//------------------------------//
// Chapter 134: The Longest Day 
// Story: Piercing the Heavens 
// by Calm Wind 
//------------------------------//

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 134: The Longest Day





Dash felt a sudden, unexpected feeling of relief wash over her the moment she and Soarin left the emergency care room. It didn’t take long for Soarin to take notice. While Dash’s posture didn’t change much beneath his wing, Dash’s expression shifted. She took a few breaths before facing forward as they walked closely behind Spitfire through the infirmary.

Dash even surprised herself a little. It was if some of the weight was lifted off of her shoulders. There would be no true rest for her on the subject until Silver received full attention at their destination, but simply facing him in his current state won half the battle against her current anxiety within the situation.

Now things just had to get moving in general… and they kept up behind Spitfire, drawing looks from the other Wonderbolts as they made their way towards Luna. However, they were unsure of what was about to happen. 

Spitfire mentioned confronting Luna, but about what? Both Soarin and Dash had a feeling it was something about decision making,  but the way Spitfire brought it up and the way she was walking with authority and confidence suggested there was something more to it, perhaps something personal?

As they closed in on Luna, P.L. didn’t look up from her, but the rest of the thestrals suddenly glared at them, as if the approach by Spitfire was all they needed to see to go on the defensive. P.L. didn’t do the same until the thestrals started quietly hissing and growling.

P.L. lifted an eyebrow as he saw Spitfire completely ignore his thestrals, even as one of them leaned forward and bared her teeth right in Spitfire’s face. She simply stepped around the mare and looked right towards P.L.

“P, I need to speak to Luna.” Spitfire asked in a strict tone. P.L. narrowed his eyes as he glanced behind her at Soarin and Dash briefly. He snorted as he examined Spitfire’s body language. 

“About what?” he demanded to know, but only received a glare from Spitfire. “Hmph, later, she needs rest,” P.L. denied, but then jumped slightly as Luna reached out and tapped a hoof on his side.

“Captain… We are well enough to speak now,” she explained as P.L. quickly turned around to face her. “Please, let her through,” she ordered as she slowly lifted her head up from the table.

“As you say, my lady,” P.L. instantly complied and stepped back, the rest of the thestrals obeying as well as Spitfire stepped up. Soarin and Rainbow Dash hovered behind her with several others around them turning to see what was going on. 

“Captain Spitfire,” Luna began with a weak nod of acknowledgement as Spitfire stepped right up to her. “Please tell us what happened out there, we have yet to hear the full story,” she requested while glancing around at the hurt top tier elites and squad Foxtrot.

“Have you been told about Nightshade’s appearance?” Spitfire asked, interjecting. Luna blinked and tipped her head, but nodded again. “Then there’s really nothing else to say. She appeared, we were unprepared, and I was lucky I was out flying or else we may have lost everypony sitting here being treated right now,” Spitfire explained, keeping it short and to the point, but Luna didn’t seem satisfied.

“But—”

“If you want more specific details, I don’t have them. You’ll have to ask the others,” she explained, cutting off Luna and earning glares from P.L. and the thestrals surrounding her. “We have more important things to address right now… starting with how things have been progressing. You can’t solve a problem without first acknowledging what’s causing it, so we’re going to be making several changes to our approach effective immediately.”

Spitfire’s words caused a little bit of a stir among those around them. Wonderbolt and medical staff alike were sharing glances, wondering what Spitfire was going to say. Soarin and Dash watched curiously as Luna tipped her head again, this time in confusion as she was continued to be met by Spitfire’s determined eyes.

“What… dost thou mean?”  Luna asked in a slightly anxious tone. Spitfire didn’t reply for a moment, she looked over her shoulder, locking eyes first with Soarin, and then with Rainbow Dash. She took a deep breath before turning back to Luna, making sure her strict, adamant expression remained firm on her face. 

“I have not been performing my duties as captain the way I should be… I’ve been leaning on and caving to voices of outside authority or insight, and because of that… things have been deteriorating fast. With the appearance of Nightshade, our current state spells doom for us no matter how or when we face her,” Spitfire took a breath, exhaling loudly through her nostrils. “There is only one way to fight Nightshade… and with the way things are now, we don’t stand a chance. So…” Spitfire stood as upright as possible, her posture showing strength and resolve. “I’m sorry, Luna, but it’s time for me to take back complete control.”

Luna blinked, P.L. and the thestrals all turning to look at her as a silence extended between them.

“What…?” Luna again expressed her bewilderment.

But Spitfire didn’t say anything else to Luna.

She turned to Soarin instead… and glanced up at the horn before looking him in the eye.

“Soarin, there’s something you need to know about the state of the false horn,” Spitfire began. The focus in the room instantly became split. Some kept their eyes on Spitfire, but a few were drawn away as Luna suddenly gasped and her eyes went wide. Soarin was briefly distracted by Luna’s reaction, but immediately refocused on Spitfire. The horn? Something he had to know? Dash immediately flinched and looked up at the horn, looking back and forth between Soarin and Spitfire in a sudden panic urged on by the fear that she was about to be told something… bad. It was a fear that was mixed with a slight hidden anger that began to bubble up… and was bound to be difficult to hold back if it was yet something else that had been kept from them.

“After we returned from rescuing Wave Chill,” Spitfire kept going, drawing attention back to her as Luna started shuffling and trying to move. P.L. reached out to her, but she pushed his arm aside. “Discord wasn’t entirely truthful about the horn.”

“WAIT!” Luna’s voice boomed, getting up into the octaves of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “STOP! ARGH!” She hit the octaves, causing the room to shake, but then she immediately cringed, dropping her head down to the table as her horn sputtered and shot small weak blips of light.

“MY LADY!” P.L. yelled as he quickly reached towards her and looked her over, completely ignoring Spitfire.

“Wh…What?!” Soarin blinked, his jaw dropping as Spitfire immediately dropped the fact that Discord had lied to him. “What’s this about?!” he demanded to know as he glanced up at the horn. Dash’s eyes were stuck wide open and her mouth hanging slightly agape as she stared at Spitfire and waited for more, a scene playing out behind Spitfire of Luna fighting back her own magical headaches as she tried to regain her composure. But Spitfire wasn’t going to let anything stop her. That much was clear.

“Luna came to me after Discord dragged her away and through the wall of my office,” she continued. “And revealed to her that he had lied, giving her the truth of the situation. She then came to me and dropped the information on me, which put me into a bind that I ultimately mishandled under pressure.” Spitfire shook her head. “The reason I was incredibly tough on you and forced you into a scenario where you were restrained and ordered to stay behind… is because your horn is in an incredibly fragile state.”

She paused as it sunk in, both Soarin and Dash reacting in shock. The horn being damaged was not new information to them, but if this was being kept from them, there was likely more to it than they had been told. With Luna growling and yelling in pain behind her, Spitfire continued.

“According to Discord, your horn is one well-placed hit away from completely shattering and the only thing that can reinforce it in its current state to prevent a terrible accident from happening is your emotional state and your effort to keep a level head. If you were to lose control of your emotions, whether it be through adrenaline or anger, and then take a direct hit to the horn… it will break.”

The room went silent, even Luna stopped grunting and struggling. It was clear that Spitfire had gotten out everything that Luna wished to prevent her from saying.  Both Dash and Soarin were frozen, trying to process the information. Everypony around them found themselves caught in the revelation as well. While it didn’t directly affect them, they were getting insight on what had caused Spitfire’s earlier behavior.

“That’s why—”

“CAPTAIN SPITFIRE!!!!!!” Luna’s voice surged outward, cutting off Spitfire as she held down her magical reactions through sheer force of will and mind power. She was glaring towards Spitfire with her eyes glowing, her horn alight, and her teeth grinding together. P.L. immediately stepped aside, removing herself from in between Luna and Spitfire, the rest of the thestrals shifting backwards in fear as Luna’s anger boiled over and punched through her pain. “HAST THOU LOST THY MIND?!” Luna’s voice was so fierce that P.L. and the thestrals began cringing in pain, their heightened sense of hearing working against them as Luna yelled. Spitfire did not react now show any fear what-so-ever as she slowly turned around and faced Luna. “DID YOU NOT TAKE HEED OUR WARNINGS OF THE HORRORS THAT WILL BE UNLEASHED IF—!”

While Luna’s display of anger and her booming voice were intimidating, everypony in the room nearly leapt into the air in surprise as Spitfire suddenly slammed a hoof as hard as she could to the ground, a loud CRASH bouncing, echoing, and resonating through the room, the walls, and the ceiling.

“LUNA!” Spitfire yelled in a voice so loud and strong that it sounded like the Royal Canterlot Voice without the omnipotent tones behind it. The way she yelled mixed with her hoof striking the floor and the hard step she took towards Luna shocked everypony and even managed to silence Luna, the goddess of the moon freezing in shock as Spitfire made the move to assert herself. “THAT’S ENOUGH!” she yelled, as she took a second step, putting her right in front of Luna.

Luna remained frozen, but her guards and P.L. did not. Now free of Luna’s booming voice, Spitfire’s advances earned her growls and hissing as the thestrals rushed and tried to force their way in front of her, but they were batted aside as P.L. shoved his way in front of all of them, stood tall over Spitfire, his teeth bared as he glared down at Spitfire as fiercely as he could.

“HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO THE PRINCESS WITH SUCH DISRESPECT!” he roared down at Spitfire, his deep, intimidating voice taking on the tone he used to order around the thestrals back in the cavern.

Spitfire stood completely still as P.L.’s voice rushed past her, but she didn’t yell back, she just scrunched up her face and glared RIGHT back up at him as she started picking up one of her hooves.

“P…” she began in a much quieter tone, reaching her hoof up to his chest and placing it firmly on his armor. “GET… OUT… OF… MY… WAY.” She spoke at a natural volume, but she poured as much emphasis into each word as she could, driving home her point to P.L. that the exchange had nothing to do with him.

But P.L. did not comply. Despite Luna’s orders to obey Spitfire, he refused to move out of the way, instead growling louder as he began leaning forwards, trying to cast a shadow over Spitfire. But Spitfire did NOT have it.

“THAT’S AN ORDER!!!!!!!!!!!!” Spitfire barked up at him, pushing harder on his chest to prevent his attempt to literally stand over her.

P.L.’s eyes changed several times, shifting, almost twitching between being open wide and a narrow glare as Spitfire gave him a strong reminder that he was under her orders… per order of his liege. He looked incredibly conflicted, his orders and his personal code of ethics clashing. Spitfire suddenly increased the pressure she was applying to his chest and actually forced him to pick up his back hoof and reach it slightly backwards to brace himself.

He continued to grind his teeth, glancing over his shoulder to see Luna had not moved and was still in a state of slight shock. Her eyes were still filled with anger, but it looked like Spitfire’s assertion had run Luna’s will to fight right into a brick wall.

P.L. slammed his eyes shut and grunted as his orders eventually suppressed his will to stand between them. He stepped aside and allowed Spitfire to move in. But even though he caved, he did not remove his glare from Spitfire, snarling at her as she stepped past him and approached Luna.

“If you lay a single hoof on her, YOU’RE DEAD.” P.L. threatened, but Spitfire didn’t even face him.

“Relax, Snowflake, I don’t need to,” Spitfire shot back.

“What did you just call me?” P.L. growled loudly, but Spitfire completely ignored him and focused all of her attention on Luna.

