Chapter 101: Salty Nuts
MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
This chapter was edited by both Kestrel and Lucky424
Chapter 101: Salty Nuts
“I can’t believe you did that. Just what are you scheming?”
The stallion’s voice echoed as Soarin lay on his back, sleeping with the biggest, most satisfied smile on his face imaginable. The blue image of the stallion’s voice sat beside Soarin in the darkness of Soarin’s mind. The yellow image of the mare slowly appeared and giggled.
“You didn’t try to stop me,” the mare said with a smug tone. “It takes two to tango.”
“I fail to see what you are after…” the male voice sounded incredibly perplexed. “You bar me from my goals, you deny me eternal existence… yet you jump me and take advantage of a moment as if things never changed.”
“If there’s one thing that mortals have taught me throughout the countless years,” the female voice spoke up. “It’s to love and enjoy things that are finite.”
“Hmph… you say that so casually… After what just happened I fail to believe you are that willing to just let go,” the stallion grumbled.
“You are defying the natural laws of the universe and existence. You know I cannot allow that, but it doesn’t change how I felt about you,” the mare’s voice had a hint of sadness in it. “I will admit, it was hard containing you within my body all these years… knowing you were so close, but not being able to see you… or reach you.”
“Then let me go already, if this is what you truly want,” the stallion scoffed.
“I’m not perfect,” the mare huffed in response. “And I will confess that I bend a lot of rules, but this is something I cannot allow. Breaking the gap between mortality and immortality would defy the very order by which the world exists. It’s already hard enough that we have one entity on the loose that’s not supposed to be."
A brief silence extended between them as the image of the mare looked down at Soarin and the silly grin that remained on his face as he slept.
“I’m sorry… my love…” she said, causing the stallion to turn and face her. “You know where my heart stands. I believe I just proved it to you,” she paused as she looked up at the stallion. “But I cannot make exceptions for this… Not even for you.”
The stallion remained facing her for several moments. The silence between them was suddenly broken as Soarin rolled onto his side and released a goofy sounding sigh. The mare and the stallion both looked down at Soarin for a moment before the mare began to chuckle.
“Oh, and you should feel lucky…” she suddenly said as the stallion looked up and tipped his head slightly. “I only have a fraction of my power here… so you held up alright. I still remember that limp you had the first morning after.”
“Grrr…” the stallion growled, turning away and roughly sitting down with his back turned to the mare. “Blasted, oversized, big headed…” he continued to grumble.
“Some things never change…” the mare said with a giggle.
Soarin released a loud yawn as he stretched his limbs out. He opened his eyes as he felt the blanket slip off of him slightly, but he couldn’t see anything. It was completely dark in his room, but he didn’t need light to know where he was lying, nor to figure out what the extra weight clinging to his body was. After finishing his stretch he shifted his arms back beneath the blanket and placed his left arm around the body that lay beside him.
“Mmmm…” Rainbow Dash released a slow, high pitched squeak as Soarin’s arm rested on her back above her wings. Soarin smiled as he felt her shift and dig her nose into the fur on his chest.
“You awake?” Soarin asked as he concentrated, calming his mind and allowing his magic to flow smoothly to the horn. A very soft, blue glow gathered around the horn, giving him just enough light to see the side of Dash’s face as she nuzzled his chest with a wide smile.
“I woke up about ten minutes ago,” she said with a smooth tone in her voice. “Been enjoying pressing myself to you while you slept,” she said as Soarin felt the rest of her body push against him and she wrapped her back legs around his torso.
“Have you now?” Soarin chuckled as he turned his body, shifting within the blanket to face her and wrapped his other arm around her to hold her tight. “I guess I’m okay with that,” he said as he rested his chin atop her head. Dash giggled as she continued to lightly nuzzle Soarin’s chest, moving her cheek up to his neck to give it a few rubs. Soarin pulled his head back slightly, tipping his nose down before planting a light kiss on Dash’s forehead.
Dash pulled her head out of his neck and looked up at him, his face illuminated by the dim light of the horn. Soarin took note as she glanced up to look at the horn. No doubt she was thinking about what had just happened an… hour ago? Soarin wasn’t quite sure how long they had napped after the incredibly satisfying sex.
Both magical auras had become visible during their intense session, shooting from the horn and flying about the room. The blue aura returned to Soarin, but the yellow had imbued Dash. With the auras surging within them, they made love with such increased and charged passion. They both felt incredibly strong throughout and it lasted so much longer than it ever had before on top of it.
Neither of them knew how long it ended up lasting, but when it finally did, the yellow aura released from Dash and retreated back into the horn, back into Soarin’s body. Soarin wondered if it had anything to do with the entities in his head, but even if it did, he wasn’t going to let his curiosity take away from just how AMAZING it all felt.
Speaking of how he felt… there was little to no evidence of strain or drawback on his body, as if the magic acted all on its own, reacting to them without any effort on his part.
“So what do you think that was?” Dash asked, voicing her curiosity, but in a manner that implied she wasn’t too concerned due to the super afterglow. Her extremely satisfied state amused Soarin. Her body felt so loose in his grip, incredibly relaxed and free of any stiffness. Not to mention incredibly warm.
“No idea, but…” Soarin took a moment to feel over his body and touch his forehead beside his horn, confirming that he was free of discomfort of any kind. “Nothing feels wrong. In fact, I feel great… again,” he chuckled. “How about you?” he asked.
