• Published 3rd Jun 2014
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Piercing the Heavens - Calm Wind



Sequel to Flying Sky-High. A lot has happened, but now Rainbow Dash finally has a chance to fulfill her dream and become a Wonderbolt. As the process begins, will her relationship with Soarin be a blessing? Or will it be a curse?

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Chapter 111: Reluctant Trust

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 111: Reluctant Trust


“Nothing? Nothing at all?” Spitfire asked with a sigh from behind her desk. Blazetail shook his head and shrugged.

“You’d have to ask one of the Shadowbolt Renegades about it, if they even know,” he huffed. “All of the Shadowbolts Descent pulled from their clutches have been with us for a long while now. They were all just as surprised by the fortress appearing and shield as we were, so I doubt they have any answers.”

“Hmmmm…” Spitfire hummed to herself as she reached her hooves up and rubbed her temples. She was so ready to put a plan into motion, only to run headfirst into a brick wall with the shield issue.

“From what I’ve seen,” Fire Streak spoke up opposite of Blazetail. “I doubt Descent would be willing to share anything he might know anyway… seeing as how he refuses to help at all…” he trailed off for a moment, looking towards the newly arrived and briefed Princess Luna who was sitting on Spitfire’s couch. “Your majesty… would you happen to have any thoughts on how we might possibly penetrate a magic shield that powerful?”

Luna looked down at the floor for a moment before slowly shaking her head.

“We’re afraid there is little advice we can offer here. We can only assume the shield is incredibly powerful. It repelled our own divine Alicorn magic, meaning there is no known force that can break through it, at least not easily,” Luna paused and blinked as she looked up. “Although…”

“Yes…?” Fire Streak waited as Blazetail, Flashwind, and Spitfire all turned to look at her as well as she furrowed her brow.

“The shield is generated by their crystals… meaning it is of the ‘false’ chaos magic that Discord mentioned,” she groaned. “And while Discord is unwilling to risk using his own chaos magic against it, we feel he would know better than anypony how to possibly break through…”

“Wonderful,” Fire Streak voiced his discontent as his ears folded back. As the others expressed similar discontent, Luna glanced up and around the ceiling as if looking for something.

“THOU CAN SHOW THYSELF NOW!” she yelled in the old Royal Canterlot Voice. The other four all flinched and stared at her curiously before also looking at the ceiling.

However, there was no response. Only silence. The four all looked back down at Luna, who blushed in embarrassment before covering her face sheepishly with a hoof.

“Pardon us,” she said quietly. “We assumed Discord was listening in as he does often, but… apparently he isn’t. That’s a first.”

All eyes went back to Spitfire as she exhaled loudly.

“Well… I’ve no clue where to go from here,” she admitted, a tone of disappointment slowly making its way into her voice. “I’m open to any suggestions. We know how we’re going to find it, but if we can’t get that damn shield figured out…” She paused, gritting her teeth in frustration. She was so dead set and filled with determination, but she was ignorant of the facts. Now, after how much she had riled up and rallied the Wonderbolts, was she going to have to come right back out and kill their hopes? Was she… going to have to let go of Wave?

BAM.

Spitfire looked towards the door.

“What the…?”


“Whoa!” Dash yelped as Silver yanked her into Spitfire’s office. He had been pulling her along rather roughly since they left the infirmary. Apparently he was incredibly eager to relay her idea to Spitfire.

Dash looked up as they entered, and her pupils shrank as she found Spitfire, Fire Streak, Blazetail, Flashwind, and Princess Luna all staring at her. Luckily, all attention was quickly diverted to Silver as he spoke.

“Are we still talking about the shield?” Silver asked Fire Streak as he pulled Dash right up to Spitfire’s desk.

“Ye—”

“Good,” Silver cut him off as he smiled.

“Silver?” Spitfire tipped her head curiously. “And… Rainbow Dash? What’s this all about?” she asked Silver. Silver finally let go of Dash’s arm and pointed to her with a smirk.

“Somepony here has been paying closer attention than all of us. We may yet have a way to get past that shield.”

All of their faces lit up, particularly Spitfire’s as Silver turned to look at Dash.

“Tell them what you told me,” he encouraged.

Dash gulped. She was put on the spot rather abruptly. Suddenly, she was proposing a plan, or at least an idea for a major Wonderbolt operation?

Don’t panic, just calm down.

Dash looked around at all of them, they all looked eager to hear what she had to say. Silver had already shown his recognition of her little scheme, so there was no reason for her to be worried. In fact, the way Spitfire was looking at her, a smile full of curiosity and hope, also encouraged Dash to share. After all, the main purpose of all of this was to save Wave Chill.

“Uh… right…” Dash swallowed again before stepping up to Spitfire’s desk, gingerly placing herself right beside Blazetail, whose presence was still a bit overwhelming to her. “So… the… uh…” Dash’s eyes were darting between Spitfire and Blazetail. The two lifted an eyebrow as she continued to sputter.

Dash flinched as Silver cleared his throat loudly behind her. She turned and looked over her shoulder at him. He held a hoof out and rotated it while giving her a stern expression. She turned back, took a deep breath and focused towards Spitfire.

“The magic cannon. If we want to get through the shield, the key is the cannon firing,” Dash said straightforwardly.

“Come again?” Flashwind was the only one to speak up, stepping beside her husband as the rest simply stared, confused. Dash was locked on course, and began explaining.

“When they first fired that massive cannon at us, it was blocked by both Soarin and Princess Luna working together. Right after that happened, I saw the fortress begin to teeter and fall. Its crystal formations were flickering, and the faint glow of the surrounding shield was gone. The cannon must drain its power or leave it with very little in reserve, considering the Shadowbolts had to physically push it below with nearly every member to keep it from falling,” Dash paused and looked about to see if they were following.

“Actually…” Fire Streak perked up. “I recall seeing that too, but I didn’t put that together.”

All eyes shifted to Blazetail and Flashwind. Flashwind shook her head.

