The Silverbolts' practicing was looking sharp and awesome, as Rumble watched from the bleachers of the training field, marveling at the daredevil displays the Silvers were gonna show off for their first show later. They had already done the routine correctly, but were now doing it over and over again, making use of what time they had left before they had to get to the Wonderbolts derby for their show.

Everypony in Canterlot is gonna be blown away! Rumble thought to himself with an excited chuckle when he felt a GUST of wind from the Silverbolts' flying rush past him from his right, causing Rumble to shy back and lower his head towards his left to avoid the worst of it... when something caught his eye. Huh? Who is that...?

There was somepony hunkering down at the end of the bleachers, wearing a purple and black hoodie, looking rather shady. But the wind had blown off their hood to reveal...

"Lightning Dust?!" Rumble whispered in disbelief, and he saw how frantic the pony was as she hurriedly put her hood back up and scooted back behind the bleachers.

Immediately, Rumble got the feeling something was up, and he went over to one of the training assistants and said to him, "Uh, I need to go get something from the hotel, would you tell my brother, Thunderlane, I'll be back in time for the show?"

"Uh-huh, sure, kid," the trainer responded, paying more attention to the Silverbolts than the colt, as he went around the bleachers and saw the hooded Lightning Dust sneaking away before taking flight.

Rumble had an odd feeling and though he had misgivings something spurred him to follow.

And he did.

"Where is she going...?" Rumble whispered to himself as he carefully followed Lightning Dust.

The colt was young but he was still a pegasus, and pegasi had the sharpest eyes of the pony tribes. He'd recognized Lightning Dust the moment he saw her with her hood down, and he was curious, What's she doing here?

Rumble had heard from Scootaloo and Hotshot that Lightning Dust had participated in the Silverbolts try-outs, and was passed over. She was so angry and upset she'd flown off and no one, not even her family, had any idea as to where she'd gone and she was eventually reported missing.

Rumble kept to the rooftops of the neighborhood Lightning Dust was walking through, an older part of Canterlot given the out-of-date architecture of the buildings, some of which looked a bit shabby and weather-worn. Rumble had considered following Lightning Dust on the ground, but given how careful Lightning Dust was being and how frequently she peered or outright looked back to see if anyone was following her, he'd figured the safer bet was to follow her from above by sneaking over rooftops so Lightning Dust wouldn't see him.

He'd seen a few action movies at the Ponyville cinema that taught him, Nopony ever looks up.

That wasn't to say, Rumble was being cocky and that he was wrong. Once or twice, he almost got glimpsed by Lightning Dust from a casual look up and then when she'd noticed his shadow on the ground as he'd zoomed to the next rooftop. That second time, she'd flown up over the rooftops herself to look for any foolish snoops and Rumble had just barely been able to hide behind a nearby water tower.

After a few long moments, Lightning Dust had relaxed and landed back on the ground before continuing on her way. Rumble had waited just a few moments more before he continued to tail her, and afterwards he was much more cautious.

Finally, Lightning Dust came to an old manor standing right up against the mountainside, on the furthest reach of Canterlot's perilous perch upon Mt. Canterhorn. Rumble watched Lightning Dust enter the manor from the stone wall enclosing the front yard, overrun with grass and weeds long past due for a good mowing. The moment the door clicked shut, Rumble quickly but carefully zipped up to the front window, peering in just in time to see Lightning Dust trot down a hall as she shouted, "I'm back!"

"Who's she calling to?" Rumble whispered to himself, not noticing a shadow above him.

Entering the study, Lightning Dust was welcomed back by expectant glowers from her peers, all of them pegasi, each of them looking like a pony one wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. There were nine present, Lightning Dust included, and she saw Wind Ryder standing to the right of an old antique desk, at which sat their leader, a pegasus mare of pale blue, her mane and tail a grim shade of midnight blue, and her eyes a piercing golden yellow, narrowed predatorily as she lounged back in her chair and said, "Did you find out anything about those bolt wannabes?"