Dash let go of Soarin for a moment to stretch out, flexing and relaxing her muscles, turning and shivering with delight.
“I feel pretty damn amazing,” she said before replacing her grip on Soarin’s body. Soarin lifted an eyebrow, a slight bit of worry squeaking through. They saw the yellow magic return to his horn, but he couldn’t forget how the magic made him act when he first encountered it. While there was no sign of anything wrong, Soarin wanted to be certain. So as not to ruin the moment, he put a humorous twist on it.
“You’re not having any sudden urges to forcibly pin me down and do kinky things to me against my will?” he said snidely. “Whoa!” he yelped as he felt Dash’s body suddenly tense and push against him. He was forced to roll onto his back as Dash shifted and flopped right on top of him, the length of her body spread over his.
“Not any more than usual,” she said as she stared into his eyes seductively.
“Than usual?” Soarin lifted his brow while smirking. Dash placed a hoof on his chest and slid it around the outline of his chest muscles.
“With a body like this, you make me daydream about a lot of things on a regular occasion,” she said in a sexy tone while sticking her tongue out at him. Soarin scrunched his face and looked at her carefully. “Soarin…” Dash suddenly flattened her brow. “I’m fine.”
“Just giving you a hard time,” Soarin chuckled as he smiled again.
“Douche…” Dash said with a huff before smiling back and resting her chin on his chest. Soarin reached his hooves around her back and gently rubbed her shoulders.
“I should probably go let Spitfire know I’m up at some point. I’m sure Bliss is already miffed that I snuck out before talking to her,” Soarin said with a chuckle as Dash frowned.
“Five more minutes?” she asked with a pout.
“I said eventually,” Soarin winked at her as he pulled the blanket further up and tightened it around them. “I’m definitely in no hurry.”
“Good,” Dash nodded. “Because cuddle time isn’t over,” she stated firmly before digging her cheek into his chest again. Soarin held tightly to her as he laid his head all the way back.
“Agreed.”
The two of them ended up lying in Soarin’s bed for another hour at least. Eventually, they decided it would be a good idea to get up and have Soarin report to Spitfire. This was, of course, assuming Bliss already hadn’t done so, prompting a compound wide search for Soarin’s sudden ‘disappearance.’ Really, he wouldn’t put it past Spitfire, but Soarin knew that Spitfire was most likely worried sick about him, so he felt the need to personally reassure her.
Soarin and Dash were up and moving back towards the battledome… but that didn’t stop her from being glued to his side the whole way.
Despite Soarin’s worry however, Spitfire had yet to be told about Soarin being up and about, and the battledome environment had continued to remain casual and cozy.
It was hard to keep track of the time of day with the blizzard blocking out most of the sunlight, and with the fact that the battledome had no windows to begin with, but they had a system going. The Renegades reported to Spitfire every three hours to fill her in on the status of the Shadowbolts or any other noteworthy news. So far, every single report had been the same, but the strict punctuality of the reports had given the Wonderbolts a way to tell how much time had gone by.
The fourth report of the day had just come in, so most of the Wonderbolts were sitting upright and having their ‘dinner’ meal. With the food supply still limited, it was restricted to the ration boxes of nuts, dried fruit, and turkey jerky, but it was better than nothing, and honestly a price they’d all gladly pay for the amount of rest they were getting.
“DINNER IS SERVED!” Surprise bounced over to Misty Fly and the Streak twins with four boxes balanced on her head. The Streak twins both turned to look, Misty’s head gently sliding off of Fire’s shoulder. Fire quickly turned back and reached up, catching Misty softly against his chest. Her eyes squeaked open and she looked directly up at Fire as he smiled down at her.
“Yo, Lover-Bro,” Lightning called to Fire. Fire rolled his eyes as he turned to look at his brother. “Catch.”
“Ah!” Fire yelped as a ration box hit him in the face, lightly bouncing off and falling to the ground. “Brother!” Fire hissed as he glared at Lightning, who was smirking and snickering. Fire was ready to scold him, but looked down as he felt something shaking against him. Misty Fly was silently giggling at his expense. Fire pouted at her, but Misty replied by grabbing and wrapping her blanket up around her face again while giving Fire an overly cute smile and puppy dog eyes. Fire flattened his brow, but smiled at her attempt at innocence.
“Sheesh, you two should just start doing it under those blankets while you’re at it,” Lightning commented as a second box slid across the ground towards Fire for Misty. Fire shook his head.
“I’d like to think even you wouldn’t engage in exhibitionism,” he scoffed at Lightning. Lightning shrugged as he started turning back around towards Surprise.
“Hey if the pussy is good enou—” a ration box came flying out of nowhere and hit him in the face. “Blah!” Lightning yelped as he tipped over and fell on his back. He looked up as Surprises head stuck into his vision.
“Gotta keep your head on a swivel, silly!” she said with a goofy smile before disappearing from his view, grabbing the last box, and plopping down beside Fire and Misty.
“Karma’s a bitch,” Lightning said casually as he sat up, grabbed his box and shifted towards his three squadmates. Misty remained sitting against Fire as they began to eat with Surprise sitting right beside Misty and digging into her box ravenously. Lightning grabbed a hooffull of almonds and shoveled them into his mouth, not expecting much, but hungry nonetheless. He scrunched his face as he chewed and swallowed, sticking his tongue out.