“We were out there, but we were all shot down by the fortress,” she explained.

“The only thing I remember was how much pain I was in,” Blazetail grunted. “But we can’t possibly be certain after seeing it only once…”

“But,” Dash turned and winked at him, her nerves already calming since she was on a roll with the explanation. “They fired it at us again, right? When we were taking off?”

“They did…” Blazetail furrowed his brow. “But…”

“We didn’t get to see what happened after?” Silver chimed in. He walked up beside Dash. “I think it’s safe to assume the place was drained again through because they didn’t follow us. Instead, they sent those two weird airships after us that Bomber, Val, and I buried in an avalanche.”

“Hmmmmmm…” Spitfire sat back in her desk chair and rubbed her chin. “So… if we can’t get through the shield… then we have to make them drop it. Thing is, how in the world are we going to coerce them to fire that cannon? Hell, they took down the entire Renegade force with their smaller cannons alone.”

“Heh… Dash,” Silver nudged her. “Go on.”

Spitfire looked up and leaned back forward, focusing on Dash again the moment Silver suggested she had more to tell. Dash quickly continued.

“We just need to give them something to fire at. You know, something that will threaten them,” she explained with a smile, but in return she received looks that lacked confidence.

“But, Miss Dash…” Fire Streak spoke up. “What could we possibly threaten them with? We don’t have any upper hoof in terms of power. They hold all the cards in strength.”

“Who said we had to use power?” Dash smirked. “We have deception! We can spook them right into using it!”

“Deception?” Fire Streak continued to question her. Dash nodded eagerly.

“I say we throw them a curveball! Let’s take a page right out of the recruit training book… and use the black dragon illusion!”

Dash looked around.

Not a single expression changed. Her eyes darted back and forth and if the silence had lasted a moment longer she was certain she’d start to sweat. But then her eyes landed on Spitfire, who was looking at her carefully… and a moment later, her eyes lit up.

“Hmmmmm…” Spitfire turned her swivel chair around and faced the armored shutter of her window. “Hmmmmmmmmmmm…”

Dash bit her lower lip, waiting impatiently for a response. Was this really a good plan like Silver’s reaction suggested? Or was she in over her head and sounded like a moron?

“Hmmmmmm!” Spitfire suddenly hummed again, but in a much different tone. It was a tone of satisfaction or realization. “Recruit Captain Rainbow Dash…” She turned back around in her chair, resting her elbows on the desk and holding her hooves up in front of her mouth while glaring. Dash flinched and froze up, holding her breath as Spitfire’s eye landed on her, but she loosened up as Spitfire lowered her hooves from her mouth to reveal a very wide, somewhat sinister smile. “That is incredibly clever!”

Dash released all the air from her lungs in a loud breath as Spitfire chuckled to herself.

“I never, ever would have thought of that!” she added as she leaned to one side and tapped her hoof on her desk.

“Wait,” Blazetail held up a hoof. “You mean… The Test? That old crisis simulation?”

Dash’s ears began to tip downward. Blazetail clearly didn’t seem convinced. She glanced over at Fire Streak, who was scratching his head.

“That seems like quite the gamble. I see where you’re coming from, but how will we set it up? How will we conceal the generated image as it’s generated? How can we be sure it fools them?” he kept questioning. Fire Streak was also shaking his head, suggesting he wasn’t convinced either. Dash felt it was going so well too.

“No, no, no, guys!” Spitfire drew all their attention back to her while chuckling. “Of course it won’t work!”

Dash’s ears nearly slapped the sides of her head, but the feeling of failure was incredibly short lived.

“At least…” Spitfire continued. “Not by itself!” She added with a wink.

“Uh…” Flashwind was about to speak, but Spitfire pushed herself up from her chair.

“Don’t you see what Dash is getting at here? It’s genius!” She rubbed her hooves together. “We were able to take down a few of them in a fight… but in an all-out attack, us against them, I have no doubt they would overpower us. An assault is out of the question, BUT,” She pointed at Dash. “I think there is something we’ve all overlooked here. The Wonderbolts have something the Shadowbolts don’t! We have functions that we train outside of military!” Her excitement was clearly growing. “I think it’s about time we called upon our other skills and put them to good use! Now, let’s see…” She sat back in her chair, crossed her arms, and looked down for a moment as if going through options in her head.

Dash turned as she heard Silver chuckling beside her.

“Now look what you’ve gone and done.” He glanced at her. “You’ve gone and gotten the captain all happy again.”

“I’m so very sorry,” Dash said while sticking her tongue out at him.

“I’ve got it!” Spitfire pounded a hoof on her desk while leaning back forward again. Fire Streak, Blazetail, Flashwind, and Luna had all been completely dominated out of the conversation until Spitfire had finished. She hopped up onto her desk and dropped herself down right between Silver and Dash. “The first phase of the operation will be about confusing them. We need a good distraction to buy time for the image generators to be put in place. I’ll have Rivet take a quick look at them to make sure they survived the crash intact, but assuming they are all still functional, we’ll have the Renegades and the recruit squads help move them and our unicorn staff members into place on a mountain close to their fortress. And to make sure they are undeterred…” She clapped her front hooves together. “We’ll put on the biggest show we’ve ever done with the Shadowbolts as our lucky audience! We’ll use every trick and stunt we have in the book, our first performance with every elite squad at once! It will be spectacular and throw them for a loop as we purposely avoid conflict and focus on the spectacle. Hell, if they come after us, they’ll get caught in all the effects.”

Fires Streak was nodding, finding interest in this crazy, but interesting plan, but Blazetail and Flashwind looked a little worried about it. Either way, Spitfire didn’t stop there.