Luna was still giving her the hardest stare she could muster, and her lips were quivering as if she wanted to berate her further, but Spitfire was not going to give her the chance. It was time to put her hoof down, and she wasn’t going to let Luna speak over her… not any more.

“Luna,” Spitfire began, keeping her tone of voice firm, solid, and without any signs of hesitation. “You can glare and yell and me all you want, but I’m drawing the line right here and right now.” She sharply pointed a hoof at Luna, stopping just short of touching her. Luna flinched, pulling her head back slightly in surprise. P.L. and the thestrals all inched forwards, but stopped, holding themselves back when they noticed Spitfire had not touched her. Luna blinked, staring at Spitfire’s hoof for a moment before looking right back into the powerful gaze being thrust upon her. “I’m DONE with being told what to do,” Spitfire continued. “I’m DONE letting you convince me what you think is ‘for the best’ and how I should handle situations. It’s my duty as the captain of the Wonderbolts to make choices and decisions that I feel is right for the force. I answer to the higher authorities of your royalty, but it’s up to me to make a judgment on what you ask of me as well. It’s time I made that judgment!” Her sharp words were clearly cutting into Luna, her eyes were wavering, her signs of anger were fading as if being beaten down by Spitfire’s voice. “From this point forward, I am no longer going to be making choices solely based on what you feel is right… and that goes double for that sorry excuse for a narcissistic chaos-snake god. The choices and actions you immortals have pushed upon us have continuously gotten us nowhere and you know it!”

Any and all traces of Luna’s will to fight back had completely vanished. She was now leaning even further back, her eyes wide and no longer glowing, her magic completely suppressed, and her jaw slightly agape, with a quivering bottom lip.

“You’ve gotten us out of binds, sure… but you know what? Those binds may not have been there had you let me DO MY JOB! You and Discord have done nothing but throw wrenches into our efforts, put us in constant disadvantages, and forced us to fly into danger with one wing tied behind our back time and time again! Playing it safe and holding certain things back has gotten us nowhere and has kept us guessing and reacting instead of knowing and acting! Your efforts to continuously intervene and dictate what’s happening have yet to end well ONCE!  You CAN’T deny that!”

She stopped for a moment, letting it all sink in as Luna remained frozen in shock.  A princess known for her incredibly powerful voice was utterly speechless.

“From this point onward, I’m following MY judgment,” Spitfire rapped her hoof against the floor as she made it perfectly clear. “Not yours, not Discord’s, not ANYPONY else’s! We’ve been doing it your way, and we all see where that’s gotten us. As the captain of the Wonderbolts, it’s my duty to lead, not to bend over backwards or follow. So it’s time I lived up to my duties.” With Luna still stuck on the ropes, Spitfire took a deep breath and gave her a hard nod. “The Shadowbolts are a threat to Equestria, but thus far they have only been coming after us. The Wonderbolts have been taking the full brunt of their aggression. So since the Wonderbolts are MY responsibility, we are going to do things MY way. Understand?” she leaned forward while narrowing her eyes further at Luna.

It was all such a spectacle for the present Wonderbolts to take in. All the top elites and squad Foxtrot had front row seats to watch their captain effectively lay down the law to one of the most powerful ponies in Equestria. Soarin was in awe of Spitfire’s control and authority… and hoped she would channel this while addressing the entire force later, but Dash? The scene brought something else to Dash’s mind. Before Nightshade appeared, part of the conversation she had with Silver was about Spitfire’s state and her actions. Specifically, she was recalling the part where Silver detailed how it’s not good to let authority go unchecked, and Spitfire needed to question authority above her just like the rest of them should if she was acting out of turn. 

But right now it looked like they didn’t need to step in at all… because the true Spitfire was back, and she was doing exactly what Silver said she needed to do.

But not everypony in the room was thrilled.

“THAT’S FAR ENOUGH!”  P.L. finally lost his restraint. Spitfire quickly put up a hoof to guard herself as P.L. forced his way forwards and thrust his right wing out to shove Spitfire back. Spitfire stumbled two steps before lowering her guard and setting her hooves down… but she didn’t glare at him, she just looked at him with strict disapproval as P.L. turned and faced her.

“P…” Spitfire began with a light growl. “Do I have to remind you AGAIN who is in charge here? Luna told you to follow my orders so I suggest you do that.”

“I have my orders…” P.L. snarled as he shook his head. “But I will not allow you to speak down to the royalty I serve! My orders do not take precedent to my oath to serve and protect my lady!”

The air in the room tensed to a suffocating level as P.L.’s thestrals quickly took his side, all of them hissing at Spitfire. The Wonderbolts were not able to rush to Spitfire’s side.

“Son of a bitch…” Soarin growled as he saw them all bearing down at Spitfire. 

“Wait, Soarin!” Dash flinched as Soarin ripped away from her side and advanced towards the standoff, determined to stand by Spitfire. But he stopped halfway there when…

“Captain… Stop it…” Luna suddenly spoke up before anything could happen. P.L. immediately stopped growling at Spitfire, blinked, and turned around.

“My lady…?” he asked as he examined her. She was looking down at the bed, her body posture very weak as she began to slump down. She rested her chin down on her hooves as she took a deep breath.

“We are… greatly ashamed to admit it, but…” Luna closed her eyes and sighed. “There is truth to Captain Spitfire’s words.”

The hostile air of the room had faded completely, the thestrals all reacting the same as their captain as Luna admitted fault. P.L. looked absolutely astonished as if he was unwilling to believe or accept that his liege has just confirmed weakness or imperfection. Luna looked up at him, but could barely hold her eyes on his long enough because of the shock written all over his face.

“We have been putting our hoof down and making decisions based on what we believed would be best,” Luna explained. “We believed it was our duty to guide the course of events, to lead everypony through the conflict and give sage guidance the way our sister would have, but…” she paused and sighed again, this one lasting much longer. “Captain Spitfire is correct. Our efforts have been ineffective. We’ve yet to achieve any sort of success within what we’ve willed upon them. What do we have to show for it all? Ponies have died, irreversible damage has been done, and we’ve never found any salvation, always stuck in one bind after another. Perhaps it’s time we stepped aside…” She shook her head slowly. “First, we tried to handle it without the Wonderbolts, then we slipped into feeling sorry for ourselves and wishing our sister would guide us. We tried to pull ourselves out by taking firm control and being the voice of authority, but now we wonder if we’ve only been making the wrong choices over and over again.”

Luna paused briefly before turning and looking past P.L. towards Spitfire. 

“Throughout this long ordeal, there has only been one success. It was when Captain Spitfire took direct control and led a bold, fearless operation to rescue Wave Chill from the Shadowbolt Fortress. The moment we asserted ourselves again… it all went downhill once more.”

P.L. looked like he didn’t know what to say or think, he just kept glancing back and forth between Spitfire and Luna with his eyes and mouth stuck open wide.

“We believe that one moment of victory has proven something,” Luna nodded as she kept looking towards Spitfire. “It’s clear… who is truly fit to lead. And… it’s… not me.” Luna finished while noticeably dropping the old Canterlot speech to refer directly to herself.

“I…” P.L. sputtered, staring at Luna as she shifted and turned her head to face away from everypony. “I…”

“Luna…”  Spitfire chimed in, taking hold of the opportunity to make something very clear to her. “What’s done is done. What has happened so far is not as important as what we do now. Be critical of yourself if you must, but we are facing forward, understand?” she said while putting a hoof to her eyes and moving it out in front of her. “I’m taking over full command and plan to use everything at my disposal to get us on the right track… and I’m expecting you to be part of the equation.”

Luna picked her head up and blinked, surprised as if she expected Spitfire to tell her just to completely stay out. P.L. suddenly found his hooves again and growled at Spitfire. Spitfire sighed and glanced at him.

“Really? You’re going to do that again?” Spitfire asked with slight annoyance.

“You chastise her… and then ask her to work with you?” P.L. threw his hoof out angrily.

“Yes,” Spitfire answered simply. P.L. blinked, his face going blank for a moment before he scrunched up his face.

“But… what… you…”

“If she wants to get out of this alive, she better cooperate,” Spitfire said while lifting her brow and tipping her head towards Luna. “We’re not going to continue things the way we’ve been doing them. I’m going to be calling the shots…” She slowly looked back towards Luna. “And she’s a divine alicorn. I’d be stupid if I didn’t want to use her.”

“Then show her some more respect!” P.L. demanded empathetically 

“Then SHE… better respect my authority,” Spitfire made clear, earning another angry look, but she shrugged it off. “Face it P.L., this is my force, and this is my house you’re standing in,” she said as she tapped her hoof to the floor. “You can’t come into my house, kick my dog, empty my fridge, and start making demands, got it?” she asked, earning a few snickers from around the room. P.L. closed his mouth, muffling the growls as his eyes twitched. He scoffed, kicked a hoof against the floor and turned away to face the wall. “I’m glad we agree,” Spitfire said with a deceptively cheerful tone.

Luna had lowered herself back down, but was still looking towards Spitfire with curiosity. She was feeling the blows from Spitfire’s assertion, but she still wanted her help? She almost felt privileged to be considered after what had just been laid out. She blinked as Spitfire stepped forwards and placed a hoof beside her on the table.

“Rest up, Princess,” Spitfire gave her a nod, her voice housing a bit of softness that was completely missing a moment ago. “Report to me when you are ready. You were a big help during our rescue mission and I’d like to use you further, but…” she lifted her hoof and pointed, but it wasn’t a sharp point. The movement was slow and natural. “You’re going to be considered a passenger and a volunteer, and will be following my directions as one.”

As Spitfire pulled away, she looked towards P.L. He was looking over his shoulder at them, but when Spitfire caught him, he quickly looked back at the wall and grunted. Spitfire just rolled her eyes before moving back towards Soarin, the regular activity in the infirmary continuing as the scene ended.





Despite everything that just went on in front of him, Soarin found himself mostly focused on one specific part. Spitfire was taking back control from Luna and Discord, that’s all he needed to know and felt good about that… but…

What the hell had he just heard about his horn? About his wellbeing? About just how much danger he was in?

To top it off, had he avoided the trap Nightshade set and fought her in his current state… and then taken a hit to the horn…

Was a major disaster just narrowly avoided by pure luck? Not that what happened to Silver was any better... but from the looks of things, they’re lucky Silver’s situation was all that happened. 

Spitfire was moving towards him now, but he was still trying to process it all. The integrity of his horn was tied to his emotions? He remembered what Fancy Pants had told him during their training sessions, how emotions can have an effect on magic and casting and how the magic reacted when used. Was the horn damaged to the point where magic leaked out or sputtered just based on how he was feeling? His anger that spilled out when he tried to break free of Nightshade’s magic prison caused a small chip of the horn to pop off… and it wasn’t even touched…

Soarin blinked as he felt something brush up against his side, it was slightly cold. He looked down to see Dash brushing up against him, the ice bag on her wings touching him as she looked up at him with eyes that absolutely killed him on the inside. She looked just about as worried and concerned as she could possibly be, her eyes locked on the horn. Soarin just kept staring at her, his instincts telling him to offer her words of reassurance, but how could he possibly do that? He didn’t even understand exactly what was going on with him. It would just be empty words. This was a serious situation and trying to dance around it would be a mistake.

