//------------------------------// // 208. A `Bolt of Teamwork - Part 3 // Story: Blaze the Pony Tale // by Wolven5 //------------------------------// The next morning, Midnight went out to the castle gardens, and found his master meditating. The dark alicorn was floating in the air, his horn glowing with his red aura, which levitated four great monoliths of solid obsidian around himself. Seeing he looked busy, Midnight didn’t dare interrupt his master’s mediating, and instead sat down on the cool green grass. Watching his master, Midnight contemplated about his work, his plans, his goals, sighing with how much he actually had on his plate and wondering how to balance it all. Granted he wasn’t really doing all that much while he was living in Ponyville, being with his friends and family. Not to mention all the secrets he was still keeping from them, especially from Twilight. And Twinken… Why haven’t I told him yet…? Midnight wondered guiltily. That he and Twinken were truly brothers in blood, that their mother was alive but lost in a magically-induced coma, that their father walked out on them, and that he himself had left Twinken in the orphanage to preserve the timeline. Midnight knew he couldn’t keep these secrets forever and the longer he did… “Something appears to be troubling you, my young apprentice.” Midnight jolted and looked up to see Sombra smiling down at him, and he quickly stood up. “Master! I-I-uh, I didn’t want to interrupt you an-” “It’s fine, Midnight,” Sombra assured him before stepping past the younger alicorn and saying, “Walk with me.” Midnight did as his master bade and followed him through the gardens. For a few minutes, they just walked and enjoyed this little piece of nature painstakingly maintained by the gardeners on the royal staff. They came to a spot that seemed very familiar to Midnight. A gazebo near a koi pond, a fountain with a seapony statue pouring an urn of water into the fountain, all of it surrounded by fruit trees and berry bushes. Sombra stepped into the shade of an oak tree and sat down, closing his eyes and saying nothing. Unsure, Midnight did the same, sitting next to his master, and wondering what this was about. “Tell me what your parents were like,” he asked, out of the blue. Midnight gaped at Sombra, wondering where this was coming from, but took a deep breath. “Well… My father is or perhaps was Ignitus Enflame, Captain of the Royal Guard.” “You speak of him as though he were no longer of this earth,” Sombra noted. “Ignitus hasn’t been seen or heard from for ten years,” Midnight said with a subtle bitterness in his voice Sombra almost didn’t detect. “Back when I was a little colt, he was… firm, disciplinary, but he was also kind and fun. He was proud and strong, his troops respected him and followed him without question… To be honest, in some ways he was a lot like you.” Sombra chuckled, feeling honored by the comparison, but then asked, “And… your mother?” “Faerie Tail…” Midnight thought of his mother, alive and yet unable to live. Every time he saw her in her condition, it broke his heart. “Beautiful in body and soul, she used to be the Royal Librarian. She loved books and she was an amazing storyteller. The way she read bedtime stories to me when I was little, it always made me feel like I was in the story itself! “And no matter how bad a day I had, just seeing her smile, that she was there for me, it made all my troubles just go away.” “...My wife gave me a record she personally made from a long time ago,” Sombra spoke up. “This record was of my lineage, and she gave me such a beautiful gift to go with it, a vision of the daughter I will never know and all the brave and daring sons and giving and beautiful daughters I had that came after her. “But the greatest gift and honor she gave me was the revelation of having you for a son.” Midnight gasped and looked at Sombra, who returned the gaze with the look of a father’s love. “So you know,” Midnight said, “that I am descended from your daughter Radiant Hope ...from you.” “And the blood we share through your father,” Sombra nodded with a warm smile. “I am not trying to replace him, Midnight, and I would never disrespect him by even trying. “I am merely saying it has filled me with deepest joy to know that I have family even in these modern times besides only my wife and sister-in-law.” “Master…” Midnight looked up at the pony who was his master, his ancestor, and right now, the closest thing he had to a father. “Celestia has informed me of your work and of those you command,” Sombra stated, giving Midnight a firm look. “And it seems to me the secrets are starting to trouble you.” “It’s more than just the secrets concerning the Brotherhood,” Midnight admitted, “it’s about my mother, and how my brother doesn’t even know she’s alive, what my friends will think of me when they find out everything… “Master… I’ve done so many terrible things, all in the interest of preserving peace and harmony in Equestria.” “Well, you’re a better stallion than I was, and still am,” Sombra replied. Midnight knew what Sombra was saying but didn’t interrupt. “I made so many mistakes, much of them monumental, and many of them I wish I could take back. At first, my own motivations were pure but soon enough they became less than so, enough for an ancient evil to drive me mad. “Had I accepted an alliance between my old empire and Celestia back then, so much could have turned out differently. But then where would we