“This is perfect, not only will we make a statement with this operation, it will also prove that we can mess with them just as much as they’ve messed with us.” She turned and looked towards Silver. “Once everything is in place, it will be all about selling the act to them. We must make everything seem as real as possible or else I don’t see them even considering firing the cannon. So for starters we’ll have to kick up a lot of smoke and clouds to completely conceal their view of the giant image flickering on. Then, after that, we have to make them believe it. Project the roar sounds as if it’s approaching from far away, have some of our strongest ponies create tremors in the mountain sides to simulate a massive beast landing… then, of course, fake a few deaths to make it seem—”

“WHOA! Whoa…” Blazetail cut in, holding a hoof out as he stepped up to her. “Slow down. We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves, aren’t we? I’m following what you’re proposing, but…” He shook his head. “Don’t you think this is incredibly rash? Especially considering it’s to rescue one pony. There are just too many variables to consider, too many things that could go wrong.”

Spitfire flattened her brow and gave Blazetail a stern look.

“Sir,” Silver cut in before either of them could argue. They both stepped back as Silver got between them and focused on Blazetail. “I think you should have a little faith in your former organization.”

“Silver, I understand you are good friends with Wave Chill as well, but don’t you think we’re going a little overboard with this? The loopholes, the margin of error, it’s too risky.”

“Not if we pull it off correctly,” Silver quickly shot back with a smirk. “I’m sure my student here can vouch for how convincing we made it during her training. In general, with the extended time of peace, we’ve all had a lot of time to work on our show performances, and believe me… we’ve all gotten a lot better at it. We have new effects involved, including faking our own deaths within the fire breath, leaving false burnt bodies. We had the recruits running and screaming for their lives,” he finished while glancing at Dash, who snorted and pouted at him.

“We’ll make it as real as possible,” Spitfire started up again as Blazetail decided to let her finish. “We’ll do everything involved with The Test, but we’ll take it a step further with your help Blazetail.”

Blazetail’s ears perked up.

“With the Renegades amongst our numbers, we can add even more convincing effects, such as collateral damage. Blow away a few mountain tops with elemental chain reactions to fake the ‘might’ of the dragon and then…” she looked over at Luna. “We can put Luna at the main controls of the image! I’m sure with her divine alicorn magic, she can make the dragon image look and move more realistically than ever before! You see, we’re not just using The Test… we’re using The Test and EVERYTHING else at our disposal!”

Fire streak, Silver, Dash, Luna, and even the old captains looked more convinced now. This was not a shot in the dark, Spitfire was covering every detail.

“You know…” Flashwind chimed in while placing a hoof on her husband’s back. “I think this has a good chance of working. Think about it honey,” she addressed Blazetail specifically. “The Shadowbolts have always been very quick to rely on their personal shields when faced with something powerful. If the Wonderbolts fake their deaths, they’ll activate their magic to defend themselves from the flames… they won’t be able to tell if it’s fake or not!”

“Yes!” Spitfire trotted up to Blazetail. “And then after giving them a good scare and causing a lot of blatantly unnecessary damage around us, we can have the dragon turn towards the fortress! I don’t know who’s in charge of that cannon of theirs, but all we have to do is convince them they need the firepower!”

“So…” Silver shifted towards Spitfire again. “Assuming we get them to fire, what’s next?”

“What’s next, what’s next…” Spitfire stepped away from him and started pacing back and forth. “Yes… yes!” She stopped and turned, her hooves skidding on the floor as she faced them. “We’ll all pop up from our ‘deaths’ and engage them in a Wonderbolt-Renegade joint attack, provoking them to send out their entire force.”

“What?” Blazetail furrowed his brow.

“Let me finish, please,” Spitfire pointed sharply at him before he could question her. “The recruits will be charged with getting all of our equipment and staff members back to the compound immediately with a small force of Renegades to lead them through the blizzard. There will also be a priority order to retreat if any injuries are sustained. This is an operation to save one of our best… we are NOT losing anypony or else it will be an empty victory. However… the reason for this ‘mock’ assault, is to clear out their compound and buy time for a small force of Wonderbolts to slip into their fortress and spring Wave Chill.”

“Again…” Blazetail sighed. “I feel that’s still risky, especially if you want nopony to get taken out. I doubt they will leave their interior completely uncovered.”

“Hey, hey…” Spitfire stepped towards him with a smirk. “Have you forgotten? We have ten genuine Shadowbolt uniforms sitting in our ‘detention infirmary’ that we can make use of! It will be a covert operation.”

“But... won’t they recognize your faces? There’s only so many features the masks can hide. What about fur and mane colors?” Blazetail continued to try and cover every base.

“We may be able to help with that,” Luna suddenly broke her silence, drawing all eyes to her. “We know of a spell that can temporarily change fur and mane colors. We have used it often for Nightmare Night. However, we are afraid we cannot alter facial features.”

“Meaning,” Flashwind took over. “You probably won’t be able to send in any of your highest elites, since the Shadowbolts have files on most of you, especially the top tiers. Unless of course, you can really sell Shadowbolt behavior, which would take some really good acting.”

“So we’ll have to rely on lesser known Wonderbolts, possibly recruits even, Or…” Spitfire rubbed her chin as Silver cleared his throat.

“For the behavior thing, I bet Starry Skies would be a good informant for that,” he suggested. “Descent won’t let her go, and she definitely wouldn’t get in without being recognized, but she seems to radiate their typical mannerisms. Which just leaves who we’re going to send…” Silver glanced back at Dash, scrunching his face. From Dash’s perspective, that screamed that Silver rather not have her risked in such a mission, but at the same time, he probably felt she could be useful.

“Oh… OH!” Spitfire perked up and turned to Silver. “I’ll leave that up to the elite squad I’m sending in. They can choose who comes along.”

“Wait…” Silver lifted an eyebrow. “Didn’t we just agree the elites would be a bad idea?”

“Not unless they can really sell it…” Spitfire poked Silver in the chest and smirked. “This way we can send in four elites to lead the infiltration, assuring an effective extraction.”

“Who?” Silver questioned while switching which eyebrow he had lifted. Spitfire chuckled and shook her head.

“Silver, Silver, Silver. Have you forgotten?” One of our top tier elite squads…” She turned and looked over her shoulder directly at Fire Streak. “Is full of pretty damn good actors!”


