• 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 99: Rekindling Hope

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 99: Rekindling Hope


“Oooh… ow…” Dash groaned as everything finally came to a halt. “Never thought I’d say this, but I’ve had enough flying for a day or two…” she said sarcastically as she slowly found the ground with her hooves. She felt Matteo’s grip on her loosen as he also began moving. “Everypony still alive?” she asked as she opened her eyes.

She could hear grunts and groans, but she couldn’t see a thing. All the lights had gone out, and wherever they crashed, it had blocked the opening that had been blown in the wall. They had been left in complete darkness.

“I’m a bit stiff,” Matteo spoke up as Dash felt him stand up and shake himself above her. A couple of clangs and clatters sounded out around him, implying he had shielded them from some falling metallic debris. “But not hurt,” he finished.

“Besides a mouthful of black feathers,” Storm said as he also got free of Matteo. “I’m fine.”

Matteo released an annoyed grunt as Storm spoke. Dash glared in the general direction of Matteo’s voice even though he couldn’t see her. If he was still dwelling on the whole thing with Storm...

“I can’t feel my face, but then again I never could weeheeheeeee!” Twister giggled as Dash felt a plot press against her side. “Can you feel my face?”

“Sometimes I wonder if that IS your face,” Dash rolled her eyes as she pushed Twister’s plot away from her.

“One moment everypony!” Rivet’s voice caught their attention from nearby. A few seconds and a quiet click later, a flashlight turned on, barely illuminating the area, but revealing Rivet standing near the dead boiler. He pointed it around, finding the portable working lights that had been tossed about in the crash. “One… two… three…” Rivet pointed the flashlight around, gathering up the lights. “Four… shoot…” he shined the flashlight around, briefly illuminating the rest of the ponies as the light whisked past them. “Has anypony seen the battery I had these hooked up to?”

“This thing?” Starry Skies spoke up from behind him. Rivet turned and shined the flashlight on her as she rolled over while groaning painfully. “It decided to jam itself into my flank when we crashed,” she grumbled as she shakily stood up and batted the battery with her hoof towards Rivet. “Ow… ow…” she winced as she started limping around with an obvious twitch in her back legs.

“Oh…” Rivet didn’t know what else to say to her as he pushed the battery over to the pile of work lights and rewired them to it. He flipped the switch on the wire and with a small buzz the lights came to life, giving off a bright, but soft glow that illuminated the surrounding area.

Dash shielded her eyes for a moment as they adjusted to the new light source, but she finally got a look around, as did the others.

“How is everypony?” Fleetfoot asked, drawing Dash’s attention to her as she slowly rose and shook her mane out. Fleetfoot blinked and reclined her neck slightly when she realized her goggles were heavily chipped and cracked. She removed them and tossed them aside as she began moving around to check on the others, starting with Dash. “You guys all okay?”

“We’re fine…” Dash nodded as she stepped forward to meet Fleetfoot. She tipped her head to look past her and spotted squad three. “Looks like some of us weren’t so lucky,” she said while wincing. Dash stepped past Fleetfoot as she turned to look.

“Oh…” Fleetfoot cringed as she followed behind Dash.

“God damn…” Lightning Streak shook his head and released a sigh of relief as he fell back on his plot, panting. He looked up to see Dash and Fleetfoot approaching before turning his head to take another look at his brother.

“Rgh…” Fire Streak groaned as he slowly sat up with the help of Misty Fly. His eyes squeaked open as pain around his chest and stomach stung at his nerves, but it wasn’t the worst he had had, so he was sucking it up. He barely saw Misty before she dipped down and gingerly moved her hoof around his chest, pushing aside the ripped shreds of his suit to examine his injuries. He was bleeding a little and had a few bruises, but again, they weren’t too bad, they just stung a bit. His painful expression wasn’t helping the case though, Misty pulled away and looked up at him with the widest eyes of worry he had ever seen, and it was killing him.

He quickly reached forward, ignoring the sting of his suit and fur rubbing against the cuts to place a hoof on her shoulder and smile. He put his hoof down in front of his stomach, raising it to the top of his chest and back down. Then he removed his other hoof from her shoulder and placed it on top of his hoof before tilting it upward towards his face. He reached his head forward and nuzzled her cheek with his as she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed him tight.

His signs to ensure her he was fine eased her worry, but only a little. He was still hurt and she was not okay with it.

Dash smiled as they approached and watched the little exchange, but they turned to Lightning Streak first.

“How’s your shoulder?” Dash asked with a slight smirk.

“Shoulder?” Lightning blinked as he looked up.

“I saw Misty kicking you when she couldn’t grab Fire,” Dash mentioned while glancing at Misty.

“Oh,” Lightning rotated his shoulder as he also glanced at Misty. “Yeah, not the first time she’s kicked me, but damn…” he winced as a click came from his shoulder and he shook it out. “Girl kicks hard, man…”

“I’m glad you held onto her,” Fleetfoot sighed as she shook her head. “While I understand her want to save Fire, she’s unscathed because you kept her still,” she paused and smirked at Lightning. “Though knowing you and how often you actually get your hooves on a mare…” she trailed off with the sarcasm.

“Aw, why ya gotta be like that?” his ears flopped down as Dash turned away from the two and approached Fire.

“How are you holding up, Fire?” Dash asked as she placed a hoof gently on Misty’s shoulder as a friendly gesture.

“A bit shaken, but definitely alright,” he answered as he glanced towards Lightning. “Brother, how do you fare?”

“Besides your lady almost kicking me in the face a few times, I got no problems, bro,” Lightning answered as he rotated his shoulder again.

Dash was relieved to see the Streak twins and Misty in one piece. For a moment, her thoughts began trailing to the rest of the compound and how those above fared, but flinched in surprise as Fleetfoot nearly ran right into her. Dash followed her with her eyes, watching as she headed for squad zero. She looked over Shine, Swift, and Playbitz before looking around and expressing worry for Calm. Shine shrugged, stating that they were still looking for him.

“WHOA THERE!” Macho Savage’s voice caught Dash’s attention. She looked over on the other side of the boiler to see him lying on top of three Shadowbolts, pinning them down to the metal floor. “We still got some suckers over here!” he yelled. The three he had pinned, unlike the other, groaning and wailing Shadowbolts lying around, still had their crystals near them. However, every time they tried to make their crystal float up and do something, Savage smacked them on the back of the head with a hoof, breaking their concentration.

Lead Runner, Point Dex, and Storm approached as he held them down, eyeing the crystals curiously. Dash, curious, also made her way towards them.

“So this is how they use magic, huh?” Lead Runner examined one of the crystals carefully, without touching it as it floated up and down in its owner’s attempt to use it. “A bit tacky though… the color selection is so unfashionable.”

Storm tipped his head back and forth as Point Dex and Lead Runner continued to look on. He stepped forward towards one of the crystals and reached a hoof towards it. Dash gasped, picking up her pace as she readied to yell towards him, but…

“No,” Starry Skies grabbed Storm by the shoulder and roughly pulled him away from the crystal before he could touch it. He stumbled and fell on his side, Dash diverting her path towards him to help him stand as Storm angrily glared at Starry.

“What the hell is your—” Storm got cut off, his and Dash’s eyes widening as Starry slammed her hoof down thrice, smashing the three crystals to dust one at a time. The three Shadowbolts below Savage all screamed, drawing all attention in the area to them as the three stared in horror at Starry’s hoof, the dust from the disintegrated crystals disappearing before their very eyes. Savage blinked and eased up, letting go of them and backing away slowly as they no longer tried to resist his strength. The Shadowbolts all clutched their bodies, shaking and writhing, moaning and groaning in intense pain as tears began to squeak out of their goggles.

“Hmph…” Starry snorted. Dash turned back to Storm, but he was already stomping towards Starry with look of anger and frustration on his face. Starry remained poised as Storm got in her face and roughly pressed a hoof to her chest.

“What is WRONG with you?!” he belted as Dash slowly followed behind him, not quite sure if she should stop him or not. “Do you get off on causing pain to others!? That was just sadistic!”

Starry scrunched her face, swatting Storm’s hoof off of her chest.

“You mistake me for my former leader,” Starry rolled her eyes. “I’m doing them a favor, kid.”

“A FAVOR?!” Storm growled as he pointed a hoof at the Shadowbolts in pain. “You call that a favor?! Looks more like pure cruelty to me!”

“Storm…” Dash reached forward while biting her lower lip. She wanted to stop him, while she agreed it looked cruel, Storm was unfamiliar with what the crystals could do to a pony. Starry looked over Storm’s shoulder at Dash as if silently asking her to tame the anger being thrown at her in ignorance. She clearly realized Storm wasn’t going to listen to her.

“You’re just cold blooded! I can see it in your damn eyes!” Storm accused. “LOOK AT ME!” he yelled as Starry continued to roll her eyes.

“STORM!” Dash finally grabbed him and pulled him away, getting in front of him and pushing him back. “Back off!”

“Are you kidding me, Dash? Did you see what she did to—” Storm was hushed as Dash firmly pressed a hoof over his mouth and looked at him sternly.

“Storm… I understand how you think, and how you view any act of aggression against a defenseless pony as unnecessary. I also understand your will to help those who can’t help themselves, but…” she turned and glanced at Starry for a moment. “Starry is right, she is doing them a favor.”

“How can—” Storm tried to speak up again.

“I’ve seen it Storm… I’ve seen what the crystals can ultimately do to a pony,” she spoke, recalling what the crystals had done to Spitfire, Misty Fly, and even Lightning Dust. Not to mention how misusing them severely injured Rapidfire and may or may not have killed Nightshade. “It may look cruel, but she’s saving them from only greater pain down the road… trust me, you see how they look now,” she pointed at the broken Shadowbolts. “That’s nothing compared to what kind of pain the crystals can cause.”