“I’m sorry I kept it from you…” Spitfire’s voice brought both of their attention forward as she stopped and sat down before them. There was quite a shift in her demeanor. The stern, steadfast leader that just shrugged off the growling faces of the thestrals and verbally pile drove one of the divine royal sisters seemed to step aside in favor of another Spitfire Soarin knew well, the caring friend. She took no position of dominance, sitting instead of standing, her expression soft and her eyes showing regret. “It was stupid to be secretive, and it didn’t help anypony. I admit complete fault in the way I decided to handle the situation… and I apologize. But there you go,” she motioned to Luna behind them. “It doesn’t make what I did right, but at least you know my reasoning for being so strict, as misguided as it was.”

Soarin didn’t know what to say for a few moments. In fact, he wondered if he’d be able to muster the will to say anything else for the rest of the day. This had been the most chaotic, most ridiculous, and most terrifying day of his life, easily. And that was quite something considering everything that had already happened up to this point. 

And now here was Spitfire, sitting in front of him, apologizing… which he appreciated, but he felt like he had just hit the brake section of an old roller coaster and his body got whiplashed so hard against the restraint that it knocked all the wind out of him.

If he had his way right now, he’d simply flop down on the floor and go to sleep. That’s how much he just wanted the day to be over already.

But despite it finally being the evening, he didn’t have that option. He had caught onto Spitfire’s change in demeanor, and though he was exhausted, he had to acknowledge what was happening. Nothing good would come from simply saying ‘screw it’ for the night.

He opened his mouth to speak, finding the will despite how he was feeling, but he paused and blinked, lifting an eyebrow as he realized something.

“Wait… but… you let me come along just now to meet the thestrals even though you knew about this?” he asked, his curiosity pushing itself in front of his acceptance of her apology. His nose twitched when he realized his poor choice of order for his thoughts, but he made a mental note to accept it right after.

Spitfire shook her head.

“I didn’t believe we were going to have any more trouble after Nightshade retreated,” she explained. “The rest of the Shadowbolts were not around, and even if they were, I don’t think their leader retreating would keep them out and about. I made a judgment call, and let you come along. Though I admit to regretting it for a moment when I was sure the thestrals were going to attack us. We’re lucky Dash had her wits about her.”

“Well… I appreciate that at least,” Soarin said with a sigh as he realized what this probably meant. Just when he thought he finally had some leeway and Spitfire would let him partake in the action, this more or less solidified that wouldn’t be the case. But now that he knew what the real reason was… it was for the better, right? He wasn’t sure how to feel about it. “And apology accepted. Sorry, I should have said that first,” Soarin added while rubbing the back of his head lightly.

“Thanks for understanding,” Spitfire smiled weakly at him. “It was really—”

“What did Discord say about the horn?” Dash suddenly cut her off, removing herself from Soarin’s side and stepping right up to Spitfire. “Did Luna say anything else? Please, tell me!” Dash fired the questions rapidly, an intense and desperate concern in her voice. Spitfire shook her head.

“I—”

“TELL ME!” Dash cut her off again before she could even start, reaching up to grab Spitfire’s shoulders tightly and almost pressing their noses together. Spitfire’s eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly lifted her hooves and placed them over Dash’s. 

“Dash… let me speak please,” she said firmly, but not harshly. Dash swallowed and put her hooves back on the floor. “Thank you,” Spitfire nodded before continuing. “Everything I told you is what Luna told me, and she was only repeating to me what Discord told her, or at least that’s what she claimed. I can’t tell you any more than that.”

Dash’s ears immediately flopped down as her lips curved downward into an intense frown that exposed her slightly gritted teeth. Spitfire placed a hoof on Dash’s shoulder.

“Look, Dash… We’ll figure out how to go about this, but I’ll make sure everything is fine…” she trailed off, but the reassurance didn’t seem to have any effect on Dash’s emotional state. Spitfire wasn’t surprised. 

After all, she knew exactly what it felt like to have a loved one in danger through means that were beyond her control.

Confident there was nothing else she could say to Dash, Spitfire turned her attention back to Soarin.

“While we’re on the subject…” she stood up and stepped around Dash, stopping and glancing at her as she released a long sigh and placed her hooves on her forehead. It looked like Dash was calming down a little, perhaps because panicking or being overly worried wasn’t going to help. Spitfire left Dash to her thoughts as she faced Soarin. “We’ll worry about the details later, but Soarin… I want your help. No, I need it. I’m not the only leader here, and between you, me, and Fleetfoot, it is imperative that the Wonderbolts are motivated and willing to fight to their fullest, especially once we get moving.” 

Soarin blinked and perked up. Maybe he wasn’t going to be as limited as he thought. Though he was very concerned and a bit stricken by the news of how close he was to being messed up… he did sort of just make a vow to himself that he would protect everypony, that he wouldn’t allow anypony else to end up like Silver. He wanted to stay true to what he felt was right despite the dangers. Was Spitfire giving him a chance to do that?

“However…” she lightly pressed a hoof to his chest, immediately signaling that there was a catch. “I’m going to request that you try and avoid any combat if you can. Only engage to defend yourself if you absolutely must.”

Soarin exhaled through his nose, he flattened his brow, and his ears folded back. That made sense considering the situation… but was he supposed to sit back if somepony was getting hurt? He could never do that! 

“Soarin, this is through my personal concern for your well-being, not me caving to the interests of Luna or Discord. You are important to me and I’m concerned about you. I’m not asking you to go lock yourself in a room and hide, I’m just asking you to consider your own safety as well as that of who you directly affect,” Spitfire motioned towards Dash, turning Soarin’s attention to her briefly. But the moment he looked, Dash suddenly perked up, staring down further into the infirmary towards her squad. Spitfire wasn’t looking at her, and didn’t notice, but Dash got up and walked away from them. “The next time we find ourselves in combat, try to avoid confrontation if you can,” Spitfire continued, drawing Soarin’s attention back to her as Dash moved out of sight among the ponies moving about. “But for Celestia’s sake, if a Shadowbolt ends up coming at you, beat the hell out of it.” Spitfire said while lifting her brow slowly and smacking one of her hooves against the other. 

Soarin couldn’t help but smirk a little at her choice of words. Something about the casual way she delivered it forced a smile out of him despite the circumstances. She trusted him. She was telling him not to fight if he could, but also to use his judgment instead of robotically following her will.

“Alright, I can get behind that,” Soarin said with a nod. Spitfire smiled back, but then leaned to her right, looking past Soarin. Curiosity took hold of him as well, Soarin looking over his shoulder.

Bliss had just emerged and was advancing towards them with no particular destination as she surveyed the activity in the infirmary. Her eyes focused towards Spitfire and Soarin as she eventually drew near, aided by Spitfire flagging her down with a few waves of her hoof.

“How is Silver holding up?” Spitfire asked as Bliss stopped beside them.

“He’s about as stable as I can make him,” Bliss began explaining as her magic lit up on her horn and grabbed the tied off end of the ice bag sticking from Spitfire’s suit. “I’ll definitely be spending a lot of my time with him until we make it to the Crystal Empire,” she began to drone on a little, sounding a little miffed as she pulled the now completely melted ice bag out of Spitfire’s suit and tossed it over to a sink nearby. “Dammit, Silver, always giving me too much work…” she said with a huff.

“Heh…” Spitfire chuckled quietly. “Did you expect anything less from him?”

“No,” Bliss immediately answered. “Of course not, but I’m going to have my assistants monitor him for an hour or so. I have to go check on the Shadowbolts and Commander Wave Chill,” Bliss explained, Spitfire’s eyes suddenly opening wider and her ears standing up the moment Bliss dropped a certain name. The reaction was very visible, drawing Soarin’s attention to Spitfire momentarily. “Silver picked a hell of a time to kill himself,” Bliss said sarcastically as she started turning away from them. 

Spitfire looked like she wanted to say something, but no words were uttered as Bliss left them, Soarin watching as she approached her two assistants… who were still having some problems with the ‘view.’ Both of them were holding clipboards that they were apparently supposed to be recording information on, but instead they were both staring at P.L. as he firmly stood guard beside Luna and visibly frustrated. There was a lot of quite blushing and giggling coming from the two assistants.

“What a stallion…” Mahogany swooned as she leaned up against Witching and fanned herself with her clipboard. 

“I know right?” Witching Hour agreed while biting her lower lip. “I would hit that like the hoof of an angry god,” she started rambling as Bliss walked up behind them. “You’d either need four hours and the jaws of life to pry me out of the mattress… or the pony who pulls me out would be crowned the next king of—”

Bliss cleared her throat loudly.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEK!” Witching shrieked, drawing a few eyes towards her as she dropped her clipboard, jammed both her hooves in her mouth, and turned completely red. Mahogany subtly slipped away as Witching slowly turned around to face Bliss with her eyes super wide, but her pupils tiny behind the lenses of her glasses. Bliss just lifted an eyebrow before slowly shaking her head.

“Honey, shut those legs and take over watching Silver for me. I’ll be back in a couple of hours, alright?” she said in a very professional manner, disregarding all the mare talk she just heard.

“Mmmhmm…” Witching replied, muffled by her hooves still in her mouth as Bliss turned her head slightly.

“Mahogany.”

“Eep…” Mahogany slowly rose up from hiding behind a nearby table. Bliss just made a head motion down the aisle of the infirmary.

“You’re in charge out here while I’m gone,” Bliss ordered, again in a professional manner.

“Yes, ma’am,” Mahogany nodded quickly before scampering off.

With that taken care of, Bliss turned and made her way back past Soarin and Spitfire. Soarin gave Bliss a nod as she left, but blinked when he realized Spitfire  had not moved and was still staring straight ahead as if Bliss was still standing before her.

“Spitfire?” Soarin reached up a hoof and waved it up and down in front of her eyes. She didn’t react. Soarin shrugged and instead turned to look for Dash, wondering where she had run off too during their little exchange with Bliss just now. Was she with her squad?

“Soarin,” Spitfire suddenly spoke. Soarin blinked and turned back to Spitfire. She was still facing the same direction, but she looked like she came to whatever conclusion she was contemplating.

“What’s up?” he asked as Spitfire faced him and pointed. 

“I need you to gather up everypony in the lobby once the elites have received full attention here and then…” Spitfire suddenly trailed off, her face was serious as she started, but as she went on it softened up as if her thoughts were conflicting with what she was trying to say.

“Uh… Spitfire?” Soarin tipped his head, waiting for her to continue “Hello? Equestria to Spitfire.”

Spitfire winced and shuddered for a moment, closing her eyes and tipping her head down. Her wing feathers puffed out for a moment before resettling into a place as she opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder. She scanned the room, looking at all of the elites as they received medical attention. They all looked extremely tired and exhausted. 

They had been through a lot, and the rest of the Wonderbolts were likely shaken upon Silver’s return. Descent was also not likely to be in the best mood following the confrontation with Nightshade, and P.L. was just reunited with Luna and showed no interest in breaking away from her… not to mention the whole scenario he was forced to accept.

“You know what? No,” Spitfire suddenly said as she turned back to Soarin and released a long sigh. “Forget what I just said, we have at least a day or two before we’re going anywhere, so the pep talk can wait. The Wonderbolts need rest. Everypony needs rest. I need rest…” she openly admitted. Soarin managed to not show any reaction, but was nonetheless surprised she’d said it.

But Soarin’s surprise failed to distract him from Spitfire’s demeanor. It had shifted from serious to conflicted… and was now starting to look a little sad.