“Bleh…” he voiced his dissatisfaction at how heavily salted the almonds were. He blinked and looked over at Fire’s box. Fire was busy focusing on Misty, so he failed to see Lightning lean over and take a close look at his ration box. Lightning looked between the almonds in his box and the almonds in Fire’s. “Wha?” Lightning blinked as he kept looking back and forth. Fire glanced at his brother, pulling his box away slightly in surprise in case he caught Lightning in the act of shenanigans.
“What?” Fire asked as Lightning continued to look between the boxes.
“Dude, how come your nuts are dry and mine are salty?” he asked while looking up at Fire. Fire’s eyes widened as an awkward expression covered his face.
“Do you… WANT me to answer that question?”
“PFFFFFFFFFFFHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Surprise burst out laughing at Fire’s response before hacking and coughing. “OOO! AAAAHCK! GAAAH!” she grabbed the bottle of water that came with the box and began chugging it down to avoid choking on her food.
“Probably could have worded that better…” Lightning confessed to the slip up.
“Everypony listen up!” Spitfire’s voice caught all of their attention as Surprise continued to internally cough due to inhaling her food by accident. Spitfire was walking around, looking back and forth as she yelled. “As soon as everypony is done eating, gather up in the center of the battledome! I have an important announcement to make!”
Spitfire continued on, repeating herself so everypony in the battledome heard her loud and clear. She was just about to finish all the way around, ending near the front doors, but she stopped when said doors were pushed open. Figuring it was somepony else who needed to hear her orders, she waited… but then her eyes widened.
“So this is where everypony is staying?” Soarin said to himself as he and Dash walked through the doors. “I guess that makes sense and…” he paused as his eyes landed on Spitfire standing roughly ten yards away, her eyes wide and her jaw agape. “Oh… hey Spitfire,” Soarin said casually with a smile. After a brief silence, Soarin lifted an eyebrow. Spitfire seemed frozen in place, but upon closer inspection, she was… shaking? It was cold, but it didn’t seem like shivers.
Then, without a word, she sprinted towards Soarin. Dash’s eyes widened at Spitfire’s sudden approach and quickly detached herself from Soarin’s side as Spitfire lunged at him and threw her arms around his shoulders, stuffing her face directly into his chest as her blanket slipped off and fell behind her.
“Whoa! Spitfire?” Soarin blinked in surprise as he felt Spitfire’s body shivering against his. Both Soarin and Dash took a good look at her face, or what was visible of it with her nose and forehead pressed so hard into him. She had her eyes slammed shut, and she was gritting her teeth as she held onto him tight. Soarin glanced up at Dash… to see her smiling.
Soarin’s ears flopped down as he looked back at Spitfire. He suddenly felt incredibly selfish. While he didn’t regret going right from waking up to spending time with the mare he loved… he hadn’t given much consideration to how worried Spitfire was about him. He was her foalhood friend… best friend… and practically a sibling to her. No doubt she was overjoyed to see him alright. It took a lot for Spitfire to show any sort of affection, especially where others could see her, meaning she was definitely worried absolutely sick if she was hugging him around everypony else.
Soarin grabbed the edge of his blanket and pulled it forward, wrapping it around Spitfire’s back as he hugged her back, causing a warm feeling to well up in Dash’s chest. Well… another mare was hugging her stallion, but she wasn’t so petty to be bothered. What made her feel so warm and fuzzy at this particular moment was Soarin’s caring response, recognizing Spitfire’s worry for him quickly and even putting his blanket over her to keep her warm.
“How are you feeling?” Spitfire suddenly asked as she pushed off Soarin’s chest and looked into his eyes with concern. “Did you just wake up? No problems or anything?” she rapidly asked questions, catching Soarin off guard. He was expecting her to start berating him or scolding him for taking such big risks and putting himself out of commission, but she went right for the concern. Soarin had yet to really get a good look at how everypony was handling the current situation, but he had to guess from Spitfire’s demeanor that they were all taking advantage of the rest and loosening up for the time being.
Of course he had a feeling that Spitfire was still doing her best to keep up the lead captain demeanor around all of them, but even she knew the importance of resting and recuperating.
“Believe it or not,” Soarin chuckled as he pulled his blanket back and Spitfire retrieved hers. “I’m actually feeling great,” he nodded, earning a skeptical look from Spitfire as she wrapped her blanket back around herself. It was a look Soarin was used to getting. He quickly shook his head. “And no, I’m not just sucking it up,” he assured her as he tapped the fake horn. “I think the magic has something to do with it.”
“I don’t know if that makes me feel any better…” Spitfire huffed as Dash replaced herself at Soarin’s side. “No issues? Nothing feels off?” She asked again.
“Nothing bad,” Soarin shrugged, a small grin forming on his face as he felt Dash lightly press against him. “I’ve actually already been up for a few hours and—”
“A FEW HOURS?!” Spitfire reacted as she glared at him. “And you didn’t come report to…” she trailed off as her eyes landed on Dash. She blinked and flattened her brow as realization hit her. Dash noticed Spitfire’s quick change, figuring she put two and two together. Dash released a few awkward chuckles while blushing and crossing one of her back legs around the other. Soarin gritted his teeth and scratched the back of his head while looking slightly upwards towards the ceiling.
