//------------------------------// // Chapter 142: Take a Deep Breath // Story: Piercing the Heavens // by Calm Wind //------------------------------// MLP: FiM Piercing the Heavens By: Calm Wind Chapter 142: Take a Deep Breath As everypony started celebrating, Spitfire finally snapped out of her daze. She turned and faced the windshield and slumped forward onto the railing beside Lucky’s station. She took a long, deep breath and released the longest sigh of relief she’d ever let out in her life, casually unclipping her radio box and headset, tossing them both over her head gently. Soarin was the first to notice Spitfire as everypony else went wild. He stared for a moment, still trying to wrap his head around everything that just happened. He was suddenly overcome with an intense urge to apologize. It was crazy as hell, but Spitfire’s plan worked. It actually worked. And while part of his brain was going nuts acknowledging how awesome it was, the other half was acknowledging that he tried to stop it from happening. It was part of his job to speak up when he felt the captain was making poor decisions, but Spitfire proved she wasn’t just throwing random dangerous ideas out there. She wouldn’t have given the order without thinking it through, considering several factors, and coming to a conclusion. If there was zero chance of success, she wouldn’t have ordered it. After this, if she was able to make something that ridiculous work, then Soarin would have a hard time speaking out against much of anything in the future. Because seriously, holy crap. “Hey Spitf—” “Whoa, whoa, hold up, WAIT!” Surprise cut off Soarin as she suddenly garnered all the attention again. She was looking through the periscope, staring behind them. “EEEK!” “What?” Spitfire jumped right up from the railing and turned around, the cheering and celebrating coming to a solid halt for a moment. “WHAT?!” Spitfire demanded louder. “IT’S ANOTHER ONE OF THEIR…wait…” Surprise immediately calmed down. “Eheh…” she pulled her face out of the periscope and chuckled sheepishly. “False alarm… sorry…” she stuck her face back in and hummed to herself. “Hmmm… yep, that’s Air Mach. Saw the little ship, reflex reaction. CARRY ON!” she yelled as she let go of the periscope and fell backwards, flopping onto the floor on her back as celebrations recommenced. “Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…” she sighed loudly, her mane deflating until it was straight and sprawled out on the floor. “You know what I need right now?” she began as she pointed a hoof up in the air. “I need a cupcake, and a full body massage…” Roughly half a second after she said it, Lightning Streak was standing above her, cracking his hooves. “Comin’ right up!” he yelled eagerly, only to have his face smash right into Surprise’s hoof the moment he bent down. “On second thought, I’ll just take the cupcake,” she amended her request as Misty dragged a disappointed Lightning away from her. Twister’s head, with his body still dangling from the ceiling, suddenly popped out of a floor tile right beside her, resting his chin on the floor right next to her cheek. He smiled wide, his right eye remaining still but his left moving further left as he balanced a plate on his head that had a cupcake on it. It was yellow with white frosting and purple sprinkles. Surprise glanced at him and blinked, taking a moment to look back and forth at his body stuck in the ceiling a little ways away and his head sticking through the floor beside her. Without asking questions, she grabbed the cupcake. The instant it was in her hoof, Twister’s head fell back into the floor and his body dislodged from the ceiling, a loud, ridiculous CRASH sounding out as if somepony had just dropped a bin full of silverware. Surprise stared at the cupcake and shrugged. “Eh… I’ll take it.” She let her head lay back as she stuffed the cupcake in her mouth ravenously. “OHM NOM NOM!!!!” “And everything is back to normal,” Soarin said quietly to himself with a chuckle as he quickly surveyed the Wonderbolts and the staff. Most of them were celebrating, but there were a few that had simply dropped down and flopped over as victory set in. High Winds had just finished peeling Blaze off the floor after her first hop and cheer sent her into another dizzy spell. Shine Struck was clinging to Calm’s neck, still breathing heavily. Calm was still on the floor and had a hoof on Fleetfoot’s back. His eyes darted over Fleetfoot frantically as she shook and cringed, her tender body practically lit on fire by all the motion it was just put through. Soarin glanced a little further over and had to hold in a chuckle. Squad Foxtrot had taken a tumble. Matteo must have hit a sore spot from the encounter with Nightshade because he was on his side, grimacing as his opposite wing twitched in the air. But the best part was Dash, Little Star, and Squall all stuck beneath him, grunting and groaning as they tried to shimmy free. Storm had escaped Matteo’s girth, but was squatting down slightly, his tail caught beneath instead. Twister was sitting on top of Matteo, wearing a blank face and holding a sign that read: ‘I’m indifferent to your suffering.’ Soarin felt a little bad for laughing, but Dash’s recruit squad had become known around the force as a constant source of amusement, and Storm seemed to always get caught in it too. “Any orders ma’am?” Lucky’s voice caught Soarin’s attention. “Ma’am?” Lucky repeated. Soarin turned around to see Spitfire slumped over the railing again, she lackadaisically waved a hoof in the air. “Remain on course…” Spitfire said weakly, sounding like her body was relaxing to the point of getting sleepy. “Straight to the Crystal Empire,” she finished with a sigh as she stood up and stretched her body out, shaking her mane back and forth and taking a long, relaxed breath. Soarin quickly remembered he was about to apologize before Surprise cut him off. Best get it over with before any more interruptions. He made his way over to her and cleared his throat. “Uh… Spitfire?” he began awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head. Spitfire’s ears stood up as she heard his voice. She shook slightly, a motion that resembled a quiet chuckle as she slowly started turning around. “Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?” she hummed, her tone steadily growing higher and taking on a smug tone as she turned to reveal a very confident smirk. Soarin was a little surprised at first, but then remembered who he was talking to… and how she always did enjoy one-upping him. Some things never change. “Sorry abou—” Soarin stopped short, flinching as Blaze suddenly leapt past him. “GRAAAAAHHH!!!!!” she roared as she appeared out of nowhere, catching Spitfire off guard and punching her right in the cheek. Soarin’s eyes widened as Spitfire grunted and stumbled slightly, her plot sliding across the railing as Blaze set her hooves down and snarled at her. