Chapter 110: Connection
MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 110: Connection
Soarin winced shortly after his eyes landed on Rapidfire. He was surprised to see him, but it was hard to ignore the incredible amount of pain spread throughout his body. Nothing felt broken. His arms and legs were moving, but he was very beaten up. It looked like Rapidfire was less fortunate. His bruises and cuts looked twice as severe as Soarin’s, not to mention he also had a pretty bad black eye.
Speaking of eyes, Soarin was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. There was an intense burning sensation in them that was more excruciating than the rest of his injuries combined. He shut his eyes and shook his head in attempt to find some relief, but had no such luck. And why was everything he looked at a dim shade of green? Everything related to the magic, at least the magic he had control over, was blue. The only other color of magic he knew of within him was yellow. Soarin shut one of his eyes in attempt to try and focus it, but was surprised to find everything he saw turned blue. He opened his eyes back up, and everything was green. Out of curiosity he closed the other eye… and everything turned yellow.
That explained it… blue and yellow mixed together made green. He shakily reached a hoof up and moved it in front of his eyes, quickly pulling it away when he felt something brush against it. It gave off a sensation similar to when he was deflecting magic. Were the two magic auras in his body literally oozing from his eyes right now? He wasn’t about to not believe so. With the horn damaged, it felt like the magic was going all over the place in his head, even shooting back through his body in uneven flows that were crashing into one another.
He refocused on Rapidfire after determining his own pain. The mere sight of his old rival lit a fire in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to scowl, but he didn’t have the strength, or desire to with how much his body hurt at the moment.
“Hrrrggg…” Soarin grunted as he moved his legs, trying to find his hooves so he could push himself off of the pile of rocks. “Ah!” Soarin yelped as his hooves slipped and he slid off the pile, landing in a heap on the ground. “Son of a…” he stopped short of cursing as he found his hooves again and pushed himself up slowly and painfully.
He exhaled as he finally stood up, taking another look at Rapidfire. He remained still for a moment before taking a step towards him and reaching a hoof towards Rapidfire’s neck, gently touching it.
A pulse.
Rapidfire wasn’t dead. He was in worse shape than Soarin physically, and half buried under a pile of large rocks, but even here he was too stubborn to die.
Every ounce of Soarin’s being wanted to slam his hooves down over Rapidfire’s neck and end him right there and then. Soarin was not a violent pony by nature. He never entertained the thought of killing another just because he wanted to. This was a different case however. Rapidfire had been such a living hell for him, and not just him, all of his friends. All the constant douchebag moves, the betrayal in Canterlot, the impersonations, violation of Spitfire’s feelings… Soarin couldn’t remember if he ever held a positive view of Rapidfire and Rapidfire certainly never did anything to make him feel otherwise.
It wouldn’t be hard to understand what was going through Soarin’s head.
Do it.
Kill him.
Rid your life and the lives of those you care about of this disease that has plagued them for years upon years.
Rapidfire has earned that much for all the crap he’s put you through.
Just end it.
NOW.
…
But…
Soarin couldn’t bring himself to do it… and it wasn’t just because his body was weak and being plagued by a splitting headache.
Rapidfire had been bad. He had been awful. He had done things that Soarin would never forgive him for… but did he really know Rapidfire? Seeing the Shadowbolts treat him like trash had Soarin thinking, but it was more than that. Had this been Soarin a year ago, he wouldn’t have thought twice about this, but all the things he had gone through and experienced had him more aware that ponies are not one dimensional, no matter how awful they may seem. He blamed Descent for planting such compassion in his head. A pony that beat him senseless and brought him to the brink of death was now his most trusted ally as well as a pony who cared for those who worked with him.
What were Rapidfire’s motivations? What drove him to be the pony he was? Would killing him out of frustration for what he had done really give Soarin any closure? He certainly didn’t feel that way. There are many things that can drive a pony towards poor decisions. Since he didn’t know for sure… Soarin felt killing Rapidfire would be nothing but a coldblooded act… and he wasn’t capable of such things.
Soarin shook his head before turning and looking around their cramped, closed space. He would worry about Rapidfire later. His top priority was to find a way out and make it back to the compound. He was certain the Wonderbolts were all worried sick about him. He dragged his hooves as he moved towards the walls, shining the flickering light from his horn against it to see if he could find anything that could possibly be broken away or lead to a passage. He limped as he walked, one of his back legs stinging every time he put pressure on his hoof.
“Great…” he sighed as he felt the pain in his leg. More problems to deal with and yet another thing he’d have to power through. But he didn’t care. As long as he had strength to move his body, he was going to find a way out.
He was breathing normally, which implied that there was a source of air somewhere. If they were truly trapped without air, they’d surely be asphyxiating by now. He slid his hooves over the wall as he looked around. He was relying more on touch than sight due to the magic messing with his eyes, but he was determined to get out… to see his friends, to see Rainbow Dash… he would find a way, even if he had to smell his way out.
His determination was strong… but that didn’t change the fact that he was struggling just to stand. All the pain was taking its toll, and the more he strained himself to keep the horn alight, the more his head hurt.
After a moment of searching around, his hooves began to slip down the wall.
“Ahhh…” he exhaled, feeling incredibly lightheaded and dizzy as he slumped to the floor. “Can’t… quit…” he grunted as he pushed himself back up.
As Soarin denied all the negative messages his body was sending him and forced himself back to work, he failed to hear a very weak, faint groan.
Rapidfire’s eyes shut tighter as he began to stir and feel the pain all over.
“Ah… aaaahh…” He quietly exhaled as his eyes opened slowly, barely managing to open his black eye at all. The moment he could see, he didn’t wonder where he was or try to figure out why there was light… he was looking for his crystal. But reality quickly hit him in the face. His crystal was nowhere to be found. It was easy to conclude, even as he looked for it. His body felt weak, devoid of all the strength the crystal gave him, not to mention he was being plagued by constant, crushing pain. He could feel the pressure on his lower body. He could wiggle slightly and his wings were free, if not incredibly stiff, but he was stuck.
“Yes!” Soarin’s voice caught Rapidfire’s attention. He looked up, finally acknowledging the light source and noticing Soarin for the first time. Had he the strength to react, he would have, but he wasn’t in a position to do much of anything. He remained quiet as he watched Soarin prod around the wall, also realizing where they were. They were in some sort of cave… and if Soarin was still with him, that meant they were stuck. He remembered hitting the mountain and some yellow aura shooting around them… or at least around Soarin. Soarin broke his impact, striking the mountain first, but judging by how Soarin seemed still able to move, the yellow aura had protected him, while Rapidfire had taken the brunt of any collapsing rocks as they drove through the mountain.
What a way to go. All that effort… only to be trapped in a mountain with your rival.
“Hrg!” Soarin grunted as he put his shoulder against a large rock and gave it a push. Rapidfire blinked as he watched Soarin work, what was he doing? “Hrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhh…” Soarin groaned as he strained himself. The rock jostled a little, but didn’t move from its spot. “AH!” Soarin lost his position on the rock and tumbled, falling to the ground.