“Oh… I see,” Spitfire said with a grunt as she rolled her eyes. “Glad to see you have your priorities straight,” Spitfire’s tail whipped back and forth once as she lifted an eyebrow at Soarin. “Well then… I take it Dash filled you in on the situation before you filled her in?”
Both Soarin and Dash flinched as Spitfire used a surprisingly sexual choice of words.
“Ehhhh… heheh… yeah,” Soarin replied while forcing a smile.
“Good,” Spitfire threw her captain demeanor back on incredibly quickly. “I’m making an announcement soon about a few things going forward. Get situated, but make sure you follow everypony else when they start gathering…” she suddenly paused as she blinked, as if realizing something. “Oh… and by the way, have you seen Fleetfoot? I haven’t seen her the whole time I’ve been walking around in here.”
“Fleet?” Soarin perked up as he and Dash glanced at each other. “We saw her a few hours ago when we left the—”
“Whoa!” Dash suddenly yelped as she lurched forward, catching herself before falling flat. She and Soarin turned around as Spitfire looked past them.
Fleetfoot was standing behind Dash, her blanket draped over her head almost to the point where it was covering her eyes. She frantically looked between all three of them as Spitfire stepped up between Soarin and Dash.
“Perfect timing, Fleet. Listen we—”
Spitfire barely started speaking before Fleetfoot squeaked, clasped the blanket tightly over her face, looked down and scampered right between them, escaping into the sea of eating ponies in the battledome.
The three all stared blankly at her until they lost sight of her in the crowd.
“What’s gotten into her?” Spitfire asked curiously as they all looked back at each other. Dash shrugged.
“Last we saw her, she completely ignored us on her way into the infirmary like she was in a hurry or something,” Dash recounted how Fleetfoot literally ran into them just as she did here. Spitfire sighed as Dash explained.
“Great… I wonder what she did…” Spitfire spoke her mind. “Anyway,” Spitfire turned back to the two of them. “Grab some food if you need it, we’ve got a bunch of ration boxes stacked up near the center. Make sure you follow everypony else back there in about half an hour,” she turned away. “I’m going to go see what’s going on with Fleetfoot before anything weird happens,” she said, turning away immediately to find Fleetfoot.
“Anything weird…?” Dash asked Soarin as she turned to look at him. Soarin chuckled and shook his head.
“Whenever Fleetfoot isn’t acting like herself… it usually leads to weird or awkward situations. It doesn’t happen often, thankfully… but she’s had her share of strange moments,” Soarin replied.
“Like what?” Dash chuckled as the two started walking towards the center of the battledome.
“Well… the last time she was acting strange, we found her sitting on the rafters up on the weight room ceiling, with a blank look on her face, dropping peanuts on anypony who walked beneath her…” Soarin tipped his head back and forth as he recalled the strange encounter. Dash’s ears flopped down and up.
“Say, what now?” she blinked as she tried to form the image in her head. “What the hell caused that?” she said with an amused giggle. Soarin shrugged.
“I have no idea,” he said with a smirk. “The thing about Fleetfoot is… if something is bothering her it’s obvious. She either gets super down or starts doing something weird. But…” he glanced at Dash. “It’s impossible to pry why from her. I doubt Spitfire is gonna get a peep out of her. There isn’t much that bothers her, so it’s easy to narrow down, but the specifics are impossible to dig up.”
“I’m still laughing at the thought of Fleetfoot dropping peanuts on you guys,” Dash continued to snicker.
“My personal favorite was when she started brushing Silver’s mane on a train ride back from Whinneyapolis while asking him ‘are we there yet’ every ten minutes,” Soarin recalled, as Dash burst out laughing and fell against him.
“WHAT?!” she said in between laughs. “And Silver didn’t fight it?”
“We had had a long, tiring trip and Silver looked more willing to sit there and just take it than get up and move,” Soarin laughed as he shook his head. “I thought Blaze was actually going to die laughing.”
“That totally sounds like Silver,” Dash agreed on the behavior of her mentor.
“You hungry?” Soarin asked as they drew near the ration boxes. “I just stuffed my face, I’ll be fine.”
“Sure,” Dash nodded as she reached a hoof out of her blanket and grabbed one of the boxes. “I gotta hear more of these Fleetfoot encounters,” she chuckled.
“Trust me, I’ve got some good ones,” Soarin smiled as the two made their way into the crowd of ponies to find a place to sit down.
“Gather in! Gather in!” Silver called out as the last of the Wonderbolts moved towards the center of the battledome. There was a slight bit of confusion as they all gathered around. Soarin and Air Mach were in the center, but Spitfire was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Captain Spitfire?” Little Star spoke up beside Dash as she fluttered her wings and rose up, perching atop Matteo’s head to look around the sea of ponies.
“Didn’t she call this meeting?” Matteo shared Star’s curiosity as the two looked back and forth in tandem.
“ALRIGHT EVERYPONY…Fleet! Get over here!” Spitfire’s voice suddenly caught all of their attention. Dash tipped her head up to see over Surprise in front of her, seeing Spitfire approach the center of the battledome. She was dragging Fleetfoot along with her, her hooves skidding against the floor as she held her blanket tight to her face. Fleetfoot was holding the blanket so firmly around her that the only part of her body visible was her nose sticking out of the blanket.
“Mmmmrrrr!” Fleetfoot released a high pitched noise that sounded like crying kitten as Spitfire pulled her along.