be now? Would you still be of my blood or would you have never existed? Would Celestia and I have made amends sooner or would we have never moved on and rekindled our spark? “In the end, Midnight, it doesn’t matter. All we can do is reflect upon the past, learn from it, and strive to live in the present, and look to the future with minds open and hopeful. “I’m not telling you what to do, but you should know; secrets carry great power by their very nature residing within the unknown. Secrets can be used against you, and while the obvious way of keeping a secret is to not tell anyone, there is ever a temptation of telling a secret, recording your secrets, and learning them. By that simple reason, sooner or later, all secrets come to light.” “So what are you saying?” Midnight asked, sounding wary. “I’m saying, my son, is the secrets you carry place a great burden upon you,” Sombra explained. “A burden you can ease by telling your friends the truth before they are made to know them without you having the chance to explain. It will be better if it comes from you, and you must have faith that as bad as you think your secrets are, your friends will not forsake you.” His master’s words had struck Midnight to the core, leaving him speechless. The answer he had given, simple yet hard, unclear yet obvious. He found himself wanting to confess all his secrets to his friends, only his common sense keeping him grounded, as he pondered, the when, the where, and the how. *BONG BONG BONG…* “Huh?!” Midnight and Sombra looked out to the city and with their pegasus eyes, they could see the distant clock tower, still bonging away the time, and Midnight realized the hour. “OH! I gotta go, I promised Soarin I’d see him off before he leaves for his test,” Midnight stood up, looking to Sombra. “Thank you, Master, you’ve given me much to consider!” *FLASH* Sombra chuckled, and simply lied back onto the grass, enjoying the shade and the fragrant garden air. Soarin made his way towards the University of Canterlot for his test. He knew he was prepared. He had studied endlessly, both alone and with Twilight. He was sure he would do fine, and he would be one step closer to his dream of working in the weather office. No… Not just working, running the office! Soarin though with his brows furrowed. There was no smile on his face. Seeing the reaction from the Wonderbolts and the hurtful words Dashie had said to him, he had a heavy heart. He knew Dashie had just been mad and lashing out. She was headstrong and didn’t always think through her actions, and she had a fierce temper, but he knew she hadn’t meant those things she said to him. Then why do they still hurt so much? He was interrupted from his thoughts when a pair of young unicorns bolted past him in a panic. Soarin managed only to catch the tail end of their frantic speech as the sped off. “…if we find a teacher or something maybe we won’t get in trouble!” “Who cares about that! If we don’t get help Canterlot is…!” Soarin gaze at them wide-eyed before he turned forwards where they had come from. A faint purplish magical beam seemed to waft into the air, like smoke rising from a fire. However he noticed with alarm that the clouds above were reacting very badly to the beam, darkening and giving off lightning sparks, colored the same magical purple color. All at once Soarin realized what had happened, and he took to the sky in a burst of speed, heading for the beam’s ground point. Those dumb-dumbs must have been fooling around with weather spells and combining them with some other type of magic without using any safeguards! If I don’t do something quickly those clouds will become a huge magical storm and Canterlot will be in big trouble! Soarin arrived at the scene, just as Midnight and several royal guards did. Whatever the unicorn students had been doing, the spell had almost completely faded now, all absorbed into the purple flashing clouds above, glowing rain droplets starting to fall. “Soarin, do you have any idea what is going on?!” Midnight called, winds starting to blow at high speed and buffeting those around them. “I don’t know exactly but I saw two young unicorns running off and it sounded like they started it! Probably some weather spell gone wrong after some poorly-done experimentation!” Midnight just grimaced, knowing just how dangerous it was to experiment with spells without knowing what you’re doing or taking proper safety measures. He signaled to the guards accompanying him and started to direct them, having them get civilians off the streets as they started to notice the menacing clouds above. “You have better knowledge of weather magic than I do, Soarin, so I’ll need your help to stop this! I’m going to have my guards set up a perimeter then we’ll…!” “Don’t worry about it, Prince Midnight, you have some pega-pros here to help!” Soarin and Midnight looked up to see the Wonderbolts hovering above them, led by Spitfire. It was Rapidfire who had spoken, looking rather cocky and ready to show off his new position. Soarin however was concerned. He knew damn well the Wonderbolts weren’t trained for this type of weather work. Sure they know how to work weather but they had only a basic understanding of weather mechanics. They didn’t understand weather combined with mismanaged spellcasting equaled a freakstorm of anomalous disaster! There was no way they could deal with this thing safely. “Spitfire, this isn’t a normal storm! You aren’t trained to deal