“Spitfire, is everything okay?” Soarin asked her, his instincts kicking in. There was obviously a lot wrong, but Soarin was more curious if there was anything else on her mind. Spitfire blinked before smiling weakly and shaking her head.

“Oh, no… just thinking about something,” she clarified in a tone that sounded sincere but…

“Spitfire—”

“At ease, Soarin. I’ve got something I need to do,” she cut him off before standing up and slowly making her way around them. Soarin thought about pressing her, but he decided to let it go. Spitfire seemed like something was bothering her, but the way she exited sounded like she knew exactly what she wanted to do about it. 

As he watched her leave, instead of dwelling on Spitfire’s thoughts, Soarin thought further on her sudden shift in orders. He agreed that they could use some rest after such a hectic day, but there had to more to it, especially since not every Wonderbolt was involved in the entirety of the day’s hardships. After thinking about it, and how Soarin had been seeing Spitfire regain the qualities of her leadership that had been effective for so long, perhaps she wanted to give the Wonderbolts some time to themselves, some time to reconnect with those they were close to. Spitfire’s style of leadership had always advocated for a strong, connected atmosphere similar to a family. While the Wonderbolts of older generations were trained with a straight forward, yes-pony, militaristic mindset, the Wonderbolts of the present were trained to be motivated by each other, to feel emboldened by the support of those around them, to have more than just an ideal to fight for. 

As Spitfire had said, they only had a day or two before Rivet and his team fixed up the Nimbus and once they did, they would be right back on their way with an intense sense of urgency. Spitfire was clearly trying to take back control, and the next order of business for her would be to restore the Wonderbolts’ confidence in themselves and each other. This was the only time they had, and Soarin was sure the Wonderbolts would jump on the opportunity 

This was, yet again, more evidence that the true Spitfire was back. The Wonderbolts of their generation couldn’t operate to the best of their ability if they felt mentally stressed and disconnected from each other. Spitfire was giving them a chance to recalibrate, and Soarin planned to make good use of it.

With the thought fresh in his mind, he turned back around to look for Dash… but she saved him the trouble.

“SOARIN!” Dash’s voice ripped through his ears as he turned back around, causing him to wince and blink in surprise as his ears stood up. Her tone was… angry? She was stomping towards him, an incredibly miffed look on her face made up of a glare and a heavy pout. She drew looks from a few nearby as she stopped right in front of him and glared harder.

“Uh…” Soarin’s jaw hung slightly agape as he glanced around at those looking towards the two of them. He leaned back slightly, confused as he glanced back down at Dash. What just happened? Moments ago she was sad about Silver and worried about him… what caused the sudden shift into anger? “What?”

Dash suddenly reached forward and hooked her hoof into the chest portion of his suit, grabbing a large chunk of it and giving it a hard yank.

“Ah!” Soarin yelped as he was forced forwards, Dash turning around and pulling him along against his will. “Ow! Dash! What are you doing?!” he asked frantically as he stumbled along, his neck forced into a lower, uncomfortable position as Dash kept his head down at her height. 

She said nothing to him as she kept leading him down the aisle, drawing looks from every member of Squad Three. Misty, Surprise, and Fire Streak just stared, but Lightning Streak whistled as the two reached him. Whether or not he was implying something sexual, Dash assumed anyway, flicking her tail to the side to swat him in the face. Fire, Misty, and Surprise all blinking and leaning back slightly as Dash was apparently angry to the point where she wasn’t going to take any crap. 

“Dash! Come on!” Soarin whined as his hooves kept slipping from his attempts to regain control. “What did I—?”

Soarin’s eyes widened as Dash suddenly stopped and released him. She walked a few more steps before turning around and glaring at him harshly. 

Standing right behind her… was Squall. His hood was pulled down, his suit a little battered, and his injuries tended to…

But that wasn’t the problem. 

Squall was also glaring at Soarin. In fact, he was glaring much harder and even bearing his teeth a little as he glared at Soarin. 

Why? 





It probably had something to do with Little Star completely latched to Squall’s leg like a koala to a tree, a traumatized look on her face as she shivered slightly and stared at Soarin with wide, apprehensive eyes.

Soarin cringed and scratched his head awkwardly as he looked between Little Star and Dash.

“Oh… Right…”





Spitfire stopped as she reached the last door of the recruit barracks hallway. She looked back towards the doors to the lobby, not really checking for anypony or anything, but she was hesitant to move forward. 

It was a hesitation she was fighting because she wasn’t sure if what she was about to do would help. Part of her lack of control over the past day was partly due to a frantic lingering worry in her heart about the very pony she was thinking about. It was how the whole crazy day started, with a horrible discovery and a heated argument with Descent over what was important…

Would coming back to where it all began make it start all over again? Or was it something she had to face to really acknowledge the problem and move past it?

Oh… who the hell was she kidding… None of that mattered.

She just wanted to see him.

Spitfire reached a hoof forward and slowly pushed the door open, the sound of steady, clip-clopping hooves immediately coming from inside as a group of Bliss’ staff, broken off from the main lot in the infirmary, made their way about. 

Spitfire did not second guess what she was doing, nor did she pause for any moment. Her legs moved, and carried her right in.

She looked back and forth as she walked. Her destination was straight ahead, but she could not ignore the horrid sight of the captive Shadowbolts. All of them had a magical aura lingering around them that shifted between a green and blue tone, the combined efforts of Luna and Bliss to sooth their suffering and slow the spread still working on them and buying them as much time as possible. The crystal formations set upon their bodies had not changed since Spitfire saw them this morning, but that didn’t stop it from being hard to look upon. Most of them had more than half their bodies covered, some with formations reaching all the way up to their head, one stallion had his eyes lost beneath the jagged crystals.

Spitfire noticed that the unicorns moving about were carrying ration boxes, it looked like she walked in right as they were being fed. Spitfire could only imagine how hard it was to keep them nourished, some of them were so weak that they had to be assisted, two or three unicorns putting their magic together to grind up the food, move the jaw of the patient, and induce swallowing.

It didn’t matter if they were the enemy. They were suffering. Spitfire was glad that nopony amongst their staff was showing any misgivings about helping them out. Though today’s events made Spitfire question who she should be calling an enemy. As if the encounter with Moon the day before wasn’t enough to pose the question, Nightshade’s intense reaction to her old wingmates raised more questions. It seemed like the Shadowbolts were not entirely in tune with each other… And Nightshade’s behavior suggested she wasn’t completely in control.

She’d think about that later though… because she was here for one very specific reason. 

The lone Wonderbolt that was suffering from the crystal affliction beside the Shadowbolts, and it looked like Bliss was just about done renewing her magic around him.

Spitfire just wanted to see Wave Chill.

Bliss blinked and looked up as Spitfire slowly approached. After the initial surprise faded, Bliss took note of her demeanor. Spitfire was carrying herself strong, but her eyes were completely fixed on Wave and her ears slowly dropped to the sides of her head.

Bliss said nothing at first, letting Spitfire move all the way up to the bed before stopping just short as if afraid she would disturb Wave’s rest.

Bliss turned her body to face Spitfire and held a hoof out to Wave.

“Go ahead,” she said, causing Spitfire to glance at her. “He’s awake. We just finished feeding him and re-applying the magic.”

“Nothing will happen if I get too close?” Spitfire asked. She perked up as she saw Wave stir. His right eye slowly opened. The left held shut due to the small crystal bits stuck right beneath it. His right pupil moved around, as if the sound of Spitfire’s voice immediately caused him to confirm she was there.

Wave’s eye eventually found her. It widened slightly, as much as his pain allowed as he saw her.

And then his lips curled into a very weak smile, which almost tore Spitfire’s heart in two. He was clearly in an excruciating amount of pain, but the moment he heard her, he made the effort to find her.

“The magic isn’t affected by proximity, just be gentle if you intend to touch him,” Bliss explained before walking towards Spitfire, passing right beside her. She smiled and placed a hoof on Spitfire’s shoulder. “Talk to him. He hasn’t had much strength to speak, but when he has… my staff tells me he keeps asking if you’re around.”

Spitfire felt a pang in her chest. She bit her lower lip, her eyes nearly watering as Bliss spoke those words. 

Wave kept asking for her?

They had grown so close recently, but Spitfire still wasn’t used to being so important to somepony else, at least on a romantic level. She stared down into Wave’s eye as his small smile refused to waver, her body moving the moment Bliss left. She shifted up close to the bed and sat down, reaching a hoof out towards Wave’s face.

Wave kept his eye trained on her the whole time, his smile edging slightly wider as Spitfire’s hoof touched his face. She smiled right back at him as she softly stoked her hoof down his cheek and under his chin, rubbing it in a gentle, caring way. Her touch seemed to comfort him, his eye closing briefly, but the smile remaining. He edged his head to the right as much as he could as if demanding more. Spitfire felt tingling warmth in her chest, her smile growing as she continued to give him light physical affection.

She perked up and her smile vanished for a moment as Wave suddenly gritted his teeth and started grunting quietly. She was less than an instant away from calling to Bliss, but her eyes zeroed in on Wave’s hoof shaking beside him. She watched for a moment, but then gasped when she saw Wave’s arm move an inch towards her, followed by him grunting a little louder. 

He was trying to reach for her.

“Wave… Wave stop…” she reached for his face again and stroked a hoof against his cheek. “Save your strength…” she urged as he opened his eye and gave her a look that seemed disappointed. The look drew a pout onto her face. She couldn’t have that. “Let me,” she said simply as she reached for his hoof. 

As he saw her move, his hoof twitched, but it looked like he was trying to edge it closer to her. Spitfire kept reaching her hoof towards his, but lifted her other to touch his face again, a smile returning to her face that she couldn’t hold back.

He wanted to give the affection back, and he wanted it badly.

“Shh… relax,” she said with a light giggle as she slipped her hoof over his and gave it a light squeeze. Wave’s smile returned instantly, the look of disappointment gone as his hoof weakly closed around hers as well.

With their hooves firmly locked together, and one hoof still on Wave’s face, the two simply stared at one another. Spitfire didn’t know why she thought for even a moment that visit could negatively affect her. This was what she wanted, exactly what she wanted. All the good feelings pouring through her body at this very moment were telling her that.

She had a lot of work ahead of her, and she was going to need all the support she could get. But no support to her, no matter how strong it may be, was as important as knowing that Wave, the stallion she loved, believed that she would save him. That was enough to motivate her to fly through a mile thick sheet of steel if that’s what it took. 

It had only been a day… just one day without Wave at her side or among the ranks, and that one day without him was brutal, even if there was more to it. Had she had him around… maybe things would have gone better? She didn’t know… it was pointless to think about what could have been. But the one day without him felt like an eternity. 

“I… really wish you could have been with me today…” she spoke up as she leaned her body forward, getting herself as close to the mattress as possible. “I needed someone to speak to as just another pony, not as a captain… you do that for me,” she continued. “Flashwind got to me eventually, but I have the feeling you could have prevented a lot of things before they happened. You just make me feel so level headed and focused when you’re around… I…” she trailed off for a moment, her ears drooping as he saw his expression turn to concern… Concern for her. “I think I really lost sight of things… I let pressure get to me and had nopony to lean on or reach out to me…” she took a deep breath sliding her hoof down his cheek to his neck, then his shoulder, taking care to avoid any crystals as she gave it a light squeeze. 

