While Dash and Blaze were battling Blitz outside the mansion, the other four Shadowbolts had gotten straight to work inside. Immediately, Starry Skies split from the group to take out as many Wonderbolts as possible with the bombs. Charger zipped through the elegant main hallway and up the stairs, looking for Rain's office. Nightshade and Stratus stalked straight forward, keeping their eyes peeled for Spitfire.

In the wake of the first explosion servants, personal friends, and the Wonderbolts themselves had scattered. A few of the less important team members were sprinting through the halls. At times they seemed completely oblivious to the black-and-purple suited ponies walking the halls like a pair of grim reapers, harbingers of death with bladed hooves. At one point a low-rank Wonderbolt, part of the background performance crew, barreled right into Nightshade. She responded by sinking both blades on her left hoof into his chest. He dropped to his knees and crashed to the ground. Stratus looked down at the body, discomfort on his face.

"I remember when that was difficult for you."

Nightshade scoffed. "It's work, nothing more. Keep moving."

Across the mansion, Starry Skies was moving towards the main living quarters. A few live-in servants crossed her path, but none dared to stop her. She not only was well armed but also carried with her a fair sized bomb. The state of the place was chaotic to say the least. The situation only seemed to worsen when three explosions were heard outside. The powerful blasts of magic came in rapid succession, signaling an intense aerial dogfight between multiple pegasi.

Blueball should be able to take care of it, Starry Skies told herself. She couldn't help but worry about the little blue pegasus; something in the pit of her stomach told her that she might not see her again. Starry Skies brushed away these thoughts, focusing on her objective. She moved onward through the artfully crafted building. She couldn't help but notice how strangely familiar it felt to be in such a place of sophistication. This was truly her territory. She crossed a large foyer area which led to the next wing of the house, the living quarters. Upon reaching the large double doors to the main commons, she found them locked. She banged on the doors. No answer came.

Starry Skies dropped her refined demeanor; it served no purpose here. "Open the door, or I'll blow this entire wing sky high!"

Muffled voices could be heard from within. To increase her negotiating powers, Starry Skies withdrew a rigged bomb from one of her saddlebags. The door popped open and an old stallion, Doc, stepped forward, stammering, "Now look, you don't need to do anything drastic."

Starry Skies silently walked to the center of the room, placing the explosive on the floor between the couch and table. She noticed that there were six other ponies in the room. She made a point of being calm and collected; to show fear was to be overtaken, overpowered, and possibly even killed. She began arming the explosive.

Doc continued his pleading. "Please! I know you, child! I know your father! He wouldn't want you to do this!"

Starry Skies turned on the old pegasus. "My desires were of no concern to you so many years ago. Why should yours matter to me now?" A beep indicated that the timer had started. Starry Skies made her way towards the doors but was pushed back by Doc. Two other Wonderbolts slammed the doors shut, locking them again.

Starry Skies began to panic. "What are you doing? I command you to open those doors!"

Doc looked to his companions and back to Star. "Kill us if you must, but you're coming with us."

Starry Skies felt her stomach drop. "No…"

The timer hit five seconds.

"No!"

In a flash, Starry Skies leapt over the couch, kicking the bomb back towards the doors. It slid under the couch and across the floor, coming to rest a couple of feet from the far door. It wasn't far enough; the explosive was designed to obliterate the entire room. Adrenaline kicked in and time halted as Star looked for a way out. She blasted towards the windows, colliding full force with the glass wall. It cracked but did not shatter.

She slammed her hooves into the glass, breaking away small shards of it. "NO NO NO!"