with…!” Before Soarin could finish his warning, Spitfire turned a fierce glare on him, along with Fleetfoot and Rapidfire. “Hey, we’re professionals here, Soarin and we don’t need some quitter telling us how to do our jobs! So how about you sit tight and focus on your stupid studies while pegasi with integrity get this done!” Fleetfoot growled at him. Rapidfire snorted derisively, an almost betrayed look on his face when he stared down at Soarin. Soarin felt cowed under the fierce glares, while Midnight held a glare of his own. Spitfire however seemed to agree with her team, so without waiting for confirmation or even uttering a word, she took to the skies, her team flying right behind her. Spitfire led the team into a V-formation, using her own wake as a speed multiplier to help ward off the weather affects. Even just in the few moments it took to dismiss Soarin and rise to the sky, the storm clouds had turned violent, with massive winds threatening to tear them asunder and purple sparks bursting from the clouds, ready to roast them. The briefest twinge of worry flashed through the Captain’s mind before she dismissed it. She was a Wonderbolt, and unlike Soarin, Wonderbolts didn’t quit! With that in mind, she led the team towards the heart of the cloud, where the magical effect had first started to enhance the clouds. She could feel a wave of magic overpowering the air, almost radiating its dangerous effects. Deciding to try and break the cloud apart into smaller sections before it could continue to grow, the hotshot flier led her team straight into the cloud, trying to break through the center and create a shattering effect with their speed that would disperse the cloud fragments once they broke apart. Almost immediately things went dangerously wrong. While the V-formation gave them enough force to breach the cloud layer, they couldn’t break apart the thick cloud with the strike. Within however was absolute chaos. It was like every dangerous weather condition was forming within the clouds. Hail and sharp ice fragments whirled around, just ready to rip a pegasus to shreds. A red sand like substance flung about, almost looking like a cloud of smoke, the sandstorm affects just ready to grind away flesh. The gale force winds were even stronger within, twirling about like a miniature hurricane, somehow not tearing the clouds apart from within. But most dangerous of all was the magical purple lightning everywhere, like webs of energy. From the outside, only sparks and ominous glowing was visible, but within, it was devastating, looking almost like a crackling wall of electrical energy, striking everywhere, melting the hail and ice, and turning the red sand to glass. One wrong move, one twitch of a wing in the wrong direction, and it was game over. Spitfire was prideful and skilled, but she was far from stupid. She could tell immediately she and her team stood no chance dealing with the this thing. It seemed her team agreed, because without any command given, all the `Bolts scattered, flying about in every direction looking for an exit to escape the spiraling death storm around them. Fleetfoot dived below a hail cloud and narrowly zigzagged through the slicing shards before barrel-rolling out of the cloud bank and back into the open sky. Surprise attempted to copy her, but a bolt of lightning slashed past her and she was forced to pull up to avoid becoming a piece of fried pegasus. Wind Waker dove about left and right, his face in a blind panic and his greenness completely on display. He managed to swerve around the sand storm and out before his tears of fear blinded him. Spitfire watched as her team panicked and floundered, all breaking for an exit as fast as they could. An overwhelming anger flared through her. These were the Wonderbolts! The best of the best! Why were they unable to deal with this!? Her common sense kicked in and she zoomed forward before a lightning strike could nail her. Several more chased her tail, singing the hairs, but she was concentrating far too much to care right then. The ice shards and the sand seem to create a helix affect that threatened to rip her to pieces from both sides, but she didn’t earn the rank of captain for nothing! With a burst of speed she raced past the initial wave and rode the hurricane winds through the colliding weather, boosting herself as fast as she could go. Then, with one final push, she slammed through the cloud layer and into open sky, just barely escaping a colossal lightning strike that burst out behind her. She let out a sigh of relief and started to look around to assess the status of her team. Fleetfoot had made it to ground and Surprise wasn’t far behind. The Wind Waker had wrapped himself around a fluffy white cloud and wouldn’t let go. Everypony else seemed okay but… wait… where was Rapidfire? Where was her little brother?! A loud cry made her eyes open wide with fear and she swung around to see a silhouette of a pegasus lit up like a Hearth’s Warming tree as a lightning bolt slammed into him. A smell of smoke and burning filled the air as Rapidfire dropped from the cloud bank, his fur charred and burned on the right side of his barrel and his right wing’s feathers breaking apart from fire, a trail of smoke and cloud outlining his fall. The injured pegasus dropped like a stone, completely unconscious and unable to save himself if he could. Spitfire zoomed towards him as fast as she could fly, but she knew she wasn’t close