A Scattered Cause

Chapter 1: Foreboding Skies

Ambiance for this Chapter:

I LOVE feedback and this is my first real story in a long while. So any errors please report them!

"Come on Thunder, we're running late," said a pale blue unicorn, her matted purple mane flying as she galloped, "don't let them start to worry!"

"Ok Harmony, I'm coming!" replied a deep blue Pegasus, his lightning yellow mane in a mess.

It had started to rain, and it was midnight.They were late for the meeting, and they could barely see in front of them. The rest of their group were probably waiting for them in the cave, while Thunder Runner and Harmony Dancer were galloping through dark forest brush to get there. Celestia's forces were going to be there by sunrise, and Thunder lost contact with rest of the New Lunar Republic. They were on their own.

"There it is, I see it!" Harmony stopped as she saw the cave through the brush.

"You sure? I don't see any-" Thunder stuttered as Harmony pushed him through the brush.

"Let's get going." stated Harmony, a slight smirk on her face.

Thunder and Harmony looked at the small entrance to their hideout, only large enough for one pony to enter at a time. Thunder walked through first, followed by Harmony. The inside of the cave was massive, albeit most of it impossible to walk on. A drop of water dropped onto Thunder's head as they walked into the main chamber. The group welcomed Thunder and Harmony on site. Thunder couldn't help but realize how hopeless they all were in the face of Celestia. Their group consisted of a couple teenage Earth ponies, three storekeepers, and a griffin, all circling a couple candles. The eight of them made up the entire cell of Fillydelphia, the small farm town just starting to gain population. Thunder tried to unite alongside other, much more powerful groups, but that idea died out once Nightmare Moon was defeated by the evil Elements of Harmony. Thunder cringed at thinking about them.

"What took you two so long," the griffin nearly yelled, the cave echoing his words, "me and Silver were about to go looking for you!"

Silver nodded, his light mane and coat shining slightly in the low candlelight, "Ya, me an' him were worr'ed sick."

"Well we're here, so let's get started." Harmony intruded, her smirk replaced with a serious, relaxed expression.

"Right, so we're here because of Celestia's acknowledgement of our presence in Fillydelphia," Thunder began, "well we're not prepared for a direct intervention like this. Because of this, we have to stay very low key."

"So what are we going to do?" one of the teenagers interrupted, looking around nervously.

"Well, since Celestia's forces should be here by sunrise, I'm making use of our emergency kits." Thunder continued to speak, his voice growing cold, "If you are suspected of being part of this group, you have two options. You can either get caught without putting up a fight, in which you direct them to either my house or Harmony's. The reason for this is because we have our houses rigged to go off on entry." The teenagers' faces began growing more horrified, "Furthermore, if you are to be caught, you will die whether or not you give out information. So you should try to cause as much damage to Celestia's forces down the road." The entire group began to understand the severity of the situation, some looked as though they were going to vomit. "Then there is the second option, in which you are to open your emergency kit and use the four fire charges to destroy your house and escape to the safehouse. The choice is yours, any questions?" The room was silent for a moment.

"Y-yes, what if you are caught while trying t-to use the f-fire charges?" Said a small teenager, he looked as if he was about to cry.

"Then you can try to use them in order to distract the guards that have caught you while you try to flee into the forest. Also, ensure that you only go to the safehouse if you are certain you are not being followed." Thunder replied coldly, "Any other questions?"

The room remained silent, "Good, then this meeting is over. You all know what to do, so now we wait for the enemy."

Thunder Runner and Harmony Dancer turned to leave the room, followed by the griffin, who remained silent. No one else got up or spoke, the chamber was silent except for the padding of hooves and claws. Finally, Silver got up, "Well, we can't jus' stay here al' nigh'. Le's get back to our houses befo' people sta't gettin' suspicious." The rest of the group got up, dreading what may come the next day.

"You think they're ready?" Harmony asked, concerned about how this will turn out.

"No, but the least we can do is hope," Thunder replied, watching the sky, "The storms just getting worse"

"I've noticed" Acknowledged Harmony, drenched, "Come on, let's get back to town before we get sick."

"Alright." Thunder walked alongside Harmony, bugs scattering beneath them.

The train sighed a plume of steam as it stopped at the Fillydelphia train station. The bright red barns and pale yellow houses of Fillydelphia sticking out from the dark, lurking night. A pale red unicorn stepped off, followed by a squad guards. "Okay team, we'll begin our sweep of the town and call it a night. The investigation officially begins tomorrow." The red unicorn spoke with a tone of authority, of power.

"Aye Ma'am!" Responded the squad.

The squad dispersed, doing their sweep of the town. The red unicorn calmly walked out to the main road and surveyed the houses, looking for anything of interest. "Let's go rebel hunting." Murmured the red unicorn, an evil smirk on her face.