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!” she yelled, drawing some attention away from the celebrating, but not all. “Ow…” Spitfire said casually, moving her jaw back and forth, but not reacting much more than that as she exhaled through her nose. “YOU CRAZY BITCH! YOU ALMOST KILLED US ALL!” Blaze roared out irrationally, growling as she stomped her hooves. “Blaze… simmer down.” Spitfire flattened her brow as her little half-sister raged. But Blaze did no such thing, leaping at Spitfire again and throwing another punch. With little effort, Spitfire lifted a hoof and caught Blaze’s arm. “Cut that out,” she ordered as she narrowed her eyes. “FUCK NO YOU GODDAMN….AH! OWOWOWOW!!!!” Blaze yelped as Spitfire started twisting her arm down. “You’re still a wreck from fighting Nightshade, don’t make me exploit it more,” Spitfire explained as Blaze cringed and tried to rip her hoof free. “YOU SON OF A… a… aoooooowwwwwyow…” Blaze groaned as she suddenly got dizzy again. Slumping down as she still felt the effects of donating blood to Silver. Soarin blinked as High Winds trotted by him and approached Blaze from behind. “Rein it in, Blazey…” she said as she gladly took over Blaze from Spitfire. “You’re sister’s insane, but we didn’t die, so give credit where credit is due,” she explained monotonously with a yawn at the end as Blaze latched onto her and completely slumped. “But I wanna punch her again…” she said woozily as High Winds pulled her back over to the others. Soarin didn’t know what to say or do for a moment as he and Spitfire were left alone again, his brain trying to process what he just witnessed. He glanced outside to try and find something else to focus on briefly. All he had time to notice was that they were starting to move north, snowy terrain coming into view, before Spitfire cleared her throat. “Oh, right,” Soarin chuckled as Spitfire lifted her brow, her smug look returning, more or less confirming she knew exactly what his intentions were. “Where was I…?” he said with an awkward chuckle, but Spitfire suddenly lifted a hoof and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it Soarin,” she answered before he could even say it. Soarin’s mouth remained open for a few seconds before he closed it and blinked. “So you’re assuming that I’m about to—” “Yes,” Spitfire cut him off again, her smirk growing more mischievous. “Am I that easy to read?” Soarin snorted, but couldn’t hide a smirk of his own. “Yes, but again, don’t worry about it,” she repeated. “It’s part of your job to not follow me blindly. The first commanders are supposed to question my decisions if you feel it’s right to do so.” She made a head motion towards Lucky. “I was taking one hell of a risk, I’m not surprised you did.” She turned around and stared out the cracked windshield, looking out over the fields of snow that extended forth as they continued on to their destination. “But… you want to know something?” she asked, the smug tone disappearing. “As everything was going to hell and I stood there with no idea what to do… I remembered something that a certain veteran of ours yelled in my face the first time we took flight in this ship…” she paused, a smile curling on her lips. “Wake up, Spitfire. This is no time to play things safe. Either we take chances, or we all die.” She turned back and faced Soarin. “You were out during that whole ridiculous escape, but you have one guess who said that to me.” “Silver,” Soarin answered immediately with a chuckle. “Yep,” Spitfire nodded. “And right after he proceeded to lead a small team out against two Falcons and bury them under an avalanche… with a half functioning wing.” “Sounds like Silver alright,” Soarin nodded as he walked up and stood beside Spitfire, both of them looking out the window. “We really can’t afford to always be careful with what we’re up against… I guess this is just another part of my little self-evaluation. If I want to play the game, I have to take a few risks.” She paused for a moment. “Heh… You know what? Sometimes I wonder…” she glanced at Soarin. “Silver told me that he’s not angry anymore about me becoming the captain over him… that he feels I was the right choice for the job but… Something tells me he prefers the role of mentor over leader, directly and indirectly. Of course there’s Dash, but I doubt there’s one Wonderbolt in the force right now that hasn’t been affected by him in some way. I know I wouldn’t be in my current state of mind right now if not for him… that’s for sure.” “I doubt he’d ever admit he actually likes all of us, that or he’d find a way to spin it into a back-hoofed compliment,” Soarin added, the two of them sharing a quiet laugh. Soarin glanced back briefly to see the Wonderbolts still celebrating, Lightning Streak putting Fire Streak into a headlock and giving him a noogie, only to immediately be ripped off by Misty after Fire’s painful reaction to it. “Oh and speaking of your current state of mind and how I… you know… accused you of being insane during your whole plan…” he trailed off. “Mmhmm…?” Spitfire hummed, glancing at him with her smug smirk returning. “Would it be weird if I suddenly did a complete one-eighty and start gushing about it since it actually worked?” he asked with a goofy look on his face. Spitfire snickered and waved a hoof at him. “I guess I’ll allow