“I’m glad you didn’t see any of it. I’m not proud of it,” she said while looking away from him. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever made such a blunder before in my life. I don’t think it’s entirely my fault, but I didn’t stop it either…” She perked up as she felt Wave’s hoof squeeze hers tighter. She looked directly at him, trying to read his face because he was clearly too weak to speak. But she didn’t need to understand his expression, just the pressure of his hoof on hers. Something about his grip strengthening despite his weakness told her he was trying to make it very clear to her that he was there for her.

Spitfire smiled down at him. He was putting in so much effort for her sake. In a gesture of silent understanding, she returned the grip, putting as much strength into hers, squeezing it right back.

She couldn’t hold back any more, she tipped herself forwards, keeping her hoof locked with his as she closed her eyes and gently placed her lips to his cheek, giving it a soft kiss. She could hear his weak breathing as she held her head down by his, but his strong grip showed he was fighting.

She pulled away, keeping the smile on her face and keeping in mind the strength he was showing in the face of weakness…

If he was willing to fight, then she’d fight twice as hard for both of them. 

She’d do it for him.

Spitfire released her hoof from his shoulder and placed it on the mattress, turning her forearm in and resting her chin on it as Wave slowly turned his head to keep his eye on her.

She simply smiled at him, feeling no urge, whatsoever, to leave his side for a while. So she decided to fill him in on everything that happened. He was still one of her second commanders after all, and she wanted him to feel like he was still just as much a part of the Wonderbolts even though he was being kept down by the crystal infection.

Wave also deserved to know the unfortunate status of his squad captain…

“So… My mistakes aside, a lot of things happened today…”





“DASH!” Soarin called after Dash as he trotted after her into the lobby. Dash was stomping along, not making any effort to avoid anypony that was in her way. Several Wonderbolts and Renegades stepped aside, but the thestrals weren’t so willing to move out of the way. Dash pushed her way past a few of them as she turned towards the recruit barracks. She received a lot of glares and angry hissing, but she disregarded all of them. “Dash, WAIT!” Soarin called after her again, wincing and flinching as he avoided several thestrals who growled or hissed at him by association. Normally he’d hold his ground and not let another pony push him around, but catching up to Dash was much more important to him at the moment.

Soarin did his best to avoid everypony else in the lobby, trying to stay on Dash’s warpath as she kept moving and didn’t look at him, making her way to the recruit barracks doors with no intention of stopping.

“Dash, I said I was sorry!” Soarin yelled after her again, hoping to stop her as he cringed in embarrassment, more or less confirming to everypony watching that he had messed something up BIGTIME.

Dash had every reason to be angry at him. It didn’t matter why he did it. She was close friends with Little Star, that’s all that mattered. It had already been a stressful, hard day. And this little revelation, while nothing compared to some of the stuff that happened, was one last piece that wasn’t wanted or needed. He wanted to fix it immediately, but Dash was NOT having it. 

Still, he had to keep trying.

“Dash! Please!” Soarin yelled as he followed her into the empty hallway of the recruit barracks. He was trying his best not to sound desperate, but he was bordering on it. He’d had a long day too, while this was entirely his fault, he didn’t want this either. “Dash, you still need to get looked at by the trainers!” he tried to convince her, picking up his pace. Dash must have heard his hooves pick up because she broke into a gallop. “Dash!” Soarin yelled again. 

It’s not like he didn’t deserve the silent treatment, but did she have to do it now after everything else?

She reached the Foxtrot barracks door and stopped, placing her hoof on the door, but not opening it as if hesitating. Soarin saw it as an opportunity to catch up and quickly made his way up to her.

“Dash… please… you should—”

He reached for her, but right before he could touch her, she spun around and glared at him. Soarin shut his mouth and stopped right in his tracks as she set her angry eyes upon him.

But her eyes looked wet. She was giving him one of the harshest glares he had ever seen, but was she… crying?

Without a word to him, Dash turned around and pushed the door open, moving into the barracks and slamming the door behind her before Soarin could follow her.

Soarin sat still, his hoof still extended as he processed what he just saw.

Okay, he knew for a fact that she was miffed at him for what he did to Little Star, but crying? There was more to it…

Perhaps the day had been so rough that this last little thing pushed her over the edge? Knowing Dash, she didn’t want to be seen crying in public, she had too much pride for that.

At that moment, Soarin knew that turning around and leaving her be was not an option. If she really was on the verge of losing it, then she needed him. He didn’t care if she punched him in the face the moment he entered, he was going in and he was going to bring this horrible, horrible day to an end.

Soarin took a deep breath and reached forward, opening the door and walking in.

He moved quietly, projecting a gentle approach from the moment he started as he closed the door slowly. He looked into the room and immediately spotted Dash. She had hopped up on her bed and was sitting on it with her back turned to him.

Soarin slowly made his way over, making sure his steps made noise to signal his approach, the soft clip clop of his hooves the only sound in the room. He moved right up to the edge of the bed and placed a hoof on it, saying nothing as he stared at the back of Dash’s head. She was sniffling quietly, but barely moving. 

Soarin sighed, waiting a moment or two before carefully reaching towards her shoulder. He braced himself, knowing there was likely going to be some form of harsh reaction the moment he touched her. 

He held his breath… and placed his hoof on her shoulder. He shut his eyes, waiting for it…

But she said nothing. Soarin opened on of his eyes, keeping the other one squinted shut as he looked at her. She remained in place, and just sniffled again.

“D-dash…?”  Soarin said her name quietly, but got no response. He weighed saying more, but then blinked in surprise as Dash suddenly leaned forwards and pushed her hooves sideways against the mattress, turning herself around.

Soarin stayed perfectly still as she turned, meeting him with the exact same teary glare she had given him outside the door. Soarin blinked, his eyes remaining open wide as he stared into her glare.

“Get on the bed and hug me,” Dash suddenly demanded.

“I… what?” Soarin wasn’t sure he heard her correctly.

“I said get your ass on the bed… and hug me, dammit.” Dash repeated as she gritted her teeth, her eyes narrowed and a tear slipped down from one of her eyes. “Just do it, you dick.” she added with another sniffle.

Soarin’s ears instantly flopped down, frowning as he looked upon her face. It was filled with so many visibly conflicting emotions. Anger, sadness, frustration, and who knows what else? 

He couldn’t stand seeing that look. He had the feeling he wasn’t off the hook for Little Star, but she told him what she wanted, so he would provide. 

She turned right back around after he took his hoof off her shoulder, so Soarin quickly did as he was told. He pulled himself up onto the mattress and scooted himself right beside her, gently draping his arm over her shoulder.

He felt her head move as he held his arm on her, so he looked down to see she was glaring up at him. He was doing what she asked him to, right?

“What’s this?” she asked sharply with a sniffle at the end. 

“Uh…” Soarin’s mouth hung open a little. 

“You call this a hug?” she said with a pout. “COME HERE!” she demanded as she suddenly turned, moved herself in front of him, and thrust herself into his body.

“Oof!” Soarin grunted and quickly opened his wings, angling them down to stop himself from tipping over and falling right off the bed.

“HUG ME!” Dash demanded as she buried her face into his chest and wrapped her arms around him as far as she could and squeezed him tightly. “Just hug me… that’s all I want right now. Please…” Her voice was harsh, but showed signs of faltering. Soarin frowned as he picked up that slight tone and quickly reached forwards, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly, not sure what to say or if he should say anything…

So he didn’t.

He just sat there and hugged her as she began to shudder lightly. He tightened the hug, disregarding the fact that her nose was already pushing quite hard between his chest muscles. Dash turned her head to the side, letting her cheek push against his suit instead. She didn’t seem to like it, so she reached up and grabbed the frayed ends of Soarin’s suit by his neck and yanked it down. Soarin flinched as his suit ripped, but it was already damaged beyond repair so he let her do it. With a direct opening right to Soarin’s chest fur, Dash pushed her cheek into it, feeling Soarin’s fur softly bristling against her face as she released a noise that sounded like a sigh mixed with a groan. Soarin moved one of his hooves up to her head and stroked it against her mane, hoping to just let her relax and get her fill of the hug she demanded. She’d say something when she was ready.

“Mrph…” Dash eventually made a sound against Soarin’s chest, completely muffled with half her mouth pressed against his chest.

“What was that?” Soarin asked quietly as he kept stroking her mane.

“Mrghrph…” Dash made another noise. Couldn’t hold back a weak smirk.

“I agree,” he said while giving her head a soft pat.

“Frck yu.”

“Ow…” Soarin flinched as he felt a nip against his chest. He sighed as he looked down at her, a small bit of his fur feeling wet as she held her face to it, the wetness in her eye making the spot a little damp. “Did you bite me?”

“Yhff…” Dash mumbled before finally moving her head, but she didn’t turn it, she just rubbed it lightly against Soarin’s chest.

Soarin left it at that, going back to being silent since Dash clearly needed it. He didn’t take his eyes off her for several minutes, but she eventually moved again, removing her face from his chest. She released a sigh, Soarin feeling the breath upon his chest as she still sat with her nose very close to it. 

“I needed this hug…” Dash quietly approved of the hug, but kept her eyes on his chest. 

She still didn’t look happy, in fact, the glare had barely changed. 

“Dash, I’m…” he began quietly, keeping his arms around her. “I’m really, really sorry about what I did to Little Star,” he apologized for what was probably the fifth time about it. He had lost count. “I wasn’t acting like myself, I was frantic about saving you and—”

“Shut up,” Dash cut him off abruptly while tipping forwards and bopping her forehead against his chest. “Just… shut up, I don’t want to talk about anything that happened today.”

Soarin’s mouth was still open from being stopped mid-sentence, but he closed it and frowned as Dash held her forehead against his chest.

“It was just too much…” she continued. “I just want to go to sleep and wake up tomorrow,” she continuously knocked her head against him. “Soarin, make the day end, please.”

“I, uh…” Soarin lifted his brow. Was Dash getting a little loopy on him?

“Mrph…” she grunted as she stuck her nose into his chest again.

“Okay…” Soarin grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to pull her off to look her in the eyes, but she resisted. He furrowed his brow lightly. “Dash… look at me please.”

“No,” she denied as she continued to fight back. 

Soarin sighed and shook his head. She didn’t want to talk about it… but he was going to make her talk about it. If she wanted him to comfort her, he wanted her to let it all out, not hide in his chest fluff. 

“Dash,” he clasped her shoulders harder. He pulled her away from his body, but she began batting at his chest with her hooves as he did. “Dash stop that.”

“No.”

Soarin let go of one of her shoulders and put his arm down to stop her hooves. Dash huffed and finally turned her eyes up to his, still glaring.

“Talk to me. Tell me what’s on your mind,” Soarin prompted her. She quickly shook her head.

“I don’t want to.”

“Yes, you do,” Soarin contradicted her while tipping his head. Dash immediately stopped struggling and blinked. She puffed her cheeks out, crossed her arms and turned her head away.

“Fine.”

Soarin chuckled as he shifted beside her and draped a wing and an arm over her, pulling her in closely.

“It’s been a rough day for all of us, let it all out,” Soarin instructed.

“I already told you I’m not talking about that,” Dash suddenly denied him again as she leaned into his side.

“Dash…” Soarin sighed.

“The only thing I’m talking about right now is what just happened.”

“Er…” Soarin gritted his teeth. So it was still about what he did? “Dash, I said I was—”

“Not about Star,” she cut him off. Soarin blinked.

“Oh…”

“No, you’re not off the hook about that, but that’s not it,” she reiterated, pressing herself harder to him.