“Get… moving…!” Spitfire growled as she got behind Fleetfoot and pushed her the rest of the way with the crown of her head. Once the wrapped up Fleetfoot was sitting beside Soarin and Air Mach, Spitfire turned towards the Wonderbolts. Soarin looked like he was trying not to laugh at Fleetfoot. Air Mach was sitting with his chest puffed out, trying to look hard and stallionly as if the cold wasn’t bothering him, but he was visibly shivering regardless. Spitfire floated up into the air to address them all.
“Alright, listen up! I hope everypony is getting the rest they need, but there are a few things I want to lay out now so there are no surprises,” Spitfire began. “We’re going to keep up the current rest period for another week. I know it’s been a little rough without running water, heat, or bathroom facilities, but Rivet has a few of his staff working on a temporary solution to those issues that will make it a little easier. As for the food, we’re going to be hopefully getting more than just emergency ration boxes,” she explained. “As for a week from now, a few of the Renegades are going to be coming back here… and they are going to train us in the arts of magic deflection.”
Dash’s eyes lit up as she heard that. She was wondering if she’d get a chance to learn the interesting techniques the Renegades used, and it looked like she was going to get her chance. She wondered if she’d also get the opportunity to watch some of the Renegades fight in general. She had learned many new techniques through her ability to copy others… watching and learning the techniques of Wonderbolts from a whole generation ago would be a whole new level of awesome.
“When that time comes, we’re dropping all rank while they teach us,” Spitfire continued. “We are all equally uneducated in magic deflection, so pay attention to them and do as you’re told,” Spitfire made clear. If they wanted to be ready for the Shadowbolts, then they had to start from square one, at least with this technique that had helped the Renegades fight them successfully for so long.
“Oh… and one more thing,” Spitfire smiled and nodded to them all. “I have just received word that the Renegades have established a system that will allow them to take letters and messages from us out into the rest of Equestria. They will be able to reach nearby towns, and more importantly, Fillydelphia for longer range mail. With this system in place and ready, we will be able to communicate. Not only will this help us send word to other authorities, it will allow us to contact and reassure any friends or loved ones,” she paused, her heart swelling as she saw smiles creep onto the faces of the Wonderbolts, all who were no doubt eager to let their friends and families know they were fine. “We plan on bringing in some paper and pens tomorrow. Think about what you’d like to write tonight, and tomorrow morning we can send them all out. There is only ONE condition to these letters,” her voice took a stern tone. “Do not give out any specific information about our location. We don’t need anypony coming to look for us. It could add extra complications… and will likely put them in danger. Aside from that, anything goes. Send out word… Equestria needs to know we’re alright. It will help keep the citizens calm as we figure out how to deal with all this. That will be all.”
A happy stir moved throughout the crowd as Spitfire concluded her announcement and lowered back down to the floor. The Wonderbolts were all very excited to know they’d be able to reassure the rest of Equestria they were all right. There was no doubt a lot of confusion surrounding their fate right now. Knowing the Equestrian media, they were scrambling for answers as well as all those who read the news probably were.
“What a relief,” Fire Streak commented as he put a hoof to his chest, I can let our poor mother know how we fair,” he said towards Lightning Streak as Dash listened in directly behind them, she was certain this was going to end with a few chuckles at least.
“I know right, all the mares of Equestria will know that I’m not dead,” Lightning said casually while rubbing a hoof against his chest, completely ignoring Fire’s comment about their mother. Fire flattened his brow at Lightning as the Wonderbolts began moving about around them.
“Oh, I have no doubt that ALL the mares in Equestria would simply GRIEVE should you be lost,” Fire said sarcastically as Lightning continued to rub his chest and bounce his eyebrows.
“Hey, I’m just saying it how it is, bro!” Lightning shimmied his shoulder back and forth with a smug grin on his face. Dash glanced to the right of the Streak twins briefly as squad two drew near. “I like this whole mail thing. I know a good dozen mares I can write letters to. Hell, I can set up a few future dates while I’m at it,” Lightning continued to play himself up as if he was a master of wooing the opposite sex. Dash glanced at squad two as they were nearly upon squad three. A smile grew on Dash’s face as she saw Silver’s ears turned towards the conversation. “Once we’re out of this I’ll have some mares ready and waiting for a good time,” Lightning pounded his chest as Fire continued to shoot a flat expression towards him. Silver cleared his throat as he and his squad passed by.
“I think all these mares of yours have better things to do with eight seconds of their time,” Silver said plainly as they passed.
High Winds burst into laughter right behind him, followed immediately by Blaze and Surprise as they all fell to the floor, rolling around as they guffawed. Lightning Streak’s confident expression was completely gone, replaced by wide eyes and shrunken pupils as Fire and Wave Chill tried their hardest not to lose their composure as well. Silver just kept on walking without another word.
“Dude…” Lightning streak shook his head as he folded his ears back. “Low blow…”
“Doubt you’ll even get that,” Silver said, looking back as he kept walking. The three mares laughing on the floor erupted with a new round of laughs as both Fire and Wave lost control and broke into laughter as well.
“And this is where I stop talking,” Lightning admitted defeat in the wake of Silver’s quick wit.