it.” “WOW.” Soarin got right in her face. “You absolute MAD-mare!” he exaggerated while throwing his hooves up. “I can’t believe that actually worked! Hell of a job, Captain, you’re one of a kind!” he kept going over the top intentionally. Spitfire giggled and pushed him away. “Oh, stop it. I’m sure you would’ve come up with something if you were in my position,” she humbly tried to play it down, exaggerating a little herself with the shift away from her initial smugness. “Seriously?” Soarin lifted his brow and shook his head. “After all those crazy-fast, split-second decisions you made including the risk we ultimately took? No chance I would have done any of that, hence my protest. After how much we’ve been blundering up to this point, that was a top-notch, A-plus performance.” “Yowza, Soarin,” Spitfire turned her head away, her face turning a little red in embarrassment. “Don’t come onto me too hard or anything, I’m already taken,” she joked. “But if you’re trying to stroke my ego until it’s raw, you’re doing a good job.” “Spitfire, come on,” Soarin snorted and rolled his eyes. “You’re acting like you didn’t just use our twenty fuck-tillion ton airship as a big fat sledgehammer to smash another airship to the ground. Look, I know the Wonderbolts exist to both be unconventional and handle the unconventional,” he leaned over and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her lightly. “But good lord, I think you just completely transcended our definition of ‘unconventional,’” he chuckled as he let got and winked at her. “Ten out of ten, I’m sure it would have given Silver a hard on.” Spitfire flinched awkwardly and scrunched her face. “Okay, you were doing fine until you brought up Silver’s dick,” Spitfire stuck her tongue out and shook her head out. “Thanks for that unwanted mental image…” They looked at one another and both burst out laughing, guffawing for several moments as the high of their success remained strong along with the rest still having fun behind them. “I need a nap…” Spitfire said to herself as she sighed and slumped back down against the railing. “Are we there yet?” “I know, right?” Soarin agreed quickly as he leaned against the railing as well, the two of them going quiet for a few moments as they just relaxed and took a load off. “So…” Spitfire spoke up again. “I wonder how Air Mach got that Falcon moving anyway…?” “Uh…” Soarin blinked then flinched, his ears pointing straight up. “Wasn’t that thing powered by one of their crystals?” They both locked eyes, jaws dropping. “You don’t think he…?” “WOOHOO!!!!!!” Air Mach cheered as he continued to pilot the Falcon, kicking the throttle up and picking up speed to catch up with the Nimbus. “The mighty Animak prevails and delivers swift, stallionly justice upon his foes!” he guffawed happily to himself. “Say… buddy!” He started turning around to face Moon. “Last time was a little rough, any tips on how to land this thi—” He froze. Moon was gone. The crystal was flickering, and slowly lowered back down into the bowl of the core with a soft CLINK. Warning lights began blinking, loud beeping came from every station, the power cords were no longer glowing, and loud hissing of all the systems powering down filled the cockpit. Air Mach’s jaw dropped as he turned back around and noticed that the levers had locked… but the Falcon was still gliding and heading straight for the backside of the Nimbus… quite quickly. “Well darn…” “No… not even he’s that stupid!” Spitfire argued as a few others started glancing towards her and Soarin. “But…” Soarin shook his head. “How else did he get it to move?!” “UGH!” Spitfire smacked a hoof over her eyes and groaned. “Just when I thought everything went well for once!” She pulled her hoof down her face and blew air between her lips, making them vibrate. “There’s no other way he could have gotten it to move… I hope he’s at least okay, because, I mean, he did end up helping us…” “Slightly related question…” Soarin chimed in. “I heard the landing went poorly last time, can he land that thing while the Nimbus is mo—” KA-THUNK Soarin was cut off and everypony flinched hard, a few stumbling and falling as a loud noise resembling a crash echoed throughout. The walls and floor shook and vibrated and the Nimbus tipped forward as if it was just struck from behind. Everypony gasped and yelped, grabbing onto each other or any solid surface as the sudden shock resonated throughout the ship, all of them looking around frantically as Lucky quickly regained control. “What the HELL was that?!” Lucky yelled out. It didn’t take long to get an answer. The doors to the bridge suddenly swung open, almost instantly hitting the walls beside them with loud BANGS as Air Mach’s body flung back first through them and over the top of several ponies near it. He luckily fell before hitting the periscope, just missing Surprise as he hit the floor, tumbled, and landed on his face, a loud, ear wrenching squeak sounding out as his face dragged along the floor, stopping at the base of the control platform with the rest of his body tipped up in the air over him. His body tipped over as he stopped, his back landing against the step of the platform as his limbs flopped to his sides. He was covered in bruises, there was a big red line on his face and his glasses rested unevenly with one eye exposed, but the glasses themselves were somehow completely undamaged. He slowly slid off the step and onto the floor. Everypony just stood silently and stared at him, only the doors making noise as they swung shut and bounced. A weak, forced smile made its way onto his face as he slowly lifted a hoof into the air. “Nailed it!” he yelled, his voice cracking as his hoof flopped back down to his body. Spitfire blinked and looked between Air Mach and the door, wondering what the hell just happened as Lucky had voiced earlier. She got her answer as High Winds moved over to the door and pulled it open to get a look out into the hallway. Everypony that could see it stared blankly into the hall. The Falcon was… well… IN the Nimbus. More specifically… it was sitting right across the hall… in Spitfire’s room. It had