MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 185: Looking Deeper
Help me… please…
I don’t know what else to do!
“Rgh…”
Hopeless…
It’s over, they’re gone…
“N…no… stop…”
What do you mean lost?!
It hurts so much… why does it hurt so much?
“Agh…aaaaagh…”
They don’t love me…
What does HE do? Why is HE so special?!
“I c…can’t… take… rgh!”
I don’t want to go… I don’t…
Please… why won’t anypony HELP ME?!
“AAAARGH! GET AWAY FROM ME!”
Soarin awoke with a start, swinging his arms out at something he thought was swirling around him. But there was nothing. He only fell forward, barely catching himself on his hooves, gasping and wheezing with sweat dripping down his brow.
“Haa… ugh…” he shook his head out. “The… voices… again…” he rubbed an arm over his eyes. “Dash…? You there?” He looked up.
But something wasn’t right.
Soarin blinked as he looked into a space that definitely wasn’t the Crystal Palace chamber. It was a pure white space… and he was looking directly at Sombra and Celestia. The two were staring in surprise. Their positioning, with Sombra leaning forward and pointing a hoof towards Celestia’s chest, suggested that some sort of argument had just come to a complete halt.
“………Wha?” Was all Soarin could muster at first as nothing made sense about what he was looking at. “What the hell is this? Where am I?” he asked while looking directly at the two of them.
“You… can see and hear us?” Celestia asked.
“Watch her, she’s a sharp one,” Sombra said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. Celestia flattened her brow and pursed her lips, but she didn’t say anything back to him, focusing on Soarin.
“We’re inside your mind,” she clarified. “Do you remember wh—“
“Oh!” Soarin exclaimed, cutting her off and blinking. “Wait… yeah I remember this now. This is in my head…” Soarin felt disoriented as he suddenly recalled. It was easy to remember once the memories bubbled back up. Being stuck in this space while not in control of his body, fighting Sombra, and absorbing the power of a goddess were hard things to forget. “I haven’t seen this in a while, but… yeah, it looks the same only…” Soarin looked down at his arm and squinted, easily noticing the yellow glow surrounding him. “Yeah, that…”
“This is a tremendous development!” Celestia suddenly declared while rushing forward. Soarin tilted back as she got right in front of him and smiled.
“If not being able to sleep is your idea of great…” Soarin groaned, rubbing his eyes again as he still felt groggy. “Damn voices… feels like I haven’t slept at all”
“No, no, no…” Celestia giggled while waving a hoof. “You are looking within! You can see us in here! This is a large step forward and it couldn’t have happened without developing some spiritual stability with my power.”
“…oh.” Soarin replied unenthusiastically. “Cool, I guess?”
“Er… pardon me,” Celestia exhaled and regained herself. “That was a tad overzealous of me. It’s just good to know that the power is settling further. This wouldn’t be possible otherwise.”
“Ah, the preacher of false hope sings songs of battles won before they’ve even begun,” Sombra said off to the side, sarcasm still very much lining his words.
“Ignore him,” Celestia immediately said sharply. “This IS a positive milestone. We have a ways to go before you gain outer control, but you can now communicate with us while you slumber… This will be convenient going forward.”
“If you say so…” Soarin said with a sigh as he sat up and reached a hoof up to his head towards his mane.
But as he did, he froze.
“What the…?” he blinked as he ran his hoof back and forth several times over a very specific spot.
Something was missing.
He quickly looked at Celestia again, noticing that she was bigger than him.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, WAIT… I’m…?” he looked himself all over several times before looking straight up and rubbing a hoof over his forehead again.
“I’m… normal?”
“Your spirit and your soul… as we are and have been in here,” Celestia nodded. “Your physical body has changed without, but you are still yourself within. You just have… well…” she looked down at herself and shrugged. “You’re the one with the divine glow now.”
“Suits him better if you ask me,” Sombra spoke up from the peanut gallery again. Soarin glanced towards him and lifted an eyebrow.