In a brilliant flash, Starry Skies was hit with a concussive blast that flung her slender body through the damaged window. Flames engulfed the room behind her. The blast threw Wonderbolts in all directions and blasted the doors to the main house right out of their frame. Starry Skies tumbled head over hooves across the grass. She felt a pop in her side, followed by an intense wave of pain that told her she had snapped a wing. Finally she rolled to a stop. Her vision was blurry and dark. Her ears were filled with a high piercing ringing. Blood dripped from small cuts all over her body. Her fur was singed in places where her flight suit had been burnt away. Her legs quaked furiously as she tried to stand; she rose halfway before collapsing onto her side. Pain and shock overtook her as she lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, Charger was trotting towards Rain's office. He had found the main stairway, a walled-in hallway that lead upwards into the floor of the office. A security measure, no doubt. The tight hallway acted as a funnel, bringing any intruder up a very predictable path; any guard or Rain himself could be waiting at the top, and Charger wouldn't be able to see them without them seeing him. He tensed, anticipating combat.

As he put his hoof on the first stair up to the second floor, a blast of magic split the wood beneath him. A unicorn, no doubt Rain's personal guard, was sending powerful bolts of magic at him. Charger threw himself sideways and redirected upwards, staying just ahead of the projectiles. As he closed the space between himself and the unicorn, he moved in straight lines around the tight hallway, going up the walls and across the ceiling and floor. At the last second, the unicorn turned to run and Charger tackled him, driving his blades into the guard's back. The guard jerked and fell limp, rolling down the stairs. His opponent down, Charger turned to the heavy wooden door. He wasted no time with ceremony or class; turning, he bucked the door inward and cautiously ascended the last few steps into the office.

The elegant office seemed, at first, entirely innocent and businesslike. As Charger took in his surroundings, he soon saw that this office was actually that of a very accomplished and very dangerous mob boss. In a corner lay a folded combat harness with padded sides. On top of it rested a set of hoof blades. Behind the desk in the center was a wall of bookshelves; along the horizontal board of one shelf a katana was mounted at about head height. On the desk was a knife, long and sharp. Next to the knife was a pile of green powder which had been finely chopped and set into lines. Behind the desk sat the most dangerous thing in the room: Rain.

Upon seeing Charger, he cracked a grin. Seemingly oblivious to Charger's presence, he lowered his face to the desk and pressed one nostril shut. He swiftly moved his face from left to right, snorting a line of the green powder. As the last of the dust entered his nose, he reeled back. His eyes were glowing. When Rain spoke to Charger, there was something different in his voice, something dark and mystical.

"Ground unicorn horn, my boy. It's a helluva drug." Rain flapped his wings twice, going airborne. "I finally got some use outta Sharkey after all", he sneered.

"You're a damn monster", Charger growled.

Rain laughed, his glowing eyes widening. "You killed her, boy! You condemned her to death!"

Charger took off his blades. It would have given him great satisfaction to shred Rain, but he wanted to end him with his own hooves. "And now I'm gonna kill you!"

Charger shot forward. In a blink Rain spun in mid air, bringing a back hoof across Charger's face. The stunned Shadowbolt spun to the floor, catching himself on the windowsill. He turned in time to see Rain barreling into him. The two tumbled out the window onto the roof of the mansion in a blur of wings and hooves.

The night air was hot with fire. Pegasi were zipping about in front of the mansion leaving various trails of pegasus magic. Blitz looks like she's having trouble, Charger thought briefly. The two combatants hit the roof hard. Rain rolled and kicked Charger into the air. Charger spun and shot back down towards him, pinning him to the roof.

"You know", Charger hissed, "There's a real irony in this situation. Had you not tried to kill me all those years ago in Manehatten, I wouldn't be trying to kill you now. You should have just left me and Sharkey alone!"

Rain squirmed, freeing his back legs. He brought a back hoof up and used it to pry Charger from his body. "What I should have done is killed you myself! Sharkey couldn't do anything right!" Rain stood, preparing for the next attack. "Sharkey was a whore, Charger! I did you a favor by taking her from you!" He grinned, his voice dripping with venom. "The only place she was any good was the bedroom."

Charger bounded forward, weaving to throw Rain off guard. "You ruined my life!" Throwing his full body weight forward, Charger tackled Rain through the skylight.