Storm listened to Dash, looking up at Starry and grunting before pushing away from Dash and taking a few steps away. He hung his head and shook it gently, not finding any words to say in response with his own morals conflicting with what he was seeing.

“Okay…” Rivet’s voice drew Dash’s attention to him. “Looks like the boiler is mostly in one piece,” he spoke as he looked over the fizzled out boiler. It had clear signs of stress and split edges, but it hadn’t blown apart. “Can’t say the same for the engines down here though…” Rivet sighed as he looked at all the old rusted and broken pieces strewn about, all broken off from the surrounding engines, some even catapulted over the safety fence. “Then again, that’s assuming…”

“HE’S OVER HERE!” Shine suddenly yelled, cutting off Rivet and turning Dash’s attention to her. As soon as she saw Shine move towards a pile of metallic debris… with a light blue hoof sticking out of it, she too turned and moved towards it. They had found Calm.

Dash reached the pile at the same time as Shine, Fleetfoot, Swift, and Playbitz. They quickly began tossing aside the stray gauges and split metal. None of it was very heavy, but there was a lot of it piled on top of him. He probably could have easily emerged from the pile himself due to his strength, but with the state his back was in, nopony was expecting him to just ‘shake it off.’

Playbitz and Swift pulled the last few pieces of debris off of Calm, both cringing when they saw his blue uniform was now mostly red.

“Calm! Are you alright?!” Shine yelled as she crouched down. Calm was wincing and groaning quietly as he opened his eyes. He blinked a few times.

“I…” he sputtered. “I can’t feel anything below my neck…” he stated, a collective gasp around him lasting for about half a second before he grunted and his whole body twitched, his wings flaring open and knocking Swift and Playbitz over. “AH! NOPE! NEVER MIND… now I can feel it…” he groaned as he moved his arms beneath him and tried to push himself up. Shine and Fleetfoot both fell back on their plots with a hoof over their hearts.

“Dammit, don’t scare me like that!” Fleetfoot shook her head as Dash walked up beside her. Fleetfoot got up and followed behind Dash, the two examining Calm’s back as he struggled to stand.

“Oh, god…” Dash cringed as she too spotted the massive bloody stain on Calm’s back. “How much blood have you lost, big guy?” she asked as Calm teetered and fell back to the floor.

“I dunno… but… I feel very lightheaded…” Calm replied as his chin rested flat on the floor in front of him. Fleetfoot immediately returned to Shine’s side while looking Calm over.

“We’ve gotta get him to Bliss immediately!” she stated while looking around at the rest of squad zero. Swift looked between her and the others with a distraught look on his face.

“That’s ya know… assuming anypony is alive up th—” he was cut off as a massive tan and black wing pushed hard over his head.

“Don’t…” Playbitz spoke up while glaring at him. “EVEN… put that thought into my head… they have to be alive!” he said, obviously concerned about his wife.

Dash perked up, a feeling of dread filling her from head to tail. She wasn’t considering it at all because they were all okay down below… but now that Swift brought up such a morbid possibility, she was worried sick about the rest of them. Spitfire, Silver, Squall, Little Star, Bliss, Luna… everypony else, but especially Soarin!

“What are we waiting for then!?” Dash called out. “We need to make sure everypony else is okay!” she quickly turned, looking towards her squad. She was eager to get moving, but she wasn’t going to disregard the injured Calm. “Matty! Get over here!” she called to Matteo. “We need your help moving this big guy!” she ordered.

Matteo wasted no time in making his way over. Swift, Shine, and Fleetfoot helped get him up on Matteo’s and Playbitz’s shoulders.

“Rivet, can you guide us back up?” Fleetfoot asked as Rivet looked away from the boiler. He wanted to keep assessing the damage, but with Calm badly hurt, the choice was obvious. He nodded as he reached for his flashlight and pointed it around until he found the pathway leading back up, just outside the range of the work lights.

Dash walked with Fleetfoot, Shine, Swift, and Rivet as they cleared the path of any debris in the way, Matteo and Playbitz moving Calm as quickly as they could without hurting him.

As they began to leave, Starry took command, turning around and pointing at the three Shadowbolts as well as the others that were strewn about, broken without their crystals.

“Everypony else here, help me gather these Shadowbolts up. Let’s secure them now while they are suffering from the withdrawal. The last thing we need is them recovering and escaping,” she ordered. Twister, squad three, and squad seven moved in to do as she said, but Starry continued as they did. “Oh, and if none of you were paying attention when the white knight of Equestria tried touching them before,” she said while pointing at Storm. “They’re gonna cry like foals when you touch them. Ignore it,” she said while reaching down and picking up one of the Shadowbolt mares.

They all cringed as the mare whined and tried to wiggle out of Starry’s grip, but she forced her along roughly, not letting her get free. Reluctantly, the Wonderbolts of squad three and seven followed her example, even Storm… who forced himself to do what had to be done despite how much he still felt it was wrong.

With the wailing Shadowbolts in tow, they followed behind Dash and Fleet’s group, all hoping just as much that everypony up above was still alive.


“We’re not moving anymore are we?” High Winds spoke up as Spitfire opened one eye slowly. She felt incredibly stiff from the whiplash and her body tensing up upon impact, but one thing was thankfully for certain… she wasn’t dead.

“I think we stopped,” Wave Chill spoke up as his grip around Spitfire loosened. “Ow, Spitfire, that’s starting to hurt,” he added. Spitfire blinked and looked down to see she was unconsciously clutching Wave’s arm as hard as she could.

“Sorry,” Spitfire quickly released it before she slowly rolled over out of his grip, bits of ceiling plaster cracking beneath her body until her hooves found the floor and she slowly pushed herself up while looking around.

The lobby was a complete mess. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. The floor was covered with broken ceiling tiles, bits of glass from fallen lights, furniture that had been tossed about, potted plants that had been thrown, uprooted, and spilled everywhere. Bags of letters and bills had been thrown from the mail room, spread out all over the floor nearby. To top it all off, the compound felt like it was slightly tipped to one side, but barely enough to throw off anypony’s balance.

Speaking of anypony… Spitfire breathed a sigh of relief as ponies all around her began to groan and slowly move, standing up, shaking themselves off, and examining their surroundings. Spitfire wouldn’t rest easy until they had a full injury/casualty report, but for the time being, seeing that there were survivors gave her pause.

She turned around and looked outside the front doors. They were in the mountains, as they had been, but they had crash landed facing a mountain, explaining why it was quite dim in the lobby. Without the lights on and the mountain in the way, they didn’t have much in terms of lighting. All forward facing windows, which made up about seventy percent of the windows in the compound, were facing the mountainside. They weren’t completely up against it, but they were close enough to hinder most of the sunlight.

As her body relaxed and her senses returned, Spitfire shivered, startled by a sudden nip of cold in the air as well. Not like it surprised her, they were in the mountains, but many of the windows were broken, including the large hangar window up high in the lobby.

“Wave, Winds,” Spitfire returned her focus to the Wonderbolts themselves as she addressed the two of them. “First things first, help me check on everypony.”

“‘Kay,” High Winds said with a yawn as she slowly stood up and shook her body out.

“Yes, ma’am!” Wave agreed while standing quickly. The three dispersed moving around to assess the state of the rest of the ponies as they began to emerge from beneath furniture and debris.

“Rggggghhhhh…” a familiar groan caught Spitfire’s attention the moment they split up. She turned and looked towards the mail counter, where she spotted Descent and Air Mach rising up, with Silver still on the ground, his back facing her, twitching.

Completely disregarding Descent and Air Mach, she rushed up to Silver.

“Silver!” she called his name as she approached and slowed to a trot as she reached him. “Are you alright?” she asked while crouching down and placing a hoof on his shoulder.

“I think I’m still alive…” Silver replied sarcastically, causing Spitfire to flatten her brow.

“That’s not funny… Here, let’s get you up,” she tried to roll him over but he resisted. “Silver…” she said exasperatedly, not in the mood for stubbornness while she was worried.

“Just give me a damn moment, I’ll be alright,” he requested as Spitfire let go.

“Fine…” she shook her head as she turned to Descent and Air Mach. “You guys look just fine.”

“That was nothing, I’ve survived much wor—”

“The great Animak laughs in the face of mountains!” Air Mach completely cut off Descent.

“I know you're fine, Anima—” Spitfire shut her mouth and puffed her cheeks out. “I can’t believe I almost called you that…” she rolled her eyes as Air Mach guffawed heartily, completely contradicting the confused mood of the rest of the lobby. She looked towards Descent as he sighed and nudged Air Mach aside.

“As I was saying, I’ve survived worse. I’d be more worried about the injured. I’m sure that wasn’t a pleasant experience for them,” the moment Descent finished a few swears erupted from the east hallway.

Both Surprise and Blaze hobbled out from the east hallway, supporting each other as they observed the state of the lobby with wide eyes.

“The FUCK is going on?!” Blaze whined. “Somepony better start explaining this bullshit before I start beating asses!” she growled. Descent stared blankly at Blaze as Spitfire slowly shook her head.

“Well, my half-sister is definitely fine…” she commented.

“BLAAAAAZEY!” High Winds suddenly yelled as she rushed past Spitfire, jumping through all the debris in the lobby and leaping over the hole in the floor before launching herself at Blaze. Surprise yelped and pushed Blaze off of her as Blaze’s eyes widened.

“Whoa, whoa, WHOA! WINDY! ACK!” Blaze grunted in pain as High Winds tackled her to the ground. “OW! OW! FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU-BALLS-CRAP-DAMMIT OWOW! WINDY!” she yelped as High Winds squeezed her despite Blaze’s still painful injuries.