Misty Fly looked back and forth, confused. Fire turned to her as he tried to control his chuckling, using the sign language to relay what had happened. It was shaky and he had to repeat a few of the signals due to him laughing, but once he got the full message to her, Misty’s eyes widened and she immediately tipped over onto the floor. She rolled onto her back, her blanket falling off as she kicked her hooves up in the air. She shook lightly as she laughed silently, her mouth open, but no sound coming from her throat she shared the same level of amusement with the other mares.
“I wasn’t paying attention, why did all the mares in front of us suddenly collapse?” Squall asked as Dash turned back to her squad while giggling.
“Silver just owned Lightning Streak,” Dash explained as she continued to snicker while squinting her eyes shut.
“What do you…? Ah…” Squall suddenly went from curious to looking over Dash’s shoulder, his eyes widening slightly. Dash blinked and turned her head to see Soarin standing directly behind her, examining the scene behind them.
“Did I miss something funny?” he said with a pout.
“Yes,” Dash said as she leaned backwards into him.
“Damn,” Soarin chuckled as he watched Surprise, Blaze, Misty, and High Winds roll on the floor around an extremely defeated Lightning Streak.
He looked towards Dash and squad Foxtrot. Matteo and Little Star were trying to pull Twister out of Matteo’s blanket to no avail, but Soarin’s focus was drawn to Squall, looking directly at Soarin.
“Oh…” Soarin blinked as he noticed the scar. Soarin’s ears flopped down.
There was a brief silence as the two stared at each other. Dash looked between the two of them, gasping quietly as she eventually remembered…
“Glad to see there wasn’t too much damage,” Soarin spoke up, his tone slightly somber. “How are you feeling?” he asked Squall. Squall didn’t reply for a moment.
“I’m… fine,” he said in a hushed tone, looking away from Soarin.
Dash flinched as Soarin suddenly moved. She stepped back as Soarin moved directly up to Squall and put a hoof on Squall’s shoulder. Squall clearly did not see the gesture coming, because his eyes grew and his pupils shifted back and forth between Soarin’s hoof and Soarin himself. Soarin wasn’t as in tune with Squall’s desire for personal space as Dash was, but because Soarin was a superior officer, Squall didn’t offer any protest. That was something Silver had really drilled into his head.
“Look, Squall… I know it’s not good to dwell on ‘what ifs’… but…” Soarin closed his eyes and sighed. “I was within range to grab you and pull you out of the way of that magic sword, but I hesitated because I was worried about being hit by it myself. If I hadn’t had that single moment of doubt, I may have been able to prevent… this. I’m sorry about that,” he said while looking over the scar on his face. Squall simply stared straight at Soarin, as if unsure what to say… or if he should say anything. “That was a real fearless move you pulled and you were the only one that landed a clean hit on the enemy because of it. Honestly, we all should have followed your example out there,” Soarin gave Squall a weak smile as he removed a hoof from his shoulder. “I know I can’t quite make up for getting your face slashed… but if you ever need anything, any help or any assistance… let me know. I feel like I owe it to you.”
“Uh…” Squall blinked before looking down. “Sure, alright,” he said before turning and quickly moving away. Soarin blinked, not quite expecting that response, but Dash quickly moved up beside Soarin.
“Don’t worry, he heard you loud and clear,” Dash reassured him. “Squall’s just… not quite used to praise. He’s a little sheepish about it, even from us.”
“Oh, so… I kind of just overwhelmed him, didn’t I?” Soarin said, awkwardly gritting his teeth while looking towards Squall, who was sitting with his back turned to Soarin. Little Star was looking him over, trying to figure out why Squall was suddenly hiding his face.
“Probably,” Dash giggled as she leaned into him. “But don’t worry… I think Squall needed to hear that. An apology and acknowledgement from a Wonderbolt like you isn’t something you get often.”
“I’m not that…” Soarin paused, blinked, and looked down to see Dash looking flatly at him. “Hey, I caught myself that time,” he said with a chuckle, causing Dash’s flat look to turn into a smile.
“Good,” she said as she nuzzled his shoulder. Soarin grinned, tipping his head to acknowledge her muzzle as something else came to mind.
“So… who are you planning on writing to?” Soarin asked her. Dash stopped mid-nuzzle as she took in the question and thought about it.
“Oh…” Dash blinked as she pulled back from Soarin. “I mean… I was just going to write a letter to my parents and friends saying I’m alright… but now that you mention it… I think I’m going to put a little more thought in my letter to Ponyville,” Dash thought aloud.
“Are you going to write to Princess Twilight?” Soarin asked while tipping his head to the side. “I thought Luna said we weren’t going to get the Elements of Harmony involved until we had a better grasp on the identity of our enemy.”
“That’s true,” Dash nodded. “But… I can at least let them know about the situation, something I probably should have done earlier…” she huffed, cursing herself for not thinking of it. She had a resource in Twilight. While she wasn’t sure if Twilight would be able to send word back, she was the first pony Dash would trust in terms of possibly finding some information on what they were up against. Everything had become so hectic so fast that the thought had completely slipped Dash’s mind. “If anything, I can let my friends know I’m alright, and I can tell them to be ready to be called on short notice. Plus, Twilight may be able to get some information for us… maybe…” she tipped her head slightly. “Though if Luna doesn’t know exactly what we’re dealing with, I’m not sure if Twilight’s going to find much.”
“Anything helps though,” Soarin agreed. “And Princess Twilight has ties to Princess Cadance, right?” Soarin asked, earning a nod from Dash. “I’m sure Spitfire will be sending word to all the major authorities, including the Crystal Empire, but having closer connections will help get the word out as well.”