"Well... yes and no, Captain," Lightning Dust responded warily, barely managing to keep her cool as the leader, their Captain, and the rest of them furrowed their brows or sneered contemptuously, "Their captain, Prince Midnight, he said they're gonna draw straws to determine who among them will race the top three Wonderbolts after their little show. But they're not gonna draw straws until just before the race."

"Hmm..." the Captain considered this, rubbing her hoof to the underside of her chin, "I gotta admit, that's smart. They won't know who to expect to race them... but we won't know until the moment of truth either. It's a fine strategy, but it's still a gamble on their part."

"Is this a problem, Captain?" asked Wind Ryder.

"We can't be certain until the race and they choose which among them will race Spitfire and her two lackeys," the Captain thought it over before deciding, "From what we've gathered, the Silverbolts may be skilled fliers individually, but they're still not exactly experienced in flying together as a team, certainly not in combat situations... Only Midnight, Soarin and Thunderlane concern me, them being knights an' all, but the rest of them are still amateurs when it comes to actual fighting, except for perhaps the griffon."

"I feel I should point out that griffon is also a Sky Knight from Griffonstone and a prince since he is the son of the new Griffon King," brought up one of the pegasi present, and the Captain nodded in acknowledgement.

"The objective is too important," the Captain sighed as she leaned forward, her forelegs on the desktop, her hooves together and pressed against her muzzle. "Regardless of which of them will face Spitfire and the other two, we can't pass up this opportunity. Killing the Captain of the Wonderbolts will weaken them, create conflict, confusion, doubt... not to mention the opportunities the client has promised."

"If I may, Captain," Lightning Dust spoke up, "would it tip the odds further in our favor if we were to... use the Call?"

"I have considered it," the Captain responded, "but no. Using the Call would arouse too much suspicion. We cannot risk our enemies or anyone else discovering we have it, our greatest treasure... No. We will stick to the plan and use the Stormy Eyes to knock out the live feeds of the camera crew, allowing us to strike with impunity. Make no mistake, Shadowbolts!

"This op must succeed..." the Captain stood up, her hooves on the desk as she gave them a sweeping gaze that was piercing and unforgiving, so intense that her underlings all shifted their gazes downwards, like pack animals too submissive to look an alpha in the eye.

"It will be a turning point and the risk is exposure. The rumors regarding our existence have been circulating and spread from other nations where we've done our work. To tell you the truth, a part of me feels we should just quit and go home... but then I ask myself, 'How long can we really go like this?' We have operated under the radar for over a hundred years... we've only taken jobs outside of Equestria to fund our mission and our goals so as to avoid discovery by the Wonderbolts and the alicorns. Our founder finding the Call was the one and only achievement that this team has ever truly made!

"Sure, it gives us an edge no other pegasus has and has allowed us to stay hidden, but hiding, my friends..." The Captain rose up from behind the desk and alighted herself in front of it as she demanded, "is that all we'll ever amount to?!"

She took satisfaction in seeing her followers furrow their brows and shake their heads in discontent and ire, as she went on, "Each and every one of us! We showed our steel, our resolve, to fly higher, faster, better than anypony else! And how were we rewarded by the so-called best of the best fliers in all of Equestria? Rejection... Denied! Cast out and labeled undesirable or unworthy, robbing us of the honors and glories that should have been ours!"

"I trained for years to join them and they refused me!" "Those Wonderbastards stole my dreams!" "They knew I was good, they just didn't want me to knock any of `em off their pedestals..." "I gave them everything! They took it all away..."

"Yes, yes! My brothers and sisters..." the Captain nodded, seeming almost empathic, "Those frauds recognized the talent and greatness in each and every one of us... and they feared our potential so that they snubbed what we had to offer and spat it in our faces... Our founder, Dark Shade, my great-grandfather! He refused to be dismissed and forgotten. He refused to let weak-willed inferiors tell him his worth! He followed the teachings of Commander Hurricane and he was rewarded for it by his finding of our treasure...!