“Ow! Watch the wing!” Rapidfire grunted.

“Sorry, I’m just trying to keep us up,” Soarin grumbled in response as he shifted his shoulder to not press on Rapidfire’s wing.

The two had been moving along the cave floor, walking the length of it while realizing just how large of a cave they had fallen into. The light from Soarin’s sputtering horn showed them the immediate area in front of them, but they couldn’t see the end of it, and could just barely see the cave ceiling overhead. Although, neither of them were really sure if the cave was really long… or it was just taking them a long time to find anything due to how slowly they were moving.

They had quickly learned that they needed to support each other just to walk semi-normally. Both of them had at least one limb that was not taking pressure without intense shocks of pain. And to make matters worse, both of them found their wings to be inoperable. They could move them a little, but it wasn’t without difficulty, suggesting that it was a combination of back, shoulder, and wing muscle pain or strain.

So they were forced to walk… reluctantly and awkwardly, while leaning against one another. Neither of them were the slightest bit amused and their slow movement was hindered further by small verbal scuffles that continuously broke out, mostly triggered by Rapidfire complaining. Speaking of…

Soarin shifted in order to avoid tripping on a rock as they moved, but he forgot to warn Rapidfire.

“Ah! What are you doing?!” Rapidfire snarled as he nearly toppled over. Soarin was about to apologize again, but instead he stopped dead in his tracks, forcing Rapidfire to stop too.

“Will you QUIT whining already?!” Soarin snapped at him. “We’re both hurt, walking is difficult, and I can’t move in a perfectly straight line for you, your MAJESTY,” Soarin said sarcastically. “You’ve been annoying the hell out of me since we started looking around!”

“Then you should have left me in that pile of rocks!” Rapidfire shot back. “I don’t even know why I agreed to help you!”

“Hey, it’s not like I asked!” Soarin growled as the blue and yellow lights flowing from his eyes grey brighter. “I only dug you out. Face it, Rapidfire, you chose to help, hell if I know why!”

“Fuck this, I can do it myself!” Rapidfire huffed as he looked away. Soarin immediately removed his support from Rapidfire, bracing himself so he wouldn’t fall. “AH!” Rapidfire took one step, yelped and collapsed in a heap on the floor.

“Well… go on… do it yourself…” Soarin looked at him sternly as Rapidfire struggled on the ground. He tried to push himself up, but no matter how many times he tried, he could barely lift a few inches before falling again.

“Son of a…” Rapidfire growled while sighing in defeat.

“Look…” Soarin lowered himself down and grabbed a chunk of Rapidfire’s torn suit, pulling him up a little by the neck so Soarin could look him in the eye. “I don’t know what you’re trying to escape for… but I have my reasons and you have yours… so I’ll try saying this again.” He pulled Rapidfire closer, their noses almost brushing together as Soarin growled in his face. “Shut up… and work with me… or neither of us are getting out of here… alright?”

They just scowled at each other. Several moments went by before Soarin released Rapidfire’s suit and let his chest fall back to the floor. Soarin slowly pushed himself back up, clearly struggling, but standing nonetheless. He looked down at Rapidfire again.

“We’re not friends, and I’m not trying to make friends. If you’re worried I’ll think you owe me or something after this… Don’t. I’d rather drown myself in a septic tank than look to you for a favor. I just want to get out of here, and I know you do too. So cut the wailing…” Soarin reached a hoof towards him for the second time. “And get up. Let’s just get the hell out of here.”

Rapidfire glared up at Soarin, saying absolutely nothing for several seconds before reaching and accepting Soarin’s hoof… again. Soarin hoisted him up and the two supported each other again. Rapidfire started quietly grumbling to himself. Soarin couldn’t make out anything he was saying, but he recognized it.

Whether he liked it or not, Soarin did spend several years with Rapidfire as a squadmate, and was familiar with a lot of his mannerisms. Grumbling to himself under his breath was something Rapidfire tended to do when he agreed with somepony or had no argument against somepony… and he really hated that he did.

While it wasn’t an acknowledgement of cooperation, it was a sign that Rapidfire wanted to get out and that he knew he couldn’t do it without Soarin.

“Whoa!” Soarin came to another abrupt halt, but this time made sure to reach up and stop Rapidfire as well.

“Ah…” Rapidfire released a small, painful grunt as they came to a stop. He looked up and blinked. “Oh…” he reacted as he and Soarin looked on.

There was a sudden dip in the cave floor before them. It wasn’t steep, but the surface was smooth. And with a nearby stream of water running beside it, a few stray streams had leaked onto it, making it appear slippery as well.

“Shoot…” Soarin voiced as he shined his light back and forth. The sudden dip extended in both directions. “Looks like we have no choice.”

“It looks slippery…” Rapidfire commented flatly.

“Let’s take this slowly…” Soarin suggested as he touched a hoof to the surface. “Keep our weight against each other and lean back a little, hopefully our hooves will hold against the rocks.”

Rapidfire nodded as they slowly shifted their hooves onto the angled surface. The angles surface was smooth, probably from water running over it for who knew how long. Only little divots were here and there, but they could all be seen within the light from the horn.

“Careful…” Soarin guided them as they slowly positioned themselves as he suggested. Their hooves were bent to accommodate the angle, and it didn’t feel very good. Soarin felt tugs of pain in his nerves up his back left leg as he tried to stabilize himself, but he held firm. “Small movements, nothing long.”

The two slowly slid their hooves in sync, both hoping to see something that resembled the ‘bottom’ of the decline, and hoping their path didn’t lead to a long fall. They managed for a few shifts, but then…

“Ah!” Soarin yelped as one of his front hooves slipped forward. Rapidfire grunted as Soarin’s shift caused him to shift as well. Soarin quickly tensed his body and forced his hooves down, hooking one of them in front of Rapidfires’. Their hooves slid along the angled floor, but came to a stop before they could slip a full yard. “Hooooo…” Soarin exhaled as the two regained their position.