“There we go then,” Dash smiled up at him. “So what about you?” she asked.
“Well…” Soarin smiled. “Spitfire is handling the technical stuff. So I’m just writing to my family,” Soarin explained.
“And you’re going to tell them everything right?” Dash poked him.
“Everything?” Soarin eyed her curiously. Dash sighed as she tapped her forehead. “Oh…” Soarin looked up at the horn. “I… dunno if I’m going to do that yet.”
“Soarin…” Dash huffed and pouted at him.
“I know, I know… but…” he shrugged. “My mother will be worried enough that the Wonderbolts suddenly disappeared. I don’t want to burden her with twice the worry.”
“And your father won’t care?” Dash asked skeptically. Soarin chuckled.
“My father cares, but he leans on the side of trusting my ability to handle things… my mother is a bit… paranoid. I don’t blame her, I’ve given her plenty of heart attacks throughout my childhood and life, but that’s just her being a good mother,” he paused and looked at Dash, who was still giving him a stern look. “Look, I’ll let them know when the time is right. For now I just want to do it this way.”
“Fine…” Dash sighed, not agreeing with Soarin, but it was his choice.
Soarin frowned at her clear exasperation with him, but he understood it, and felt he deserved it.
“So I wonder,” Soarin spoke up to change the subject. Dash looked at him as he glanced around and smiled. “I wonder who the rest of the Wonderbolts will be writing to?”
“I think I may know a few…” Dash spoke up as she glanced through the crowd of Wonderbolts and her eyes landed on Storm Front, who was currently being given a noogie by Macho Savage. “All I know is… there are a lot of friends, families, and loved ones out there who are gonna be a hell of a lot happier tomorrow.”
---To Be Continued---
The art in this chapter is by: Foxenawolf
Oh Lightning Streak... you certainly don't do yourself any favors 
Short, but fun. And it looks like we're going to see some letters being sent out... i wonder who will write what... and how said letters will be delivered? 
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! 
(And it's great to be back in the regular swing! 
)
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>sees title
>clicks story
>mfw not Gurren Lagann crossover
I'm sorry. It fits so well.
I feel bad for Lightning though.
I love Misty Fly because I can relate to her. I love Fleetfoot for her personality. But the more I read, the more I'm enjoying Silver's wit and he's quickly becoming my third favorite in the story.
6381968 you really in to this story do you?
Oh my god I fell off the sofa after silver's comment
6383292
Join the list of people who have said that. Rest assured, there are plenty of references to the anime. Two characters, a few recurring lines, and other things I can't mention because spoilers.
I think I stared at the title for about a minute before actually clicking it.
Great chapter by the way
Clue time!!!!
Didn't Discord mentioned:
So the yellow mare has to be Celestia.
Sounds like Celestia loved a stallion but his desire to break the laws of the universe and become immortal forced her to imprison him despite how much she loved him and how much pain it caused her.
Okay crazy theory, if the yellow magic is Celestial then the blue magic is maybe a past lover of hers. Maybe from long long ago.
Excuse me while I go write a letter as Captain Riptide....
This was a nice chapter
. I'm not gonna lie, seeing lightning get torn apart like that... Absolutely beautiful
. I'm expecting letters next chapter BTW, if you just teased for no reason IMMA SLAP YOU!
Shots Fired!
*wraps up in a blanket and sips his hot tea* ahhhh...nice soft chapter.
Oh brother. LOL Oh Fleet! I've known people like that. She's really flustered.
The length of this chapter surprised me, I'm shocked at how fast I finished it! Anyone else feel like that!?
AHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA She looks like when you wear the bed sheet from Ghosts Ahoy in Runescape. Calm I know you'll get this one, please get this one!
I'm actually dying.
s22.postimg.org/rwolgdogh/blankets.jpg
services.runescape.com/m=rswikiimages/en/2012/5/ahoyplayerindisguiseimg-04145305.jpg
awesome chapter!!
6383400 And we've finally got concrete background. Only rub is that one chapter With Discord. Working on that in the gap between chapters.
6383434 ....WHY?!?!?!?!?!? WHY YOU DO THIS, SOUL?!?!?!
6383718
My muse loves to take me by the front of my shirt, point to the screen, and demand I rip your hearts out.
No, but seriously, I wrote up a short letter (two pages...that is short, right?) as Tide to Midnight's parents as a sort of 'I want to keep in practice with this character' and also to keep up to date in my own head canon.
Well, this WAS a shorter chapter compared to chapter 100, but it definitely made up for the length in hilariousness. I couldn't spend a minute reading this without trying not to laugh. Great job!
ummm Luna could just teleport to the castle or anywhere at any time she wants now.... just an fyi
warning incoming super burn.
pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
. . . . . .
Oh dang
6383434 good luck with that
6383430 there were hints of potential relationship for a while
6383712 reading the beginning banter gave me a thought that the blue magic might be starswirl, though honestly thoughts of him likely came up as another piece I've read recently has him in a bit more then passing :B
a good chapter to read. good flow from the previous one, nice follow up. I'm not sure how many more punches can be taken at lightening's expense before we want him in some canon shipping but you did well with that joke ^^
So I'm sure a lot of people have already figured this out... But the yellow figure has got to be Celestia... I had a few doubts beforehand, but the beginning of this chapter confirms it...