Soarin was trying to find a way out? Not to mention he was pushing through all the pain and straining himself to keep his magic alight. Why? What was the point?
“Dammit…” Soarin cursed as he panted on the ground. The horn flickered and sputtered, the light slowly dying. “Oh no you don’t…” Soarin quickly regained as much focus as he could, causing the light to brighten again. He was about to push himself up, but his eyes widened as they landed on Rapidfire… and stared directly into a pair of eyes looking right back at him.
The two of remained silent for several moments, no words or expressions exchanged.
But it wasn’t long before Rapidfire found the strength to furrow his brow and scowl at Soarin.
Soarin rolled his eyes at the gesture.
“Nice of you to wake up,” Soarin said with a sarcastic tone. Rapidfire said nothing in response, he only growled at him as his glare persisted. Soarin lifted an eyebrow and sighed. “Really?” He shook his head. “You’re gonna keep up that act now? Look at where we are.” He made weak hoof motions to the small cave surrounding them.
“FEH!” Rapidfire scoffed before turning his head to look away. No sooner did he finish the movement did he groan in pain… and it was a very lame, cringe-worthy groan. Soarin was seconds away from making a harsh ‘that’s what you get’ comment about Rapidfire losing his crystal, but really… it wasn’t the time to jeer back and forth. They were both hurt and trapped. He already decided against smashing Rapidfire’s face in and that was final. If Soarin was going to make constructive use of his time, he’d focus it on trying get out.
Soarin strained himself, his muscles twitching and aching as he stood up and moved back towards the rock. He placed his shoulder against the side of it and dug his hooves into the ground, pushing with as much strength as he could muster despite his nerves screaming at him. The light from his horn flickered as his concentration was split between pushing and maintaining the light. His wings unfolded slightly and swung in small flaps close to his body as he did everything he could to generate any physical force.
But again, to no avail. The rock continued to buckle, but showed no signs of being uprooted. Soarin squinted, his eyes looking towards the small opening behind the rock that made him even try pushing it in the first place. The light shining from his horn showed what he thought was a tunnel behind it. So close, yet so far…
“Damn…” Soarin groaned as his strength gave out and he slumped against the rock, beads of sweat rolling down his face as he panted, and his head feeling like it was caught between an eternally tightening vice. It was no good… there was no way he was moving the rock by himself…
By himself…
Soarin thought for a moment… absolutely stunned that he was even considering it, but really… What choice did he have?
He looked towards Rapidfire, who was actually already looking at him again. The moment their eyes met, Rapidfire shifted his eyes away, groaning in pain once more.
“I can’t believe I’m about to do this…” Soarin mumbled quietly to himself as he pushed his body off of the rock and began limping towards Rapidfire. Soarin moved past him… and reached for the pile of stones that lay atop Rapidfire.
Soarin grabbed the stone, and grunted as he pulled it off the top. Rapidfire’s ears stood up. He turned his head and looked to see Soarin pulling the stones off of the pile. He simply stared for a few moments as he felt the pressure against his body slowly decrease, but it didn’t take long for his glare to return.
“What are you doing?” he asked. Soarin didn’t look at him. He just kept removing rocks from the pile.
“Digging you out,” Soarin replied. Rapidfire’s glare faded slightly, but he still looked uncomfortable.
“Why?” he followed up. Soarin paused for a moment, halfway through dragging a stone off the pile.
“I need your help to get out of here,” he said with a straight face, no matter how hard it was to say. Rapidfire quickly scowled again.
“What makes you think I’d ever help you?!” he was quick to snap at Soarin. Soarin pushed the stone off the pile, turned his head towards Rapidfire and gave him a flat look.
“Do you want to get out of here alive or not?” Soarin asked before looking away and going right back to pushing the rocks. Rapidfire didn’t say anything, he just kept looking at Soarin with a glare that looked very forced. He looked back as Soarin pushed against the last pile of rocks on his back. “I can’t… do this… alone…” Soarin spoke in between grunts as the last bit of fallen cave debris rolled off of Rapidfire’s lower body. “I’m… AH!” Soarin fell down as he stepped away, the horn flashing brightly for a moment before calming down. “I’m not in the best shape right now…”
Rapidfire looked back at the rest of his body. His flight suit was heavily damaged, pretty much torn beyond repair. His back legs were moving, but they were almost completely numb. He tried to stand, moving very slowly as his limbs buckled and wobbled. He eventually managed to stand and took a step, but the moment he put weight down on his hoof, an intense rush of pain filled his body.
“RGH!” he groaned as he tipped forward and fell back to the ground. He breathed heavily for a few moments, before looking up, his face covered in sweat. Soarin looked back at him, taking in the broken image of his enemy. Not only was Rapidfire physically hurt, but losing his crystal was having an impact as well, at least that’s what Soarin assumed. They were both damaged externally and internally.
There was no way around it, they had to work together.
“Looks like you’re not in very good condition either,” Soarin said as he turned and shuffled towards Rapidfire. “We’re going to have to work together,” he shifted to help Rapidfire stand, crouching down to support him as he stood. The moment Rapidfire felt Soarin touch him, his eyes snapped open.
“DON’T TOUCH ME!” he yelled as he swung his arm out.
“AH!” They both yelped as Rapidfire’s sudden move caused both of them to fall away from each other and roll to a stop a yard apart. Soarin’s horn flickered and the glow faded as he fell. They groaned and twitched as the impact, while not bad, was more than enough to sting their injuries.
After a few moments of struggling in the darkness, Soarin forced his horn to light up again. The two managed to roll over onto their stomachs and looked towards each other. They both huffed, giving each other matching looks of annoyance.
“Look,” Soarin spoke up as the two remained in their spots. “Either we work together and get out of here alive, or we keep glaring at each other until we starve to death or the cave collapses on us or whatever. I’m not about to wait to die.”
Rapidfire said nothing. He just shifted his body, rolled over, and faced the wall behind him.
Soarin exhaled and shook his head before struggling to stand and lurching his way back over to the rock. It was worth a shot, but it looked like he wasn’t going to get any help from Rapidfire… not like that was a big surprise. He placed himself against the large rock once again… and pushed it with all his might.
Rapidfire lay still and listened as Soarin continued to grunt and gasp, giving everything he had to try and free them. The light from the sputtering horn flickered with every heave. The more Rapidfire listened… the more it became clear that Soarin was going get out or die trying. To Rapidfire… it was all just a big waste of time, they were done for.
“HRRRGHHH!!!! Ahh…” Soarin panted, shaking his head to whip the sweat from his face. “HHRRRRRRRAAAAAAAGH! GAH! Ah…” He tried and tried and tried…
Rapidfire’s ears flopped down as the labored grunts and determined roars came from Soarin as he continuously failed. Rapidfire found himself rolling back slightly, turning his head and watching Soarin as he tried over and over and over again. Never once did the look of determination leave his face. Never once did he look defeated. He was going to keep trying no matter how hopeless it seemed.
Rapidfire looked away for a moment. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, growling quietly to himself.
“Fine…” he said loud enough for Soarin to hear. Soarin stopped pushing the rock and looked over to Rapidfire as he breathed heavily.
