"Wow...!" Rumble marveled at the vast training field, where he saw the Silverbolts had already arrived ahead of him and Thunderlane, flying through pre-set obstacle courses, like hoops, wind-mills, tunnels, fans to simulate powerful gusts of wind, and even swinging pendulums the fliers had to avoid or they'd get knocked to the ground.

The field was located on a plateau, situated on a lower level of Mt. Canterhorn's mountainside. Its space and location made it ideal for training privately from the Canterlot citizens.

The pegasus colt counted five fliers in the sky while nine others stood on the ground, watching, including Midnight, Soarin, the griffon prince Doran, while the rest Rumble didn't remember or recognize.

Noticing them, Midnight took a whistle and blew it, calling down the Silverbolts in the air, and he welcomed, "Thunder! And Rumble too, `bout time you guys got here."

"Hey there, Captain," Thunderlane responded with a smirk and then a shrug, "Sorry about that, hope we didn't keep you waiting long."

"Aw, don't sweat, Thunder," Soarin came over and pulled Thunderlane and Rumble in to a winghug with himself in the middle as he declared, "Now that A-Squad is all here, the rest of the Silverbolts can really get down to business!"

"Yes, back on track," Midnight cleared his throat and then raised his voice, making sure everyone was paying attention, "Alright, Silverbolts! We've had our debut, but this is gonna be where we make a real impression, not only to Equestria, but also to the Wonderbolts. They have history. They have generations of legacy and hard work and triumphs and failures, and so, we must do our very best to show them that while we may be a new team of aerial daredevils, we can be and we will be every bit as determined, as gritty, and as bold as they are.

"A-Squad, consisting of myself, Soarin, Doran, Hazel Blight, and Thunderlane, along with Steel Edge and Amethyst Tides, the leaders of B-Squad and C-Squad respectively, will spend today practicing to perfect our first-ever routine. A little something I like to call..." Midnight lit up his horn, and conjured a roll-away whiteboard, scribbled with illustrations and designs and even notes, along with a stick, which he pointed to the words spelled out over everything else on the board:

"The Storm Breaker. Named after the Thunder Belcher Himself."

Midnight stepped aside to give his team a closer look at the marker board so they could study it, so he explained, "The routine requires seven fliers, which as I've already explained, will be A-Squad along with the leaders of B- and C-Squad. Together, we will fly in formation and demonstrate our ability to fly in sync. We've all taken Silver Lining's training, so now it's time to put it to the test. B and C? I apologize for excluding you, but I promise, you'll all get your chance to show your stuff to the world in good time.

"So, we have all day and tomorrow morning to get this routine down.We'll run through standard training and exercises, and practice the Storm Breaker until we nail it. What're we waiting for?"

The Silverbolts began to study the routine on the marker board while Midnight explained it step-by-step, and Thunderlane took Rumble aside, "You can stay and watch from the sidelines or I can have someone take you to our hotel room and you can enjoy free room service."

"No way! I wanna watch you guys, big bro!" Rumble insisted, pumping his own little wings, looking excited.

Thunderlane smiled and said, "Alright, but no interrupting and if you're hungry or need a bathroom break, talk to the security guard we passed by. She'll help you out."

"I'll be good, promise!" Rumble assured his brother and went to sit on a nearby bench to watch. But quickly grew bored, since the Silverbolts were first studying the routine before they actually practiced it. Sighing, the colt figured, "May as well get a bite or something."

And he went to find the security guard.

Elsewhere in the city, six dark figures sat around a table within a basement when one of the stepped up and lowered a hood to reveal a pale blue mare with a midnight blue mane held back by a pair of flight goggles, golden with sharp frames and orange lenses. Her eyes were molten gold, narrowed sharp and a smug look on her face.

