Disharmony Rises

As they were boarding Pinkie's hot air balloon, which she somehow had waiting for them. Twilight saw the dark cloud looming over Griffonstone begin to dissipate.

"To Cloudsdale!" Pinkie yelled as she yanked the cord to elevate the balloon.

The balloon floated weightlessly into the darkening sky and headed towards Cloudsdale, which was supposedly positioned above Appleoosa. As they floated towards the small town of Appleoosa, they could see the floating city of Cloudsdale. It had the same dark cloud looming over it. Pinkie landed the balloon just outside the city walls.

"Ok, give me just a second to cast the spell for us." Twilight said.

"No need!" Pinkie yelled as she jumped out of the basket and onto the cloud street.

"Pinkie, wait!" Twilight screamed, expecting her friend to fall through the clouds.

"How the..." Twilight began when she saw Pinkie standing on the clouds as if it were solid ground.

"We're half machine, remember? We can do things no one else can, silly." Pinkie said.

Twilight just shrugged and hopped out after Pinkie. The others followed and they headed into the city. As they walked, they noticed that everyone they passed kept staring at them.

"So, any idea who might have an element here?" Twilight asked as they passed a group of shady looking pegasi.

"No idea." Dash said as they kept walking.

Eventually, they found their way to the Wonderbolts Academy.

"This appears to be where the dark magic is emanating from." Twilight said as she walked up to the door and knocked on it. After a few minutes, the door opened and Spitfire stood there with an irritated look on her face.

"Yea? What is it?" She said.

"I apologize if we're bothering you..." Twilight began but was immediately cut off.

"Well, you are. Now, get lost." Spitfire said.

"We were just wondering if we could have a few words with you." Twilight said.

"I said get lost!" Spitfire yelled, causing her sunglasses to fall down her face.

"Spitfire, just let us in for a minute." Dash said as she stepped forward.

Spitfire readjusted her glasses and thought for a minute.

"Ah, Rainbow Dash. My star flyer. Pardon my rudeness. Please come in, I'll make some coffee." Spitfire said as she pushed open the door.

She lead them to a large living room furnished with expensive looking chairs. They each took a seat.

"I'll be right back with the coffee." Spitfire said as she headed off into another room.

Twilight leaned close to Dash.

"How much do Wonderbolts make exactly?" She whispered.

"Not nearly enough for this kinda place." Dash said as she looked around the huge house they were sitting in.

After a few minutes, Spitfire returned and handed each of them a cup of coffee. They all began to sip slowly from the warm and surprisingly sweet drink.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Spitfire asked.

"Well, we were just wondering if you'd seen anything strange around." Twilight said.

"Hmm, I don't think I have. No." Spitfire said.

Before any of them could respond, Fluttershy fell out of her seat and hit the floor with a loud thud.

"Holy hell! Fluttershy are you..." Twilight began as she got up to try and help her friend, but in turn hit the floor too.

"Oh dear..." Rarity managed before she too hit the floor.

"Yay! We're all passing out!" Pinkie yelled as she, Applejack, and Wind all hit the floor.

Dash looked down at her coffee then back up at Spitfire, who had a smirk on her face.

"Spitfire, what have you..." Dash managed as her sight became blurry and slowly darkened.