"It is because of my honored ancestor that each of us stands here in this room, the washed out, the rejected, the unrecognized greatness that they so feared would overshadow them that they turned us away! That is why we are who we are. That is why we... are the SHADOWBOLTS!!!"

"SHADOWBOLTS!!!" the rest of them, including Lightning Dust all screamed in response.

"Our time is fast approaching, perhaps sooner than we may think!" the Captain went on, "Our time to reveal ourselves and show not just the Wonderbolts, not just Equestria, but the world that we are here! That we are the greatest fliers ever to take to the skies! Because unlike those bleeding hearts who never shut up about 'morals' and 'ethics', we have the strength - The courage! - to do whatever it takes to come out on top, to come in first, to win...! Whether we are revealed today or tomorrow, soon all will know and respect the Sha-"

The Captain stopped mid-sentence as her ears perked to a creak coming from above and some bits of dust floating down onto her muzzle. She gazed up at the ceiling and saw a hole, through which she saw an alarmed eye, and she furrowed her brows.

"TRESPASSERS! In the attic!" She exclaimed, her followers getting riled as some of them quickly made for the door. "We're being spied on!"

"Oh mane, oh mane...!" Rumble hurried to the door and closed it before throwing anything he could to barricade it. Thankfully, the attic was full of old junk. He made it in time as the door opened just an inch but struck the bookcase Rumble had toppled in front of it, along with the rest of the stuff he'd used to barricade it.

*BAM BAM BAM*

"OPEN UP, YOU LITTLE SNEAK!" shouted a loud and angry voice, scaring Rumble. "We know you're hiding in there!"

He kept his mouth shut before he quickly whirled around and sprung for the window he'd jimmied open to get inside-

"ACK! Oh no...!" Rumble found himself suddenly tangled in what appeared to be an old net, which he'd unknowingly been standing in front of and had missed in his panicked spur to escape.

As he struggled desperately to free himself, a shadow fell over him and he looked up and felt his spirits go down to see two angry faces leering at him through the window.

Rumble winced as the ropes were tied tight and secure, holding him in a chair, set in the middle of the study, surrounded by these... Shadowbolts, as they all glared at him suspiciously. But it was the frigid piercing gaze of their Captain that had Rumble on the verge of wetting his hooves. The colt was terrified, not only because of what he'd gotten himself into, but the fact he'd learned these rogues were planning to attack Spitfire and whoever raced alongside her against the Silverbolts, who would be in equal danger.

Rumble peered slightly to his right, towards Lightning Dust, who was giving him a neutral look as opposed to the hostility he was receiving from everyone else.

The Captain noticed this, and suddenly understood the situation.

"My friends..." she spoke softly, yet her voice was of a grim undertone, "it appears our... guest is young Rumble! Little brother of Silverbolt and Knight of Harmony, Thunderlane, if I'm not mistaken..."

Rumble gulped fearfully, they knew who he was?! Unbeknownst to him, Lightning Dust's feathers ruffled as her eyes shifted downwards uncomfortably, while the Captain walked to stand behind Rumble and lower her mouth to his ear.

"You must be so proud of your big brother, Rumble..." Her voice oozed with malice, "and yet, I wonder just how cold it is, standing in his... shadow?"

She raised her head while chuckling softly at her little pun, and the others laughed as well, though their was mostly forced and rigid while a few genuinely found it funny and enjoyed the tense moment, as their Captain continued.

"Orphaned at such a young age, raised by foster parents and then just your brother," the Captain said with faux sympathy. "I know what it's like, Rumble, to feel alone, with hardly anyone in the world to be there for you.

"To seem insignificant next to someone else," the Captain went on as she moved to stand in front of Rumble again. "Though I am afraid I cannot extend my hospitality, for we find ourselves in... a conundrum."

Gulping, Rumble nervously raised his gaze to meet the Captain's, finding her calm expression confusingly unnerving, "C-conundrum?"

"It's not nice to eavesdrop on others' private affairs, young colt, and I have no doubts that you've heard enough that it makes you... a problem," the Captain elaborated as she leaned forward, her muzzle only inches away from Rumble's as she bore her metallic golden eyes into his soft purples. But then, to Rumble's bafflement, her eyes softened as she pulled back and stood to the full of her height before saying, "and yet I acknowledge that the problem isn't your fault..."