"Everyone is here, right? Good," the mare assumed, "Then listen carefully... tomorrow afternoon, these noob fliers, calling themselves the 'Silverbolts', are gonna perform their first aerial show. But they're not why we're here. No, it's their opponents we're interested, their competitors whom they're gonna race after their show. The Wonderbolts..."

The mare let the hate simmer within her followers, taking grim satisfaction in seeing some of them shake, hearing some of them growl, one even stomped the floor to let off a little steam. Once they simmered out, the mare went on.
"That's right, and their top three, including their captain, Spitfire, is gonna race three of the Silverbolts in a derby after their aerial show. Which is going to be the perfect opportunity... to take. Them. Out!"

The others all chuckled darkly and nodded in agreement as the mare said, "We have to do this carefully however. It wasn't that long ago the criminal underworld of Equestria took a major blow after Buck Cheap was taken down, giving those high n' mighty alicorns the dirt on all of Equestria's organized crime. We got lucky since our dealings with the Equestrian crime world was done with immaculate care and the utmost discretion. But we've tipped our hooves a little too much recently, so now those hooded spooks are on the lookout for us."

The others shared looks of disgruntled enmity as well as fear. They didn't know who these hooded ponies were, but they knew they had been a major player in taking down the Equestrian crime world.

One of them cleared his throat, and asked, "If I may speak, Captain...?"

"Wind Ryder, by all means," the mare welcomed him forward and she stepped aside, giving the disgraced ex-Wonderbolt veteran the floor.

"I devoted my life to the Wonderbolts," Wind Ryder said bitterly, "and I made my mark by my breaking the long-distance speed record in the Mustang Marathon. Then that technicolored tart, Rainbow Dash, threatened to take that record away, so I... tried to remove her from the equation by trying to get her kicked out of the reserves. If it weren't for that cosplaying harlot I'd have gotten away with it!

"Ur- Ahem, but that's besides the point," Wind Ryder recollected himself and then explained, "The particulars of the events that will take place have been confirmed; tomorrow afternoon, the Silverbolts will do their little 'routine', and then three of their best will race the Wonderbolts' three best. These being Captain Spitfire, her brother Rapidfire, and Fleetfoot. Thanks to a couple friends I still have in the Wonderbolts Administration, we've learned the race will start at the derby, but instead of taking place just there the race will extend all around Mount Canterhorn!"

The others in the meeting shared intrigued murmurs and Wind Ryder went on, "Now don't think this makes things easier. The race will be closely followed by a camera crew, filming live-feeds to television screens and a jumbo-tron. In order to achieve our goal, we need to knock out the live-feeds so the spectators and royals can't see what's going on."

The other ponies minus the mare Wind Ryder had addressed as 'captain', all nodded and murmured, and Wind Ryder went on, "So, before we can even attempt to take out Spitfire, we need to knock out those cameras. Fortunately, I know a... shopkeeper who deals in some questionable magical merchandise. You want it, he's got it, and what we want is something we can use to disrupt the television signals, something of which I am confident he can assist us with."

"Good, good, so then, Ryder has the cameras handled," the captain spoke up and took back the floor, disgruntling the older pegasus but he said nothing as he sat back with the others. "However, we have a short window of opportunity and this must be handled with the greatest care. So then, Shadowbolts, huddle up and listen carefully... here's what we're going to do."

They all leaned in closely as they noticed that golden gleam of malice in their captain's eyes they knew so well.

With a good meal snug in his tummy, Rumble returned to the training field and was amazed by the Silverbolts' practicing as he watched from the bench he'd been sitting on earlier. Sure, he'd seen his brother train before, as well as Rainbow Dash and even Soarin, and he'd been to a few Wonderbolts shows before and after Rainbow joined the reserves. But seeing a team of fliers practicing was something else. It was obvious, though the Silverbolts were each skilled and talented fliers individually, were not quite yet the well-oiled, coordinated team that the Wonderbolts are.