completely destroyed the outer wall and had caused the wall separating her room from the hallway to completely collapse. It had dug far enough into her room that the wings had likely caused damage to the rooms to the left and right of hers as well, the propellers on the wings completely bent and snapped off, laying on the floor in front of it. “Looks like he parked in your bedroom,” Soarin was the first to speak, not sure if he was supposed to laugh. “Uh… he…” Spitfire’s eye twitched. “I guess he did…” Spitfire started moving closer to Air Mach, a slightly frustrated nicker escaping her throat, but she flinched as Twister suddenly popped up between them. “SIR!” Twister yelled at Air Mach, wearing a police helmet. “YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO PARK YOUR VAN ON THE DIVING BOARD!” Spitfire flattened her brow, but Soarin tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey Twister!” Soarin yelled while picking up a metal rod that fell off one of the consoles. “Go get the stick!” he added, waving the rod back and forth before tossing it across the room. Twister immediately threw off the police helmet and barked like a dog as he bounded after it. Spitfire blinked and stared after Twister as he leapt behind a control panel before looking back at Soarin. “Learned that from Dash,” Soarin explained simply with a shrug. “Uh… right…” Spitfire quickly let it go, giving no attempt to find an explanation. She quickly noticed how confused everypony looked. Not surprising since Air Mach just crashed through the wall and one of their recruits was acting like a dog. She decided to retake control of the moment and focused on Air Mach. She cleared her throat loudly to bring all the attention back to her before she stepped up and stared down at Air Mach, giving him a glare as he continued to wear his weak, silly smile on the floor. “Heya Captain… how’d I do?” he asked as he slid one of his arms back and forth beside him. Spitfire examined him carefully, looking him over for any signs of damage from using the crystal… but there didn’t seem to be any, bringing the only question she had to the fore. “How the hell did you get that thing to move?” she asked bluntly. Air Mach continued to smile, as if he was too beaten up to do anything else before letting his arms flop up and down again. “Moonbro dropped in and started it up for me,” he explained. “Put it into overdrive for me too, had a hell of a time blowing the shit outta the other ships,” he said while chuckling weakly and letting out a long, loud, content sigh. “It was badass… just like me.” “Moon?” Spitfire’s eyes widened as she repeated the name. She glanced over at Soarin, but he was equally surprised. “Huh…” she refocused on Air Mach. “Left me hanging at the end though… up and disappeared, so the landing was a bit… rough,” Air Mach explained, trying to tip up, but he failed miserably. “And that explains that…” Spitfire said with a slight grunt as she considered the current state of her living quarters. But then her lips curled into a smile as she looked down upon him. “You know what, Air Mach? You’re a damn moron, but you’ve got it where it counts. Nice improvising,” she complimented. A few chuckles sounded out around them, the Wonderbolts relaxing again as they absorbed the explanation and wholly agreed with Spitfire’s assessment. Air Mach strained himself to lift his arm and point upward. “All in a day’s—!” “But if we have to make any emergency, overnight landings before we arrive,” Spitfire cut him off. “You’re sleeping in the lobby. It’s what you get for parking in my room.” “Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww mannnnnnnnnnn…” Air Mach groaned as his arm flopped down against his chest, the Wonderbolts and staff all losing it, bursting out laughing as the good cheer recommenced. The Streak twins came over to help Air Mach off the floor and hold him up as several others came around to ask him about piloting the Falcon, but he was almost knocked completely out cold as Macho Savage gave him a pat on the back that was way too hard. Spitfire was feeling too good about their success to be angry about a big hunk of metal lodged in her room. She was also considering that they’d be in the Crystal Empire by the end of the night. She assumed the Nimbus was going to undergo repairs while there, so she wouldn’t need her living quarters anyway. She turned and moved to the front beside Lucky, basking in the relief as everypony did the same behind her. Now that he had gotten his ‘apology’ out of the way, Soarin turned his attention to the other mare in his life, the more personal one. It looked like Rainbow Dash and her friends had finally removed themselves from beneath Matteo and were letting everything sink in though Matteo was still on the floor, looking rather uncomfortable as his wing continued to twitch and shudder. His wing didn’t look broken or anything, but it had to be one hell of a cramp or stinger if it was still bothering him. Then again, Soarin was sure most of them had lingering injuries from fighting Nightshade, something he couldn’t claim. As he approached, Little Star plopped on the floor and rolled over on her back. “That’s enough excitement for me, thanks!” she yelled, pointing all four of her hooves up into the air and groaning. “Guh… my head hurts…” “Okay,” Squall grunted as he cringed and shuffled up between Star and Dash. “Maybe boring wasn’t so bad after all…” he walked back his prior complaint while shaking his head out. Star suddenly rolled towards him and latched to his leg. “SQUALLLLLL!!!!!” she wailed. “MAKE THE ROOM STOP SPINNING!” Squall flinched and glared down at her as he lifted his leg and tried to shake her free, but she didn’t let go. “That’s not helping!” she added, her voice shaking as he whipped his arm back and forth. Soarin chuckled as he watched the small scene unfold, but when he turned to focus on Dash, she and Storm were both on the move, placing themselves on opposite sides of Matteo to assist him. “Everyone alive over here?” Soarin asked as he approached them. “I’m still alive,” Storm chuckled, Dash focusing entirely on Matteo