“Then what?” he asked, hiding a slight bit of growing frustration that she was being so vague.

“I’m worried about you, dolt…” she said in a quiet, yet sharp tone.

Soarin’s eyes widened slightly, a silence forming between them for several moments.

Of course… the horn. 

Soarin was so focused on being yelled at about Little Star he almost completely forgot about… the truth Luna was hiding from him.

“Of course I’m worried about my squad, about the elites, about everypony else… especially Silver. Yeah, I’m angry at you about Star, but that was just the last straw, what really shook me was hearing about the horn. I thought seeing Silver was the last thing I would have to deal with today, but then… mrrgghh…” Dash ended with a groan, spilling it all out and completely flopping against Soarin’s side, her plot scooting out beneath her as she sank down.

Soarin shifted his wing down to cradle her as she slumped, her cheek now pressed into his stomach. 

“I just didn’t need to hear that. I had just gotten done reassuring myself that Silver was going to live and we would fight to get him to the Crystal Empire… and then that hammer was dropped on me. Then you decided to be a dick to Star, but that was nothing compared to this. I just needed to get out, I needed to get away, I’ve had it with today, and I’m just going to sit here for the rest of the night,” she stated adamantly, turning her head to press her face completely into Soarin’s hip and stomach.

Soarin reached down and stroked her mane when he was sure she was down. She released a heavy sigh right into his fur as he lightly rubbed her neck and shoulders.

“That’s fine by me,” Soarin agreed with her in terms of wanting the day to end, however… “But before we officially lock the door on the day, you should go get your injuries looked at,” he patted her on the head but she shook it. 

“No, I’m fine. They need to focus on Silver,” she instantly denied, but Soarin wasn’t going to let her out of this one. 

“Dash,” he reached down and tipped her up off of his stomach, immediately looking over all of the bruises visible on her neck, and one right beneath her jaw. There was still a little dried blood on her lip as well, but his eyes were drawn to the large, full-mouthed teeth marks that were left on her suit. It looked like they were still bleeding a little. It was a nasty sight. “Especially this,” he reached forwards to touch the spot near them, but the moment he tried, Dash pushed away from him.

“NO!” she yelled suddenly, almost ripping herself from his wing as her glare had turned into wide eyes. “I… this…” she quickly unfolded a wing and covered the marks. “I… don’t touch it… it…”

“It hurts?” Soarin asked, his ears flopping down as Dash tipped her head down shamefully. “Then you should get it looked at,” he repeated, but Dash just shook her head. “Why not?” Soarin pressed.

“Silver,” Dash repeated, offering no other explanation. “I don’t want to bother them when Silver is—”

“Silver is being treated,” Soarin pointed out, determined to get Dash help. “Witching Hour is taking care of him, the rest are available." 

Dash stared up at him with eyes that nearly tore him apart. He reached forwards and touched a hoof to her wing.

“Dash, you really should get that looked at. It needs to be cleaned and covered,” he said worriedly as he pushed the wing away and got a better look at it, but she quickly shifted her wing to cover it again.

“I don’t even want to think about it. Or anything else. It just keeps reminding me of… her… and what she’s done today to me and my life.” Dash tried to dance around it, but Soarin wasn’t going to let her. 

“Tell you what,” Soarin placed a hoof on her head. “I won’t force you to go see the trainers, but if you want me, and me alone to wash it and cover it up right here in the comfort of your own barracks, then I will do that for you, okay?”

The subject was shifting all over the place, first it was Soarin’s treatment of Star, then it was the horn, then it was Silver, now it was the bite mark. The whole moment was spiraling, failing to find a point of focus. It was almost fitting considering how much of a whirlwind of things the whole day had been.

“Please?” Soarin added as Dash looked him in the eyes.

“O…okay…” Dash nodded in agreement. “We have a medkit—”

“In the bathroom,” Soarin finished for her with a nod. “I used to live in these too.” He gave her a weak smile and a wink. “Come on, let’s take care of it,” Soarin scooted to the other side of the bed, but Dash stayed put. Soarin paused right before sliding off the edge, looking over his shoulder. She was still sitting with her wing covering the bite mark. Soarin just stared for a moment before slipping off the bed, turning to face her and patting his hoof on the mattress. 

Dash blinked and stared at his hoof before scrunching her face towards him.

“What am I, a cat?” she asked with a huff while lifting an eyebrow. 

“Here, kitty, kitty,” Soarin snickered as he continued, trying to add a little levity to the situation.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming…” Dash gave in, puffing her cheeks out as she shifted forwards and smacked Soarin’s hoof off the mattress. 

Soarin draped his wing over her as she touched to the floor. The two slowly walked side by side towards the other end of the barracks, right towards the two bathrooms, since it was just the two of them, it didn’t matter which one they walked into, and they just needed one of the two kits and a sink. He guided Dash over to the mare’s room door and led her in. 

Soarin reached for the light switch, but when he flipped it, the light didn’t turn on.

“What?” Soarin blinked as he flipped the switch on and off to no avail. “The other lights are working fine. Must’ve disconnected during the flight,” he said to himself as he glanced out at the light on in the barracks. He was about to guide Dash out, but she plopped her plot right down on the floor. Soarin glanced at her briefly before removing his wing. “One second.”

He turned around and stepped out, leaving the door open so as not to leave Dash in the dark. He was only gone for a moment.

“What? This one too?” his voice came from outside before he returned. “Both lights are out,” he said with frustration as Dash just continued to sit there. “Hmmm…” Soarin scratched his chin, then looked up at his horn… and stared at it for a moment.

They needed the facilities… so he didn’t have a choice, but he’d need help. He wasn’t going to risk it without some help.

“Dash,” he suddenly said as he walked around and sat in front of her. She looked up at him and blinked as he held a hoof out to her. “Help me here,” he asked. 

Dash wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but after a moment she caught on and gasped. 

“Soarin, no. No magic.” She quickly reached passed his hoof and poked him the chest. “Absolutely not, not with the way your horn is right now.”

“That’s why I’m asking for your help,” he explained as he moved his hoof in and placed it on her arm. “Because from the very beginning, even before I had this stupid thing on my forehead, I’ve always been able to completely control it with you at my side.”

Dash was prepared to deny him again, but what he just said was completely true.

“Dash, I’m not looking to cast any spells. I just want to generate some light,” he explained as she looked down and scrunched her mouth. “Besides, one of the most important things I learned from my magic lessons is that the will to help somepony important to me can directly affect my control of the magic. That, mixed with the control you give me just being you… I’m sure just activating it won’t cause any problems.”

“That hasn’t always worked that way,” Dash pointed out, trying to fight back against his determination, but he wasn’t having it.

“Dash, it will work,” he said back adamantly, driven by his desire to treat her wounds. “You’ll make it work.”

Dash looked right at him, her mouth still scrunched up and her ears folded back. His explanation wasn’t perfect, as she pointed out, but she could tell he was also pushing romantic buttons here, especially with his unyielding stance. His unwillingness to back down was always something she liked about him, after all. And it was for her… 

Fine, she’d let him do it.

“Okay, but if anything doesn’t feel right, stop,” Dash demanded while pressing her hoof to his chest again. 

“You have my word,” Soarin nodded before glancing around. “Where is that medkit anyway—ah, there it is.” He turned and opened a box attached to the wall opposite of the sinks. Inside was a white container with a red cross on it. Soarin placed it on the floor and opened it up, but he could barely see the contents. “Alright…” he said as he looked at Dash and reached his arms out. “Come here, I need you.”

Dash swallowed and nodded. She kept her wing over the bite mark, but she slowly moved forwards and into Soarin’s body as he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. She rested her hooves on his chest, turning her head to the side to place her cheek in his fur as she hear him take several deep breaths.

Soarin closed his eyes, keeping his breathing steady as he concentrated and went back to basics, recalling the sensations of the magic as he felt the energy well up within him from the center. Lots of use had actually made him quite adept at this process at this point, so he skillfully and carefully let the magic flow very, very slowly through him and around him before directing it up towards his head.

“Hng…” Soarin groaned quietly as the magic reached the horn, discomfort immediately filling his head as he gritted his teeth, but held the flow steady. A few crackles and pops came from the horn as tiny sparks of blue and yellow started appearing around the horn, the many cracks glowing with a blinking pattern of the same colors.

“Soarin…” Dash said quietly as she felt her heartbeat pick up just a little bit. “Be careful…” she urged as she pressed her hooves against his chest. 

“I’m fine…” Soarin assured her, sucking it up as a flickering aura surrounded the horn and a few tiny bits of energy began jumping from the horns surface before fizzling out. “You’re helping… a lot… I just… need to…” Soaring kept breathing in and out, in and out as he struggled to make the magic work. “Come on… work with me, dammit!” Soarin scolded the magic as he fought against the discomfort and the headache.

Dash kept herself firmly planted against him. She wanted Soarin to stop, but he was so determined to make it work so he could help her. While conflicted, she made sure that as much of her was touching him as possible. She didn’t know if that would make a difference, but if it did, she would do it.

“Hmm!” Soarin suddenly opened his eyes. One of them glowing blue and the other glowing yellow as faint streams of the colored light rose from both. The yellow and blue colors mixed together upon his horn, causing the flickering aura to stabilize and turn green as yellow and blue sparks and ribbons of magic continued to dance around the horn. The color mixing only lasted a moment before Soarin exhaled, the aura reverted to blue, but remained alight and steady, a gentle light holding steady within the cracks of the horn. The bathroom was now lit up with a tint of blue, and they could see all around them.

Dash blinked as Soarin finished. She saw it… she saw the magic combine into green just like it had when Soarin saved her from Angel and Shadow after her fight with Sin. Soarin was staring up at the glowing horn, he clearly noticed it too. Blue and yellow made green, that was basic color knowledge, but both of them had a feeling that little effect had other implications.

Unfortunately, whatever those implications were, it was a mystery, and they weren’t here to discuss mysteries or anything further that would cause confusion. They had had enough for the day in terms of unknowns and problems. 

Without a word about the brief green aura, Soarin removed his arms from around Dash and slowly removed her from his chest, holding her a few inches from him as she looked up and the two locked eyes. Dash began glancing back and forth, at how his eyes were reacting, one blue and one yellow. The sight of the yellow magic always made her cringe. Not just because of what happened the first time the yellow magic appeared, but how it always surfaced when something bad was going to happen. Though here it looked calm and in control. It wasn’t the first time she had seen the different colored eye combination either, but still…

“See? All good,” Soarin said to her with a smile. She stopped glancing between his eyes and looked him straight on, finding comfort in his smile even if there was still a slight sign of discomfort in it. “Now, let’s get this taken care of,” Soarin tapped a hoof against her wing, which was still covering the bite mark. Dash’s smile disappeared, replaced with a flat mouth and wide eyes. Soarin frowned when he saw her reaction, but tapped her wing again. “Come on now, Dash… please?” he asked while tipping his head. Dash’s ears flopped down and she released a quiet whimper. 

Soarin wasn’t sure what to do. Dash needed to have the bite wound treated, but she was being reluctant. He didn’t want to force anything on her, especially after how the day had gone. But then he got an idea.

“Dash, tell you what,” he removed his hoof from her wing and placed it on her shoulder. Now both hooves were on her shoulders and he was focused on her, not on the bite. “You don’t have to do any of it, don’t even look at, I will take care of the whole thing for you…” he began while speaking directly to her. “I just want you to relax, okay?”