“What… was that?” Soarin asked between breaths. He blinked as Rapidfire shifted and tried to stand on his own again.
“I’ll help you move… the damn rock… OW!” Rapidfire yelped as he plopped back down on his stomach, his body still not listening to him.
Soarin watched from beside the rock as Rapidfire struggled on the ground. He sighed, and started shambling back over towards him. He stopped directly in front of Rapidfire, towering over him under the light emanating from the horn. Rapidfire huffed and cast a discouraged expression up at Soarin. They remained still a moment, Soarin looking down at him and Rapidfire looking right back up.
Rapidfire gritted his teeth, but his expression quickly lightened… when Soarin reached a hoof towards him. Rapidfire stared at the hoof for a moment before looking back up. The two gave each other serious looks, locking eyes as if they were both about to make a serious compromise.
This was by no means a gesture of good faith. Soarin was not about to forget or forgive. Rapidfire had done terrible things to him and his friends… but right now, he needed his help. And if Rapidfire wanted to survive, he’d have to help Soarin.
Rapidfire exhaled loudly through his nose as he slowly reached up and hooked his hoof with Soarin’s. Soarin helped him stand up and turned to support him.
Rapidfire was clearly livid, incredibly pissed off that he was being helped by Soarin, but Soarin was equally peeved about resorting to assistance from a pony he had absolutely no respect for in any way shape or form. With his arm propped under Rapidfire’s, Soarin led him over to the rock in their way, both of them limping from point A to point B.
They reached the boulder and took their places on the side Soarin had been pushing. Rapidfire pushing low from an angle, and Soarin pushing high.
“On my count…” Soarin nodded. “One… Two… THREE!”
The two grunted as their back hooves pushed into the ground, skidding slightly, but locking firmly into the ground right after. They pushed and they pushed and they pushed… the rock jostling further than it had before with only Soarin.
“Again! One… Two… THREE!” Soarin repeated, the two pushing again. It moved a little further this time. “One more time!” Soarin encouraged as the light from his horn flickered and the different colored glows from his eyes intensified. “One… Two… THREE!”
The two of them gave one final push…
The rock tipped, the rounded bottom lifting from the ground… and rolling forward. The two of them fell towards it as it moved. Soarin landed right on top of Rapidfire.
“AAARRGGHHH!!!” Rapidfire yelped in pain as Soarin’s weight came down on top of him. Soarin quickly tried to push himself up, but he was assisted as Rapidfire flared his wings upward and knocked Soarin off roughly, causing him to roll on the floor… and the light to go out again.
After both of them spent a few moments grunting in pain in the darkness… again, Soarin forced his magic to cooperate and relit his horn. Every time it got harder, but they needed the light. The two of them shot glares at each other, but were both quickly distracted.
They turned their heads and looked at what lay behind the boulder…
Soarin shined his horn towards it as he shakily stood up and shuffled towards it.
“Oh… wow…”
There wasn’t a tunnel behind their prison… it was a large cave… a very large cave… easily the size of the Wonderbolt compound at first glance… maybe even larger. It was only half as tall, but still much more than Soarin could have predicted. He shined the light around from their lookout, spotting running water and stalactites. His light didn’t even reach the other side… the cave extending beyond what his horn was revealing. Scratch that, it couldn’t be compared to the compound. It looked like they had stumbled into a whole cave system!
Rapidfire pulled himself over along the ground and stared in awe.
“Well…” Soarin began as he stepped forward and looked over the edge, seeing that there was about a three yard drop from their lookout. “I guess we better start searching.”
“We?” Rapidfire huffed. Soarin looked down at him and reached down, grabbing him by the arm and helping him stand.
“Yes, we,” Soarin said firmly.
“What, we’re suddenly partners here?” Rapidfire growled. Soarin shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” he said while shooting Rapidfire a stern look. “I’m not letting you off the hook, but I’d bet bits our chances of survival are better if we stick together. Once we’re out, all bets are off.”
“Hmph…” Rapidfire looked over the edge with him. Soarin gingerly tried to lower himself, but slipped and landed roughly on the cave floor below.
“OW!” Soarin grunted as he rolled up and shook his head. Rapidfire stared down, watching as Soarin continued to move forward, confident that they would find a way out no matter how much it hurt. Rapidfire winced as another shock of minor withdrawal hit him, but refocused quickly and tried to lower himself. He slid down the wall, but lost control, yelping as he hit the ground, but Soarin reached back and stopped him from rolling further.
Rapidfire looked up and quickly pushed Soarin away as he grabbed the wall beside him and pushed himself up on his own. He glared at Soarin, fed up that he kept helping him.
“Why are you helping me?!” Rapidfire yelled out of nowhere. Soarin didn’t visibly react, but he had a good answer.
“Why are you more worried about that than making it out alive?” Soarin lifted an eyebrow. “I already told you, you’re not getting left off the hook, but I have ponies I care about that I need to get back too… and I’m going to assume you may have a reason or two to find your way out as well.”
Soarin was internally laughing. Rapidfire? Care about other ponies? The mere thought had his inner conscience cracking up. That was what was driving Soarin to survive… but Rapidfire? His peers treated him like dirt, and he had alienated anypony that ever gave a damn about him.
But Rapidfire’s expression changed when Soarin said it. The glare faded and his expression went… neutral? Like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to agree or be angry and deny it.
“Fine…” Rapidfire huffed. “Let’s just get the hell out of here already…” he said in a slightly defeated tone as he started hobbling further into the cave. Soarin watched Rapidfire for a moment before turning and following right behind.
Perhaps Rapidfire did have a reason to get out… but what could it be? Soarin would admit, despite his view of Rapidfire, he couldn’t help but wonder what kept him going. What made that twisted mind of his tick?
Whatever Rapidfire’s motivations were, it wasn’t hard for Soarin to keep moving with his own.
He looked around the cave as he followed behind Rapidfire, speaking to himself in a quiet tone to encourage himself.
“I’m okay, Rainbow Dash…” he whispered under his breath. “I’ll survive and come back… I promise…”
“Urgh…” Silver grunted as he pushed the door to the infirmary open with his head and hobbled in. “Stupid… old body…” he grumbled as he slid into the room and almost got hit by the door as it closed behind him. “Can’t go one damn battle without feeling like I just got shat through a wood chipper and double back-door banged by a yak and a dragon…” he mumbled as he limped over to the ice.
Silver had excused himself from the strategy meeting with Spitfire shortly after they got their base objectives down. His body was beat up from the encounter with the Shadowbolts and was wasting no time in feeling like a wreck. Based on what he heard in the meeting, it sounded like Spitfire wanted to attack the moment they ironed out all the remaining details of their plan… He wasn’t in much of a condition to enter another battle, but he would regardless… so if he was going to get some ice on his bruises and make a stop at his room for his prescription pain-killers, now was the time to do it.
As he pulled four plastic bags off a roll above the ice machine, that was now filled with snow gathered from outside, his eyes caught other ponies in the room. He was too busy grumbling a moment earlier to notice. It looked like Squall, Little Star, Twister, Matteo, Storm Front, and Princess Luna. Fleetfoot was also there up on one of the trainer tables with ice bags. What were they all doing in there?