“He’s cranky…” Celestia said with a sigh.
“Really? I couldn’t tell,” Soarin joked. But then he suddenly perked up. “Wait! I’m in my mind… WE’RE in my mind! That means…” he frantically looked around back and forth and eventually over his shoulder.
He found exactly what he was looking for. A few yards behind him… the piece of Rainbow Dash’s soul, curled up and sleeping soundly.
“DASH!” Soarin yelled, finding the motivation to get up and move as he galloped over to her.
“Yes,” Celestia smiled at his excitement. “The fragment of her spirit is still here.”
Soarin skidded to a halt and reached a hoof toward her, but came to an abrupt halt an inch from Dash’s head. He quickly looked towards Celestia with a blank look.
“What?” Celestia blinked.
“Nothing overly weird is going to happen if I touch her… right?”
“Overly weird?” Celestia tipped her head.
“For HEAVEN’S sake!” Sombra growled. “Are you really going to ask for her permission to touch your beloved?”
“Hey, hey, HEY!” Soarin glared and pointed sharply at Sombra. “You! You sound like you need to go take a walk or a nap or something.”
“Excuse me?” Sombra snorted and furrowed his brow.
“I don’t know what she said to you, but don’t take it out on me,” Soarin huffed and then pointed at Dash. “After all the weird shit I’ve been put through, it’s a legitimate question.”
“I… Can’t argue with that reasoning,” Celestia giggled and shook her head. “It’s a piece of her soul and the two of you are deeply connected. If you touch her here, I believe at most she might feel something akin to a subtle warmth or comfort from within her.”
“You ‘believe?’” Soarin picked out.
“It’s more likely she won’t feel anything. It could depend on how strong the connection has become… or maybe not… I think…”
“You keep talking like you know then subtly adding that you don’t really know. Which is it?” Soarin exhaled.
“JUST DO IT!” Sombra yelled, causing them both to flinch. “Mercy almighty!”
“You know what?” Soarin lifted a hoof in the air. “I agree with him.”
Soarin turned back to Dash, leaned down, and slowly reached for her, softly touching his hoof to the side of her head. Her image was translucent, but he was able to touch her as if she was solid. He gently stroked her cheek, causing her to stir, but she leaned into it, remaining at rest as she shifted closer to Soarin.
A big smile formed on Soarin’s face. This was something he really needed with what he was going through. He slowly lowered himself down and curled his body around her, Dash’s spirit nestling into his body as if she knew he was there.
Celestia’s cheeks were growing rosy, placing a hoof to her chest as she watched Dash’s soul pin itself to Soarin as if she were really all there.
“Now if only she could be in here with me too… like she was before,” Soarin said to himself. “I’d like her to be able to see me like…” he looked over his body again. “Like myself again.”
“That might be possible,” Celestia spoke up as she made her way closer to them. “Though I’m not sure how at the moment. If this piece of her is in here and she was able to take control of it once, there’s no reason to believe she can’t do it again. Though under what sort of circumstances, I can’t say.”
“Hmm…” Soarin hummed. It wasn’t the answer he wanted, but he understood. “No need to rush it… one step at a time.”
“Indeed,” Celestia agreed with a nod.
Soarin took a moment to focus on Dash, the feeling of her spirit pressing to him relaxing him in ways he hadn’t felt in a long time, but eventually he looked over to Sombra still sulking further away from them. His ears twitched and he turned to Celestia.
“You know, Celestia…” he began.
“Hm? Yes?”
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Soarin looked back to Sombra. “We’ve been over most of this already, but… how much of it was true?”
“How much of…?” Celestia tipped her head.
“Your reasoning behind putting Sombra in me. I know the truth, but I want to believe that you didn’t just flat out lie… you must’ve believed in some of it. You said you wanted to create something with us, a warrior to fight against something, right?”
Celestia flinched and averted her eyes.
“Was that all a lie?” Soarin asked.