Dash blinked as she processed his request, she bit her lower lip and tipped her head down a bit, but then nodded.

“O…okay…” she agreed, but kept her wing over the wound. 

“All I want you to do is follow my instructions, and listen to my voice, okay?” he added with a comforting tone. Dash didn’t reply, but nodded subtly. “Okay… first, turn around.”

Dash swallowed and nodded. Soarin lifted his hooves from her shoulders as she shifted herself around without standing up. Soarin placed his hooves gently back on her shoulders after she was facing away from him.

“Now… back up, rest your back against me,” Soarin requested while giving her shoulders a very light tug. Dash nodded again, scooting back until her back and wings were snugly resting against Soarin’s chest and stomach. Soarin leaned forwards a bit, purposely adding a little bit of pressure to her wings so that she couldn’t use it to cover the bite wound again. “Good, be comfortable and at ease, I’m right here. Now just sit still, let’s get this off…” Soarin said as he rubbed a hoof against her arm, signaling he meant the suit.

Dash sat still, her eyes stuck open, but feeling at ease as Soarin reached around her and felt around for the well hidden zipper on Dash’s suit, finding the spandex flap that hid it right at the base of her chest. He slowly unzipped it, loosening the suit’s tight hold around her. 

“Arms first,” he instructed her. Taking a suit on and off was second nature to all of them, but he was walking her through it as part of keeping her relaxed. He held the suit steady as Dash slipped her arms out from the sleeves, exposing some light bruises. “Good, now head. Let’s do this slowly…” He grabbed the spandex by the hood mask that was already bunched up down around her neck. Dash started pulling her head down, but she froze, cringed, and grunted as she did. Soarin glanced over her left shoulder and winced as he saw the spandex stick to her body around the bite marks. It looked like some blood had dried between her and the suit.

Soarin quickly lowered his head down, gently placing his chin atop her head and moving his right hoof so his arm was embracing her around the chest.

“This is going to hurt…” he whispered to her, moving his nose over to her left ear, brushing it against it affectionately. “Be still, be strong…” he encouraged her. “I’m right here, I’m right here, I’m right here,” her repeated to her quietly as he began to slowly peel the suit from her shoulder.

“Grh… ah… ow… ahhhhhh…” Dash gritted her teeth, slammed her eyes shut, and groaned painfully as Soarin did his best to remove it gently. There was a very uncomfortable, cringe-worthy noise of stretchy fabric ripping from flesh and fur. It was making Soarin’s eyes and ears twitch. He grimaced as he watch the suit cling to her shoulder, clear traces of blood on the suit and on her fur as the wound was fully exposed to the air.

Slowly but surely, Soarin worked the rest of it until it was completely free, Dash breathing a sharp sigh of relief followed by shuddering. Soarin gave her a tight squeeze with his other arm and nuzzled his head against the top of hers to quietly comfort her as she slowly came to grips with the pain.

“There, it’s free,” Soarin said to her quietly, feeling that perhaps part of her avoidance of treatment was what she just went through, but he was sure there was more to it. Dash wasn’t one to shy away from pain. “Over the top,” Soarin instructed while lifting the spandex further up. Dash ducked down, allowing Soarin to pull the top portion of the suit off before shimmying it down Dash’s body. “Wings,” he ordered next, Dash complying by straightening her wings and tugging them inward so he could get the suit off. With the wing holes now vacant, Soarin gently pulled the suit down around her waist, leaving the bottom portion on her and the top half crumpled around her sides.

Now with her entire top half exposed, he not only got to see the bite mark in full, but also got a good look at some very nasty bruises that were riddled all over her frame. Soarin cringed as he finally got a good look at her, some of the bruises were so dark they were showing right through her fur. She didn’t want to go anywhere, but he might have to go grab some more ice bags after they were done.

But what really caught his attention was the now exposed bite mark. He was glad that he convinced her to let him treat it, because the suit was concealing how bad it actually looked. Ponies didn’t have very sharp teeth, but due to the depth and severity of the wounds left behind… Nightshade must have really clamped down hard. The thought of how it all went down mixed with looking upon the result made Soarin shiver and his own shoulder twitch. Several of the wounds were still bleeding a little or maybe peeling back the suit ripped some forming clots free. Each mark had some swelling around them, and there were a lot of patches of dried blood in her fur, likely due to the suit being pressed over them.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Dash suddenly spoke, Soarin’s ears pointing straight up as Dash reached a hoof over to her opposite arm, hunched her shoulders forward, and shivered.

“It’s…” Soarin hesitated. There was clearly significance to this wound that he was missing. He had been trying to figure out her reluctance to be treated from the start, but now it was abundantly clear. Now the million bit question: should he cushion her? Be soft and tell her to not worry about it or not think about it? Or should he urge her to talk to him, let it out as he worked even though this day had already weighed heavily on them?

He had to answer, but his instincts instantly leaned him towards what was probably the best option.

“It’s pretty bad,” he described honestly, but to his surprise, Dash didn’t react, she just nodded.

“Had a feeling…” she said as she kept her eyes down. She  was completely avoiding looking at it as he suggested. Soarin reached for the medical supplies, shifting them over beneath the sinks beside them so he would have the box and a source of water both within arm’s length. He shuffled around in the box, finding several sterile cloth packets and a bottle of disinfectant. He pulled what he needed to clean the wounds off, setting them all out near him. He decided to clean around the wounds first, opening one sterile cloth packet and unwrapping it fully before reaching for the sink. 

“Wait… shit,” Soarin furrowed his brow when he realized the obvious. They had severed the temporary pipework when they took off. So the sink wouldn’t work at all… unless there was still some water in the pipes? It was worth a shot, but it meant he would have to clean around the wounds with minimal resources. He turned the warm water handle, but nothing came out. “Dammit…” he huffed as he looked around. His eyes landed back on the medkit, quickly spying another bottle tucked in the corner. He picked it out and got a good look at it, realizing it was, in fact, some emergency water for cleaning purposes. 

Soarin shrugged as he twisted open the bottle and tipped it to the cloth. After all the effort they went through to get the magic started simply to use the bathroom, now it looks like they could have easily done it all outside where there was light. But since they were already this far, he just kept going.

Without waiting another moment, he soaked the cloth with water until it was dripping wet and and began dabbing it around Dash’s shoulder.

“Ah…” Dash quietly yelped as Soarin applied light pressure to the area around the teeth marks, but she held steady, only shivering slightly. Soarin made sure to make full use of the cloth, since he was sure he wasn’t going to get much more water. He took his time, but slowly cleaned up all traces of dried blood. He let the marks themselves be for the moment, but made sure to work quickly before the ones bleeding oozed any blood.

Soarin tossed the wet cloth aside, grabbing two more packets and tearing them both open at the same time using his hooves and teeth. Dash remained perfectly still, allowing him to work, but she began tensing as Soarin readied the next bit of treatment, knowing it was probably going to hurt… a lot.

Soarin set one of the cloths aside, placing the other in his hoof and reaching it gently towards the marks.

“I’m going to dab the blood on these now,” he announced to her. She remained stiff, but nodded. Soarin took a deep breath, and lightly touched the cloth directly to the mark that was bleeding the most.

“AH!” Dash bounced and yelped, but immediately slammed her mouth shut and held her breath as Soarin dabbed the marks one by one. They were going to start bleeding again as soon as he was done, but he was ready to quickly apply the disinfectant and wrap it up right after. “Rgggnnnn…” Dash growled as her shoulder kept twitching.

“Hang in there, hang in there…” Soarin encouraged as he worked quickly. 

“HNG!” Dash suddenly rolled forwards a little, curling up slightly. Soarin reached out and stopped her. 

“Hold still, I know it hurts, just please…” Soarin gritted his teeth as her motion caused some of the blood to smear on her fur. If this was going badly for Dash, the sting from the next part was most definitely going to be hard in terms of keeping her steady. She needed a distraction. 

That brought him back to his previous thought. There was significance to this wound he did not know. It was obvious what had happened, but what did it mean for Dash? She had to let it out. Talking about it would not only get it off her mind, but it would take her mind off the pain a little.

“Dash…” Soarin spoke up as he continued to dab the wounds. “I wasn’t around yet when this happened. Can you tell me how it all went down?” 

A lot of emotional discomfort rushed through him as he asked. He felt it was right, but how would she react? She made it clear she wanted to be done with the day already.

But Dash didn’t say anything for a moment. She sat there, still shivering, but then to Soarin’s surprise…

“I was… protecting Fleetfoot…” she started talking without protest, as if she wanted to let it out. Soarin listened, but also took advantage of the situation, working faster so he could get it all done as she was talking. “Nightshade had just knocked her out of the fight and… I was the only Wonderbolt left standing.” 

Soarin finished dabbing the wounds. He quickly set the bloody cloth aside, grabbing the last one while also reaching for the disinfectant. 

“Before I even joined the fight, Silver had pushed for me to stand firm and have no fear… but I was slipping. Nightshade was coming towards me and I didn’t know what to do…”

Soarin growled to himself as he fumbled with the bottle of disinfectant, reaching it up to his mouth to nip the plastic seal off the cover.

“My confidence was gone, but my resolve was still there. Even though I knew I couldn’t win I wasn’t going to let her scare me or humiliate me. That’s what I kept telling myself, but when I jumped at her, she… she…”

Soarin finally got the plastic loose and unscrewed the cap.

“She didn’t even try. After all I’ve done and all my training, she took me down in an instant and had me pinned. It hurt… the pressure she was putting on me was painful, but it was also humiliating.”

Soarin grabbed the sterile cloth he had set aside and pressed it to the bottle, dipping it back and forth while looking at Dash from behind, this was going to sting.

“Then she started taunting me, she taunted me while laughing and looking down at me…”

Soarin tipped the bottle back up and placed it on the floor before turning back to Dash.

“And then she…”

Soarin took a breath, quickly reaching one hoof around and holding onto her chest tightly… before pressing the cloth down on the largest of the bite marks.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Dash suddenly cried out, her head whipping back and pressing into Soarin’s chest. She reflexively reached her right hoof up and clasped it to Soarin’s arm around her. “RRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH… NNNNRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH…!” she gritted her teeth and slammed her eyes shut as she squeezed his arm, her body shuddering as Soarin dabbed the wound.

“Keep talking!” Soarin instructed as he moved to the next mark.

“And then… she… rgh… she…” Dash continued while tensing against the pain. “She… tortured me… with… lightning…” 

Soarin flinched, his eyes widening as she mentioned the torture, but quickly refocused and moved onto the next mark.

“I thought… I’d be ready… but…” she kept taking long pauses, long sharp breaths hissing between her teeth and through her nostrils as she clamped her hoof down harder on Soarin’s arm. “I wasn’t… ready… I… was scared… afraid… and… AH!” she lurched forwards, but Soarin held her still as he shifted the cloth in his hoof and moved to the next wound. “And… and… and…”

“Hang in there, keep going!” Soarin said while leaning his head down and brushing his nose to her ear again. 

“And when… she saw… how scared… I was… she… GRH!” Dash suddenly whipped her head back, smashing the crown of her head right into Soarin’s face. Soarin blinked and grunted, but stayed focused. He had cleaned off half the teeth marks, he was almost done. “She… picked me up… held me tightly to her body… and tripled the lightning charge… and…” Her neck was arched back, her face tilted up with her head pressed into Soarin’s chest. He could see her face… it was heavily contorted in pain, her eyes squinted shut and her expression completely scrunched, but she was not crying. She was fighting the pain.