Descent looked towards Spitfire in confusion again.

“Yeah, she’s fine,” Spitfire repeated as Descent shrugged.

“Come on,” Descent made a head motion as he moved to help others nearby. Spitfire glanced at Silver as he remained on the floor, rolling her eyes before honoring his request and moving to help others.

“A little help here?” Lightning Dust’s voice came from beneath an overturned couch as Spitfire passed. She glanced over as Descent moved the couch to free her. Spitfire huffed and looked in the other direction, seeing Blazetail and Flashwind get up and shake their limbs out.

“You two okay?” Spitfire asked as she approached them.

“I’ve had enough fun for a few years,” Blazetail commented as Flashwind looked him over. “So looks like it’s a good thing we gambled, huh?” he bounced his eyebrows at Spitfire. Spitfire smirked.

“I doubt I’ll ever make such a rash, low success decision ever again, but I admit I’m glad I did. Assuming Rivet and the others down below survived,” she paused for a moment, frowning at the thought of her being wrong on that account. “I’m hugging that little guy as hard as I can, I can’t believe he made it work, not to mention kept it all running under such conditions,” she looked around at the disheveled state of everything. “I just hope we can figure out what to do from here.”

“Let’s talk about that later,” Flashwind spoke up. “The important thing right now is that we’re alive and we should make sure everypony else is too.”

“Agreed,” Spitfire nodded to them both as they split apart to help out the others.

Spitfire barely took five steps before a large pile of furniture and ceiling tiles suddenly shifted and collapsed, revealing Bomber. The behemoth pony shook himself off and casually stepped aside as if completely unfazed. As he moved, he revealed Valkyrie below him, who was holding onto Pixie and Fairy. Valkyrie blinked and looked herself over, realizing that absolutely nothing had hit her. She turned and saw Bomber smiling at her innocently.

“Bomber? Why did you guard me? I could have taken it!” she almost sounded insulted that somepony protected her.

“Heh heh heh…” was Bomber’s only reply as if he found her reaction amusing. She glared at him flatly while pouting, the twin sisters both giggling at Valkyrie.

“I think you have enough scars, Val…” Steady Wing spoke up as he, Comet, and Cannon Ball all approached.

Spitfire flinched in surprise as Silver suddenly limped past her and towards the former Wonderbolts. She sighed as she watched him hobble, wishing he would cut the stubbornness and let somepony help him.

“You guys all lived?” Silver spoke up, grabbing their attention. “Damn,” he added with a chuckle.

“Ha!” Cannon Ball shook his head and stepped towards Silver. “You wish, you old mule! None of us are clocking out before you do!” he said while giving Silver a friendly jab to his side.

“RGH!” Silver grunted in pain staggered and fell to the ground. Steady and Valkyrie both quickly stepped up and pulled Cannon away while shoving him to the floor while expressing how big of an idiot he was. Pixie and Fairy were at Silver’s side instantly, helping him stand back up despite his attempts to shoo them away.

Spitfire smiled despite her worry for Silver’s state and moved on to help others.


Across the lobby, Squall peered up and over his back as he lay facing the wall. From the looks of things, they had stopped moving and now everypony was steadily recovering. His body hurt from all the bouncing around and his head felt like it wasn’t on straight, but thankfully the bandage was still in place over his nose and there was no blood. He got lucky, all the tumbling and crashing could have easily re-aggravated it.

With a shift and a grunt of discomfort, he rolled over, moving away from the walls and uncurling his body. He unwrapped his hooves… and let Little Star out. She set her little hooves on the floor and took several breaths, breathing multiple sighs of relief as she got her bearings. She looked herself over, and was more or less completely unhurt save for the few bruises she received before Squall grabbed and shielded her.

“You alright?” Squall asked her while he let his head fall against the floor, fatigued. Little Star quickly turned around to face him, smiling.

“Thanks to you, I’m perfectly fine,” she said as her smile grew wider. Squall scrunched his face and averted his eyes.

“Whatever…” he said with a sigh as he rolled back over and faced the wall.

“Aw, come on you…” Star giggled and reached for his shoulders trying to roll him back over to look at her.

“Nnnnnghhhh…” Squall replied as he held himself in place. Star pouted as she paused for a moment before tugging on him harder.

“At least get up, we have to go find the others!” she let go and hovered up above him.

“NYAAAAAAH…” Squall groaned louder and covered his face with his hooves so she couldn’t see his face.


Spitfire glanced at Squall and Star as the little Wonderbolt tried to move the grump from the wall, taking a look around as it seemed like everypony in the lobby was getting up and moving, despite being a little shaken. Wave Chill emerged from the hole in the middle of the lobby.

“Nopony fell through,” he reported to Spitfire. “And whatever hole was punched in the floor in the basement is completely blocked by debris, so even if somepony fell through it would have been a short fall.”

“Meaning everypony down below was blocked, at least through the ceiling…” Spitfire thought out loud.

“Captain? Er…” Wave winced, cursing himself for constantly forgetting his promise to call her by name but she shook her head.

“Sorry, just thinking out loud, keep at it,” she ordered.

“Yes, ma’am,” Wave saluted before moving to help the staff, Wonderbolts, and Renegades alike.

“So far so good. No casualties yet at least,” Descent spoke up as he walked up beside Spitfire. He looked to her for a response, but blinked as she sat down and released a heavy sigh. “Are you alright though?” he asked as he watched her head droop and her ears flop down.

“I’m absolutely exhausted…” Spitfire said as she brought her head back up and let it lean way back, staring at the ceiling.

“We finally have a victory of some kind and you’re already down for the count?” Descent grunted as he lifted an eyebrow.

“Bite me,” Spitfire replied simply.

“No thanks.”

“Spitfire!” Wave Chill suddenly called back out. Both Spitfire and Descent looked towards him. Spitfire’s eyes widened, but Descent’s reaction was very short lived, going from surprised to flat very quickly.

Wave, along with a few other Wonderbolt elites behind him, had a Shadowbolt supported on his shoulder, specifically a stallion in Wave’s case. He was cringing and groaning despite not looking too injured. His goggles hung down around his neck and his eyes were filled with a mix of dread and fear, which only seemed to grow as his vision landed on Descent.

Spitfire looked past Wave and saw six other Shadowbolts being supported by Wonderbolts behind them.

“They…” Wave paused as he looked at the Shadowbolt he was helping as well as those behind. “They’re not resisting… or making any attempts to get away. What should we do with them?” he asked.

Spitfire, admittedly, had no idea how to reply. Descent moved past her and towards Wave. The Shadowbolt’s pupils shrank as Descent grew closer, his eyes never leaving him.

“Did any of them have crystals?” Descent asked. Wave shook his head.

“No, sir. They were all curled up on the floor. They were a bit reluctant to be moved, but like I said, they offered no resistance whatsoever,” Wave clarified.

“There’s your answer then… without their crystals, they are powerless in both body and spirit,” he stepped closer to the Shadowbolt in Wave’s grip. He began to breathe heavily as Descent reached his face towards him. “Everything they once were is gone…” he glared, causing the Shadowbolt to whimper. “They’ve become so reliant on the crystals and the fake power they provide that they are completely broken without them…”

“AHH!” the Shadowbolt ripped away from Wave and crumpled to the floor, holding his hooves over his head and pressing his face into the ground, shivering violently. Descent exhaled sharply through his nose as he turned and faced Spitfire.

“See why I never accepted those damned things? Look at this,” he pointed at the Shadowbolt on the floor. “Once proud and strong warriors, crippled and broken the moment their crystal is taken away. If you questioned my reasons before, I hope you now understand the shame I wish to lift from my family,” he said with a slight hint of anger in his voice.

“Loud and clear Descent,” Spitfire nodded as she kept observing the Shadowbolt. “I didn’t question you at all, but… I can definitely say I understand now. They’re your former comrades. I’ll let you decide what to do with them.”

“Where is your detention facility?” Descent asked without missing a beat. Spitfire tipped her head to the side.

“Detention facility?” she repeated while blinking.

“Yes,” Descent nodded to clarify. Spitfire shook her head.

“We don’t have one,” Spitfire quickly replied, earning a look of disbelief from Descent. “What?” Spitfire shrugged. “We’re not a law enforcement or mercenary organization, you know.”

“Military functionality without detention facilities…” Descent grunted in frustration while shaking his head. “Lightning Dust!” Descent yelled across the lobby. Dust, turned and quickly glided over, landing beside them.

“What’s up?” she asked as she eyed the broken Shadowbolts.

“We need a makeshift detention block,” Descent began. “Gather up some Renegades and clear out one of the barracks they gave us for living space. Lock these stragglers in there. We’ll figure out what to do with them later.”

“Whoa, hold up…” Spitfire reached for Descent, but Dust was already doing as she was told, relieving the Wonderbolt elites from their Shadowbolts with the help of some Renegades. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Spitfire expressed as Descent turned to her. “That seems like something to decide assuming we even stay here.”

“And that’s what I want to discuss with you now,” Descent faced her as if he had the exact same thing in mind. Spitfire stood up as Descent looked around. “All I know is we’re here for now… what are your thoughts?” he asked.

“Before we make any long term plans we have to assess the situation,” Spitfire began. She looked up at the ceiling. The lights that hadn’t fallen were all out for obvious reasons. “We can start with what the consequences of, you know, tearing our building out of the ground are. I can already think of a few myself. We got the compound to move and all, but is it really a good idea to stay here?” she looked towards Descent as he watched the Shadowbolts get taken into the barracks.

“We weren’t knocked out for any extended period of time,” Descent spoke up. “And I’d like to think any Shadowbolt that had control of themselves or their crystal was smart enough to escape once all the chaos started. Any that are left here are those who lost their crystal. ASSUMING… that that’s the case and the fact that we broke their little pursuit ships, our relocation may confuse them for a while. They have no idea where we landed or if we landed at all, plus the mountains provide a nice veil despite the size of the compound.”