His answer came quickly. During the moment he looked away to scoop hooffulls of snow into the bags, Luna had shifted. As he looked back over, his eyes widened. Rainbow Dash was on the table beside Fleetfoot, and she was… out?
Silver furrowed his brow. Dash was not nearly beat up enough to pass out, what had happened?
He made his way over to the group, but the state of his body had him thinking twice, so he stopped halfway and pulled himself up onto the a trainer table that was a few down from where the group was sitting. None of them had looked towards him, and it was just close enough for him to listen in. He was okay with that. He wasn’t in the mood to engage in conversation, at least not until after he had gotten some nice cold relief from certain burning joins in his legs, back, and wings.
Silver minded his own business, only hearing bits and pieces of the conversation going on as he carefully placed every ice bag exactly where he wanted it. Once he finally balanced them all in place, he turned to rest his chin on the table cushion, but…
“AH!” Dash suddenly yelped, waking up with a start and lifting her head up to look around. It caused all of the ponies around her to flinch.
Silver quickly looked up as well… but the sudden motion caused all the ice bags to slip and fall off of him, two of them rolling off onto the floor. Silver flattened his brow and sighed, grumbling as moved to retrieve the bags and place them again, this time listening in though.
“Dash?!” Little Star landed on the table as Rainbow Dash looked around and blinked. “What is it?”
Dash looked forward seeing all of her friends standing before her, including Princess Luna, and Fleetfoot on the table to her left. Luna put a hoof up on Dash’s table with a look of concern.
“Rainbow Dash, pray tell us… Is there something wrong with Soarin?” she asked. All of the others looked towards Luna, who still hadn’t given them an explanation towards what was going on with Dash. They had tried, but she was too preoccupied with the apparent implications of the situation.
But Dash smiled. She gently reached a hoof up and placed it on her chest, over her heart.
“Soarin… I swear I just heard Soarin’s voice…” she said in a warm tone as her smile grew wider.
“What?” Squall said flatly as he lifted an eyebrow.
“You going loony on us, Dash?” Storm asked in a much softer manner with a slightly chuckle. They both flinched as Luna shifted in front of them, nearly smacking her plot right into Storm’s face as she forced her way into Dash’s view.
“Tell us more!” she demanded. “What did you feel? Was there anything else? How did it sound?” she fired questions loudly at her as Storm and Squall shifted to avoid any unintentional physical contact with the divine princess’ rump. Dash blinked and pulled back slightly as Luna continued to lean forward, eagerly looking for answers as if they would solve all of their current problems.
“Princess…” Matteo spoke up as he reached up and gently grabbed her shoulder. “Please give our captain some space,” he requested respectfully.
“We’re… sorry…” she backed up and sat down with a sigh. “There is very much on the line here… we are merely worried.” She cleared her throat. “Please describe to us what just happened.”
Dash took a deep breath and slowly breathed out as she continued to hold her hoof over her heart.
“I was resting, my heartbeat had slowed down,” she began as everypony listened in, even if the rest of them weren’t quite as informed on her state as she was. Fleetfoot had been keeping quiet beside her, but she already knew a little bit about their connection. “Suddenly my heart jumped and I heard Soarin’s voice in my head… he said ‘I’m okay, Rainbow Dash… I’ll survive and come back… I promise…’” she looked up at Luna. “I know it sounds weird, but it felt like I could actually hear him. My heart jumped at the same time… it’s as if he was speaking to me through our connected spirits.”
“DATS WERD,” Twister suddenly spoke up while sprawled out on Luna’s back. Luna’s eyes widened as she looked back at him, but Matteo was already holding him by the head and pulling him off of her.
“No, I agree, Twister,” Dash said with a chuckle. She ignored the look of pure disbelief the rest of her friends were giving her for saying those particular words in that particular order. “I wish I could explain it fully, but… it was something I felt inside of me.”
“Dash,” Star spoke up as she hovered beside Squall. “Could you… explain all of this to us? I’m so confused.”
“Please do,” Storm asked as he stepped up beside Dash’s bed and placed a hoof on it. “What do you have to do with Soarin’s magic? There’s clearly a connection.”
Dash sighed as she looked between all of them, getting a nod from Luna as her eyes scanned over her. It was high time they got the full details of it. It’s not like they were being kept secret, there was just so much more going on around them, taking the focus away from the issues she and Soarin were facing.
“I’m not about to claim this is easy to explain, but it goes something like this,” Dash began as her squad and Storm all focused on her and listened carefully. “By now you guys know that Soarin, despite not being an alicorn, has the ability to use magic. That’s because the magic was forced into him by Princess Celestia to restore his broken body after our first encounter with the Shadowbolts. The magic is powerful, unstable, and dangerous, and is constantly trying to consume Soarin’s spirit and take control of his body.” Dash paused, glancing at Luna, who was looking away with her cheeks puffed out. Even now, after all this time, she still didn’t like Celestia’s decision to save Soarin. Not that Dash blamed her though. It clearly did something to Celestia that had kept her away for a long period of time.
“The horn is an ancient artifact that allows Soarin to control the magic to a certain degree, which was something he had to learn to do from scratch,” Dash continued. “But this is all stuff you guys already know, the kicker is… there’s something else involved in his magic… that’s me.” Dash put a hoof to her chest as she nodded to them. “You see, when Celestia transferred this magic into Soarin… she needed help to cast it. If she did it by herself, she would have completely destroyed herself. So she enlisted Spitfire and me to ‘support’ her. She chose us because we both had close connections to Soarin.” She paused again, and blinked. “Well… what happened next is sort of… impossible to explain…” she chuckled, knowing the little sequence in the darkness where she and Spitfire yelled at Soarin while yanking him out of a dark void would be… well… pretty high up the weird things that have happened to her throughout all this list.
“I… uh… guess…” Dash scratched her head. “The best way to explain it is that Soarin needed familiar encouragement and somepony he cared deeply for in order for his soul to take hold of the magic. And that’s what Spitfire and I provided, but… while Spitfire got out of it without any extra strings attached, I didn’t,” she sighed. “Despite Soarin absorbing the magic, Celestia couldn’t lock it down in his body. It was wild, and lashing out constantly. So… in order to keep it tied down, she anchored the magic down… with a piece of my own spirit. I’m still not exactly sure what she did, but I’d guess that while Spitfire and I were coaxing Soarin out of the darkness, we were not in physical form. Instead our spirits were speaking to his. Celestia must have done it then, taking a part of my spirit and leaving it behind. Whatever she did, it worked, because Soarin now has enough control over the magic to keep it stable.”
Dash took a moment to look her audience over. Luna was still looking away, Fleetfoot had turned to look, and looked a little confused. Dash figured she had already heard about this from Soarin to a certain degree but maybe not this much in depth. Storm and the rest of her squad had varying reactions. Storm had his eyes narrowed as if he was struggling to follow. Squall just had an eyebrow raised. Matteo’s eyes were moving back and forth as if trying to process all the information. Little Star was just staring at Dash as if waiting for her to continue. Twister was staring blankly while holding up a sign that read ‘No, I agree, Twister… -Rainbow Dash. Never forget.’