Well, duh, they're still new at being a team, Rumble thought as he watched the huge griffon, Doran, trying to keep in formation with Steel Edge and Hazel Blight without knocking them out of the air with his huge wings and bulk. Apparently, part of Doran's role in the routine was to catch some of his teammates mid-flight and give them a heave into another direction. He did his best to keep an even pace in his down-stroke so as to stay relatively in the same place while airborne while he braced himself to catch Hazel as the mare flew into Doran's careful embrace... and then swing her around, missing Steel as he zoomed at Doran, and the griffon did the same, albeit getting knocked out of place a little since Steel was larger and heavier than Hazel. But the griffon still succeeded in maneuvering the lunar pegasus exactly the way he needed to be.

Meanwhile, Midnight, Soarin, Amethyst Tides and Thunderlane were discussing something about a stormcloud that was apparently a crucial part to the routine... when Thunderlane, who wasn't very deep into the conversation, gazed over at his brother.

And he saw something in that colt's eyes as the younger pegasus seemed to be... drinking up everything before him, trying to watch and observe every little detail going on. Then he saw Rumble hop down from the bench, and then start flapping his wings to get aloft. It was right there... that Thunderlane noticed something was off about his little brother. Ordinarily, Rumble would be smiling and barely holding in his excitement watching something like this, his big brother training and practicing alongside his wingmates.

But he's not... Thunderlane thought as he looked at how Rumble gazed up at the Silverbolts all taking flight (except for Thunderlane) to practice the routine.

The colt's wings seemed to lose their fervor and Rumble slowly slumped back down to the ground, hanging his head as a haunted shadow befell his downward eyes.

"What's the matter, Rumble Bee?" Rumble gasped softly as he looked up to see his brother, giving him a warm smirk, and they shared a moment of reflection at the nickname Thunderlane had just called him.

Rumble Bee.

The colt had been young when the accident happened, the one that took their mom and dad from them and left them on their own. But still, Rumble could remember their mom, that nickname she'd given him, how silly it sounded yet it always made him feel safe to hear it. The last time he'd heard his mom call him 'Rumble Bee' was the morning of the day she and Dad never came home.

"Thunder, pl- Please... don't ever call me that again," the colt asked dismally, looking away from the older pegasus.

"Sorry, I... do you wanna talk?" asked Thunderlane, coming over to sit beside his kid brother and pulling him close with his wing.

"...I know why you brought me with you, Thunder," Rumble sighed woefully, "and... I appreciate it an' all, but-"

"Rumble... I know what happened, and what you did in the shared dream," Thunderlane spoke gently, "and, as much as I wish you and the rest of the Crusaders hadn't gone through all that... I gotta say, I'm proud of you, little brother."

The gray colt peered at his big brother from the corner of his eye as Thunderlane sat down next to him and the older pegasus said, "...I know it's not easy to talk about, Rumble, and it's so confusing, how real it felt when it was only a dream... but you really showed guts through all that, Rumble. I could tell you were afraid, and it would have been understandable to give up or... my point is, you carried on and even helped your friends keep going, even when it all seemed hopeless. You are absolutely the bravest colt I've ever seen, Rumble, and I'm not saying that because I'm your brother."

The gray colt gave his brother a careful look... and saw that Thunderlane meant every word.

Then Thunderlane stood up, spread his wings, and said, "So... whattya say to some training alongside the Silverbolts?" as the stallion held out his hoof to his little brother.

Rumble found himself hesitant, but the excitement of training alongside his brother with the Silverbolts, and the encouraging smile showing him how proud his brother was of him, he couldn't help but crack a smile of his own... and he stood back up, meeting Thunderlane's look with a smirk of reinvigorated determination.

Glad to see his kid brother had the will, Thunderlane whistled to the other Silverbolts, and when they all gave him their attention, he nodded in affirmation and they nodded back before Thunderlane said to the colt, "Then let's get started..."