Without warning, the Captain whirled around and smashed her hoof into Lightning Dust's face, sending her for a loop while Rumble cried out in alarm, and the rest of the Shadowbolts backed away from their captain and comrade, the former standing over Lightning Dust. The young mare groaned in agony as she clutched her face, or rather her right eye, gingerly pulling her lowering her hooves to reveal the swollen shiner she'd been suddenly gifted with.

"You are to blame for this discomfort, Lightning Dust..." the Captain said, her voice soft yet edged with tempered ire, before she reached down, pulled Lightning Dust up, and began beating her.

Lightning Dust was helpless as the Captain slammed her hoof into the young mare's face over and over. Flecks of blood and spittle flew around them while cries and whimpers and groans of agony filled the room, including Rumble's. The colt heard every strike, every utterance of pain, and he whimpered, not only in terror but sympathy. He'd heard the unflattering stories about Lightning Dust, but there were also the stories of how she helped save Cloudsdale, was loved and missed by her little brother, Hotshot, and it hurt him as well, having to witness her torture.

"You had one simple job." BOOF "A task even a new recruit could have done without screwing it up." SOCK "And you allowed yourself to be followed..." THWOCK "...straight to our hideout by a CHILD?!?"

"STOP IT! Please, you're gonna kill her!" Rumble cried out, unable to take it anymore as he teared up. "She didn't know I followed her, please!!"

The Captain stopped mid-punch, and released Lightning Dust, who slumped back to the floor, her face bruised with ugly splotches of purples with smudges of blood, both her eyes swollen, her right eye completely shut but her left remained open enough for her to still see out of it though blood and tears smudged it up a little, there were a few cuts from the edge of the Captain's hoof, she had a fat lip, and she felt a tooth or two were loose.

She whimpered and wheezed and painfully hocked to spit out a bloody loogie.

The Captain turned to face Rumble, her own still a disturbingly calm mask that Rumble now realized concealed a truly wicked and cruel pony, especially in how there were some flecked drops of Lightning Dust's blood on her forehead, cheeks, and below her right eye. Another Shadowbolt stepped forward to offer the Captain a towel damp with warm water, and she used it to clean herself off before dismissively tossing it onto Lightning Dust's face.

"This is an embarrassment, Lightning Dust," the Captain said, continuing to sound eerily calm and yet Rumble had never been more scared of anypony in his life as he was of her, for she kept her gaze on the colt even as she spoke to Lightning Dust.
"This foal, brother to one of our enemies, is speaking on your behalf out of some childish sense of empathy. What shame you must feel..."

The other Shadowbolts all chuckled derisively as they gave both Lightning Dust and Rumble mocking looks, before the Captain raised her wing and it suddenly became silent.

"Time is not a luxury we can afford at the moment, Shadowbolts," the Captain reminded, a slight urgency in her voice, "We haven't the time to deal with this brat, so we shall attend to him once our mission is complete. Chain him in the basement, Lightning Dust, and Ryder, go with her to make sure she doesn't blunder anything else. Once the colt is secured, meet us at the rendezvous.

"Consider yourself lucky I need you able-bodied for this mission, Dust..." The Captain sneered as she walked past Rumble and all but two of the Shadowbolts followed her, leaving Rumble alone with the brutalized Lightning Dust and an older pegasus stallion Rumble vaguely recognized as Wind Ryder.

He gave Lightning Dust a look of cold contempt, devoid of any pity.

Rumble whimpered at the rusty yet heavy chain securing him to the wall by the uncomfortable collar around his neck. He gazed up woefully at Wind Ryder and Lightning Dust, the former giving Rumble a cold look before saying, "Sit tight. We'll be back to put you out of our misery... Come on, Dust!"