as they helped him tip and roll over. “I think everypony else is t—” Storm stopped, all of them blinking as Matteo rolled over to reveal Twister beneath him, completely flattened to the floor like a pancake with a smashed wavy grin on his face. “Wait, what?” Soarin blinked, glancing back over to where he threw the metal rod. “Didn’t I just—” Dash didn’t wait for Soarin to finish. She sighed, reached down, and casually peeled Twister off the floor. She spread out her hooves on him and roughly flapped her arms, whiplashing him like a bed sheet freshly removed from a dryer. With a single whip, Twister retook his natural form, Dash instantly letting go of him as he fell face first on the floor. He quickly tilted the top half of his body up, holding a bright orange bottle of laundry detergent. “If it’s gotta be clean, it’s gotta be RIDE!” he said in a generic, salespony tone while waving a hoof in front of the bottle and the word ‘RIDE’ appearing on it with a saddle behind it. “Yep,” Storm quickly turned back to Soarin. “Situation normal, sir!” Storm shrugged while giving a goofy salute. “No doubt,” Soarin agreed, snickering as Dash took Twister’s laundry detergent away before dragging him off kicking and screaming. It looked like Dash was going to be busy for a moment, so why not check on the third mare in his life? The one that drove him insane, but couldn’t live without. But it looked like Spitfire had beaten Soarin to the punch. She was already over by Calm Wind and Fleetfoot as the big oaf tried to get up to give Spitfire room to check on her, but he was restrained. Fleetfoot was grasping his arm and refusing to let go, not out of fear, but it looked like her body just hurt that much that she had to squeeze something, her eyes slammed shut and her teeth grinding together. The situation would have been completely serious if not for the fact that Shine Struck was still latched to the back of Calm’s neck. From where they were positioned it looked like Calm had done a pretty darn good job of making sure they didn’t move too much. They had only shifted a little ways away from where they started. Or who knows? Spitfire probably spooked him to the point where he was afraid to be anywhere else when she checked again. “Uuuuugggghhhh!!!” Shine struck groaned as she continued to cling to Calm’s neck. “Can somepony let me know when we land so I can throw up?!” she wailed as she let go of Calm and slipped off his back, flopping onto the ground and lying flat on the floor. Spitfire ignored her, her focus completely on Fleetfoot as she bent down to check on her. “Fleet… we made it, are you okay?” she asked, touching her very gently and feeling her body quake. Fleetfoot didn’t respond, she just slowly opened her eyes, locked them with Spitfire’s, and nodded very weakly while still holding onto Calm’s leg with most of her body pressed against his. Spitfire smiled weakly back at her, gently brushing a hoof against the back of her neck in a comforting manner. “You can relax now, we’re safe,” she assured her before turning and smiling contently at Calm. “Good work Calm,” she nodded, but he didn’t look at her or acknowledge her. “Calm?” She blinked and tipped her head, noticing that he was stiffly frozen and looking up at the ceiling, his face completely red beneath his mask. Spitfire glanced back down at Fleetfoot, and too note of how much of her was pressed against him. No explanation needed. “You massive goofball,” she rolled her eyes and chuckled before crouching back down towards Fleetfoot. “Hey, when you get the chance, make sure you thank your big strong anchor here.” It looked like Fleetfoot wanted to say something, but she ended up cringing again before clinging even tighter to Calm’s arm. Spitfire was surprised that Calm’s mask didn’t burst into flames. Knowing Calm would keep an eye on her regardless of his inability to move, Spitfire turned her focus from Fleetfoot to Shine as she remained on the floor, on her back, wheezing as if she was going to hurl. “You going to be okay, Shine?” Spitfire asked, giving her a light tap on the side. “I’ll be up in a minute…” Shine replied shakily while haphazardly lifting and waving a hoof in the air. Content with the simple response, Spitfire looked around until she found Soarin, catching his eyes watching her. “What’s that look for?” she asked as she trotted up to him. He shrugged and pointed towards Dash as she continued to deal with Twister. “Just waiting for her to get her squad together,” Soarin answered with a nod. They both watched as Dash hung Twister over one of the nearby railings like a wet towel before turning her attention to Matteo. He was rolling over with the help of Little Star, or at least as much as she could help. Dash joined her, both of them assisting Matteo as he grunted and grumbled something about his right wing that quickly became inaudible. Dash and Star moved to his right after he was on his stomach and grabbed his wing, helping him slowly stretch it out. “You know…” Spitfire began as she and Soarin watched the recruits. “Foxtrot never ceases to surprise me.” “A fun bunch aren’t they?” Soarin added, but Spitfire shook her head. “Yeah, but I’m losing track of how many times they’ve been very useful in the moment,” she explained with a proud smile. She walked towards them, Soarin following behind her as they approached. “Rainbow Dash, Matteo,” Spitfire spoke their names, but Dash was clearly distracted. So Spitfire cleared her throat loudly. “YIPE!” Dash jumped in surprise, letting go of Matteo’s wing. It whipped back towards his body and slapped against his side. “ARRRGHHH!!!!! GRRHHHHH!!!!” Matteo groaned in pain as his wing twitched. “Ah! Sorry! Sorry!” Dash immediately shifted up to Matteo, wincing as he rolled onto his side, almost flattening Star in the process. Spitfire and Soarin stared at them blankly as Dash quickly whipped around and threw on a very forced smile while Matteo continued to cringe and groan behind her, cursing in barely audible tones. Squall, Storm, and Little Star backed away from Matteo as his razor sharp talons began extending and retracting, twitching as he