And before Rumble knew it, Thunderlane had jumped over, grabbed the colt, and with a skyward throw, he yelled:

Rumble found himself suddenly surrounded by the Silverbolts, all flapping in mid-air, as they gave him encouraging looks while Thunderlane flew up to join them and gestured Rumble to follow.

The Silverbolts flew in a formation with Rumble bringing up the rear. The colt was flapping a little too hard to keep up that he began to falter... when he found himself rising up as the griffon Doran had risen up out of nowhere, giving Rumble a gentle boost with his head before Rumble caught his breath and took another leap to catch up with the formation.

The Silverbolts later engaged one another in some friendly aerial sparring, and though Soarin had gladly accepted Rumble's challenge the older pegasus didn't make it easy for the colt, but he never got rougher than he knew Rumble could handle. Thunderlane trusted his friend and fellow `bolt not to go too far with his brother though he still couldn't help worrying a little, that he got distracted and was suckerpunched by his sparring partner, Steel Edge.

The Silverbolts then began flying through an obstacle course set up by their other two squads, and though they each did well none of them were as small as Rumble...

...who showed himself to be surprisingly nimble as he wove through the obstacles almost effortlessly! Until he got distracted and was knocked off-course into a cloud-cushion.

During a required session of archery practice, Rumble watched as all the Silverbolts practiced with the bow and arrow, some firing at stationary targets but the best shot at the moving ones, including some clay pigeons. Deciding to try his hoof, Rumble took an arrow, zipped into the air, and took aim...

...and nearly nailed Midnight in the wing when he'd aimed for a clay pigeon that had suddenly veered towards the archers, to Rumble's embarrassment. But both Midnight and Thunderlane showed him there was no hard feelings and gave him some extra pointers, such as aiming not directly at moving targets but to where they will be.

The Silverbolts went on another flight, this time through simulated hard weather. During which, Thunderlane instructed Rumble on dos & don'ts when flying through hard weather, like heavy rain or harsh winds.

Rumble used what his brother told him, and surprised everyone when he made use of a powerful gale to give him lift and then dive to get some velocity to pierce his way out of the simulated tempest, beating everyone else out!

During lunch, Rumble got hijacked into being his brother's sous-chef, which surprised the colt when Thunderlane revealed he really enjoyed cooking, bashfully admiting because Applejack taught him and showed him how fun and fulfilling it was. For that reason, whenever the Silverbolts got together for extended training Thunderlane would often volunteer to cook their meals.

Resuming training, the Silverbolts ran down a path to take a running start before take-off, and Rumble followed... only to trip and stumble head over hooves.

Rumble felt so embarrassed by his stumble, he almost began to cry... only to feel a gentle nudge helping him back up onto his hooves, and he smiled appreciatively to see it was his brother, as Thunderlane nodded for him to give it another go. The encouragement spurred Rumble to run again and take to the air.

The Silverbolts had flown higher than the summit of Mt. Canterhorn herself before they all leapt from a cloud and sky-dived together, including Rumble, who was the last of them to open his wings and make use of the momentum he'd built up to fly `round the mountainside, showing guts, endurance and impeccable control for a pegasus his age, impressing the Silverbolts.

The Silverbolts watched as Rumble pushed himself yet maintained a steady speed as he barrel-rolled, loop-de-looped, did a free-fall before making a perfectly timed pull-up, and they cheered him on as the colt kept going.

Rumble, after climbing up an impressive altitude suddenly dove, picking up breakneck speeds that Thunderlane almost panicked and was about to fly out to catch his little brother, only for Rumble to angle himself upwards and soar through the air with his wings folded...

...and the gray pegasus colt landed perfectly onto a stray cloud, and stood with determined triumph, looking towards the horizon, only his smirk betraying his acknowledgement of the Silverbolts cheering and applauding him, while Thunderlane thought to himself, That's my bro!

Next Chapter: 402. Cross the Sky in Silver - Part 3 Estimated time remaining: 9 Hours, 26 Minutes