While Charger and Rain were rolling about on the roof, Nightshade and Stratus were closing in on their targets. Nightshade had gone on slightly ahead of Stratus and found the massive double doors to the back room of the mansion. The entire back end of the massive complex turned out to be an elegant ballroom, reminiscent of something one might expect to see at the Grand Galloping Gala. The marble floor gleamed beautifully under the low lights. The rear wall of the room was one massive stained glass window overlooking the last few dozen yards of the cliff and the sea below. The room was empty except for two pegasi. The first was Soarin, the brave second captain; behind him stood Spitfire. Upon seeing Nightshade, Soarin took a defensive stance. Nightshade trotted forward.

"Just leave! No one needs to get hurt!", Soarin warned.

Nightshade started what might have been the beginning of a contemptuous chuckle when she was tackled to the ground by an earth pony. A guard who had been waiting in the shadows, no doubt. Nightshade cursed her carelessness; she should have been ready for roaming personal guards. The amateur mistake could very well cost her the mission if not her life now. The guard was considerably larger than she was; using only his weight, he pinned her to the floor.

"The enforcers have been called; they're sending a responder unit." He turned his head towards Soarin and Spitfire. "You two just stay back and wait for help to come."

Without warning, the guard's head jerked to the side. He fell limp on top of Nightshade. He was alive but unconscious. Something rolled the big earth pony to the side. Stratus.

Nightshade rose, brushing herself off with her wings.

"You have impeccable timing, Stratus."

Stratus grunted. He turned towards Soarin and Spitfire. "Well. This is it."

Nightshade did not respond. She moved like a shark, going forward with purpose and hunger. At the last minute, Soarin stepped in front of her, shouting, "If you wanna hurt Spitfire, you have to get through me!"

Nightshade almost apathetically pawed at Soarin's side, opening up a long gash from his front leg to his middle torso. The blue colt's eyes went wide with fear and shock. He toppled over. He was still alive and showed no signs of dying soon, but he would bleed out if given enough time, Nightshade had no doubt of that.

Spitfire reeled back in horror. "Oh Celestia, no!"

Tension thickened in the air as Nightshade stared Spitfire down. She stood silently, letting the hate build. She felt incredibly powerful watching the mare that destroyed her dreams cower in fear. As Nightshade was preparing to strike, the skylight shattered and two pegasi slammed into the hard marble floor in a shower of glass.

Charger and Rain rolled across the floor in a blur of hooves. Charger landed a powerful right hoof on the side of Rain's head, stunning him. He pinned him to the floor and planted a hoof on his neck, choking him out. Rain turned his head, trying to slip free of the choke hold, but this only prompted Charger to press harder. Rain began to panic as he frantically squirmed to get free. Straining, he turned his head enough to grab a long shard of broken glass, and with lightning speed he swiveled his neck, bringing it across Charger's face. Blood flashed from Charger's muzzle as a line of red streaked from over his right eye down to the left side of his mouth. With a cry of rage and pain, Charger stomped at Rain's face, shattering the glass. While this left Rain unarmed, it also threw Charger off balance, giving Rain just enough mobility to slip away.

"Get back here, you fucking coward!", Charger roared.

Rain scrambled to get away, but in a flash Charger had leapt onto his back, throwing him to the floor again. Charger pressed the back of Rain's head to one side, bringing his muzzle upwards with the other hoof. Both pegasi were screaming with rage when Charger threw his weight downward. A loud crack told everyone that Rain's neck had been snapped. Charger sat immobile atop the fallen pegasus for a moment, his chest heaving. After a moment, he got up and turned to Stratus.

"Where's Star?"

Stratus turned towards the main house. "Dunno. The bomb went off, but I haven't seen her yet. You should probably go check on her."

Charger nodded. "And Blitz?"

Stratus turned to Nightshade. "I'll go find Blitz."

Nightshade gestured towards the door. "You two go clean up. I'll keep our guest of honor company until you get back." Nightshade turned to Spitfire with a toxic stare as she added, "Then we can all watch our hard work come to fruition."