dealt with the cramping pains. “Relax, Dash,” Spitfire waved a hoof at her. “Let’s give him a second.” They both waited until Matteo finally stopped cringing and rolled back onto his stomach, remaining on the floor while taking slow, careful breaths. Regardless of his position, he was still taller than Spitfire. “You alright?” Spitfire asked him, Matteo simply nodding in response. “I’ll live,” he stated, earning a smirk from Spitfire. “Perfect answer,” she said as she glanced between the two of them. “Good work, both of you. If you two didn’t act, we’d have had a head-on collision. I don’t think we’d be flying right now… or even alive right now,” she complimented them, but then looked towards Matteo and tipped her head. “How did you see it, anyway?” she asked. Matteo swallowed and exhaled as he fought back reactions to his aching wing. “I just saw it,” he explained. Spitfire lifted an eyebrow, then glanced at Dash. “Eagle eyes, remember?” Dash reminded her. “Oh, right,” Spitfire’s eyes widened slightly. “I mean… I knew griffon eyes were good, but… wow that’s beyond impressive,” she smirked at Matteo, but he simply stared back as if it was only natural. “And Dash…” she squared up to Dash and gave her a slightly hard glare. Dash squeaked, but stood attention quickly. “Quick thinking with the lever, that’s one hell of an instinct you have… but don’t get too carried away.” “Oh, uh, yeah,” Dash smiled while rubbing the back of her head. “I will, it was nothing really…” “You’re not fooling anyone with the humble act,” Soarin suddenly spoke up while making his way around Spitfire and giving Dash a nudge in the side. Dash flinched, then pouted up at Soarin, meeting a smarmy look from his eyes. “Oh, shut it…” she huffed as Spitfire turned away from them and made her way back towards Lucky. Dash watched as Spitfire left, but then took a deep breath and exhaled for a few seconds, letting her body relax, if only a little. She leaned up against Soarin, who immediately reacted by gently draping an arm over her shoulder as she pressed into him. “I’m a little curious though…” she spoke up before Soarin could drape a wing over her too. “Hm? About what?” he asked. Dash looked around the bridge, her eyes searching for a specific pegasus mare. “I know how Matteo saw the fortress before it appeared, but…” she paused as she found her target. “What was up with Misty Fly?” she asked while pointing across the bridge. Soarin followed her hoof, both of them looking towards Misty as she sat on the floor beside Fire, leaning against him in relief. “How did she know it was there? And did you see her ears moving?” Soarin opened his mouth, but no words made their way out. He blinked, lifted an eyebrow, and tipped his head slightly. He watched Fire make signs to Misty, asking if she was doing alright. She smiled and nodded at him before giving him a big, tight hug that made him grunt unexpectedly. “Uh…” Soarin finally managed to speak as he ran it all through his head and realized that it didn’t make any sense at all. “That’s… a good question…” They glanced at one another, both completely stumped. “Rivet,” Spitfire’s voice nearby caught their attention. “Is everything alright down there?” she asked, finally touching base with the engine room. “Aside from a few dozen heart attacks, everything’s peachy. Nothing is catching fire or threatening to blow up down here anymore so I’m assuming we’re alive?” Rivet replied in a slightly monotonous, annoyed tone. “You’re as bluntly sarcastic as ever, Rivet, but yes,” Spitfire replied with a slight chuckle. “It was a bang up job, but we left them in the dust and in the dirt. Keep her running steady, I’ll let you know when we’re near the crystal empire,” she finished, letting go of the comm button and leaning forward against the panel. After a long, content inhale and exhale, she glanced at Lucky too. “Have I said you did a great job yet?” “Er…” Lucky flinched, clearly concentrating on flying straight as he started navigating the Nimbus over some of the snowy lowlands, staying on path as they flew over the least dense area of the northern mountains. “No?” he finally answered, giving her a quick glance before putting his eyes back forward. “Hell of a job, then,” Spitfire complimented him with a smile. “You’ve earned your pay for the week.” “I’m getting paid for this?” Lucky suddenly perked up, his eyes widening. “It’s just an expression, but you will be eventually if you keep this up,” she said with a chuckle. “It all depends on what happens going forward and what we do with this old clunker, but I guarantee you it’ll pay better than organizing our mail.” She blinked and noticed the Nimbus was shifting slightly. Lucky was staring at her with wide eyes and his jaw almost unhinged. “We’ll talk about that later. Eyes forward.” She pointed. “Ah, right, right…” Lucky swallowed and refocused, putting the lever back in place to fly straight. “Oh, should I slow down for the Renegades and thestrals? What was the meet up plan again?” “No,” Spitfire shook her head. “Push on, they’ll catch up. If they’re having too much fun and spend more time harassing the Shadowbolts, then they’ll meet us at the Crystal Empire.” “Will they be alright?” Lucky pressed, feeling a little responsible for them since he was in control of the Nimbus. “They’ll be fine,” Spitfire reassured him. “They played the role of ‘surprise attack’ perfectly, if the Shadowbolts somehow managed to take the fight to them, Descent is in charge of their getaway plan. Trust me… he knows a thing or two about eluding enemies.” “If you say so…” Lucky gritted his teeth. Spitfire noticed and caught onto his worry. “Just focus on driving.” She patted him on the back. “Your job is to worry about flying this ship. It’s my job to worry about our allies.” Lucky simply nodded as he kept his eyes forward. Content, Spitfire turned around and looked towards the floor, her eyes scanning until she found her headset. It had slid to the edge of the platform after she had tossed them aside. She was touching base with her non-Wonderbolt helpers and was almost surprised she had nearly forgotten the obvious one. “Luna?” she