“That’s an awful risky assumption,” Spitfire shook her head. “And to be honest, I think we’ve taken our share of risks for the time being. We can’t possibly be sure that none of them escaped.”

“I agree,” Descent nodded. “That’s why I’m not so sure how to proceed…” Descent grunted. “It’s too risky of an assumption, but it’s not like we can mount a mass evacuation right now. We have to consider our injured, and that a good number of the ponies here are not pegasi. It will be hard for them to get through the mountains.”

“Rgh…” Spitfire sat down again and rubbed her temples. “I’m beginning to think we’ve only prolonged the compound’s destruction. Not to mention put ourselves in a more difficult spot.”

“We may be in a rough spot, but we’ve at least bought ourselves another day. We know their turnaround time now,” Descent reminded her.

“That’s barely enough time to prepare or come up with any plans,” Spitfire sighed.

“I’ll send out some scout teams to keep an eye out,” Descent decided, but Spitfire shook her head.

“What’s going to stop them from teleporting right to us if they do know where we are? I’m sure after we thwarted their little headstrong ‘roll up and blow up’ plan, they aren’t going to mess around anymore,” Spitfire threw her hooves out before standing up again. Descent cursed under his breath.

“That’s a good point,” he agreed as the two continued to ponder. “I hate to say it but, I’m fresh out of…” Descent paused and blinked as he looked out the front doors. Spitfire turned to him and tipped her head in curiosity.

“What?” she asked as she followed his eyes and looked out the doors. Small snowflakes were falling.

“Actually…” Descent smiled. “Scratch that, I think I have an idea.”

“I’m all ears,” Spitfire lifted an eyebrow.

“Let’s reconvene later after we have all of our comrades secured,” Descent suddenly suggested, earning a glare from Spitfire as her ears flopped down.

“You son of a—”

“Don’t talk to me like the well-being of your fellow Wonderbolts ISN’T the first thing on your mind right now,” Descent cut her off before she could berate him. She closed her mouth and huffed.

“Fair enough, but it better be good if you’re making me wait,” she tapped her hoof against the floor impatiently.

“Believe me, our new location may have an advantage… we have a day before they recover. If I’m right about this… we may be able to extend our time here for several weeks. I want to get a good look around outside before making any decisions though,” Descent looked around. “But for now, our friends take priority…” Descent trailed off as he glanced up and past Spitfire. “Speaking of which, here comes our heroes of the moment,” he pointed. Spitfire perked up and turned around.

Rivet, Starry Skies, and squad three stepped out into the lobby from the west hallway. Approaching behind them was squad seven, pulling along several broken Shadowbolts, most of which were piled on Macho Savage’s back as the rest were tugged along by Lead Runner and Point Dex. Twister, Swift, and Shine were pushing a few along as well.

“HEEEEEYYYYY!!!!!!” Surprise yelled out from across the lobby when she saw the rest of her squad. Her remark cued in the rest of the Wonderbolts and Renegades as all eyes shifted towards the west hallway. Faces brightened as all ponies took in the sight, and within seconds a mob rushed towards them.

Cheers, hoots, and hollers erupted from all around as they all began converging on the small group.

Rivet’s eyes widened as he saw the mob of ponies advancing towards him. He shuffled his hooves quickly, moving past Starry and hiding behind Misty Fly. Misty blinked as Rivet hid beneath her, smiled and giggled silently before gently nudging him back forward. He didn’t offer much resistance, but it was clear he looked a bit nervous. Misty walked him back up beside Starry as he got absolutely surrounded. He felt intimidated, but at the same time, everypony was smiling incredibly wide at him as they sang his praises. He started getting pats on the shoulder and his mane ruffled. He stood completely still throughout.

“HEY! EVERYPONY MOVE IT!” Spitfire’s voice came from the crowd as ponies got pushed aside. She weaved her way through the crowd, the ponies eventually parting to let her through. They stepped away from Rivet as Spitfire emerged at the front of the pack. Her eyes landed on Rivet as he continued to stand still, unsure of what to do. Spitfire couldn’t hold herself back, she smiled incredibly wide and reached down for him.

Rivet flinched and his eyes widened as Spitfire picked him right up off the ground and gave him a tight hug.

“Rivet, you GLORIOUS bastard!” she laughed as she hugged him tightly, unbelievably grateful for all that he had done, from discovering the lower basement to tinkering with the machinery enough that their miracle chance actually worked. Not to mention he kept it running long enough for them to make an escape. Sure they didn’t know exactly what to do next, but she along with the rest could live to fight another day because of him. That alone had them all grateful. “As if I already never had a reason to question your skill in mechanics, I damn well never do now!” she said with a hearty laugh, setting Rivet back down on his hooves.

Rivet frowned, the praise coming his way felt nice but…

“I… didn’t do that much really…” he spoke up and looked away. Spitfire stared at him blankly.

“I know you don’t like being praised, but really?” Spitfire chuckled. “You got a century old mechanical contraption to operate and save us all… and you’re gonna claim you’re nothing special?!”

“But all I did was get the boiler running…” Rivet shrugged. “And I couldn’t have done it without help from the others. They were all fighting Shadowbolts while I was just turning knobs and—” Rivet was cut off as Starry Skies pressed a hoof down over his head roughly.

“Alright kid, I’m gonna have to ask you to shut up before you tear yourself down any further,” she said sternly. “You’re the one that found it, you’re the one that fixed it up, and none of us knew a damn thing in terms of operating it. We’d all be ashes right now without you,” she finished as Starry removed her hoof from his head.

Rivet just blinked, looking down, not quite sure what to say.

“BE PROUD, DAMMIT!” Starry yelled while pushing him out towards the mob of ponies. Rivet yelped as he once again got mobbed by countless incredibly happy ponies who wanted to show him their gratitude. Spitfire had made it clear over the P.A. that Rivet was the one heading down with a team of ponies before the attack. So silently, everypony was rooting for him to give them a miracle… and he did, effectively saving the place that the Wonderbolts called home.

Rivet flinched as he was suddenly hoisted up on shoulders and started being paraded around as several Wonderbolts and Renegades rose up into the air and cheered.

Rivet couldn’t help it eventually. And despite his general tendency to deflect praise to those who assisted, he couldn’t deny that he had given it his all… and everypony knew it. He smiled, chuckling as he was carried around.

“Look at that smile,” Swift chuckled as he and Shine watched Rivet get paraded around the lobby.

“Hee hee…” Shine giggled. “There’s no way he’s getting out of praise this time. Not when the whole place is giving it to him.”

Spitfire was smiling as well. She was well aware of Rivet’s typical manner of avoiding attention and recognition, but he deserved more than they could ever give him, especially now. She was so glad she hired that timid little engineer who applied for the job amidst all those applicants who pushed their work into her face, stroking their own egos in hopes of looking like the greatest to ever grace the field of engineering. Modesty was what made Rivet stand out. The less one flaunts, the more one will stand out when they do something incredible.

Spitfire turned back towards the group standing in the entrance to the west hall. She took note of the broken Shadowbolts that had been brought up with them, bringing her attention back to the task at hoof. She would let the Wonderbolts have their celebration with Rivet, he deserved it, but the fact remained that they still had to figure out what to do next… and she was grinding her teeth as she wondered what Descent’s plan was.

Then something caught her attention, something she completely neglected while squeezing the hell out of Rivet. There were a few ponies missing from this picture! Fleetfoot, Rainbow Dash, Calm Wind, Playbitz, and… well a griffon too… Matteo! Spitfire moved forward to see if she had simply just missed them, but as she moved past Lightning Streak she ran directly into Fleetfoot, their faces crashing into each other.

“OW!” Fleetfoot yelped as she and Spitfire staggered back. They both shook their heads out and Spitfire smiled wide, ready to give Fleetfoot a big hug as well for a job well done, but Fleetfoot did not look happy in the slightest. “Outta the way! Outta the way!” Fleetfoot yelled, drawing some of the attention of surrounding ponies as she, Storm, and Dash rushed forward trying to clear a path.

“Fleet? Dash? Storm?” Spitfire called their names, but as she looked back towards the group she gasped. Playbitz and Matteo moved forward with Calm on their shoulders, moving him as quickly and carefully as they could. Spitfire cringed as she saw the state of the large pegasus and the distinct color change over most of his flight suit. As soon as they had come into view, the surrounding ponies stopped wondering why they were being pushed aside and gave the rushing group a clear avenue towards the east hallway.

Of course, Spitfire had felt so happy about things going right and the lack of serious injuries that she hadn’t even considered that there may well have been a few. Calm was the first pony she saw who looked worse for wear.

The mixture of seeing Calm and the fact that they were moving him towards the east hallway… made her remember something else that had completely slipped her mind and she had no idea how such a thing could have happened.

“LUNA! BLISS! SOARIN!” Spitfire shouted out loud to herself before she quickly followed behind them. Of all of them, how could she have forgotten about Soarin?! Her best friend who was out during the whole scenario? Her heart felt tight as she moved with them towards the infirmary. Despite how much had worked out for them, it would mean absolutely nothing to her if she had lost a best friend.


Little Star and Squall both perked up and looked as they saw Dash, Storm, and Matteo move by quickly. Star smiled as she hovered up into the air and waved at them, but got no response. She quickly saw why as she noticed Matteo carrying Calm.

While she understood why they couldn’t stop, she was distraught that she couldn’t express her relief. She had been worried sick since she and Squall were separated from the rest, but it looked like she would have to wait.