“Wait… so…” Little Star spoke up while pulling the sign out of Twister’s hooves and tossing it over her back. “So figuratively speaking, there’s an actual connection between you two? Like, there’s a part of you in Soarin?”
“That’s ironic,” Fleetfoot suddenly spoke up quietly. Dash’s ears flattened as she glanced over at Fleetfoot, but she quickly looked back as Storm failed to hold back a snort. Even Squall was suddenly holding his breath. “Sorry…” Fleetfoot released a quiet giggle while putting her hoof over her nose. “It was too easy.”
“ANYWAY…” Dash chuckled while shaking her head. “To put it in a way that can’t be spun sexually, a part of my spirit is in Soarin, so we’re linked.”
“Is that why you can… ‘feel’ when he’s having problems?” Storm asked, having finally regained his composure.
“Right,” Dash nodded. “There are repercussions to it. My body can physically feel any of his pain caused by the magic. For a while that wasn’t the case, but as the link developed, so did the reactions. Also… and probably the most drastic, is that our spirits have become fully linked as a result. Meaning if Soarin’s spirit were to be destroyed, such as through him being killed, that means it would drag my spirit with it… killing me too. The same vice versa. That’s why I know he’s alive.”
“Oh my god…” Star put her hooves over her mouth. “That’s…”
“That’s quite a burden,” Matteo finished for her.
“It’s not completely bad,” Dash smiled. “I mean… yeah, the whole if he dies I die thing was pretty hard to swallow at first, but… at the same time this link has brought us even closer. Before he had the horn, his magic pretty much prevented him from ever calming down or running out of energy. That may sound great on the surface, but it was taking a huge toll on him. That was, until we came back together for the first time, and we realized that me being around made the magic calm down and behave itself. Apparently the magic is afraid of me because I’m the reason it was locked in to begin with. The horn allows Soarin to control it and has kept the magic from taking him over, but it was my spirit that initially allowed it to be trapped. And it goes even further now that Soarin has control. If I’m around him, he can use the magic on a near master level with no repercussion that usually come with pushing it too hard. In short… whenever I’m around, it’s easier for Soarin to relax and he can push himself way past his limits.”
As she finished, Star’s expression turned from worry to one of pure giddiness. Her eyes had gone incredibly wide.
“So you two… basically need each other, you draw from each other, and you’re lovers on top of it…” She puckered her lips and began swaying as she hovered. “Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww…” She inadvertently began shifting towards Squall, who started leaning away while flattening his brow. “That’s… TOO adorable!” Star continued to fawn as she ended up against Squall’s shoulder.
Squall, however, could not get away because Twister had suddenly popped out from Matteo’s feathers beside him, imitating Star’s facial expressions and cooing. Squall sighed as he found his head sandwiched between Star and Twister as Matteo was already reaching up to grab Twister without even looking.
Storm snorted as he watched Foxtrot’s reaction before looking back at Dash.
“Well… I knew there was a lot of weird stuff going on with Soarin, but that one takes the cake,” Storm commented. He suddenly ducked as Twister zipped over his head, having been thrown by Matteo. Storm looked back and cringed as Twister crashed and did an unnecessary amount of collateral damage, somehow pulling several of the trainer tables with him.
“Weird doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Dash chuckled. “I’ve been learning all this crazy magical and spiritual stuff throughout all this and I still don’t get half of it.”
“It is not something we regularly try to explain,” Luna spoke up beside them. “There is much about other planes of existence and inner auras and spirits that often remain completely unknown by normal ponies and mortal species in general. Believe us, even in our long existence there are many things even we have yet to understand about them.”
“Yowza…” Storm voiced his awe as Luna nodded. “Sounds like a one way ticket to a headache… even more so than the explanation I just heard.”
“That’s why I’m just going with it,” Dash shrugged. “I mean… clearly it’s something we’re not meant to normally know about. If none of this stuff happened I’d never have even given it thought.”
They were all interrupted as a squawk came from Matteo’s direction. They looked over to see Star hugging Squall around the neck, her eyes still wide while looking at Dash. Squall had tried to shift away. Unfortunately, his attempt had led to him stepping down hard on one of Matteo’s back paws and all three of them had fallen into a heap on the floor. It would have ended there, but…
“DOG PILE!” Twister yelled as he leapt over the top and body slammed Matteo, causing a little scuffle on the floor. Dash let her nose plop down onto the trainer table cushion.
“I love my squad… but sometimes, I swear…” she sighed, but couldn’t hold back a smile.
“You rest, I’ll stop them,” Storm snickered as he turned away and moved towards Foxtrot.
Luna watched Storm as he left Dash’s side, but before she could turn back to Dash, her eyes landed on Silver Lining. She stopped and blinked, her eyes widening.
“Oh dear, we completely forgot…” she turned back to Dash. “Forgive us, Rainbow Dash, but we were supposed to attend the planning of our next move… please excuse us, we must go catch up.”
Before Dash could respond, Luna was already up and trotting towards the exit, smoothly gliding over the random wrestling pile of varying mindsets on the floor.
As Luna left, Dash finally noticed Silver lying a few tables down with his body covered in ice. He wasn’t looking at her, in fact he looked like he was… asleep? She thought about calling to him, but—
“Hrrmmmmm…” Fleetfoot suddenly groaned. Dash turned away from Silver and looked to her other side, where Fleetfoot lay on the table beside her.
Fleetfoot was lying flat like her, but had her chin resting on the cushion and had a hoof draped over her nose. She released a long sigh through her nostrils as her eyes looked somber, barely visible over her hoof.
“What’s up, Fleet?” Dash asked, eying her curiously.
“Nothing…” Fleetfoot said weakly, almost in a way that was blatantly a load of bull. Dash just stared at her for a second before tipping her head to the side curiously. Fleetfoot lifted her hoof up slightly to reveal her eyes looking at Dash. “This is the part where you call me out for lying through my teeth.”
“Uh… sorry?” Dash chuckled as she forced a weak smile. Fleetfoot waved her hoof slightly before replacing it over her nose.
“Forget about it, it’s really, REALLY not important right now… I just…rgh…” she grunted as she brought her other hoof up and placed it over her nose as well. The ice bag on her right wing joint fell off and tumbled to the floor, but she made no effort to retrieve it. Dash just stared, but not out of confusion. It seemed like Fleetfoot had something she wanted to get off her chest. Knowing Fleetfoot, it would only be another moment before she voiced her thoughts. “I’m just… jealous…”
Now it was time for Dash to be confused. Vulnerability was a side Fleetfoot seldom showed in general, but jealousy? Of her and Soarin…? Or what…?
“Jealous?” Dash asked singularly, not quite sure how else to format the question. Fleetfoot released another long sigh.
“It’s stupid, I know… I have the worst timing with this kind of thing,” Fleetfoot started beating herself up again.
