As they were boarding Pinkie's hot air balloon, which she somehow had waiting for them. Twilight saw the dark cloud looming over Griffonstone begin to dissipate. "To Cloudsdale!" Pinkie yelled as she yanked the cord to elevate the balloon. The balloon floated weightlessly into the darkening sky and headed towards Cloudsdale, which was supposedly positioned above Appleoosa. As they floated towards the small town of Appleoosa, they could see the floating city of Cloudsdale. It had the same dark cloud looming over it. Pinkie landed the balloon just outside the city walls. "Ok, give me just a second to cast the spell for us." Twilight said. "No need!" Pinkie yelled as she jumped out of the basket and onto the cloud street. "Pinkie, wait!" Twilight screamed, expecting her friend to fall through the clouds. "How the..." Twilight began when she saw Pinkie standing on the clouds as if it were solid ground. "We're half machine, remember? We can do things no one else can, silly." Pinkie said. Twilight just shrugged and hopped out after Pinkie. The others followed and they headed into the city. As they walked, they noticed that everyone they passed kept staring at them. "So, any idea who might have an element here?" Twilight asked as they passed a group of shady looking pegasi. "No idea." Dash said as they kept walking. Eventually, they found their way to the Wonderbolts Academy. "This appears to be where the dark magic is emanating from." Twilight said as she walked up to the door and knocked on it. After a few minutes, the door opened and Spitfire stood there with an irritated look on her face. "Yea? What is it?" She said. "I apologize if we're bothering you..." Twilight began but was immediately cut off. "Well, you are. Now, get lost." Spitfire said. "We were just wondering if we could have a few words with you." Twilight said. "I said get lost!" Spitfire yelled, causing her sunglasses to fall down her face. "Spitfire, just let us in for a minute." Dash said as she stepped forward. Spitfire readjusted her glasses and thought for a minute. "Ah, Rainbow Dash. My star flyer. Pardon my rudeness. Please come in, I'll make some coffee." Spitfire said as she pushed open the door. She lead them to a large living room furnished with expensive looking chairs. They each took a seat. "I'll be right back with the coffee." Spitfire said as she headed off into another room. Twilight leaned close to Dash. "How much do Wonderbolts make exactly?" She whispered. "Not nearly enough for this kinda place." Dash said as she looked around the huge house they were sitting in. After a few minutes, Spitfire returned and handed each of them a cup of coffee. They all began to sip slowly from the warm and surprisingly sweet drink. "So, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Spitfire asked. "Well, we were just wondering if you'd seen anything strange around." Twilight said. "Hmm, I don't think I have. No." Spitfire said. Before any of them could respond, Fluttershy fell out of her seat and hit the floor with a loud thud. "Holy hell! Fluttershy are you..." Twilight began as she got up to try and help her friend, but in turn hit the floor too. "Oh dear..." Rarity managed before she too hit the floor. "Yay! We're all passing out!" Pinkie yelled as she, Applejack, and Wind all hit the floor. Dash looked down at her coffee then back up at Spitfire, who had a smirk on her face. "Spitfire, what have you..." Dash managed as her sight became blurry and slowly darkened.
Dash was awoken by an ice cold splash of water to her face. She shook her head and blinked. She looked around and saw Spitfire standing in front of her, smirking. Dash tried to move, but she was chained to the wall. "Good, you're all finally awake. Wouldn't want you to sleep through the end of Equestria." Spitfire said. Dash noticed she was wearing a silver necklace with a blue lightning bolt on it. "Spitfire, you..." Dash began. "That's right. I'm the element of betrayal. Fitting that I be your opposite. I never actually liked you in the first place." Spitfire said. "But, you said I broke the all time academy record." Dash said. "You did! But, did you ever consider who set that record?! It was me! You destroyed my record! You ruined my life!" Spitfire yelled. "I didn't know. I was only trying to make it as a Wonderbolt!" Dash yelled back. "Well, it's too late for that! Soon, you'll all be dead, along with the other fools that dare to stand in Starswirl's way!" Spitfire yelled as she began to laugh evilly. "Spitfire! I swear to Celestia, when I get out of this, I'm going to kick your ass!" Dash yelled. Spitfire laughed again. "If you get out! Which will never happen! Those chains are magically enchanted!" Spitfire yelled as she left and slammed the door across to the room they were in. Dash looked around and saw her friends were chained up too. "That bitch!" Dash yelled as she pulled at the chains. "Twi! Do something! These chains are chafing my wrists!" Rarity whined. "Don't you think I tried already?!" Twilight yelled. She has some kind of ring on her horn that appeared to be blocking her magic. "I think I have an idea." Wind said. She closed her eyes and concentrated. After a couple minutes, her wrists phased through the chains and fell to the floor. She did the same with the others once she got to her feet. Dash caught her as she began to fall again. "You alright honey?" Dash asked. Wind gave a weak nod before going limp. Dash passed her off to Pinkie. "Get her out of here. I'm going to go deal with Spitfire." Dash said as she opened the door and ran down the hallway towards the sound of Spitfire's voice. Dash found her in the kitchen of the house. She was on the phone with someone, but immediately hung up when she saw Dash standing there with her fists clenched. "Do you never learn Rainbow Dash? You should've just stayed in those chains. Now, you will die slowly by my hand." Spitfire said as she picked up a knife from the counter and smiled wickedly at Dash. Time seemed to stop around them as they only stared each other down. Spitfire made the first move and swiped at Dash with the knife. Dash ducked and brought her balled fist up and into Spitfire's gut. The flame haired pegasus backed up a few feet and dropped the knife before doubling over. "Like that? More where that came from, unless you're willing to give up now." Dash said as she bounced on her toes like a boxer. Spitfire coughed and straightened up. "Not bad. But, I'll never give up." Spitfire said as she came at Dash like a linebacker. Dash dodged and brought her elbow down on the back of Spitfire's head. She fell elbows first against the counter. "You're starting to piss me off!" Spitfire yelled as she grabbed another knife from the counter. Moving with lightning fast reflexes, Dash grabbed the knife that Spitfire had dropped earlier. Spitfire swung but was immediately blocked by Dash's knife. Using her free hand, Dash delivered several punches to Spitfire's ribs. There was a loud cracking sound as two of her ribs snapped like toothpicks. Spitfire broke free and grabbed her side, falling to her knees. "Do you give up now?" Dash asked as she stood over Spitfire. "I... never... surrender..." Spitfire said as she reached for her knife again. Dash stepped on her hand. "Gah!" Spitfire screamed as Dash put her full weight on Spitfire's hand, causing it to crunch under her foot. "How about now?" Dash asked. Spitfire looked up with hate in her eyes. "Never!" She screamed. Dash shrugged and grabbed the wooden cutting board from the counter. She brought it back and swung, snapping it in two as it made contact with Spitfire's head. The pegasus crumpled. Satisfied, Dash reached down and yanked the necklace from her shoulders before heading out to rejoin her friends.