Squall finally got up from the floor and stepped up beside her, at head level with her since she was hovering in the air. As much as he still had a bit of animosity towards squad zero for the beating they gave Foxtrot a while back, he took note of how hurt Calm was, and how it probably happened while saving their lives. He couldn’t ignore that fact.

As the two stood side by side, Star still hovering at eye level with him…

Twister SLOOOOOOOWLY rose up from the ground behind the two of them, his sneer growing wider and wider past the boundaries of his face as he reached towards their heads.

The moment he touched them, he turned their heads to face each other and pushed them together.

“NOW KISS!” Twister yelled out. Squall and Star’s faces smushed together, their lips awkwardly touching, but nothing close to what could be called a kiss, as their faces mostly took the hit, Star’s cheek rubbing against the bandages on the side of Squall’s face. They both forced themselves apart immediately as Star fiercely turned to Twister while puffing her cheeks out and blushing madly.

“TWISTER!” she yelled while glaring and swinging her arms up and down frantically. Before she could say anything else, she gasped as Squall stepped up and full out punched Twister in the face really hard. “SQUALL!” Star quickly shifted forward to pull the glowering and growling Squall backwards. Twister keeled over, and bounced right back up after his back hit the floor, catapulting himself forwards, past Squall, and tackle hugging Little Star. There was not even so much as a bruise on his face.

“LITTLE STAR!” he yelled out, fake streams of tears gushing from his eyes as he pressed his cheek to her and roughly rubbed them together.

“BLEH!” Star stuck her tongue out in disgust as Twister showed her forced affection.

“HEY!” Squall gritted his teeth as he reach to give Twister a piece of his mind again, but the moment he got close, Twister spun around and caught Squall in a hug with his other arm, pulling Squall’s back into him.

“GROUP HUGS FOR EVERYPONY!” Twister yelled out while arching his neck back and laughing crazily as Squall flailed to no avail in his grip.


Rainbow Dash had gotten a clear lead in the rush towards the infirmary, and for a very good reason too. With how much everything had been thrown around during their miraculous escape, she dreaded what could have happened in the infirmary. There were so many loose pieces of furniture and medical supplies in it that it was easily one of the most dangerous places to be in the event of… well, the compound ripping from the ground and lurching all about.

She reached the door and forced herself against it in attempt to force her way through, but the door only opened slightly, clearly blocked by something. She gave it a few more hard pushes, but whatever was in front of it had it barricaded.

“Move!” Fleetfoot yelled from behind Dash as she reached forward and pushed Dash aside. She took a few steps back before charging headlong at the door and lowering her right shoulder into it. With a loud BANG and the sound of lots of shifting furniture, the door forced open. Fleetfoot grunted painfully, stumbling backwards. “Ah! Ow…” she groaned, reaching a hoof over to her shoulder as she fell down onto her plot, cringing.

“Commander!” Storm expressed worry, quickly making his way over to her as Dash did the same.

“Forget me! Make sure everything’s okay in there!” she ordered as Dash came to a halt, but Storm did not, examining her shoulder. Fleetfoot quickly grabbed Storm by the neck of his flight suit and growled. “That’s an order, dammit!” she yelled in his face before whipping him forwards towards Dash.

“Come on,” Dash reached out and pulled Storm with her. “She’s alright, I’d be more worried about Soarin, Bliss, and Luna,” Dash reminded him as she quickly turned and pulled Storm along with her.

The two entered the infirmary… and it wasn’t a pleasant sight.

It was hard to tell what the room was even for anymore. As Dash suspected, the trainer tables and medical beds had been thrown everywhere, all completely out of place and stuck in piles, some lodged against each other upon the walls. There were almost no ceiling tiles left, exposing all the pipes and wiring they once hid above them as said tiles laid strewn around the floor, some still in one piece, others snapped and broken. Medical supplies littered the floor, giving them little room to step without slipping or tripping on something. The fluorescent lights had thankfully all remained intact, but none of them were on… which made the situation worse. There were no windows in the infirmary, so save for the little bit of light coming through the door, it was pitch black after about twenty paces into it.

Or at least it was almost pitch black. There was a very dim, light blue glow coming from far back in the room. Dash and Storm’s eyes locked on it immediately as Matteo and Playbitz entered behind them with Calm.

“There!” Dash yelled out as she broke into a canter, but instantly stepped on a pill bottle and lost her hoofing. “Whoa!” she tipped forward and landed face first.

“Wait! Hold on!” Storm said as he helped her up. He turned away and moved towards Bliss’ overturned desk. He made his way around it and towards the two doors in the back. He opened the one that was labeled ‘Maintenance Closet’ and yelped as a good amount of the contents fell out right on top of him.

“Storm?!” Dash turned and moved towards him but his head popped out from the fallen supplies and he shook it out.

“There’s gotta be a flashlight in here somewhere…” he pondered out loud as he began moving his hooves around the fallen contents.

Dash stopped moving when she saw he was okay and instead turned her attention towards Matteo and Playbitz as they moved Calm towards an overturned trainer table. Playbitz handed Calm off to Matteo as he reached down and put the table back up on its legs.

“Here,” Playbitz tapped a hoof on the table. “Set him here for now.”

Matteo moved Calm up to the table and helped him lie down on his stomach as Spitfire entered with Fleetfoot limping behind her.

“Oh god…” Spitfire cringed when she saw the state of the infirmary. Fleetfoot’s ears drooped as she too took in the sight.

“Found one!” Storm caught all their attention as he held up a flashlight in his mouth, passing it into his hoof and clicking the button… but it didn’t turn on. “Aw, COME ON!” he groaned while shaking it. He growled in frustration and slammed the butt end of the flashlight against the floor.

It flickered on, shining up towards the broken ceiling.

“Oh… look at that,” Storm chuckled before pulling himself out of the pile of supplies and moving back towards Dash.

“Give me that!” Playbitz suddenly yelled as he ripped the flashlight from Storm’s grip.

“What the—hey!” Storm frowned as Playbitz quickly made his way down towards the faint blue light shining at the end of the room. Dash quickly placed a hoof on Storm’s shoulder.

“Bliss is his wife,” she explained as she moved past, following quickly behind Playbitz. There was no way she could be as worried about Bliss as her own husband, but she still cared. Not to mention she was worried absolutely sick about Soarin.

“Oh,” Storm blinked, instantly understanding Playbitz’s frantic movement before following behind to help. Spitfire brought up the rear, Fleetfoot staying back with Matteo to watch over Calm.

Dash walked right behind Playbitz, following his hoofsteps. They moved carefully in tandem with him as he shined the flashlight on the floor and weaved in and out of all the loose items strewn about the floor. Dash could hear the hoof steps of Spitfire and Storm directly behind her but she didn’t look back. She remained focused, determined to reach the blue light shining dimly on the other side of the infirmary.

It grew larger as they approached, but it was clear the reason for the dimness was because the source of the light was blocked. Dash shifted and stepped lightly along the messy floor as she and Playbitz grew near the source of the light. Playbitz shined the flashlight upon the source, the light falling upon an incredibly large pile of both beds and trainer tables that had been tossed across the room during the motion of the compound.

“Shit…” Playbitz cursed as he moved the beam of the flashlight around, shining it on all the pieces of furniture that littered the back wall. Dash glanced back at Storm and Spitfire as they stepped forward without hesitation. Playbitz set the flashlight down on the floor and aimed it to shine on the beds and tables.

All four of them worked together in moving the clumped barricade aside piece by piece. One table, one bed, one table, one bed, the blue light growing brighter and brighter with each piece they removed.

Eventually, the surrounding area donned a shade of light blue as the glow shone forth from their efforts. As Playbitz shoved the last bed aside, all four ponies stared wide eyed at the scene before them, and all simultaneously breathed sighs of relief.

Bliss, Luna, and Soarin… all just fine and unscathed thanks to a magic shield generated by a very fatigued Luna. Soarin was still out and Luna looked on the verge of collapse, but Bliss’ eyes brightened considerably when she saw that ponies had come to their rescue, not to mention she was ecstatic to see her husband alive after all the shaking and racket.

Luna’s eyes squeaked open as she mentally strained herself. Upon seeing they had been found and the pile of furniture had been moved, she gasped and released her magic, her horn sputtering and the aura fading as she slumped down on the floor beside Soarin. The magic shield dome dropped from around them, and before Storm, Spitfire, or Dash could move forward, they held their spot as Playbitz and Bliss ran at each other and embraced tightly, both relieved that their other half was alive and well.

“Aw…” Storm smiled as the married couple embraced before him, Dash smiling right beside him. She was glad Bliss was alright as well. Not only had she gotten to know her throughout the many trips to the training room… but they were definitely going to need her help with the current situation.

Spitfire, Storm, and Dash all made their way around the duo, approaching Luna and Soarin.

“We are… glad… to see thee…” Luna smiled weakly while panting. “Pray tell us… what in the world happened…?” she asked. Dash blinked as she realized that Luna and Bliss had no idea what had all just taken place. The infirmary had no windows after all. It was going to be quite an explanation, one that would definitely be repeated once Soarin… hopefully woke up as well.

“It’s a long story your Highness,” Spitfire spoke up as she looked towards Soarin.

“Is Soarin okay?” Dash stepped right in front of Spitfire, irking her slightly, but she understood her concern. Dash crouched right down by him, noticing immediately that the yellow magic did not appear upon him being touched again.

“We think so,” Luna began, catching her breath. “He was thrown with the rest of us when the shaking began. Strangely, that’s when his inner magic stopped lashing out at us as well.”

“Well, we have a lot of explaining to do,” Spitfire nodded as she approached Luna, but Luna shook her head.

“Please, tend to Soarin first, we are simply worn out,” she requested. Spitfire looked back at Dash and Soarin as Storm approached them as well.