“Fleet, stop… what is it?” Dash asked, concerned. Fleetfoot had stuck by her all the way through this whole experience. Fleetfoot had helped her when Dash and Soarin disagreed back in Ponyville, Fleetfoot led the assault on the Shadowbolt fortress when she and Soarin were first captured, she vouched for and voted for her all throughout the tryouts, and then made sure Dash knew she was still her friend afterward. Fleetfoot, while not a constant in Dash’s life, had always been a pony she knew she could count on. She wanted Fleetfoot to know she could count on her too.
“I just wish I knew what it was like…” she said quietly.
“What do you mean?” Dash asked, her ears flopping down as she caught a sad tone in Fleetfoot’s voice.
“Having somepony that’s so special to me… that everything about them gives me strength,” she continued with her face still covered. Dash’s eyes widened as Fleetfoot continued to spill her heart. “I mean…” she removed her hoof from her face and looked sternly at Dash. “Look at you and Soarin, look how much motivation you draw from one another… look at how strong you two are in spirit. And I’m not just talking about this weird magic stuff,” she raised her voice a little. “And then look at what just happened in the lobby. Spitty is so determined to stick her hoof up the Shadowbolts’ asses that she almost caught fire. She completely dominated Descent and pushed him right out. Why? All because of Wave… she wants to save somepony that means the world to her and she’s not going to let anything get in her way.” Fleetfoot put her hoof back over her face. Dash was about to speak up, but never got the chance. “Yeah, yeah… I know that she said she’d do it for any of us… but I could tell, I could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. I have never seen her assert herself and her goals so passionately. And it’s all for him… for Wave…”
“Fleet… I…” Dash cut herself off. She was about to naturally try and comfort her, but… it seemed she was part of what drove Fleetfoot into this little state, so she felt it wasn’t her place to speak up.
“I’ve seen it from you and Soarin all the time, how the two of you drive each other, push each other, draw strength from each other… and for a while it was limited to just you two. Now though… I’m seeing it from Spitfire too, and it’s making me wonder… what it would be like,” Fleetfoot shook her head subtly. “I’ve never been one to really be connected like that to others. You know me. I’m very big on staying open and showing affection and fun to everypony. So many things are making me think twice about that recently, certain events, certain ponies, seeing couples… I feel like I’ve been missing out, like I haven’t been taking it as seriously as I should. Sorry… like I said, this isn’t the time for this. I just had to tell somepony.”
“This again?”
Both of them flinched. Fleetfoot stuck her head up to see over Dash as Dash turned to look at the table on her other side. At some point, Silver had gotten up and moved all the way over to the table right next to her. He was looking over Dash’s back at Fleetfoot.
“Did you already forget our little chat?” he asked as Fleetfoot pouted and lowered her head.
“No…” she said with a slightly miffed tone.
“Uh…” Dash looked back and forth between the two of them.
“Oh, so you just ignored my advice then,” Silver rolled his eyes.
“NO! I did go to him, but, uh…” Fleetfoot blinked as Dash turned and stared at her. Fleetfoot puffed her cheeks out and blushed. “Mrrrgghhh…” she reached her hooves back and pulled her swept-back mane all the way forward and over her eyes.
“For somepony that secretes affection more than a changeling on laxatives, you sure aren’t a go-getter when you narrow it down to one pony…” Silver lifted an eyebrow as Fleetfoot threw her hooves up, her mane snapping back into its normal shape.
“Okay! Okay! I get it! I’ll… ugh…” Fleetfoot groaned.
“Just don’t keep denying yourself what you really want, Commander…” Silver finished in a tone that was much more serious. Fleetfoot looked up over Dash again for a moment. Her eyes met Silver’s. Silver lifted his other eyebrow.
“Hrmmmmm…” Fleetfoot slowly lowered herself back down and sighed. She didn’t look defeated, angry, or embarrassed. She looked like she was taking the words to heart…
But Dash was completely lost.
“Did I miss something here?” she asked as she looked towards her mentor. Silver shook his head.
“Nothing. Just something personal the two of us have discussed,” he confirmed while respecting Fleetfoot’s privacy. Dash glanced back at Fleet as she remained still in her spot.
“I… see,” Dash shrugged. “Oh…” She realized Silver had left the lobby before she had her little pseudo-heart attack. “You’re probably wondering why I’m in—”
“I was listening,” Silver cut her off. “And don’t try explaining it again, I can’t stand all the spiritual mumbo jumbo the divine sisters are always all about.”
“Fair enough,” Dash chuckled as she took a brief glance over the top of Silver. It looked like Storm had finally managed to separate her squad. She had no idea how it turned into a scuffle, other than the fact that Twister treated the initial accident as a mosh pit. She looked back at Silver, quickly analyzing him. She noticed all the ice bags on his body and was quick to show concern. “How are—”
“I’m fine,” Silver answer before she even asked, recognizing the way she was looking him over. Dash furrowed her brow.
“Can I finish a sentence befo—”
“No,” Silver cut her off again. Dash glared at him, but met a smirk that slowly curled on Silver’s lips. She couldn’t hold back a smile forming on her own.
“You’re an ass,” Dash shook her head.
“I know,” Silver answered proudly with a chuckle. “But really, Dash, you know me. I’m stiff as hell, but I’ll pull through.”
“Yeah I DO know,” she rolled her eyes. “You could have a broken wing and you’d still try to fly out there with us.”
“Good, now stop worrying abou—”
“No,” Dash cut him off with a very sly grin on her face. Silver scrunched his face and glared at her. Dash just lifted her brow while smiling smugly at him. “What? You can dish it, but ya can’t take it?” she whipped her mane around tauntingly. “I think I’m starting to get the better of y—” She was cut off as plastic bag filled with a mixture of water and melting snow smacked her in the face. “Ow!” She rubbed her nose before pouting at Silver. Silver was staring at her, perfectly calm as if nothing had happened… but he was missing an ice pack.
“What?” he asked smoothly.
“That was a cheap shot,” Dash stuck her tongue out at him.
“What was?” he asked, keeping up the blatantly false ignorance.
“Gee, I dunno, this?” Dash held up the ice bag. Silver blinked and glanced over his shoulder towards where the ice bag once sat.
“Fleetfoot!” Silver called over Dash. “Stop stealing my ice bags!” he yelled as he failed to stop a smile from forming.
“Leave me out of this!” Fleetfoot quickly retorted as Dash burst into chuckles.
“Alright, alright… enough…” Dash tossed the ice bag back over to Silver, who replaced it on his left wing. “Rest, like I am, we both need it.”
“Agreed…” Silver grunted as he laid his chin back down. “I could barely stay standing in that damn meeting. Once we got the initial stuff figured out, I got the hell out of there before I could fall flat on my face.”
Dash held her breath as she watched Silver cringe a little bit. Time and time again, he told her to not worry about him, but she couldn’t help it. She believed in his strength, toughness, and unbreakable will, but those things didn’t make him invincible.
To avoid blurting out her worry again, she decided to ask him something else.
“So… what’s the plan now? I mean… if you’re allowed to tell me,” Dash tipped her head back and forth, realizing she might be prying into the planning. Silver shook his head.