“Come on, butterhooves, you’re gonna get us both killed,” Rapidfire growled.

“Alright, alright…” Soarin sighed. “Let’s just… keep going slowly.”

They moved inches at a time, bracing themselves against each other and holding their hooves firm on the ground, not even picking them up off the tilted surface. Soarin kept his light shining down. It was a difficult task, since his concentration was split between balancing and lighting the way, making him rely on Rapidfire to help hold him steady.

Rapidfire wasn’t going to get out without him, but that was equally true the other way around. Soarin had more control over his movement and wasn’t quite as beat up, but his head was being split in two with the magic flow imbalanced. He hoped the damage done to the horn would be reversible, because this would be hell to live with.

“Watch it!” Rapidfire suddenly called out. Soarin blinked and scrunched his face, ready to tell Rapidfire to shut up, but then he looked down and saw that his hoof was one small move away from hitting a crack in the stone floor. They both paused and moved together to make sure Soarin’s hoof didn’t catch and trip them both.

Rapidfire was cooperating, which, was a first.

But was it really?

While Rapidfire wasn’t the easiest to work with, he did follow his orders and did what was required of him as a member of the lead squad… to a certain degree. He did earn his spot in the ranks after all. Soarin was sure that Rapidfire hadn’t forgotten what it was like to be a Wonderbolt and work as a team. It hadn’t even been a year since he had turned his back on them to join the Shadowbolts.

Nostalgia… wasn’t the right word to describe how it felt to work together with a former teammate here. Nostalgia implied it was good to remember. Soarin was remembering times he’d like to forget, but Rapidfire probably was too. He was just glad Rapidfire had enough common sense here to understand their situation and act accordingly.

“Ah!” Rapidfire suddenly yelped as both of his front hooves suddenly skidded over a wet spot. Soarin quickly shifted and tried to grab him, but it caused him to slip as well.

“Damn!” Soarin painfully forced his body to turn as he grabbed onto Rapidfire’s arm and tried to shift his weight. The light from the horn crackled and popped as Soarin lost concentration, blinking on and off as they struggled to regain their control. They skidded a few yards, stopped, and then skidded a few more when Rapidfire tried to turn again.

“My… leg!” Rapidfire suddenly groaned painfully. Soarin looked down to see Rapidfire’s bad leg taking most of his weight. “I… can’t…” He gritted his teeth as sweat began running down his brow, running over his wounds and black eye. “Ahhh…!”

“Don’t let up! Fight it!” Soarin encouraged as he tried to reposition himself, but his own body was also rebelling, keeping him from making and quick movements. Rapidfire began to skid a little further, pulling Soarin along with him as he tried to hold on.

“I… AH!” Rapidfire’s leg buckled and he fell flat against the slick surface.

“I’ve got—OW!” Soarin yelped as his concentration snapped. A sharp wave of intense pressure shot through his head as the horn released a bright flash of both yellow and blue light before he found all of his strength fading for a moment, leaving him dizzy. His light went out and he felt himself falling forward.

“Gah!” Rapidfire yelped as Soarin fell beside him, twisting Rapidfire’s arm painfully as his weight came down on it. Soarin’s chin hit the stone surface and the two began to tumble. After another shock and a flash of bright light, Soarin’s eyes widened and his vision was going in circles. He felt his strength return and he pressed a hoof to the surface, trying to stop his descent as his body slid, rubbing painfully up against the rocky surface, which wasn’t helping the pain from all his cuts and bruises. As he began to slow down, he felt a hoof reach out and grab his leg. He looked down to see Rapidfire holding on, breathing heavily and holding a hoof over his heart while panting and wheezing.

Perfect timing…

During a moment that required very careful balance and movements, Soarin had a magic issue and Rapidfire had a withdrawal shock. Now they were sliding into the unknown despite all of Soarin’s efforts to stop them.

Soarin glanced over his shoulder to try and see where they were going, and it was a good thing he did because they were nearing the end of the decline. Unfortunately… about a yard after it evened out was a drop off, and Soarin wasn’t about to assume it wasn’t a deep drop.

Soarin focused forward and clawed his hooves at the ground, trying to create any friction he could, but their momentum was too great. And with Rapidfire’s weight pulling him down too, there was little chance of them stopping.

Soarin felt the ground even out, but as they slowed, his hooves ran into Rapidfire’s shoulder, pushing him right up to the edge. With Rapidfire still hanging on tightly to his hoof… Soarin knew what was coming next.

“AHHH!” Rapidfire yelled out as he felt his body slide right off solid ground. He reached his other arm up and hooked his other hoof around Soarin’s leg as well as he swung down against the cliff. Soarin quickly focused forward and let out a roar as he reached his arms up and slammed them down to the floor as hard as he could just as Rapidfire started pulling him off the edge as well. Soarin’s hooves jammed against the stone hard and made loud squeaking noises as they roughly skidded.

“GRH!” Soarin grunted as his hooves locked, his body swinging down and smacking against the cliff side. With that last ditch effort, Soarin had brought them to a halt, but now he was hanging onto the ledge above him for dear life with his head being overwhelmed by his magic, and an extra weight dangling beneath him in the form of Rapidfire latched onto his back hoof. “Rapidfire! Can you see the bottom!?” Soarin called out, tipping his head back to shine the light downward as the muscles in his arms, shoulders, and chest tensed and twitched, all burning as he struggled to hold on.

“No! There’s nothing!” Rapidfire called out as his hooves kept slipping off of Soarin’s leg little by little.

What were they to do? If Soarin let go, there was no way of knowing how far they would fall… Their wings were also not working. Soarin doubted he could even open his wings enough to manage a glide and he was certain Rapidfire’s were in no better condition. A fall could be fatal, they couldn’t afford to take that chance. But as it stood, Soarin did not have the strength to pull them back up. His body was already pushing its limits in his weakened state. There was only one option.

