//------------------------------// // Sequence 1: Cloudsdale // Story: Rainbow Dash: Ponyville Assassin // by sbloom85 //------------------------------// The white screen faded and Silver Soldier was greeted with the presence of Rainbow Dash, a citizen of old Ponyville, the town's weather manager and was recently recruited into the Wonderbolts. Dash was just waking up and leaping off of her cloud. "She's got a nice ass." Silver Soldier commented, ignoring responses from Xander and FS. His wingboner was suppressed by the magic. The weather team decided to clear the sky of clouds and her bed was the first to go. Not long after she begins, Dash is accompanied by newly appointed princess Twilight Sparkle. "Good morning, Rainbow." She greeted. Silver Soldier didn't have a good look, so he rotates the camera to get that good look. "Oh shit! It's a winged Unicorn." He said openly. "So they did exist." He added to himself. Twilight and Dash cleared out the sky in record time. Twilight was aware of the Pegasi's rules about no magic and abided by them. After clearing the sky, the two approach the ground. Twilight lands while Dash hovered. "Thanks for the help, Twi. Now I'll be able to get to the training camp early." She said. "Would you like some company?" Twilight offered. "Thanks, Twi, but you've got your hooves full, remember?" Dash replied before taking off. The screen faded to white once again. The screen opened up to the Wonderbolts' training camp somewhere between Canterlot and Ponyville. Dash lands and approaches the captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire who was in her dress uniform. "You're here early today, Rainbow Dash." She noted. "Wow... were all Pegasi back then that hot?" Silver Soldier thought. Dash nodded. "Yeah. I had help clearing the skies in Ponyville, giving me enough time to relax before training." She explained. "Good." Spitfire flatly said. "Training won't start for another hour, so go ahead and make your rounds." Spitfire says before trotting away toward her office. The screen flickers and the camera shifts behind Dash. A popup message appears in the corner. "Speak to three Wonderbolt recruits and meet up with Spitfire." It read. Now was the opportune time for Silver Soldier to get acquainted with the flight mechanic. The first thing he did was figure out the ceiling for the current area. As he hit said ceiling, he rotated the camera downward and the training camp looked like a small island. He dove Dash and a gauge appeared underneath the health gauge which read 'Sonic Rainboom', followed by another popup. "Performing a Sonic Rainboom is simple: Fill up the Sonic Rainboom gauge-" which was pointed at, "by holding the accelerate button, change your trajectory to avoid impacting objects and press the action button when prompted." Yeah, performing it was simple, but he was more than halfway back to ground level and the gauge was only a third full and stalled. There was no way he could do it right now. He returns Dash to ground level and hovers her. "Had enough fun, Silver?" Xander queried, implying him to press on. Silver Soldier takes Dash to the first contact who went by the name "Snowflake", a buff Pegasus with small wings and big, red eyes and looked rabid as he was foaming at the mouth. "You ready to get started?" Dash asked. "YEAH!!" Snowflake replied. He took Dash to another Pegasus named "Cloudchaser", a fellow weather manager in Ponyville. Her presence was required a few days earlier, so Dash wasn't surprised to see her. "How's it going, Chaser?" Dash greeted her friend. "It's going. They had me running drills for the last couple of days. It was exhausting but I think I'm getting used to it." She replied. Dash patted Chaser on the shoulder and smiled. "Hang in there, we're almost through it." She assured Chaser. His last visit would be to Thunderlane. Dash cautiously approaches him as he's having a coughing fit. "You don't have the feather flu again, do you?" She asks suspiciously. "Not today." He says with a cough. "Water went down the wrong pipe. I'll be alright before training starts." Dash lets out a soft huff and nods. "Good." At this point, Dash was moving on her own and the screen flickers. The scene transitions to Spitfire's office. Dash enters and stands across from Spitfire. "Rainbow Dash. I'm glad you're here." She opens. "I'm afraid today's training session has been canceled." She continued. Dash raises an eyebrow. "Ma'am?" She aked. Spitfire got out of her chair and trotted to the door. The two leave the office and begin trotting to where the day's training session would begin. "It seems somepony infiltrated the Wonderbolts headquarters in Cloudsdale and made off with a pin we give to our new members." Dash steps up her trot to stand in front of Spitfire. "Ma'am, I'd like to help. I know the team better than the other recruits. If there's an imposter, I'll flush them out." Spitfire smiled and nodded. "Go ahead," she said, "but be careful when you confront the imposter. They knocked out the guards in that wing." She warned. Dash gave a salute and took off to Cloudsdale. The screen flickered once more and the camera shifted behind Dash. A minimap displays in the bottom right corner of the