“Nothing secret about it. Spitfire is going to come right out and explain it to everypony once she gets all the snags ironed out,” he explained. One word stuck out to Dash. ‘Snag.’
“Snags?” Dash lifted an eyebrow.
“Spitfire’s determination is fueling her with a fiery passion, but she’s not letting it cloud her judgment. She ruled out a head on assault, but about halfway through our discussion, we realized there’s a major factor we haven’t accounted for,” Silver grunted. “The shield surrounding the fortress.”
“Oh…” Dash blinked. That was right. She hadn’t thought about that either and it was likely most of the Wonderbolts hadn’t during Spitfire’s motivational speech earlier.
The Shadowbolt fortress was heavily protected by a magic shield, one that had repeatedly repelled Wonderbolts and Renegades alike who had tried to fly near it while the Shadowbolts passed through it with ease. The desire to save Wave Chill was strong, but how in Equestria were they going to bypass that particular defense mechanism?
“Until we iron out that detail, I have no idea what we’re going to do,” Silver continued. “Because thus far, I haven’t seen any way we could possibly get through it. The moment we show up, they’re going to activate it, if it isn’t already up by default. Even if it isn’t up, if we sneak a small force inside, they would be easily caught and overwhelmed with the size of their force.”
“The shield… hmm…” Dash looked down and pondered for a moment. Silver perked up and watched her as she thought.
Penetrating the crystal magic… was it possible? The first thing that came to Dash’s mind was when she pierced through the tornado in Ponyville with a double Sonic Blastoff… but she quickly shook that possibility from her head. Sure it worked in Ponyville, but there were some key factors that made trying such a stunt here too risky. The first being… she punched through a tornado, which consisted of incredibly violent gusts. It wasn’t solid like the Shadowbolt shield had proved to be. The second… the tornado was created by a single crystal, a little larger than those the Shadowbolts carried. The Shadowbolt fortress was covered with crystal formations, some that were massive. For all she knew a large amount of them were powering the shield. She wasn’t about to challenge something that could easily be several times sturdier.
However, there was one thing she did remember from their recent encounters.
“Wait…” she turned to Silver. “What about their magic cannon?”
Silver blinked and stared for a moment, before tipping his head, puzzled.
“What about their magic cannon?” he asked while shaking his head. “I doubt we have anything that could match the power of that—”
“No, no, no,” Dash shook her head while waving a hoof out in front of her. “They’ve fired that thing at us twice… and we found interesting ways to survive it, but what happened when they did?”
“We freaked the hell out?” Silver was really having trouble picking up on what Dash was getting at.
“No, Silver, remember what happened to their fortress?” She tried to clue him in, but it didn’t work.
“I was too busy wondering how the hell we were all still alive…”
“Argh!” Dash smacked her head against the table cushion. “After the first time they fired… the fortress was so drained of its power that it couldn’t stay up in the sky without the Shadowbolts themselves pushing it from below. All the crystals were flickering like it could barely stay running. The glow of their shield was gone too. Now… I was down below in the engine room when they fired the second time… but they didn’t follow us, right? I heard we were chased by smaller flying machines… right?”
Silver nodded, listening carefully as she continued.
“So I think it’s safe to assume that when they fire the cannon… it drains the power of the fortress. I’d be willing to bet that the shield goes down as a result too,” Dash explained.
“Hmmm…” Silver narrowed his eyes and looked down as Dash brought this to his attention. That was not something any of them had thought of in the meeting, nor did it seem any of them had been paying attention like Dash had been.
This brought another point into the discussion… but at the same time… put another snag into it.
“Interesting… but…” Silver grunted as he looked back up at Dash. “That means we’d have to get them to fire that thing… and I don’t know how the hell we’d get that to happen. The compound is still under repairs.”
“Well…” Dash spoke up calmly. “That’s easy… we just have to make them fire it.”
“Dash, how exactly are we going to make them fire that cannon?” Silver furrowed his brow. At this point, Fleetfoot had turned to listen as well, equally curious to hear what Dash was saying.
“Uh…” Dash scratched her head, but it wasn’t in a way that seemed frantic, she was putting legitimate thought into it, which kept Silver curious towards what she might suggest. “We just have to give them something to shoot at!” she pointed at Silver. “Like… Like…” Dash looked away tapping her hoof on the table. “Like… hmmmmmmmmmmm, oh!” Dash turned back to him, a smirk on her face. “Like, say… something that they’d never expect… like an ancient black dragon!”
Silver stared blankly at her for several seconds… but when it finally hit him, his eyes widened considerably, followed by his jaw dropping. He suddenly shook his body with a painful grunt, all of the ice bags falling off of him. He slid off the table and stepped right in front of Dash.
“Can you walk?” Silver asked quickly. Dash pulled her head back slightly, surprised at the tone of urgency in his voice.
“Uh, yeah? I—”
“Come with me, NOW.”
---To Be Continued---
Art in this chapter done by Foxenawolf
Oh ho...? Dash has an idea! We cannot forget... that the Wonderbolts have something the Shadowbolts don't... something that they may be able to use greatly to their advantage 
And Soarin and Rapidfire... forced to work together for survival... this is going to be interesting indeed 
Sorry for the longer wait! But alas, it's holiday season, so im a little busy/preoccupied. Updates will probably be a little less frequent until after all the holidays are over (and that means like... maybe a few more days wait than usual) but once January first rolls around, any slowdown in the schedule will quickly go away.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! 
(note: if anyone is wondering, yes, matteo is missing his two crest feathers in the picture, something that both fox and i only realized recently after the pic had been finished xD She's going to be tweaking it in our next stream, so the pic may change early this week, but for now, enjoy 'bald' Matteo 
)
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Edit: OMG I ACTUALLY GOT FIRST COMMENT!!! **Dances happy dance**
GOOD!
...well shit.
GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!
Do it! Going, do it!
YOU BLOODY FOOL!!!
Don't care, he's less than nothing to me now.
...and most of the time people like that are the ones that lose.
What's that? Rapidfire's going to endure a slow, agonising death?
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Should've just snapped his neck. the others would have got you out.
Yeah, a well deserved ass kicking... from Blazetail and Flashwind.
...goddamn it Fleetfoot.
Well, things are sort of back to normal now.
Fleetfoot, just Calm down...
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...or a captured Falcon.
6677304 Only just... and if mlfw.com was working faster, I'd have beaten you to it,
6677308
Interesting using the Kobiashi Maru against thy enemy.
THE TEST
Yes, but do they still have the necessary things to recreate that dragon? Course... With Luna there, they may not need those giant crystals they used last time, and Silver's voice and that megaphone thing, yea... can recreate that roar no prob. Turn it back to a tick past 11. (or was it 10?)