The blue figure... If the love of her life? Assumably she fell for him before she knew the true darkness within... To stop him from doing whatever evil he intended, she was forced to merge his soul into hers and contain him... Which made him hate her, yet still love her...
Knowing she would not be able to do so forever, she used the magic of his soul mixed with her own to fuse it within Soarin, keeping him alive and relieving the stress on herself to control it...
She followed him into Soarin's head to help contain him until Soarin is able to maintain it himself...
When discord was jealous... It's because he knew what was happening in Soarin's room wasn't just between Soarin and Dash, but between Celestia and the blue figure as well...
This is all speculation and probably going to be wrong in parts... But it's the best I got so far...
Yeah you did
Great chapter as always
Of course, the best part was Silver being Silver!
Hmmm....Everything seems all nice and safe and cozy. The Wonderbolts are hidden and the Shadowbolts are having all kinds of trouble trying to find them. The Renegades are keeping them hidden and acting as couriers to carry letters from the Wonderbolts to their friends and family across Equestria. Everything seems fine and dandy...except...oh yeah...that guy's still out there.
s15.postimg.org/kqs3v7jzv/reveal.jpg
I get the feeling the Wonderbolts aren't going to stay hidden nearly as long as they think they will.
This is the first chapter where I actually laughed.
Is that bad?
I fell off of my bed at Silvers comment XD
The yellow magic is definitely Celestia, and the blue magic, is Celestia lover, who wanted to bend the laws of reality…I so confused..……
iambrony.dget.cc/mlp/gif/131657063450.gif
I wonder how Twilight and the girls with react to the situation, Since Luna is with them, would she take charge of Equestria for now
Lol lightning couldn't get any more burnt if you dropped him in to the sun
i think Lightning needs to stand outside to get some snow on that burn and i think its safe to say that Fleetfoot is a relfection on many of us when you do not want to adult and stay in your covers all day...i know, i've pulled that look of hers once
Still! a fantastic chapter Senpai! :3
I am really running out of way to say just how good this story is. it is to the point ware awesome just does not cover it.
every thing from the art work to the story line just scream perfection.
Harts Fire
Well this was a lot of fun to read. I laughed pretty hard through most of it.
Awesome as always
Squall <3
6384619 You are so right! Every time I read a new chapter I forget this is written by just someone in his freetime.
OH MY GOD! what if the yellow and blue ponies are Celestia and Sombra?! i dont have proper evidence....yet...
Of all the names for a chapter... you chose THAT...
(of all the flavors to pick from, you chose salty) 
gamer lingo.
Really nice, my thoughts immediately go to the thought that Twilight will attempt to use dragon fire magic to send the letter back to Dash, and if that succeeds may try something a bit larger that a letter (perhaps a pony)
. Also does Soarin's family know he has Dash as a mare friend, I could probably read back though it to find out, but I'm too lazy to read through that many words to find that little bit if information. 
Wondering if now that Luna and Celestia are missing, that Twilight will take charge in Canterlot. So many possibilities have opened *proceeds to PM Jim H.* "open the vault." 
Looking forward to the future, and to many new theories and ideas! Great SoarinDash in this chapter as well, loving Spitfire's brash choice of words and humor!
He's doing the mustache again... What are you up to Calm...?
Spitfire... Its sorain's job to make Dashie blush!!!!!
i.imgur.com/UbUGWN1.png
)
(best 2 minutes on GIMP I've ever spent
DAMMIT WHY IS IT SO SHORT?!?!?!?!? Lol I'm kidding, this was how it usually was until the nuclear bomb that was Chapter 100 destroyed everything
.
This chapter was so cute, though, like, no joke. I'll admit, as much as I love the action, it's nice to settle down and go cute and fuzzy again. I'm really wondering what those letters are gonna be like. And I'm secretly hoping the rest of the Mane 6 show up, that would make this so much cooler if they're involved in the final final final showdown lol.
I'm really looking forward to the next chapter!
(Wow, I just noticed I didn't ramble on this one!
)
6383292
I get this all the time. Honestly it was an accident xD I was following a theme of 'clouds', 'sky', and 'heavens' in the titles, and didn't even think about Gurren Lagann until four or five chapters in
I am a huge fan of the anime. Like my editor said, this little oops led to me including two parody characters as well as several references to specific lines from it
I apologize for the misunderstanding
(i sincerely hope the new downvote wasn't from you for that reason alone...)
6383301
He has a history of bad timing
6383329
I'm glad you like him, he's one of my favorites to write for
6383339
Back to regular chapter lengths, this was a good place to cut this one off
6383350
Yep, it has been a lot of fun ^_^
6383352
Mission accomplished!
6383399
That was totally the intention, Even Kestrel paused and left a note by it while he was editing
6383400
6383430
We shall see, eh?
6383434
You're making me feel sad and i havent even gotten a chance to read your fic yet >_< >_< >_<
6383466
There will be a few highlighted, but not too many (since most everypony will be saying more or less the same thing in terms of 'don't worry, we're fine') but a few important ones will be shown
6383495
Picture is failing to load
6383510
It's good to step back from the actions and explosions, eh? *Pushes Michael Bay out the back door*
6383525
Lightning walked right into all of those
6383545
Fox kept dawwing at her 'little pony nose' the whole time she drew that picture
6383618
*whistles into the wind as i fly by*