enough to make the catch. Below, her team and several pegasus royal guards took to the sky, but they were slow starting and knew they wouldn’t be able to slow the fallen pegasus’ velocity. Just as it seemed Rapidfire was doomed to become a pancake on the Canterlot streets, an aura of turquoise blue surrounded him with a protective embrace, and slowed him to a gentle stop, placing him safely in front of Midnight, his horn ignited and his expression grave. “Rapid! Rapid, are you OK?!” Spitfire zoomed to her downed teammate, her brother, and knelt in front of him. However while he was breathing, Rapidfire was in bad shape, unconscious and severely injured. “Come on, Rapid, wake up dammit!” “Guards, get him to the hospital ASAP!” Midnight barked at the guards accompanying him. “Commander Rapidfire needs immediate medical attention.” At Midnight’s command two of his guard retinue rushed forward and took a hold of the downed pegasus. Gently, they held him between them and took flight, flying as fast as they dared to the hospital. Spitfire just watched as he was taken, pain and guilt in her eyes. She knew she had failed in her mission, and worse, gotten her brother seriously hurt. While she sat there, Midnight took a look over the rest of the Wonderbolts who had all regathered, watching as their teammate was flown away, all feeling the same pain as Spitfire, blaming themselves for their inability to get the job done and being unable to help their teammate before it was too late. The alicorn just gave an irritated sigh. As much as the Wonderbolt Captain’s earlier arrogance had annoyed him, they were still the strongest fliers present, and the best chance at stopping the worsening storm above. He couldn’t risk adding his own alicorn magic to the storm, lest it become absorbed like the unicorn magic from earlier and make it far, far worse. He grimaced as he heard ponies around panicking. Those that hadn’t already evacuated, or had ignored the guards warnings, looked up in horror as the black clouds started to burst, their deadly effects within breaching the cloud wall. Purple lightning cracked through the air, taking out a roof top point and starting a fire. Sand sliced through the air fast enough to break off walls and injuring several ponies too slow to react. Razor shards of ice rained down, smashing windows, damaging walls and sending ponies scattering about in all directions to avoid being cut to pieces. Gale force winds growing stronger and stronger, threatening to throw ponies into the air and knock them about. All of this while blisteringly cold rain pelted down, like a curtain of darkness. Midnight struggled to think of a plan, when suddenly, everything happened. Or rather, Soarin happened. The blue stallion had stood rigid as Rapidfire, who had been his closest friend in the Wonderbolts, had been injured, watching like his ex-teammates as he had been flown off, and witnessing Spitfire speechless and guilty. Anger welled up within him and before he could help himself he moved forwards and punched his commander in the face, knocking her to the ground. This snapped the captain out of her funk and she growled and pulled herself up, ready to throw her own attack at Soarin, when she froze. She had known Soarin for years now, and never had she seen such intensity, such rage in his eyes. It gave her pause. “You BUCKING idiot!! I tried to warn you that you had no chance dealing with that storm! But noooo! The great Spitfire doesn’t need my help! No, she’ll once again show off and pretend she’s the greatest thing to ever come from Cloudsdale and ignore all common sense to be the hero!” The enraged stallion grabbed a hold of her uniform and dragged the very startled Spitfire nose to nose with himself. All around the rest of the Wonderbolts were gobsmacked and Midnight, while certainly pleased to see Spitfire being taken down a notch after her reckless leadership just now, was really unsure where this was going and needed to get things moving lest all of Canterlot fall apart. “I was a Wonderbolt just as long as you before I left and I know you, Spitfire! Time after time you do this! Put your pride and your arrogance before everything else and it always comes back to bite you in the ass! I don’t know whether it’s because of your self-deprecating need to live up to your grandfather’s legacy or if you are just that narcissistic a pony but right now lives are at stake, so it stops now! It stops and for once in your life you shut up and listen to somepony who knows what they are doing!” He unceremoniously dropped her then turned to his former team who all just stared in complete shock, just trying to understand how their laid back easy going Soarin had just mustered that absolutely crushing speech to their Captain. “Look, I realize that since I chose to leave the `Bolts things aren’t good between us anymore. But right now I need you guys to listen! Even before I resigned, I have been studying weather conditions, natural, artificial, and magical. I’ve always wanted to work with the weather department and help oversee the skies of Equestria. The Wonderbolts only have the most basic weather knowledge to work with. To the `Bolts, the most important thing has always been speed, not weather control. But I know weather. I know about the different weather conditions above. I know how to handle a sandstorm or a hail shower, or a hurricane and even how to deal with that magically-charged lightning!” Soarin stepped