screen with a marked waypoint directly in front of the hovering Pegasus. A message appears on the left part of the screen and read "Make your way to Cloudsdale." Silver opens up the area map and notices several areas with the same Pegasus icon. "Those are viewpoints, Mister Soldier. You can use them to gain a better understanding of your surroundings. They may even open up side missions for you." Xander explained. "I don't suppose there's enough time for me to check one out, is there?" Silver asked. Xander chuckles. "Go ahead, Silver." He allowed. Silver marked a viewpoint and was on his way. He makes his way to the viewpoint and synchronizes with the area. As the camera slowly spins, he can see Ponyville's clock tower in the distance. Once the synch was completed, the map pops up and a part of the map reveals itself. The only side missions in the area were races and Silver knew he didn't have time for them, so he pressed on to Cloudsdale. Dash enters the city and Silver immediately notices a viewpoint. He moves Dash to it and synchs with it, revealing the entire Cloudsdale map. A marker indicating a primary mission was placed on top of what appeared to be an arena. That had to be the Wonderbolts' HQ. There were race markers as well, but his current focus was on the primary mission and he went to that marker. As he maneuvered Dash to the area, the device took control. There were some guards examining the crime scene. One stopped Dash. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but you're not allowed in here." The guard said. "Spitfire sent me to help investigate." She threw back. The guard shook his head. "I don't care if Celestia herself sent you." He said, pressuring Dash to leave. Another guard leaves the room with a bag containing a feather. The color was a lighter shade of Dash's own coat. She knew the color, but couldn't nail it down. Silver regained control of Dash. He decided to try to speak to the guard again. "Leave now or I'll have you escorted out of the building." He said harshly. Not wanting to press his luck, Silver left the building. He flew Dash to the roof and landed on an area looking over the city. He opens the map to see if any new missions popped up. In addition to the races, two investigation missions appeared, and both were eavesdropping missions. He marked the closest one and went to it. He approached the mission from above and locked onto two Pegasi who were at "ground" level and began the mission. "Somepony took a pin from the Wonderbolts' headquarters." One of them said. Both Silver and Dash knew this already. "Yeah. I heard that a light blue Pegasus came barreling out." The other said. The coat description matches that of the feather that was found. Was there anything else? "I hope they find who did it." The first said. This was going nowhere and Silver regained control of Dash. He marked the other mission and made his way to it. Silver comes in from above again and begins the mission. "I heard she got drummed out of the Wonderbolt Academy for being too reckless." One said. Dash's ears perked, this was starting to sound familiar to her. "It couldn't have been Rainbow Dash, she's still with them." The other added. "I know, but who could possibly be more reckless than her?" The first asked. Dash knew the answer to that. "I've got to find her." She said quietly to herself before shaking her head. A waypoint appeared. Silver opened the map and the marker was leading him outside of Cloudsdale. There was nothing else to do here, so he followed the marker. The marker led Silver and Dash back to the academy, where Dash was greeted by Spitfire. "Have you made any progress, Rainbow?" She asked. Dash nodded. "Yes. It sounds like Lightning Dust is the culprit, ma'am." Dash reported. "Ma'am, with your permission, I'd like to find her and bring her in." She added. Spitfire nodded. "Granted. Be careful." The screen flickered once more and faded. Silver found himself back in Cloudsdale. He opened the map and found a new mission. It was already marked so he made his way to it. Dash approached a light blue Pegasus with a dark blonde mane and tail and matching yellow eyes. She had a white lightning bolt and three stars as her cutie mark. "Lightning Dust." Dash said, surprising the other Pegasus. Dust looks over to Dash and grins menacingly. "You found me," she said, "but do you think you can catch me?" She asked before taking off. "DUST!!" Dash yells before beginning the chase. A popup appears reading, "Catch Lightning Dust before she escapes Cloudsdale. Use the high profile mode to fly faster." The popup disappears and the chase was on. It took Silver a few tries, but he managed to catch Dust and complete the mission. As he caught her, the two Pegasi tumble onto the ground. Dust drops the pin and it lands on the clouds in front of them. "What's so special about a stupid pin?" Dash asked. "It's more than just a pin, Dash. It's knowledge." Dust began explaining. "Whoever wears the pin is granted the knowledge of the Goddesses." She continued. Dash drags her and picks up the pin. "It doesn't look like it to me." She said with skepticism. "I'm taking you to Spitfire." She finished. The screen flickered once more and faded to white.