“Alright,” she agreed. “You two,” Spitfire pointed to Dash and Storm. “Let’s get him up and back over by Calm, it’s too dark over here.”

Dash and Storm nodded, both reaching down and turning Soarin over in order to get leverage and hoist him up. They had a few ponies show up recently that revoked Soarin’s status as the largest pegasus in the compound, but he was still bigger than both of them. It took a good amount of effort just for the two of them to hoist him up and get him moving. Spitfire went ahead of them to make sure a table was set up and ready.

Matteo passed by them, heading towards Luna as they moved. Dash glanced back and watched as Matteo lent himself to her to both help her up and get her moving, allowing Bliss and Playbitz some privacy in their warm reunion.

“Soarin just can’t catch a break, can he?” Storm spoke up with a sigh. Dash turned and glanced at Storm as Soarin’s head bobbed between them.

“That’s an understatement,” Dash shook her head lightly.

“I don’t know how he puts up with it,” Storm continued as they reached Spitfire and hoisted Soarin up onto the trainer table she prepared.

“Well,” Dash grunted as she and Storm struggled to lift Soarin high enough. “He’s… very stubborn,” she gasped and wheezed as they finally got him on the table. “And strong willed. Anypony else would have caved by now for sure.”

“He’s also got an incredibly thick skull,” Spitfire spoke up as she sighed and stepped around to see Soarin’s face. She scrunched her face and puffed her cheeks out. “I swear he gives me more heart attacks than a whole pot of Rusty’s prime espresso. Always such an idiot…” Spitfire groaned and let her face fall down into the padding of the trainer table as Storm and Dash both chuckled to themselves.

Dash looked over by Calm as Fleetfoot remained by his side, looking incredibly worried. Calm had saved her and several of the others down in the engine room more than once, pretty much taking a lot of pain for them like a living shield. He was the only pony that suffered serious injury down below because of it, the most drastic of which he took while shielding Fleetfoot and Rivet. Fleetfoot definitely felt bad that she remained mostly unhurt at his expense and looked determined to watch over him.

Dash immediately turned to call to Bliss, but she was beaten to the punch.

“BLISS!” Spitfire called back down towards the married couple. “I don’t want to ruin your moment but we’ve got a severely injured Wonderbolt over here!” she yelled.

The moment Bliss heard ‘severely injured Wonderbolt’ her face was out of Playbitz’s chest, looking over his shoulder with her ears perked up.

“Oh, right…” Playbitz grimaced as Bliss ripped from his embrace and quickly cantered down towards the rest of them, her eyes landing on Calm as she snatched up a few stray medical supplies in her magic.

“Please step back,” Bliss said calmly to Fleetfoot as she dropped the medical supplies on a nearby table and used her magic to create a small ball of light. It hovered above and illuminated the area enough for her to see Calm clearly. She hopped up on a stool to get a good view of Calm’s back, not even flinching at the sight of all the blood.

“Please, let me help,” Fleetfoot suddenly asked as Bliss examined Calm. “Bliss?”

“I heard you honey, give me a moment so I can figure out what I need,” Bliss replied as she gently pressed around Calm’s back, causing him to grimace and grunt painfully. Fleetfoot’s ears drooped down as she heard Calm groan, again feeling even worse that he took this pain for her. “Alright,” Bliss spoke up. “Here’s what I need…” she paused and looked up, “I’ll need more help, can somepony go find Mahogany and anypony else? I’m sure Calm’s not going to be the only one hurt.”

“I’ll go find her,” Storm offered as he was already heading towards the door.

“Fleet, I need you to find a pair of scissors for removing sport taping, I have hundreds of them, it shouldn’t be hard to find one. I need to cut the suit open.” Bliss asked quickly while explaining her intentions.

“Right,” Fleetfoot turned and immediately began searching through all the supplies strewn about. She ripped the flashlight right from Playbitz’s hooves as he made his way over and used it to help her look.

Dash turned back to Soarin as Bliss went to work, resting her chin on the table by his face. She was worried about Calm, but Soarin had been out for so long. This wasn’t the first time his magic had knocked him out, but with all the crazy stuff that was going on, she needed his comfort. She felt only half her full self without him up to fill her with confidence. She wasn’t dependent on him to perform to her fullest, but he definitely helped.

She looked up as Matteo finally reached them with a teetering Luna leaning into his side for support. Dash was grateful that Luna had protected Soarin. All of Luna’s recent efforts had been incredibly helpful, not to mention she saved all of their lives once already. It was worrying to see her all drained though. The sublime sisters were renowned for their incredibly powerful magic and imposing presence. Dash had never seen one of them look so drained. It really put things into perspective in terms of what they were dealing with. If Princess Luna herself was struggling, the enemy was definitely one to be feared.

“Alright, I have to go check up on some things,” Spitfire spoke up with a slightly reluctant tone, stepping out into the aisle and facing the door. “Dash, keep an eye on Soarin for me,” she ordered as she glanced at Fleetfoot frantically helping Bliss. Spitfire decided to leave her be before looking at Matteo. “Matteo, do me a favor and bring Luna up to speed on what’s going on.”

“Me?” Matteo blinked as he glanced between Luna and Spitfire.

“Yes you, everypony else is busy,” she motioned around as Playbitz began assisting his wife as well. Dash snickered as Spitfire left, stepping away from Soarin and up to Matteo and Luna standing right beside the table.

“Don’t worry big guy, I’ll handle this,” Dash smiled, knowing Matteo wasn’t one to have long drawn out conversations with those he didn’t know well, unless it was about the Griffon Kingdom of course.

“We are very confused…” Luna shakily scratched her head.

“Well…” Dash grinned sheepishly. “This may all sound a bit… nuts, but here’s what happened.”


“Alright, alright guys, put him down. Party time is over we’ve got some serious work to do!” Spitfire called out as a few Wonderbolts were still carrying Rivet around. Rivet was released and dropped back down onto his hooves as Spitfire approached him from the east hallway. Spitfire was glad he was getting recognition for some serious feats of mechanics that saved them all, but the fact remained that they were not out of danger and needed an honest assessment of the situation, starting with the compound itself.

“Right…” Rivet shook his head out, glad he was done being swarmed despite the praise, but the tone in Spitfire’s voice suggested it was time to get to work, something he had picked up on from working for her.

“I still don’t know all the details,” Spitfire began. “But in the event that we stay put, I’m going to need your help,” she paused and looked around the lobby, specifically at all the lights that were out. “It’s obvious that the compound taking flight had some serious repercussions, I would like you to gather up any help you may need and make a solid analysis on the state of the compound. Any information you can report to me will help our decisions going forward.”

“Alright, I’ll get right on it,” Rivet nodded as he broke away to find some of his unicorn assistants.

Spitfire took a deep breath as she watched Rivet leave. She had so much on her mind that she thought her head was going to burst. She couldn’t make any solid decisions until Descent returned and relayed his idea to her. With many of the bases covered, there was one thing that still puzzled her, specifically as she stared at the giant hole in the lobby floor that had a pillar sticking out of it. Whatever was fixed atop the pillar had smashed through the lobby ceiling, but had stopped after passing through the second floor ceiling as well… which meant whatever the contraptions was, it has stopped on the third floor as opposed to blowing right through the roof like the rest. Its location allowed her to assume it had stopped right above in rec room. There was a large window facing forward in there… could those have been the flight controls?

And if they were… was their mystery pilot up there?

“Shall we go look?” Fire Streak’s voice came from beside her suddenly. She blinked and glanced at Fire, the rest of squad three right behind him. Surprise was on Lightning Streak’s back, hugging him tightly around the neck. Moments later, she hopped off him and onto Misty’s back, doing the same while giggling happily. She was obviously beyond overjoyed to see her squad alive and well. Spitfire glanced at the ripped and shredded potion on the chest of Fire’s flight suit, exposing the minor cuts and bruises.

“Aren’t you hurt?” Spitfire lifted an eyebrow at him, voicing her concern over her curiosity. Fire chuckled and shook his head.

“First Misty, now you. Do not fear Captain, they are just a couple of scratches. I’d rather let the others get attention who need it much more than I,” Fire glanced up at the broken ceiling. “So… it looks like the rec room…”

“You noticed too, huh?” Spitfire let go of her concern and returned to examining the pole. “Rivet got everything running… but it’s safe to assume he wasn’t piloting it from down there?”

“Correct,” Fire confirmed. “We were all busy fending off Shadowbolts… and there was nothing that resembled controls down below. There were no windows down there either. I wonder who could have seized control, wherever they are located, and maneuvered us with such skill?”

“Well,” Spitfire turned and looked towards the massive pillar that was sticking through the staircase at the back of the lobby. “Only one way to find out…” she spread her wings despite being a bit stiff and lifted off. Squad three all followed close behind, making their way to the stairs and squeezing around the pillar that had more or less completely destroyed the stairwell.

“If anypony’s up there, I hope they’re a pegasus,” Lightning Streak commented from behind as they ascended, moving around the pillar up towards the third floor. “Cause damn, the stairs are completely shot.”

They emerged on the third floor, all glancing up at the opening in the ceiling above. The massive propeller extended overhead. This was the first time squad three had seen it, all of them stopping for a moment in awe. Spitfire waited patiently for them to get their eyeful, landing outside the door to the rec room.

Eventually, they all turned towards her. She gave them a nod, before turning around and reaching for the door and slowly pushing it open.

As expected, the state of the rec room was much like most of the compound. None of the furniture was bolted down, so couches, chairs, and tables were all upturned and tossed about. Several of the game tables were not upright either. The pool table was on its side with all the balls rolling around the floor. The ping pong table had capsized on itself, pieces of it scattered all around.

The only thing still standing upright and unscathed, was the air hockey table, which would no doubt make Surprise happy.