“Rapidfire! I’ll hold on! You have to climb up my back! I can’t pull us both up!” Soarin called down.

“My body… isn’t… AH… I can’t! It won’t listen to me!” Rapidfire painfully yelled out as his hooves continued to shake and quiver against Soarin’s leg.

“Yes you can!” Soarin encouraged. “Do it, or we’ll both fall!”

Soarin said nothing else. He put all of his focus into holding on, the horn flickering out and plunging them into darkness. A moment later, Soarin felt Rapidfire’s hooves move. He was going for it.

“Rgggghhhh!” Rapidfire grunted and groaned as he slowly pulled his way up.

“Keep… going!” Soarin yelled as he felt his hooves slip little by little, but not enough to lose his grip. Rapidfire made it to his back, and started reaching for his shoulders, but then…

His hoof slipped.

“AH!” Rapidfire yelped as he fell back down, instinctively grabbing onto Soarin’s back legs again… and the sudden force caused Soarin’s hooves to rip free from the ledge.

Soarin completely lost his grip.

They fell.

Soarin and Rapidfire both yelled out desperately as they plummeted, but the fall wasn’t clean. They began bouncing off rock formations that were jutting out from the cliff wall. Soarin tried to create light, but every painful bounce broke his focus, causing only a brief flash of bright sparks to shoot from the horn. Soarin felt his body go numb as he and Rapidfire continued to have their fall broken, only to fall again. After hitting a sixth surface, Soarin forced his magic to cooperate, emitting a bright sputtering light… that finally showed him where the bottom was, but only a moment before impact…

And Soarin was falling headfirst… or more specifically… horn first towards the floor…

Then they hit.


Rainbow Dash kept pace behind Silver and Fire Streak as they followed Princess Luna and a VERY excited Spitfire out of Spitfire’s office and towards the stairs.

She turned to Silver, but the moment she opened her mouth to speak… her eyes widened and she froze.

Silver and Fire Streak both took two more steps before noticing Dash’s sudden halt. They turned around to face her, looks of worry quickly covering their faces.

“Dash…?” Silver blinked.

“Miss Dash… is something wrong? You’re…” Fire Streak looked her up and down. “You’re sweating?”

She was. Dash’s body had locked in place. She couldn’t move her limbs, wings, or even her neck. She felt completely stiff, her body shivering as beads of sweat formed almost instantaneously and began running down her face.

Her chest felt tight as her heartbeat suddenly sped up little by little followed by a sharp pain in her head and chest that was so intense, the shock forced her stiff body to crumple to the floor.

“AAHHH!!” she cried out as she fell onto her side roughly and clutched her chest. Luna and Spitfire both turned around quickly, eyes widening as they saw Silver and Fire Streak standing over Dash.

“What the—?!” Spitfire was cut off as Luna pushed her aside.

“NO!” Luna yelled as she galloped up to Rainbow Dash. Fire Streak moved aside to let Luna through, but Silver remained in place. When Luna tried to push him, he pushed back, refusing to leave Dash as he looked her over.

“Rainbow Dash!” Silver yelled as he frantically looked her over, but he was quickly surrounded by a dark blue glow as Luna forced him aside with her magic and crouched down.

“Rainbow Dash, what is it?!” she pleaded as Dash continued to grunt and groan in pain, yelping and shouting as he heart felt like it was going to tear out of her chest. “What’s wrong with Soarin?!” Luna desperately called to her.

“Soarin!” Dash yelled out as she rolled over onto her other side. Luna was about move around her, but… “Dammit Soarin! What the hell are you doing?! FIGHT IT, YOU IDIOT!” Dash yelled out, causing Luna to step back in surprise. “RGH! COME ON! GET UP, SOARIN!” Dash kept yelling as her spectators looked on with utter confusion.


“WHY?!” the stallion’s voice boomed throughout Soarin’s head. “WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO RESIST?!”

Soarin slowly opened his eyes to see the large blue silhouette of the stallion’s face directly above him.

“LET GO! LET THE POWER FILL YOU! GIVE YOURSELF UP OR THE PAIN WILL ONLY CONTINUE!”

“NO!” Soarin yelled out as he clasped his hooves over his head and growled. “I… REFUSE!”

“EVEN NOW, YOU RESIST… THE HORN IS WEAKENED FURTHER AND YOU STILL RESIST!”

“SCREW THE DAMN HORN!” Soarin glared up as his body remained flat on the ground. “WHO CARES ABOUT THAT DAMN ARTIFACT? I’M… AH… NOT… LETTING… YOU…AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!” Soarin threw his hooves back over his head.

“YOU ARE PERSISTANT AND ANNOYING, BUT EVERY WILL CAN EVENTUALLY BE BROKEN!”

“LIKE HELL!” Soarin remained defiant. “I… RRRGHHH!!!!”

“Soarin!” A new voice called out. It wasn’t the voice of the mare. “Dammit Soarin! What the hell are you doing?! FIGHT IT, YOU IDIOT!” the voice echoed.

Soarin’s eyes widened. That voice… Rainbow Dash?!

“WHAT IS THAT AWFUL CATERWAULING?!” The stallion asked in disgust. “WHAT?!”

The stallion’s image began to back away a little. Soarin looked up to see… a faint image standing in front of him. He shook his head out, trying to focus, but the image wasn’t clear, and a little translucent… however, it’s body and shape was that of a pony… a pegasus… a mare… and it was a shape he recognized easily. The mane style, the toned body, and the mix of vibrant colors… there was no mistaking it. The image slowly became clearer.

“Rainbow Dash?!” Soarin couldn’t believe his eyes. Was she really there?

“ARGH! NO!” the stallion’s head backed away further. “AWAY WITH YOU! AWAY!” he yelled at the image, but it remained.