Ryder exited the basement, Lightning Dust in awful agony as she slowly turned to leave as well-

"Don't go!" She paused and looked back at Rumble through her left eye, though swollen yet still allowed her to see after painfully wiping away the tears and blood. She saw Rumble, looking at her pleadingly, "Please, Lightning Dust! Don't go with them, they're bad ponies and they're going to do bad things. I know you've made mistakes before, but you don't belong with them!

"Hotshot and your folks miss you so much!"

Lightning Dust huffed, just glad her loosened teeth hadn't been knocked out (she was going to have to find a dentist soon) and responded, "Why couldn't you have jush minded your own damn bushinesh, Rumble...?!"

Rumble winced at how harsh one could sound even when they spoke softly and had trouble speaking clearly. He could tell it caused her pain to speak, and as awful as he felt for her, he knew he had to do whatever he could to prevent this.

"If you go through with this, then there really is no coming back!" Rumble pleaded, his chain clinking as he pulled at it, trying to get close to Lightning Dust. "You deserve better than what these- these... Shadwbolt jerks are, you're better than them in every way that matters!"

"I washn't good enough for the Shilverboltsh..." Lightning Dust turned to glare fully at Rumble, who grimaced at the sight of Lightning's pummeled face. "Washn't good enough foe the Wonderboltsh! But the Shadowboltsh... They came t' me when I felt sho alone and worthlessh, and showed me the true way to greatnessh is that everything and everyone ish a tool to get what you want!"

"You know that's not true," Rumble began to tear up, which Lightning Dust couldn't bear to look at.

Especially when they both heard "DUST! Get your ass up here, we are not gonna be late."

Lightning Dust peered over at Rumble, who expressed such pleading in his eyes that she honestly felt a twinge of shame, before stating, "Word of advishe, Rumble... the weak linksh are alwaysh the eashiesht t' break..." and she left, her hoofsteps pounding as she ascended the stairs.

After a long and quiet moment, Rumble knew he was alone. It was an awful feeling he was familiar with. He'd been very little when his parents died in the weather factory incident., but still, he could remember his Mom and Dad. How warm and comforting Mom's hugs were, how big and strong yet gentle Dad was, how they made him feel safe. Mom's songs and bedtime stories, Dad's big and soft belly his favorite place to fall asleep. He and Thunderlane had plenty of pictures of their folks, Rumble knew he'd inherited his dad's gray coat (I wonder if I'll ever get his beard...), while he'd gotten his purple eyes from Mom.

And ten of course there was the nickname Mom had for him, her little Rumble Bee...

That awful day when Thunderlane had told him their parents were never coming home, Rumble felt a pain inside unlike anything before. Or since. He eventually realized, he'd felt his heart break.

Break... Rumble thought, the word echoing in his head for some reason, Break...? Break!

He stood back up and remembered what Lightning Dust has said to him: The weak links are always the easiest to break. For some reason, Rumble couldn't help but feel suspicious as to why she'd told him that.

"Weak link? Link..." Rumble considered when his hoof bumped against the chain, and he realized, "A chain is a bunch of links...!"

He gave the chain another look. It was sturdy and heavy, but old and rusty. It gave him only four hooves of length between its base securing it to the wall and the collar around his neck. He'd only gotten a brief look at the collar before it was secured, but it was a ring of metal with a fastening latch. Touching it, he could barely feel a small keyhole, which he supposed was how the collar locked. No way he was going to break the collar off.

But what if... Rumble thought as he examined the chain more closely.

The decay of age and rust had done a number on this old chain. It must have been here in the manor when the Shadowbolts had settled in to use it for a hideout. Checking each link, Rumble was soon elated to see one of the links was brittle-looking and one side was thin compared to the rest.

"A weak link...!" Rumble realized and he looked around at the basement, and was glad to see the halved remain of an old brick was within reach. Grabbing it, Rumble positioned himself just so for the link to be on the floor. this wasn't going to be easy, but his brother, the Silverbolts and even the Wonderbolts needed him!

"I won't let you down!" he declared and brought the brick down for the first strike!

Next Chapter: 404. Cross the Sky in Silver - Part 5 Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 56 Minutes