All of the carnage aside… none of them (except for Surprise) were focused on the state of the room. They were staring straight forward at a new addition to the rec room that had come right through the floor. It was a wide, metal platform one step up from the floor that extended across the length of the window at the far end from wall to wall. The platform had several chest high, metal boxes attached to it around the outer edge of it. The boxes were littered with levers and wheels all labeled with different functions or purposes. In the very center, facing out the cracked windows of the rec room, was a large lever of sorts that was firmly locked to an axle mechanism. At first glance, Spitfire had to assume that this lever was what navigated the compound in flight.

Yet even with all the new… well, old technology that had sprouted up out of the floor, this wasn’t what first caught their attention.

There was somepony at the controls.

But of all the ponies to take control in a dire situation, it was most certainly not who they expected… not in the slightest.

The pony in question was sitting against the large steering lever. Upon seeing the Wonderbolts enter, he smiled sheepishly and stood up, walking towards them while looking exhausted.

Art by: Foxenawolf

“Uh… hey guys?”

It was the orange pegasus that worked behind the mail counter. Spitfire couldn’t believe her eyes and stepped forward to address him, but stopped with a blank look on her face, blushing lightly in embarrassment when she realized… she didn’t actually know his name. Not wanting to reveal that little bit, she cleared her throat, shook her head out and gathered herself before going right back into professional mode.

“Were you… piloting this thing?” Spitfire asked, going straight to the point. The mail pony blinked, glancing back at the giant lever before grinning sheepishly and scratching the back of his head.

“Yes?” he answered, sounding a bit unsure what kind of response he was going to get. Fire Streak stepped up beside Spitfire.

“What exactly—” he began, but was cut off. They all flinched as Surprise suddenly squealed in joy, leaping across the room and swan dive-face planting onto the air hockey table.

“IT’S ALIVE! MY PRECIOUS!!!!!” she cooed while rubbing her arms and legs up and down on the table’s surface.

Fire cleared his throat and turned right back to the mail pony in a casual manner that was used to Surprise and her antics.

“Could you tell us exactly what happened up here?” he asked again with the same tone and curiosity.

“Uh… well…” the mail pony grinned awkwardly. “I was… hiding up here. I ran up the stairs and hid under one of the tables when all of those ponies appeared and attacked. Then all the shaking happened and this stuff burst out of the floor,” he motioned to the platform and controls. “When the place started spinning I struggled to hang on, but was eventually thrown against the lever. The spinning slowed down when I did, giving me a moment to realize we were up in the air and flying,” he shrugged. “We started flying towards the mountains and when I saw us on a collision course put two and two together and took a chance, pulling the lever hard to the left. When we missed the mountain I just… sort of, I dunno, went for it. It’s not like anypony else was up here.”

Spitfire and Fire Streak glanced at each other blankly for a moment before looking back towards the mail pony.

“I think you left out the part…” Spitfire chuckled. “Where you proceeded to navigate this massive hunk of junk through a dense mountain range, saving us all from a nasty fate even with the mechanisms failing left and right.”

“Huh? Oh… nah, I just grabbed it and did what I could,” the mail pony rolled his eyes as if he hadn’t done anything special.

“First Rivet, now you… Don’t be so modest,” Fire Streak chuckled as he walked up to him. “That was some skillful piloting! We’re all still alive and kicking because of you.”

“In one of our darkest hours we’re saved by the head of our engineering team and the mail room employee…” Spitfire chuckled. “Unlikely heroes indeed,” she stepped forward but hesitated again. The mail pony tipped his head to the side as Spitfire sighed and threw a hoof out. “Okay fine, this is embarrassing… I mean, you work here… you work for me, but I don’t even know your name.”

“Me?” The mail pony blinked, chuckling. “Lucky,” he said with a nod.

“Lucky?” Spitfire repeated, making sure she interpreted him right.

“Yes, Lucky,” he confirmed with a nod.

“A fitting name,” Fire smiled. “Considering you were in the right place at the right time,” he said giving Lucky a pat on the back.

“Well Lucky,” Spitfire smiled. “We owe you just as much for piloting this monstrosity as we owe Rivet for starting it up. That was very quick thinking on your part, not to mention the landing probably would have been much worse had you not softened it,” she smirked. “I don’t know, Fire… if we somehow get this thing up and running again, I think I know who I want to pilot it!”

“Agreed!” Fire laughed with her.

“Wait, what?” Lucky’s eyes went wide as he listened in. Spitfire shook her head and chuckled.

“Oh, don’t worry about it right now. We don’t even know what’s going to happen next… I’m just happy we had a pony with a head on his shoulders up here coincidently at the right time…”

Spitfire paused as she looked around, her eyes landed on Lightning Streak and Misty Fly first, who were in the process of trying to pull Surprise off the air hockey table. Spitfire kept moving her vision until it landed on the controls again. Now that they had the pilot’s identity figure out, she wanted to see for a moment… the brain of the beast that had lain dormant beneath them for so long. Her eyes landed on a scratched up plaque that was attached to a control station beside the steering lever. She shifted and moved towards it, taking a long hard look at it to try and deduce what it said. It was hard to read with all the scratches and chipped pieces, but after a few attempts she managed to put all the letters together.

“N… I… M… B… U… S…” Spitfire blinked. “Nimbus…” she looked up out the window and around at all the controls, her eyes eventually landing on the lever beside her. “The Nimbus, huh?” she smiled as she touched the lever. It was quite amazing to think about it actually. Something that hadn’t been touched or used since by the hooves of Wonderbolts centuries before them? As strange as it was and with all the predicaments they had to solve now… it was quite an amazing feeling.

“What was that, Captain?” Fire Streak asked as Spitfire removed her hoof from the lever and walked back towards them.

“Nothing,” Spitfire said while shaking their head. “Come on, we found what we came here for, let’s get back down and help out the others.”


Silver Lining sighed and leaned up against the wall beside the east hallway. His body hurt, it really hurt. It hurt more than it ever had in the past, even with the pain meds. It had been a hectic few days and he was beginning to worry about his own apparent frailty. It had been so long since he had had back to back days of intense action. He had held out for so long within the training regime, but how long would he last with things now getting serious?

No matter what happened to him however, he knew this conflict would be his last experience as a Wonderbolt. Spitfire saw it with her own eyes. She saw him struggling while buying Rivet time… and she was one of the two who saved him when his wings gave out. As weird as it sounded, he was glad they were possibly stuck for a while, because it wasn’t like she could dismiss him with their current location and situation.

Silver shook his head, purposely remaining away from other ponies, Wonderbolts and Renegades alike as he contemplated what was left for him going forward. It was something he had staved off for so long, but clearly could no longer afford to avoid. He didn’t curse his inability to fly and fight like he used to… he cursed his inability to keep the façade going. The situation didn’t help his ultimate goal: to train Rainbow Dash to meet her full potential and leave behind an unmatched legacy.

After all… it was what Blizzard wanted to do with him, but never got the chance. It was now up to him to carry out his mentor’s ambitions, so his legacy may live on through Dash as well… and hopefully many others after her.

Silver blinked, his thoughts breaking away from his finite scenario as Descent entered through the front doors and looked around at the same moment Spitfire appeared from the broken stairwell. Descent locked onto her and moved to meet her in the middle.

Just as curious towards what would happen next, Silver forced himself off the wall, straining himself to not limp as much as he could as he approached them. As Silver drew near, Rivet beat Descent to Spitfire with a few of his unicorn assistants behind him. Rivet was holding a clipboard, which he didn’t take his eyes off of as he began talking. Silver was just within earshot as Rivet’s report started.

“So we have quite a few problems…” Rivet flipped the pages on the clipboard over and over. “First let’s start with the obvious. All electricity, plumbing, and heating have been completely cut off. Those systems were all run on an off site network that we effectively severed upon liftoff. If we plan to stay put, this will create pretty rough living conditions that I’m sure most here are not used to.”

“Agreed, but go on,” Spitfire rotated her hoof as he paused.

“There are countless broken windows and a few pieces of the compound itself have been blown out, exposing the inside to the elements. Considering that we’re in the mountains, it’s going to get real cold in here real fast,” he said with a well-timed shiver. There was a nip of cold that was steadily getting more intense.

“What about the condition of the machinery?” Spitfire asked. Much to her dismay, Rivet shook his head.

“Nothing will be a quick fix. The bits and pieces I tinkered with are still in one piece, but most of the older rusted parts have completely blown themselves apart, not to mention the main boiler is in need of some heavy repairs. Even with constant work and the entire research/mechanical team, I can’t see any progress being made towards actually getting this thing to operate again for at least…” he paused as he looked over several calculations written down on his clipboard. “Three weeks… if we’re lucky. I doubt I have the necessary parts or supplies either.”

Spitfire’s ears drooped down, Silver sighing from behind her as he heard the news as well. So much for saving the compound.

“Three weeks?” Descent spoke up from behind Rivet as Silver continued to hover nearby. “That’s very doable. We could buy you more if it would help.”

Everypony else went silent and stared blankly at Descent. Spitfire furrowed her brow and quickly turned to him.

“Is this the part where you explain you little idea? Or am I gonna have to plant my hoof through your face for leading me on again?” Spitfire huffed. “I dare you, just try to say ‘wait and see’ again,” she said in a very sarcastic tone.

“Relax, I just wanted to make sure it was solid first,” Descent deflected her remarks and pointed outside. Silver followed Descent’s hoof as Spitfire looked as well. Spitfire didn’t say anything, just tipping head in confusion, but Silver noticed, stepping up to enter the conversation.

“The snow is picking up?” Silver asked curiously. Descent nodded.

“Sharp eyes,” he complimented before turning back to Spitfire. “I already have a large group of Renegades outside, creating an artificial, maintained blizzard.”