“You just don’t get it do you?” The voice of the yellow mare suddenly came from behind Soarin. Soarin glanced to his left to see the image of the mare walk slowly and stand beside the flickering image of Dash. “You were so sure that the horn was your only obstacle in getting free. It has done its job, and even damaged it holds you back to a certain degree… but you continue to underestimate the power of Soarin’s will… and continue to overlook other precautions I have taken.” The mare looked down at Soarin. “The horn has been weakened further… unlocking a large portion of your power, but it still isn’t enough to break Soarin’s will… or the will of the one who loves him.”

“RGH!” the image of Dash growled. “COME ON!”

“NO!” the stallion growled, hissing at the image.

“Not to mention…” the yellow mare giggled. “She was the initial safeguard that held you until we could place the horn… I’m sure you remember that. The weakened state of the horn has forced her spirit into action… yet another obstacle in your way.”

“GRAAAAH!!!!” The blue stallion shrank further away.

“GET UP, SOARIN!” the image of Dash yelled.

“You heard the lady!” the mare yelled down to Soarin as she stepped up in front of him and her image began to glow brightly. “I’ll keep him busy! Take back control!”

Soarin watched as the mare unleashed a large aura of yellow light that mingled and clashed roughly with the aura of blue surrounding them.

Soarin forced himself to his hooves and concentrated with all his might…

“I’m up, Dash! I’m… UP!”


“GAH! HAAAAA! RRRRGHHHH!!!” Soarin’s eyes shot open, the horn glowing intensely with a swirling aura of blue and yellow as the same colors shifted between his eyes. He was looking directly at Rapidfire, who had pushed himself as far away from Soarin as possible, up against a wall in fear as the chain reaction from Soarin’s horn intensified.

The horn had been chipped further, now with more cracks and several new pieces missing. It felt like he was completely losing control.

But he didn’t forget the words of encouragement, not just from the mare in his head, but from the image of Rainbow Dash… the presence of which made him feel like Dash was actually right there with him.

“GRH!!! AAAAHHH!!!” Soarin rolled onto his stomach and pressed his chin to the floor as he fought to concentrate. The blue and yellow auras splashed and crashed together around the horn as if they were fighting. He had to regain control, he had to get them to stop.

“STOP IT!” Soarin yelled as he forced his body to stand up, all traces of pain in his body being overwhelmed by the intense mental strain. The auras began to splinter and sputter, firing small discharges of magic about, causing tiny POPS and BANGS as they hit the surrounding terrain. “I SAID…” Soarin reared back, holding his hooves up in the air. “STOP IT!” he yelled out as he thrust his body down, slamming his hooves to the floor while opening his eyes wide, holding his breath and forcing the magic flow to listen to him.

The two auras were suddenly forced into each other, they combined, creating a bright green light that rose from the horn like a blazing torch. The auras from his eyes turned green as well. Soarin continued to gasp and pant as the magic all mashed together.

“Ah… AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Soarin threw his head back and the magic discharged, and sending large beams of green magic outward in all directions that split into separate blue and yellow beams scattering everywhere.

“WHOA!” Rapidfire willingly tipped over and covered his head with his hooves as the powerful magic blasts shot around out of control, exploding violently against the cave walls and floor, even high up on the ceiling. Debris fell everywhere, chunks of the cave splintering off and crashing around them.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh…” Soarin gasped as the aura eventually died down, the scattering streams of magic growing smaller and smaller until they were mere sparks that flickered and sparked from the horn. The horn itself returned to a mixture of a blue and yellow glow.

Soarin panted, as everything returned to normal, or at least to how it felt before he landed on his head. The physical pain across his body was there again accompanied with the splitting headache.

“What… the HELL… was that?” Rapidfire spoke up from off to the side.

Soarin blinked and looked over to him, feeling exhausted after such a strain. He shook his head.

“Apparently… what you and the Shadowbolts are after, right?” he said, as looked down, ready to lay down for a moment.

However… Soarin was never given the chance and Rapidfire given no time to reply.

The cave started shaking.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me…” Soarin looked up as he heard crumbling noises followed by rocks falling around them. “Damn!” Soarin yelled as he forced his body to move, hobbling towards Rapidfire. Rapidfire was already using the wall to help support himself. “Come on!” Soarin yelled as the two of them leaned against each other and started moving as quickly as they could.

They both yelped as a part of the cave floor Soarin was just laying on crumbled and caved in.

“MOVE! MOVE!” Soarin yelled as the two of them forced their bodies to cooperate, trusting the path in front of them as Soarin’s horn shined as much light as he could muster.

“Look out!” Rapidfire yelled as a large portion of the cliff behind them toppled and fell towards them. Soarin forced his body forward, hooking his arm with Rapidfire’s to yank them both forward, just out of the way as the rocks crashed down behind them. They quickly supported each other, rising up and continuing on as the shaking grew more intense, as if the entire cave was crumbling beneath them and falling from above at the same time.

“Ah!” Rapidfire yelped again as the floor underneath him gave way, but Soarin quickly braced himself and pulled Rapidfire up and forward.

No questions were asked, no motions questioned. They were fighting to stay alive and every bit of teamwork counted. They kept their eyes forward, until the light finally revealed what looked like the other end of the enormous cave.

“Up there!” Rapidfire yelled, pointing to what looked like the entrance to another small tunnel.

“I see it!” Soarin acknowledged as he examined the area leading towards it. There were two small cliffs leading up to the tunnel, the first he could probably scale on his own, but the second looked just too large. They would need to scale it together. “Whoa!” Soarin yelped as he felt the floor give way below him, he looked down to see it was giving way beneath Rapidfire again as well. With one last kick off the breaking ground, Soarin managed to push them out of the way and right up to the first, smaller wall to scale.

Soarin let go of Rapidfire and painfully extended his body, pushing off his good leg as he reached for the ledge. He didn’t make it, and tried again, but he just couldn’t generate enough vertical force. On his third try, he felt something grab his back hoof. He looked down to see Rapidfire pushing it up from below while keeping an eye on the falling rocks and crumbling floor fast approaching.