spoke into the headset as she slipped it back over her head and pushed the microphone down. “Come in, Luna,” she spoke while turning around and pacing back towards the rest of the Wonderbolts. She looked up and blinked. “Luna, do you re—” she stopped as she reached the edge of the platform, one hoof hovering over the edge before she could take the step down. “Oh? Who’s this?” she asked as a different voice came through. “Is Luna alright?” she kept speaking as she moved towards Soarin and Dash, noticing that the two were observing her. “Ah, I see,” she smiled. “Let her rest.” She pushed the microphone back up and removed the headset again, placing it on the panel beside her before approaching Soarin and Dash. “What’s up with Luna?” Dash asked, concerned, but Spitfire just smiled and shook her head. “Nothing, apparently she decided to take a nap right on the deck. She’s fine,” she explained, but quickly turned her attention to Soarin… who was snickering as he tried to stifle laughter. “What?” “You told a goddess to ‘nut up and shut up,’” he pointed out as he let a few chuckles go. Dash instantly puffed her cheeks out and giggled at his side as several nearby Wonderbolts overheard, remembered she had said that in the heat of the encounter, and started laughing too. “I did, didn’t I?” Spitfire sighed and rolled her eyes, but cracked a weak smile. “Ballsy move…” High Winds began with a yawn. “Oh, ball-less captain,” she finished before lowering herself to the floor to take a nap of her own. Blaze tried to nudge her awake, but instead was grabbed and pulled down roughly to be sleepily snuggled with. “I’ll say!” Lightning Streak agreed as he approach from the other side. “But damn if we don’t owe those invisible nuts of Luna’s some respect! Did you see her keep those shields up?” “YEAH!” Surprise leapt up on his back and pushed his head down as she leaned towards Spitfire. “That was amazing!” She turned to Soarin. “But who do you think has bigger balls at this point? Spitfire or Luna? YEEP!” she yelped as Fire Streak stepped up beside her and pulled both her and Lightning’s neck down. “Can we stop talking about the non-existent privates of our captain and the princess?” he asked with a grumble. “Unclench bro, I can hear the vacuum of your ass from here,” Lightning retorted casually as he was put beneath the pressure of both his twin and Surprise. Laughter echoed all around as the air of relief continued to float among them, and Spitfire was enjoying every second. After everything they had gone through with the force as a whole, it was about time something went right. Aside from the rescue of Wave, it had been one disaster after another. They weren’t safely at their destination yet, but… they earned some light hearted cheer. “Everypony…” Spitfire spoke up, lifting her voice a little to grab everypony's attention, Fire Streak dropping his other two squadmates immediately to find and translate for Misty Fly beside him. “Good work… and—” “Um, sorry to interrupt!” Lucky suddenly yelled from the front. “Something wrong?” Spitfire blinked, quickly turning around with wide eyes, hoping that she didn’t just jinx the situation. “No, no… just a question about the flight path and the mountains,” Lucky confirmed, causing Spitfire to nearly drop to the floor as she exhaled. “Careful there…” Soarin poked her in the side in a teasing manner. “What were you telling me earlier about saying anything implying we’re home free?” “At this point I don’t give a damn,” Spitfire chuckled as she got up and made her way back towards Lucky. “Heh,” Soarin chuckled as he watched her, then perked up as Dash suddenly left his side and started moving towards the port side window. With Spitfire looking like she had a moment or two before she continued her address, Soarin broke from his spot and followed behind Dash. He watched her carefully as she sat down and stared out the window, the sunset nearly complete, the twilight just waiting to wash over the orange and red of the horizon. “Something wrong?” he asked as he moved up beside her and sat down. “Or are you just thinking about what we mentioned before?” “No…” Dash said weakly, but with a tone that seemed… troubled. “Something else I can’t shake from my mind. I dunno… that seemed…” she kept pausing as if trying to find the right words. “That seemed way too easy.” Soarin’s eyes twitched and he furrowed his brow, trying not to chuckle awkwardly. “That’s your definition of EASY?” he asked with slight sarcasm. “Okay, maybe that’s the wrong word for it,” Dash huffed, pouting at her faint reflection in the cracked window. “I guess… I feel… I don’t…” Dash started trailing off every time. “I dunno, I don’t think I want to bring it up.” “Out with it, missy,” Soarin gently poked her in the arm. Dash groaned and pulled her ears down. “Where was Nightshade?” Soarin’s eyes widened as the name left her lips. He stared blankly at her as she let go of her ears and let them flop back up before puffing her cheeks out and flattening her brow as she glared at him slightly. No wonder she didn’t want to bring it up. “That’s…” Soarin turned and stared out the window. “That’s… a very good question. Oh god,” Soarin gritted his teeth. He was so distracted by the action and intensity of the confrontation that the thought never crossed his mind. There was a lingering fear of Nightshade slithering in all of their minds, but it wasn’t hard for that bit to be lost in the back of his mind when their too massive airships were clashing and crashing together. “I hope she wasn’t out there when we broke free… Or else… Descent and P.L. are—” he started turning to look back towards Spitfire with the preemptive intention of bringing this up, but he stopped halfway when somepony else showed up right behind them. “Um…” Storm Front hummed as Dash turned to see him as well. “Hi.” He waved sheepishly. Soarin and Dash glanced at one another briefly. “Eavesdropping?” Soarin asked in a tone that was half blunt, half sarcastic. Storm flinched a little, but shook his head. “I didn’t listen in until I heard ‘Nightshade.’” he admitted. “I don’t think the Renegades or Thestrals