closer, not realizing that his tirade had silenced any words from Spitfire, and that the rest of the bolts were listening, while Midnight, started to let the ghost of a smile form on his muzzle. “Right now, all of Canterlot is in danger. I need you to follow my lead and help me stop this. I know how to stop it, but I can’t do it alone. I realize working together again will be hard, but cooperation isn’t always easy. But something you need to understand. Something the `Bolts haven’t understood for a long time. That you aren’t just Equestria’s best flying squadron. You’re also one of the greatest teams in Equestria, period! It might not be easy, but if we work together. If you can work with me, work with each other, completely, we can stop this. We can stop this storm and save Canterlot! …So c’mon, guys. What do you say?” The team all listened, and hesitated up until Silver Lining stepped forward, his expression inscrutable. “I said it before but now I’m saying it in front of the team… Ever since you left, Soarin, the Wonderbolts are poorer without you. It takes serious balls to go your own way but it takes some big heavy brass ones to call others out on their piss-poor decisions.” Hearing that made Spitfire look away in shame but then Silver added, “How can those we care about improve if we don’t point out their faults?” Spitfire looked at Silver, bewildered at the smug but caring look he was giving her as he helped her to her hooves. “Captain Spitfire, I served under your grandfather long enough to know one thing. You will never be Hellfire… because you’re supposed to be Spitfire!” “I-I don’t understand,” Spitfire uttered. “What Silver means, Spitfire,” Midnight spoke up, “is that you should stop trying to be your grandfather and start being you! You’re supposed to carve your own mark, do things your own way.” “You’re a good captain, Spitfire,” Silver nodded with narrowed eyes, “but you’ll never be a great one unless you knock off the feeling that you should lead by Hellfire’s example! “He had his way, it’s time you found your own.” All eyes were on Spitfire, waiting for her orders, and Spitfire considered everything she’d just been told. For starters, Soarin was right. The Wonderbolts only had basic training in weather-control since their advanced aerial acrobatics, flying maneuvers, and aerial speed was where they truly shined. They had never trained to handle weather like this. That left only once choice… “Soarin…” Spitfire said, “I can’t lead the `Bolts effectively in this situation. But you can!” To everypony’s surprise, Spitfire wing-saluted Soarin, “What’s the plan?” Silver chuckled proudly at the mare who he’d watched grow up from a little filly and followed her example, saluting Soaring, “I trained you well enough to trust you to lead us through hell.” Soarin was in awe as the rest of the `Bolts saluted him, ready and willing to follow his lead. Then Midnight stepped forward and his horn lit up as he smirked, “Which means you’re gonna need these!” In a burst of turquoise light, a Wonderbolt flight suit and pair of goggles appeared, and Soarin looked at Midnight who gave him a salute as well. Smiling gratefully, Soarin suited up, strapped on the goggles, and he found it surprisingly good to be back in uniform. He looked to his old teammates, as they formed a line, ready to receive orders. Soarin had led before but never in this capacity and never for something like this! But there was no backing out. The ponies of Canterlot needed the Wonderbolts and the Wonderbolts needed him to lead them. Taking a deep breath, he began. “Listen up, everypony! Right now, that storm above us is still brewing, and if we don’t break it up it’s liable to grow worse or even spread! The Wonderbolts have dealt with weather before but never anything like this! I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, this is gonna be dangerous but you’ve already seen that for yourselves. “However! I trained and flown alongside each of you, led some of you, and I’ve seen each and every one of you do great things! But y’know what? As amazing as each of us are as individuals, it’s when we fly together when we are truly at our best! “Together is how we’ll overcome this storm! Together is how we’ll save Canterlot! Together… what are we?” Soarin gave his old team a hard look and they got the idea. “We are Wonderbolts!” “Are you all hard of hearing or do you need me to GRAB YOUR UNMENTIONABLES AND GIVE `EM A TWIST?! I’ll ask again: Together, what are we?!” “WE ARE WONDERBOLTS!” “Then let’s stop this storm and save Canterlot!” With that Soarin lowered his goggles over his eyes, spread his wings, determination plastered all over his face and he rocketed into the sky. He looked behind him to see a v-formation had formed and his old… his team was all there. Then he felt a presence beside him to find Spitfire flying there, a harshness on her muzzle. But after a moment of staring, she said nothing, just nodded her head in respect, and let her angry frown fade into a smile before dropping back to complete the formation, leaving Soarin to lead the charge. Soarin nodded his thanks and felt a powerful warmth in his chest. It had been a while now since he had flown with the Bolts, but even when with them, there had always been a disconnect. A desire to fly and be the best individual. Now, they were flying together, as a team that none could best. For the first time, Soarin felt their camaraderie, and it felt amazing.