“GO!” Rapidfire yelled as he supported Soarin. Soarin reached his arms up and latched onto the edge, using the combined force to pull himself up. He quickly turned around and reached down, grabbing Rapidfire’s extended hoof and helping him climb up.

“AH!” Rapidfire yelped, the two of them falling over as he got up. The floor below had completely collapsed, and the edge they made it onto began to buckle. The two of them quickly looked up at the large wall. It was not only twice as high, but also oddly shaped. It remained vertical for only half the distance before turning into a steep angle as it reached the top.

There was no way they’d be able to climb up using the same method, but they had to think fast because their platform wasn’t going to last long. Only one option came to mind.

“Rapidfire, launch-boost!” he yelled out an old maneuver they used to use in their shows. Rapidfire looked at him blankly for a moment, but caught on seconds later when he saw Soarin put his back to the wall and cup his hooves. Rapidfire quickly recalled what Soarin was suggesting and stepped up, placing his good leg into the hoofhold. “Going up!” Soarin yelled as he summoned every bit of strength he could, forcing Rapidfire up and tossing him into the air. Normally, the move could have launched Rapidfire VERY high, but in his weakened state, Soarin only managed to get him over the top. Soarin turned and looked up as Rapidfire made it over the edge.

He waited…

And waited…

But… Rapidfire didn’t come back.

“Rapidfire!” Soarin yelled out. “RAPIDFIRE!” Soarin yelled again.

But nopony came.

Soarin’s eyes widened and he frantically looked behind him at the floor. It jostled, loosening as it prepared to break free and fall into oblivion below like the rest of the surrounding floor had.

“RAPIDFIRE!!!!!!!!!” Soarin yelled at the top of his lungs.

No…

It couldn’t be…

Was Rapidfire playing him the whole time? They found another tunnel, Soarin helped him get up… and with the perfect chance, Rapidfire left him for dead…

Soarin’s eyes locked on the floor below as it started to break away. He gritted his teeth and looked back up. He only had one chance, and it was going to hurt like hell, but it was try or die.

“RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” Soarin yelled out as he forced his battered wings to unfold and pushed down on the ground, jumping while giving his wings a single hard beat that was accompanied by many cracks and pops of his joints. “AAAAAAHHHHH!” Soarin cried out in pain as he launched upward, away from the platform as it completely capsized. He managed to get some good height, but fell short of the top. With one final effort, Soarin drove all four hooves to steep surface, his hooves digging in and bringing him to a halt… but a shaky one.

“Ah! AH!” Soarin yelped as he barely managed to keep himself from sliding. His hooves kept slipping and skidding, but he pulled and clawed and the rocky surface, desperately causing just enough motion to keep himself from plummeting.

“Rapidfire!” Soarin yelled. “RAPIDFIRE, HELP ME!” he called out in despair. But again, there was no sign of him. And the longer nopony showed themselves over the ledge, the more fear set into his heart. His body was aching, his wings were stuck shut to his body, and his muscles felt like they were going to give out any moment as his hooves continued to slip and slide as the horn flickered fiercely, reacting to his emotions.

He wasn’t going to make it…

He was going to die…

He was…

Just as his hooves gave out, Rapidfire suddenly appeared over the edge and reached down. He grunted and grimaced painfully as he hooked his hoof with Soarin’s.

“ARGH!” he yelped as Soarin’s weight pulled him flat to the ledge, but with Rapidfire’s assistance, Soarin was able to get his hooves back against the wall.

With Rapidfire pulling him, Soarin quickly pushed back against the wall and forced himself up.

“AH!” they both exhaled as Soarin made it up and they tumbled to the ground, the light going out.

After moments of panting and wheezing in the darkness, Soarin’s horn flickered to life again, revealing a relieved, but pissed off Soarin.

“What the hell was that?!” Soarin growled as Rapidfire turned over. “Could you have cut that any closer?! Contemplating whether to leave me for dead or something?!”

Rapidfire fully turned and glared at Soarin, the light from the horn shining upon a rather nasty bruise right smack in the middle of Rapidfire’s forehead. Rapidfire angrily pointed to it.

“Hey! It’s not my fault you threw me face first into a goddamn wall!” he spat while pointing to the wall beside the tunnel entrance, causing Soarin to blink and quickly lighten his expression. “It took a few moments before I could even see straight!” He flopped back over onto his back and grunted.

That was unexpected. Soarin was quick to assume Rapidfire had deserted him. Instead… it was because he had accidentally face planted him into a wall?

“Heh…” Soarin let out a single chuckle. Rapidfire’s head quickly snapped back.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing…” Soarin propped himself up and shined his light towards the tunnel before them. It looked like it extended quite a bit, and thankfully had held together despite the cave in behind them. “Thanks for pulling me up,” he added as he glanced back at Rapidfire.

“Save your thanks. I can’t walk on my own, I would have been sunk if I let you fall,” Rapidfire made clear. Soarin sighed and shook his head as he reached down to help Rapidfire back up.

“Thanks anyway,” he said as the two were once again both up and leaning together as they started moving into the tunnel.

The only noise between them as they moved?

Rapidfire grumbling under his breath.

---To Be Continued---

Author's Note:

Art in this Chapter by: Foxenawolf

WHOA... that was a close one... looks like Rapidfire understands that he needs Soarin to get out... no matter how much he dislikes it.

So... it looks like the Wonderbolts are going to take a new tactic to the Shadowbolts... it's time for a big Wonderbolt flight show!

But oh? what's this? Squad three is going to lead a team of disguised Shadowbolts into their compound? You bet they can act the part... after all, they did a pretty damn good job back in chapter 24 :moustache:

And ouch... extra ouch... Soarin's horn is already badly damaged from the dangerous crash into the mountainside... and then he falls on it head first! x_x Normally that wouldn't have done much, since it is sturdy, but ow... hopefully it can hold together!

And oh my... looks like the connection between Soarin and Dash keeps getting stronger! The peril of the damaged horn is making there spiritual bond awaken to protect them! How romantic and badass ;D


Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!:eeyup:

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