Disclaimer: I do not own MLP

Chapter 10: Trials

Lightning and the others made it to the top just as Luna brought out the moon; leaving them in lesser light. "Anypony think we should set up camp?" Lightning asked the group as he stepped on the plateau. "We need to conserve our strength; but we also need to get to the wizard as soon as we can!" Twilight was torn. "So shall we travel through the night?" Luna asked Lightning, "Well I'm willing to keep going; I just don't think the others share the same idea." Lightning looked back at the group of ponies that were also on this adventure. "Twilight; I think we may have to rest or face some hallucinations." Sketch pointed out, "He's right; we need to rest. Otherwise we won't be able to do well enough later." Twilight agreed. "Then it's settled; well make camp up here."

That idea could not have been worse.

Lightning first heard a sound coming from close by; Sitting up he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He wasn't on the plateau; he was on the hill for the third time. This time however; there was a dark feel to the air. "I KNOW WHO YOU ARE" The voice came from the ground itself; shaking the earth from within. "And your point is? Look buddy; I'm on an epic quest so if you'll just leave my dream-" Lightning began, "NO! YOU ARE HERE FOR A REASON!" the voice shook the earth more. "Does this have something to do with the elements weakening the bearer's ability to stay sane?" Lightning asked impatiently, "YES: TWILIGHT AND RAINBOWDASH ARE GOING TO BETRAY YOU FOR THE SHEER SAKE OF THEIR SANITY" the voice continued, "Whoa; who do you think you're dealing with here? Twilight and Rainbow aren't going to betray me or the cause for Equestria anytime ever!" Lightning shouted into the night. "IT IS YOUR DOWNFALL"

Lightning shot awake; the sunlight starting to rise over the tip of the mountain. "I assumed you were going to remain asleep." Lightning saw Luna; but he also saw her horn power down; right at the moment his mind stopped being afflicted by the voice. Was Luna trying to make him betray his friends? Lightning held on to that thought; it might come in handy later. "Good morning Lightning; are you ready?" Twilight asked him as she started to wake up. Lightning shrugged, "I don't know really; another one of my dreams was penetrated." Twilight's face turned to one of interest, "What happened in this altered dream?" she asked, "I was on the same hill as the last two times but something was different, I was having an argument with some strange voice; it said that you and Rainbow were going to pull something just to stay sane." Lightning summed up. "I see the tower in the distance; we must move." Luna interrupted the two.

Lightning was glad to see something other than a mountain in front of him, "Hey Rainbowdash! You see anything that might try and stop us?" Lightning called to the rainbow-maned Pegasus in the skies above. "With the Nightmare on our tails? Who knows; it tried plenty of things before." Rainbow deadpanned. "Well we won't know until we get there." Twilight said; trotting ahead. "There's a forest ahead; it is between us and the tower." Luna announced. Sketch nodded, "That will slow us down; we need to stay in a group; we don't need to get separated." Pocketbook said nothing.

The forest wasn't very thick at first; they could all trot in past the tree-line; then they encountered dense foliage; Twilight and Sketch had to hack away with swords. "I should have guessed that the trees would end up like this." Lightning chastised himself. "Don't get down on yourself; I couldn't see it from the sky; why would you see it from the ground?" Rainbow tried to cheer him up, "Because the trees would have blocked your view; I didn't notice the trees got thicker once we got in." Lightning answered, "It's the fastest way to the tower; you had no other choice." Twilight attempted to cheer him up, "Doesn't matter now; we're here and we need to move forwards." Lightning lifted the wing blades and helped the others cut through the trees.

The group of ponies reached a clearing; one that had an odd temple on it, "Do you think we should check it out?" Lighting asked the others; Twilight shook her head, "No; we need to get to the tower as soon as we can." Lightning nodded and the group pressed on.

(That will have significance)

The tower looked really odd; first of all it was a short and squat tower. Second; it was floating. Third; it had no doors apparent. "Well that wasn't what I expected." Lightning commented, "What did you expect? This is a wizard's tower." Rainbow didn't look amused by Lightning's choice of words. "Well we need to get up there, Twilight; can you teleport up there?" Lightning asked, "Yes; I can teleport you and the others too." Lightning gestured for Sketch and Pocket to walk up, "What about me and the Princess?" Rainbow asked; unhappy. "You two have wings right?" Lightning deadpanned.

The group appeared in a flash of light inside of the tower; a front foyer was where they sat. "Anypony think we should let Rainbow and Luna in?" Sketch asked, "Yeah; I'll get to that." Lightning reached and saw a lever. "A lever? Seems pretty low-tech for a wizard." Lightning commented, "If it aint broke don't fix it." Sketch muttered, "Hey are going to let us in?" Rainbow's muffled voice broke through the walls. "Yeah yeah; give me a sec." Lightning muttered as he pulled the lever; instead of the doors opening there was a rumble; and Rainbow alongside Luna warped in.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Lightning warned,as a pair of doors opened nearby. out walked three pegusi; all clad in darker versions of the wonderbolts' outfits. "Anypony know who these ponies are?" Lightning asked nervously; Rainbow's eyes narrowed, "The Shadowbolts!" The lead pony stepped forwards, "We are here to stop your futile quest here and now." Lightning stepped forwards; in front of the group, "How do you hope to stop us? there is six of us and three of you." The lead mare laughed, and the stallions behind her did so too, "Ready for a fight then are you?" She asked, to which Lightning nodded, "I am not going to let you do anything to my friends." He stated simply.

Lights flashed and Lightning saw it was only Twilight and Rainbow that now were with him, "What did you do to my other friends?" Lightning demanded; evoking a laugh once more, "We simply needed you to fight us in threes; your friends will not win against the others however." Lightning didn't rise to it, "You think you can just show up and stop us? That's a laugh." Lightning retorted, "You laugh at our power? We didn't attack last time so you know not our strength." The mare sounded annoyed, "I think that if you challenge a well put together team like the one you just did; there will be pain." Lightning bluffed; not really thinking that this team was 'well put together'.

Lightning then got into position; ready to knock some heads, "ATTACK! For the glory of the Nightmare!" The lead mare shouted to her companions. The two lead ponies clashed and I cut off for the chapter break.

Authors note: LAWLZ! It was totally bound to happen; the Shadowbolts were just bound to happen. I think that this is going better than I originally hoped.