“Almost done, Dash, almost done!” Soarin relayed as he moved onto the last three marks.

“And then she…! SHE! AH! SHE… BIT DOWN… GRH! AH!”

Two marks left.

“ON… MY SHOULDER! IT HURT… SO MUCH… I…!”

One mark left. 

“I COULDN’T… EVEN… SCREAM!" Her body shuddered rigidly. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!” Dash shifted roughly to the side and dug her face into Soarin’s armpit. He held it firmly to her so she would remain upright. 

“And…” Soarin dabbed the last bite mark as she continued to gasp and yelp. “DONE!” Soarin immediately tossed the cloth aside and threw his other arm around her, embracing her as tightly as he could while making sure to avoid the bite marks.

“AHHHH! Hggnnnnn… ohhhhhh… Ahhhhh….” Dash sputtered and wheezed as Soarin held onto her tightly. “Ahhhhhhhhh… ow… it… still… hurts…”

“Shhhh…” Soarin hushed her while rubbing a hoof up and down her side softly. “It’s going to hurt, but I’m here…”

He had to cover up the marks now that they were cleaned, but he would give her a moment after what she had just been put through. He thought on all the things he had just heard from her, how Nightshade had tortured, humiliated, and dominated her. He thought about how prideful of a pony Dash was, and how that pride was probably incredibly damaged by the encounter. Dash had come a long way since they had last faced Nightshade, but to have it seem like there was still no difference? And to have the same sadistic methods pushed right back onto her? 

All of that piled on top of a day packed with struggles, hardships, a disconnect between friends and comrades, and the near death of her own mentor… Soarin couldn’t believe Dash hadn’t completely broken down. What he had gone through throughout the day seemed like peanuts compared to what she had… yet he had completely lost control of his temper and made horrible and clumsy choices as a result…

He felt that Dash was a stronger pony than he…

Perhaps he could learn a thing or two from her resolve, temperament, and control…

“Ooohhh…” Dash groaned again, but her body stopped shivering. Soarin noticed and shifted his nose towards her ear again.

“I have to cover it up now… okay?” he explained. Dash nodded her head weakly while panting quietly. 

Without another word, Soarin released her from his grip. She remained sitting upright, but hunched her shoulders forwards, waiting patiently and still as Soarin reached back into the box and pulled out a large roll of bandages and another sterile cloth. He ripped the packet open and unfolded the cloth as wide as it could as he let some of the bandages roll onto the floor. 

He hesitated for a moment, but gently reached the unfolded cloth towards Dash, and rested it over her shoulder. She twitched, but didn’t make a sound. Soarin gently pressed it down to make sure every wound from the bite was covered. He kept his hoof on her shoulder as he reached for the bandages with the other, reaching the end of the bandage up to his mouth, holding it in his teeth as he grabbed the roll and looked over Dash’s shoulder to figure out how he would place them.

Once he had his bearings, he placed the end of the bandages on a spot just above her back on her neck… and began wrapping up her shoulder, passing the roll back and forth between his hooves as he slowly covered the cloth and the injured area as a whole.

Dash sniffled as he worked, causing him to stop briefly and look at her, but again, she wasn’t crying. She just looked… sad… and vulnerable. He wanted to hug her again, but there would be plenty of time for that after he finished treating her.

“It was just… I don’t even know,” Dash suddenly spoke up again. Soarin paused again, tipping to his right to look at her, but decided to say nothing and let her speak. “The whole experience… I don’t even know how to describe it,” she went on, taking a long deep breath as Soarin continued to wrap her shoulder up. “I flew in with so much confidence. Silver had filled me with determination to push back against my fears and fight, but it all came crashing down. I know how Nightshade thinks. I know how she likes to do things. I thought that I could handle it this time, I thought I—” she shook her head. “All the confidence, all the training, everything I’ve gone through, everything Silver taught me… In the moment that Nightshade held me, tortured me… none of it mattered, I was no longer focusing on helping my fellow Wonderbolts.” She closed her eyes and shuddered. “I just wanted to get free, for the pain and the fear to end. She completely broke me, everything I had learned from Silver suddenly meant nothing to me, his most important lessons… gone… And when she bit into my shoulder, it felt like the finishing touch, I didn’t even wail or scream. I gave in. I accepted it. It was like she was silently claiming me. Her way of declaring ‘I own you.’”

Soarin almost couldn’t take it. It was bad enough to arrive late, get trapped, and be unable to make a difference… but he missed everything that happened before Silver stepped up to protect them. Soarin knew first-hoof what it was like to dive into something with confidence and then have it all beaten right out of him, but this was different, it was more. There was psychological warfare involved between Dash and Nightshade… Nightshade dominated her physically and mentally.

“And then… I was forced to watch… as Silver came forward and showed me what it really means to be a Wonderbolt. I thought I had made so much progress, I thought I was in striking distance… but I’m still so far from it. I let Nightshade utterly manipulate me and my fears… Silver brushed off Nightshade’s strongest advances and methods like they were nothing. He stood strong when he knew it was hopeless. What did I do? I gave in…”

“Dash, stop it,” Soarin finally spoke up, not able to take it anymore. He wanted her to let it out, and he was glad she was, but once she stared the self-degrading, he refused to let her do that.

“I…” Dash tried to speak again, but stopped and trailed off. She took a deep breath and released a long sigh, frowning and hunching over a little more as Soarin pulled the bandages tight with his teeth.





Dash winced a little as Soarin made sure the bandages were secure, before reaching for the box for some medical tape.

“Sorry,” Soarin said spontaneously as he found the roll of tape. “I… wanted you to talk about it, but don’t go beating yourself up…” Soarin paused and blinked, realizing that that was very hypocritical of him to say. He gritted his teeth as Dash’s ears twitched, knowing that she was thinking the same thing. “Leave that to me, you’re the one who was actually putting up a fight,” he added awkwardly, a snort coming from Dash. 

“I’m glad you caught yourself. I was going to let you have it for that,” Dash said with a slightly lighter tone for a moment as Soarin applied the tap to her bandages and made sure it was smoothed down. “And… you’re right. I shouldn’t tear myself down, but—” she shook her head. “I really don’t think it could have gone any worse… and then Silver, who we were supposed to protect, ended up protecting us.”

“Maybe…” Soarin spoke up, but stopped. Dash waited for him to continue, but when he didn’t she turned and looked over her shoulder, focusing on Soarin as the light from his horn continued to splash against his face gently. “Maybe Silver… was showing us what we’re all lacking, not just you.”

“All…?” Dash tipped her head as she turned herself around. Soarin nodded.

“Nightshade took us all down, all of us fighting together. But Silver did it alone… his body half-broken and with no chance of victory. Did you see the way she reacted to him? How his rejection of everything she was selling drove her crazy?”

Dash looked down at Soarin’s chest, simply thinking about it as Soarin brought a different perspective.

Could Silver have sacrificed himself, not simply to buy time for Spitfire? Could it be he was confident in Spitfire’s arrival, and took the opportunity… to show them all how to defeat the darkest horrors their enemy could bring at them?

It seemed farfetched… 

But then again… This was Silver Lining they were talking about.

“Mrph?” Dash suddenly squeaked as Soarin pulled her into a hug, smushing her face into his chest. 

“Whatever the reason… Silver did it for us,” Soarin said as he held her. “I need to stop blaming myself. I was caught, and Silver saved me too. We’re lucky he’s alive, and we have to make sure his efforts weren’t for nothing,” he loosened his grip on Dash a little, allowing her to look up at him. “And in terms of you being a great Wonderbolt, let’s not forget the praise you just received from the captain of the Lunar Guard himself… or the fact that you convinced him to come along with us.”

Dash’s ears flattened and she sighed as she turned her head sideways and plopped it against his chest again.

“I… haven’t forgotten that. I don’t know if it entirely makes up for what went wrong… or… rgh…” Dash turned her face forwards and tucked her head down into the ripped portion of Soarin’s suit.

“Hey, get out of there,” Soarin said with a single chuckle as he leaned back slightly to pull Dash’s head free from inside his suit.

“My brain is all over the place right now,” she said, the first half of it slightly muffled as Soarin managed to get her free. “Things went from bad to worse, to relief, to dangerous, to good, to worrisome, to sad to… AUGH!”  She tried to stuff her face back into Soarin’s suit, but he reached out and gently cupped her chin with a hoof to stop her.

“I know…” was all Soarin really felt he could say. 

“We made it through the day, but now I’m worried about Silver…” Dash stated as she held her chin over the top of Soarin’s arm for a moment before turning her body and nestling into him, keeping her bandaged side facing away to avoid pressure on it. “Sure, I believe in him… P.L. believes in him… He’s Silver Damn Lining, tough as nails, endless willpower, all that good stuff…” she sighed and slumped. “But what if he does die?”

“He...” Soarin stopped short of reassuring her. Why? He wasn’t quite sure. It felt like nothing he said would help, but he wanted to say something so badly.

“He’ll fight it, I know he will, but what if he doesn’t pull through? I don’t want to lose him…” she pushed herself back upright, turned, placed her hooves on Soarin’s chest, and glared up at him. “I don’t want to lose him!” she said louder while pressing her hooves against his chest harder. Soarin replied by simply hugging her, bringing her closer as she kept her hooves on him. “And then there’s you… with the horn…” she paused and shook her head against his chest. “I… know what Spitfire said… But I want you to stay out of things…”

Soarin blinked before sighing. He didn’t like that the conversation suddenly shifted to something he was mostly against, but this wasn’t the time to argue with her… now if only he could say something to comfort her… he was still at a loss for words.

“Silver is already at risk…” Dash went on. “If I lose him… then lose you too, I don’t know what I’ll…” She seemed to be rambling a little now, but now she was being very negative again. Soarin decided to say something, unfortunately his eagerness to comfort her led to him saying the first thing that was on his mind.

“If you lose me, you’ll die too so I’ll…” Soarin’s eyes widened and his pupils shrank as he realized what he said. He instantly looked down to see Dash glaring up at him and gritting her teeth.

Smooth.

“RRGGGHHHH!!!!” she growled as she slammed her eyes shut and really dug her hooves against him. “YOU’RE… NOT… HELPING…!” she yelled as she butted her head against his chest three times. Soarin immediately reached a hoof to the back of her head to stop her before releasing a very heavy, long sigh.

“You know what?”  Soarin said as Dash glared up at him again. “I’m just going to shut up… you’ve been through enough today, I don’t need to add my idiotic attempts at comfort you to make it worse.”

Dash just kept glaring at him. Soarin stared into her glare for a moment, noticing that she was shaking a little. Soarin got the message.

“Shut up and hug you… right?” he asked.

Dash, without breaking her glare, nodded twice.

“Yes, ma’am,” Soarin complied, leaning himself forwards and down so he could hug her while nuzzling his neck against hers.

It had been a long day… too long. And the longest days tended to be the ones you want to forget.

That could be said for both of them and even all the Wonderbolts. 

Several members were hit with traumatizing experiences, either physical or mental. They had lost a few Wonderbolts during their flight. And then they almost lost one of the most important ponies to ever be a part of their family.

It had been an awful experience, but now it was done.

Over, and done with. And tomorrow was a new day.

…

But what they didn’t know… was that things were not well on the other side either.

---To Be Continued---