“A… blizzard,” Spitfire lifted an eyebrow. “Explain,” she got right to the point.

“A harsh blizzard will prevent the Shadowbolts from flying anywhere near us, even if they teleport in. Not only that, but because we destroyed their little pursuit ships, they currently don’t know where we are. An artificial blizzard maintained by a cycling group of fifty or more Renegades can cover hundreds of miles of terrain. To our knowledge, our general location is unknown to them and they will have no means of finding us unless they stumble directly upon the compound with a scout… who won’t make it very far if they find us. The Shadowbolts may have powerful resources at their disposal, but they aren’t stupid. They won’t take unnecessary risks.”

He stopped, looking at Spitfire as she thought over everything he had just said. She purposely let him finish, getting all the information before giving her two bits. Silver could tell by the look on her face that she felt unsure.

“So… you’re going to lock us in with no heat, electricity, or plumbing… we also don’t have access to food or any other supplies. Descent, how the hell are we going to last three weeks or more under those conditions?” she asked very good questions.

“As for the cold and the lack of electricity…” Descent began. “Suck it up.”

Silver snorted as Descent bluntly addressed the heat issue, earning a sharp look from Spitfire.

“As for the lack of plumbing, have you never gone camping? Figure it out,” he continued to be blunt, which was trying Spitfire’s patience. “As for supplies,” his tone turned from condescending to serious. “Leave that to us. We not only have multiple outposts in these mountains with hordes of supplies, but don’t forget how we eluded you for so long. The Renegades can make several stealth runs to locations outside the mountain ranges. Our most talented will be able to reach major urban locations, allowing us to communicate as well. We’ll leave plenty behind here to maintain the blizzard and keep a look out. Maintaining the weather will have us scattered all about the storm. If the Shadowbolts send any scouts into the thick of it, they will run into us anywhere, never getting a good general location,” Descent lifted his brow and tipped his head towards Spitfire. “Well?”

Spitfire blinked as he finished. Silver was nodding to himself. He definitely felt it was a solid plan, more solid than anything else they had come up with in the recent past. He could see it in her eyes though. Something was still on Spitfire’s mind.

“I didn’t hear anything about the Wonderbolts taking part in this plan,” Spitfire brought up. Descent looked as though he was expecting her to say it, answering quickly with a shake of his head.

“Leave this all to us,” he began. Spitfire looked ready to protest, but Descent held a hoof up to silence her. “The Wonderbolts have been through hell and back unexpectedly these past few days while we’ve been dealing with the Shadowbolts for an extended period,” he pressed his hoof to his chest. “I believe it is within our best interest for the Wonderbolts to get as much rest as possible and let the reality of the situation sink in. This plan gives us a large window of opportunity. Not only to get everypony healthy and back on their hooves, but also some time to train the Wonderbolts in magic deflection techniques. The longer we can drag this out, the more prepared we will be fore them in our next clash. Whether or not we get this hunk of junk moving again will be pointless if we’re ill prepared to fight back yet again.”

“But—”

“Spitfire,” Silver spoke up. “I think I speak for the rest of the Wonderbolts when I say… we could use a breather,” he said with a heavy sigh. Not to promote his own lack of fight, nor make decisions for the lead captain, but he knew Spitfire. She didn’t like not being in control. Now wasn’t the time to insist, it was time to accept the aid and bring the Wonderbolts back up to speed. Spitfire took a deep breath and exhaled through her nose.

“You’re right,” she agreed with Silver. “As usual,” she added as she turned to Descent. “Do what you must… we’ll make do and figure things out.”

“Good,” Descent nodded. “We can discuss more in terms of specific tasks later. For now, we have to start this blizzard,” he nodded and without another word, turned and trotted back towards the doors to rejoin the Renegades outside.

“Rivet,” Spitfire turned back to Rivet as he continued to stand in silence. “I’m not expecting you to do so much with so little at your disposal, but… if there’s anything you can do that will help us deal with the conditions we’re about to live under for a while… it will be greatly appreciated.”

“I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t make any promises,” Rivet nodded.

“Thanks,” Spitfire returned the nod as Rivet turned and started gathering up his helpers again.

That left just Silver and Spitfire standing alone in the middle of the lobby, a few paces away from the gap in the floor. Silver held his breath as he tried to hold himself steady, but he was clearly wobbling a little. Spitfire looked him in the eye with a concerned expression and Silver gritted his teeth as she opened her mouth to speak.

“Captain!” Wave Chill cut her off, calling to her as he glided across the lobby over the ponies that were moving about. Silver thanked his lucky stars that Wave distracted her. He was going to avoid any discussion about the state of his body for as long as he could. “All captains and staff chiefs have reported!” he added as he landed in front of her.

Spitfire immediately turned her full attention to Wave and stepped up to him, nearly getting into his face. It’s not like Wave wasn’t used to being so close to Spitfire, but her movement and eagerness had startled him.

“AND?!” Spitfire asked, nearly tipping forward on the edges of her hooves as she waited for an answer. Wave gathered himself and smiled.

“Multiple injuries have been reported but…” he nodded. “No casualties… everypony is alive.”

Spitfire’s eyes nearly caught fire with how brightly they lit up, but she cleared her throat looked down and tried to gather herself. However, it only lasted for a second. She completely lost control of her demeanor, flinging herself at Wave and hugging him tightly while giggling happily.

“Er… Capt— Spitfire?” Wave blinked in surprise at her strange public display of affection.

Silver grinned weakly as he saw Spitfire become absolutely overjoyed at the news. He took the opportunity to quit the conversation and begin moving towards the west hallway, aiming for the infirmary. If there was one pony he’d be willing to go to for the state of his body, it was Bliss.

He couldn’t help but smile as he continued to hear Spitfire’s laughter with his back turned.

“I just can’t believe it!” Spitfire exclaimed as she hugged Wave. “We still have the compound… and everypony survived!” Silver chuckled to himself as he kept moving. “I’m so happy!” Spitfire continued to voice her elated disbelief as Silver entered the west hallway… and started thinking about how he could spin the explanation of his pain to Bliss. He couldn’t have her reporting anything to Spitfire now.


The infirmary was quickly a busy place once again, and thanks to several portable work lights that were quickly found and brought in, Bliss and her slowly gathering assistants were able to clear away the mess and tend to all the ponies showing up. Bliss still hadn’t stepped out, and didn’t hear any of the explanation to Luna, but she didn’t care. There were hurt ponies in her infirmary, and they had to be tended to. The injured always came first in her book, ALWAYS.

And it was a good thing she was getting the help she needed as well, because Dash found it hard to do anything without worrying about Soarin. She felt selfish. Calm Wind was two tables behind her, sucking it up and fighting through the pain as Bliss continued to tend to him with the help of Fleetfoot and Mahogany. Yet she was more worried about Soarin, who was sleeping peacefully, or at least it looked peaceful. She had no idea what was going on in his head, especially since he was knocked out by overusing his magic.

She glanced behind her as Fleetfoot rushed by with a few supplies Bliss had requested, but the moment Fleetfoot passed, something else caught Dash’s attention. Silver was shuffling his way through the infirmary, limping as he looked around at all the commotion. As he examined Calm, his eyes eventually shifted, easily catching the colors of Dash’s mane. Dash had been wondering how Silver was doing, but her priorities had again drawn her directly to Soarin.

Yet another who was most likely in need of attention over Soarin, but she had almost disregarded him. Dash looked away quickly. There was too much going on in her head, and based on previous experiences, she wanted to avoid saying something stupid to Silver while her brain was in a tizzy. She was told to keep an eye on Soarin, and that’s what she would do. She would have done so even without Spitfire’s orders anyway.

She was relieved Soarin had survived the liftoff of the compound and she just wanted to sit and look at him as they finally received a brief respite.

She suddenly flinched as Silver stepped up right beside her, looking upon Soarin. She turned to him briefly and saw that he wasn’t looking, but she quickly looked back as he stole a glance at her. There was a long silence between the two. It wasn’t an awkward silence though. Silver simply remained beside her and his presence made her feel a little better. She really didn’t want to speak, her mind completely focused on Soarin now, but he wasn’t speaking to her. She really didn’t want to face anypony else, and he wasn’t forcing her to look at him. He was just… there. And that gave her a strange sense of comfort.

Once again Dash couldn’t believe how well Silver could simply read her. She knew what he was doing, and why he wasn’t talking. By now he had learned all of her mannerisms and could probably tell long before he reached her what was on her mind. This wasn’t the first time he had stayed by her side during Soarin’s troubles either.

Dash released a long sigh as she slumped down and gently rested her chin on the padding of the tabletop, her nose brushing against Soarin’s as she stared directly into his face at point blank. Silver looked towards her, but again said nothing. He simply reached up and gently rested his hoof atop her head.

Art by: Foxenawolf

He kept it there for a few seconds, before giving her head a light pat and leaving her side, limping away to seek out medical attention for himself.

They had all been through a lot in such a short time.

Dash didn’t know what was happening going forwards, but she hoped they could finally get some well-deserved rest.

---To Be Continued---

Author's Note:

SO looks like things are going to die down for a little while... but the work is not done. The Wonderbolts shall get some well deserved rest (Just in time for chapter 100 :raritywink:) While the Renegades do some work to keep the Shadowbolts occupied and out of the way. All their power doesn't mean a thing if they can't find the WOnderbolts and kept out of the way... and the Renegades have already proven they are VERY good at eluding skilled ponies, eh? :moustache:

Gonna keep this short cause my ehad still hurts a bit >_<

Depending on how long this head aching of mine lasts i may extend my writing break a couple days, but now more than ever due to this unexpected literal pain in the neck i really need a short writing break. Don't you all worry though, i'll be back before you know it :) Only a week or so.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! :eeyup:

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