are in any danger, at least from her,” he assured them rather pointedly. “Why? Oh… wait…” Dash questioned, but came to a realization shortly. “You know where I’m going with this,” Storm nodded as he motioned to Dash and looked at Soarin. “Remember what happened when she saw my dad? “Oh, right…” Soarin recalled. He was there too, after all. It didn’t seem likely she’d directly confront Descent and Starry after how it went a few days ago. “But that doesn’t explain where she is now…” “Maybe she was giving orders in the Fortress?” Storm suggested. “You know, just like Spitfire was?” He put forth the possibility as they continued to contemplate. “But either way, she didn’t look too… stable after what we put her through. Silver tore her apart emotionally, then her fearful reaction to my Dad, and her crystals almost killed her… I dunno, she looked like a mess.” “Maybe…” Dash tipped slightly to lean into Soarin. “I just… won’t feel comfortable until we’re there…” “Alright Wonderbolts, Where was I?” Spitfire made her way back down, earning a few chuckles as she looked to resume her little address. Dash, Soarin, and Storm all shifted their focus away from speculation and back to their captain. “Good work. Fantastic job…” she paused briefly as she got a few odd looks. There was some confusion since those present had not really done much of anything just now, aside from Air Mach, or at least compared to what everypony else had done. “No, I’m not just talking about right now,” Spitfire explained, looking around and meeting the eyes of everypony present. “I’m talking about everything we’ve done to get to this point. It’s been long… it’s been hard… and it’s been brutal, but you’ve all come through. I want to thank you all here specifically, the leading squads of the Wonderbolts. We’ve had some rough spots along the way, but our leadership and a little help from our allies is what paved the way through the bumpy roads.” She paused and flashed them a confident smile. “It’s about time we’ve had the wind at our backs, eh?” Dash cringed and latched to Soarin’s arm. Soarin grunted uncomfortably as she squeezed it tightly, Spitfire sounding a little cocky right after Dash just expressed her unwillingness to relax until they had arrived. “At ease, Wonderbolts! Take a breather, sit down, get off your hooves for a moment, we’ve earned it!” Spitfire added. “Dash… Relax,” Soarin whispered to her as he cringed within her ridiculously tight grip. “I can’t,” she immediately replied, but Soarin chuckled and shook his head. “No, I mean… stay calm, I understand your staying vigilant, just don’t be frantic,” he clarified. “Phew!” Spitfire exaggerated as most of the Wonderbolts laughed along with her. “I’m still trying to wrap my wings around it, eh? We REALLY took down their ship!” she pumped them up a little, getting into it. “WHOOOO! YEAH!” Lightning Streak hooted near her, Macho Savage and Air Mach joining in as much as he could. “Score one for the Wonderbolts! Our burning flames of desire will never be snuffed ou—ow my arm…” Air Mach was cut off from his own celebration, pointing upward causing his arm to cramp up. “THE BEAT GOES ON! OOOOOOOOOH YEAH!” Macho Savage continued for him, the Wonderbolts and even some of the staff members joining in on cheering. Soarin glanced down at Dash as he felt her grip loosen on his arm. She was smiling weakly now. There was no way she couldn’t enjoy this at least a little. Even her squad was getting into it a bit, at least Star and Twister were. Matteo was still being his usual stoic self and Squall was… well… being Squall. “My sister is fucking crazy, but it’s the good kind right?!” Blaze blurted out, somehow up with High Winds still asleep and latched to her. Spitfire scoffed and rested an arm atop Blaze’s head. “A few moments ago you punched me in the face for it!” she pointed out, causing more roaring laughter to erupt. “Yo BRO!” Lightning Streak yanked Fire over by the neck as he slid them along the floor in between all the Wonderbolts. “Don’t leave us hanging!” “No comment,” Fire tried to get out of it. “Aw, c’mon ya party pooper!” Surprise yelled as she pushed herself against the other side of Fire. “Have a little fun!” “You’re letting High Winds sleep, but I have to speak up?” Fire grumbled, but failed to hide a smirk. “Okay fine, we did quite well.” “I’LL TAKE IT! YEEEHA!” Lightning Streak pumped a hoof into the air, more hoots and hollers erupting as Fire gave his ‘two bits.’ Misty Fly smiling and bouncing up behind them, probably unaware of what was being said, but she could clearly tell it was lighthearted. She pushed her way right up beside Fire Streak and tilted her head towards him to boop her nose into his cheek softly as she quietly giggled. Surprise hopped up onto Misty Fly’s back and threw her hooves up into the air while squealing. “WE SHOULD ALL GET SMASHED WHEN WE GET TO THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!” she cheered, earning lots of nods of agreement… and a slight eye roll from Spitfire. “Bravo! Bravo!” Everypony kept on cheering for a moment, the last voice that cheered mostly blending in with the rest, but one or two Wonderbolts blinked and glanced back and forth. Then Misty Fly suddenly froze, flinching so hard that Surprise fell right off her back. “EEEP!” she squeaked as she fell to the floor. “Huh?” she glanced up at Misty to see her ears twitch… and then turn towards the starboard windows. “Whoa!” “What the…?!” The Streak twins quickly moved aside as Misty started thrashing herself forward, pushing anypony in her way aside until she had a clear view of the starboard window. The cheering and celebrating stopped instantly, all eyes and focus going to Misty Fly for a moment before turning to look where she was looking… “Bravo… Bravo…” A familiar voice was accompanied by the sound of clapping hooves. “Brav-O!" Everypony gasped and froze with all eyes stuck on the right side of the bridge. Floating in midair without flapping his wings… Reclined in a sultry pose… with his crystals floating around him and a pink glow surrounding him… while wearing a sinister smirk… Was Ruin. --To Be Continued--