked Twilight.

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling that there might be a war coming, and it won't be very pleasant," said Rainbow.

Just then, Spike ran into the room. "Twilight, the Princesses just sent a letter!" he said.

"Well, let's hear it then," said Twilight.

Spike suddenly looked embarrassed. "Uh... actually, it's for Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane," he said.

"For us? I wonder what the Princesses want from us," said Thunderlane.

"Well, it says that she wants all Wonderbolts and Royal Guard members in Canterlot in order to address the threat of the... Shadowbolts?" said Spike.

Rainbow and Thunderlane looked at each other. If the Princesses wanted all the Wonderbolts and Royal Guard members in Canterlot, then it must be really serious.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get to Canterlot pronto!" said Thunderlane.

~
“WHAT THE BUCK BLACKTHORN?!” yelled one of the Shadowbolts picked up the corpse. “I thought the plan was to keep the guy alive? You know so that this crap wouldn’t happen?!”

“Not my fault the idiot didn’t move,” sneered Blackthorn as she walked out from behind the news anchor's desk. "Not that it matters anyway. We got what we were after, didn't we? We've declared war against the Wonderbolts and Equestria. And you know what they say about war, don't you? It's all fun and games until innocents start dying... and that's when the real fun begins."

Author's Note

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