OH MY GOD,IT'S 2:00 am HERE AND I'M SUPPOSED TO BE SLEEPING....Oh well,who cares,it's freaking PTH plus it's Saturday
ANYWAY
Amazing chapter,as always,but it seemed shorter.I know that it actually is not shorter but it ended so freaking fast XD.........haven't anything else to say so......can't wait for the next one
(plus the fluff with Fleet,I can feel it
)
Ps.Did you see the finale?If you didn't,I don't want to spoil anything but it was really cool...and some certain ponies made their cameo
So filler for a bit. At least Rapidfires Crystal is gone. Just jab him at a broken bone and that would stun him for a while.
6677357
DUN DUN DUUUUNNNNN
Great chapter! And the "ironic" line by Fleetfoot got a chuckle out of me. Also glad Soarin didn't kill Rapidfire. I mean, I don't like Rapidfire either, but I think if Soarin killed him when he's already down that'd make Soarin less of a "good hero" - maybe more of an anti-hero? I think it's the level of premeditation that makes the difference, like if Rapidfire had died on impact it wouldn't be as much of a big deal, but we clearly have Soarin ruminating over it. I like how it's handled.
"Bald" Matteo? Well, he looks like a bald eagle, so... ba-dum-tsch.
A-hem. Now that the puns are out of the way, I did notice a couple of typos.
Storm
glared
And a pair from the author's note, because once I start it's hard to turn off. Sorry.
Art
rolls
6677130 OMG PTH IS ON THE FRONT PAGE.I WANNA SCREAM
Hmm. . . what's Dashie up to now. . .?
Rapidfire was being extremely nice in this chapter. I mean, him helping Soarin? Made him look a little OOC. . .
But great, now you've got us waiting for more. If only you knew how torturous that is.
So Rapidfire accepted soarin's help hmm... Dash has an idea due to the tactic for the intiation black dragon hmm many questions will need to be answered but i doubt it and Dash and silver still get there moments of mentor and student which are funny so many question Dash wants them to fire a cannon at them while tricking them with an illusion? wonder how that will work....
I am starting to get more and more curious about how Wave's rescue will go, if they can handle the Shadowbolts or not
Like always, great chapter and I'll be waiting impatiently for the next
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Just you wait until I'm off....
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"oh ho hooo! Brilliant dash! pure genius! That's better than my plan of getting pinkie pie to co write this story with Calm....Know that I think about it story would be in disarray if that happend."
Well, this stallion is obviously an imposter. Can't even get the name right.
ever the tease with rapidfire calm :B
Going to give a proper comment when I reach my computer, but HOLY CRAP THIS WAS GOOD!
Wow, I was thinking of the training exercise even before they said this.
RAINDOW YOU SMART MOTHERBUCKER!
-.- im surprised simfire has not seen this side of dash yet :P
6677648
Foxtrot is the name of the squad that RD's in charge of.
That ancient black dragon idea might not actually work, especially if the Shadowbolts can possibly see right through it. Add to that, they'd also be expecting a move like that as well.
I finally finished reading this (after many many many interruptions) and I swear, the suspense is killing me!
In the prequels of this story and in the early chapters of it, I really wanted to see Rapidfire dead...Now, I just don't know.
Ohhhhh dis gonna be good!
6677432
My best friend has that role in our friend group, although I sometimes beat her to the punch. We're good examples of growing old, not growing up
Ok, coming out of the turkey and pie induced coma to comment. Rapidfire seems a little too nice....he's not the straight up asshat we've come to know and love. Either that or he does have a few logical brain cells functioning-and from the reflective pause, I have to wonder if he wants to confront his parents when he gets out of the caves. Something tells me that the living legends may have been incredible Wonderbolts, but could have been lacking in the parenting department.
Dash definitely has something up her sleeve. However, looking at what it took to get the dragon illusion fired up the first time, I do have to wonder how they hope to pull it off a second time. It's a stretch, but I almost think the Elements may finally get called into service.
Loved Foxtrot's and Storm's reactions to the magical tether. Star really is coming across as the big sister Dash never had, and I love it!
Oh man! that is brilliant! Black dragon, I can't wait.
Ok, now that I have sandwich in hand and am properly awake...
CALM YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD, I DIDN'T EXPECT THIS UNTIL TUESDAY!
SO! Onto what I noticed this chapter:
No clue what to make of Rapidfire. He seemed unusually nice, in that he didn't actively try to kill Soarin.
Priceless...
And that last line...
Couldn't help but think that... XD
Well, next chapter will probably be the Raid! Can hardly wait!
Lol when dash did that I thought she was suggesting using silver as the target
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6678237 You beat me to it for the last line.
Bloody ell mate..what's going on in your mind?
I really like where this is going. One of my biggest criticisms for these stories was that the villains (primarily Rapidfire) all felt a little one-dimensional. However, I'm getting the feeling that this may no longer may be the case.
Also, MOTHERF*****G DRAGONS, SON!!
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6678143
you and me both
As to Rapid Fire, I am reminded of the folktale of the Scorpion & the Crocodile. For some reason they both have to get across a river. However, there is a Lion on the other side, too tough for the Crocodile to fight. So, the Scorpion says "Carry me across. I need to get over there too & together we can beat the Lion" Crocodile says "You think I'm stupid? You're a Scorpion, you'll sting me" Scorpion says "You think I'm stupid? I know that if I sting you we'll both drown."
So, the Crocodile starts carrying him across the river. They get about 1/2 way & the Scorpion stings him. The Crocodile's last words are "Did you forget we'll both drown?" The Scorpion's last words are "Did you forget I'm a Scorpion?"
In short, Rapid Fire is going to turn on him. Bet on it.
I don't know how, but I read this as fast as reading a chapter with 1,254 words.
6677308 No, the captured Falcon needs to be the getaway vehicle.
6677788
OOOH! CRUD! Almost forgot!
dashie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw10119-tumblr_mgjxop9a8n1rriakmo1_500.gif
Notes for Rapidfire...
That pic is LOL!
That must be a big cave…
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Dis gon b good
So.. you decided to drop the line describing who edited the chapter? I'm actually wondering what edits was Lucky talking about under one of the latest blogs..
an?
Hypercorrected "Spitfire and me". finally i got to actually google that, been bugging me for months
Shouldn't it be just "Jealous?" since she kinda repeats the last word Fleetfoot said?
Now it's Soarin's work to make Rapidfire not spill the beans about the illusion to the rest of the Shadowbolts.
6679054 I am on my phone right now, but when I get home I'll link a video you just reminded me of.
Who said Dash couldn't be smart... That's the best plan I think I've ever heard... But how will they implement it... Making it look like a random attack or like it was summoned to help the wonderbolts specifically???
6678379 heh heh, whoops.
Well, it's cool that we were on the same page for that. 
6678722 There was a Star Trek episode that mentioned that same story. Soarin will just have to do what Captain Janeway did and sting first.
The problem w being the good guy is you have scruples. The logical thing for Soarin to do the second they get free is pick up a rock & bash Rapid Fire with it until one of them is dead. Will he do this? Hell no. Will Rapid Fire do this? Only if he is capable of lifting a rock. Will this surprise Soarin? Almost certainly.
The skunk doesn't change his stripes. This always seems to surprise people & I'm damned if I know why.
6678365 dat Shia LaBeouf
we need to be friends, your memes and photshop skills are too much