“Of course it was,” Sombra’s voice came from across the area. “By now that should be clear.”
“Look, I didn’t ask you,” Soarin directed towards Sombra. “I already know what your answer is going to be to everything. I want to hear it from her.” He looked back to Celestia. “At this point there’s no reason for her to lie to me about this.”
“Your naivety is astounding,” Sombra snorted.
“Says the one who thought sitting his ass down on a big chair a thousand years later would guide him to the key to godhood,” Soarin shot back without missing a beat. Sombra’s entire body twitched and he spun around to glare at him, but Soarin was already focused on Celestia again. “Celestia?” Soarin nodded to her, encouraging her to speak.
She took a moment before saying anything, stealing a single glance at Sombra loudly grumbling to himself before releasing a long sigh.
“I did believe in it, yes,” she began with a nod. “I knew of the great danger in the shadows and believed the two of you together in one body and mind would help us face it. However, my certainty of the success was… shaky at best. We’d be facing the enemy with or without you and Sombra. All I truly cared about when I made the transfer was… getting Sombra back.” She paused and made a head motion towards Sombra. “And he was right when he said I knew of the tornado and did nothing. I needed a reason to hide the transfer of his soul. But… in the end maybe I even convinced myself that the creation of a ‘hero’ was the true purpose. I believed my own distraction to hide from my own selfish actions. I convinced everypony else the same thing… Luna… Discord… your friends… everypony.”
Soarin stared carefully as he listened. His eyes were locked on her face and her expressions. Nothing was off, she did not hesitate on a single word and spoke smoothly. Her eyes never left his, and her face remained constant. Nothing about what she said sounded fishy… in fact, it sounded like a full blown confession.
“Hmph…” Sombra huffed off to the side, glancing over his shoulder as he also recognized these things, though he refused to acknowledge them.
“And believe me when I say…” Celestia went on. “I myself can barely believe the irony of where we are now. I lied about what would happen… released a vengeful spirit that cared not for what I wished… but the one I wronged the most defeated him… and ultimately created what I had spent so much time pretending was the true purpose… though becoming a full-blown divine god was most certainly not part of that idea. And even more ironically… we may actually need a power as strong as this to…” she suddenly trailed off and broke eye contact for the first time since she started.
“To what…?” Soarin quickly asked.
“DON’T BOTHER!” Sombra suddenly growled, snorting loudly and kicking the ground.
“Okay…” Soarin flattened his brow as he pointed at Sombra and looked to Celestia. “What has his tail in a knot? He’s been pissed since I showed up here.”
Celestia only looked down at her hooves.
“Or was that what you were about to say and stopped?” Soarin put together.
“I said don’t bother!” Sombra’s voice boomed as he faced them and started making his way over. “She won’t tell you anything. Apparently she still feels the need to stand by that damned SNAKE as if he’s done nothing wrong and deserves secrecy!”
Soarin’s eye twitched at one particular word… “Secrecy.”
Celestia gritted her teeth and spun around to glare at Sombra, clearly miffed.
“You keep twisting my words to be what YOU want to hear about him!” she shot back. “Sooner or later you’re going to have to accept that Discord is as much a part of this as you! If he hasn’t told me anything it’s because he doesn’t know!”
“And you trust him?” Sombra rolled his eyes. “After what he did to me?!”
“This isn’t about YOU!” Celestia stomped a hoof. “For the hundredth time! Why does everything he does have to be about you? It’s funny that you cry foul and push away all my attempts to make amends with you, but once Discord is involved you want all my attention and sympathy!”
“Spare me…” Sombra grumbled and turned his back.
“I won’t ask what that was all about,” Soarin shrugged. “But what’s this about secrets? I thought we were done with those.”
“There are NONE,” Celestia said flatly as she turned her back to Sombra. “I can’t tell you anything about something I myself know little to nothing about.”
“So…” Soarin narrowed his eyes. “Discord is the one keeping things from you now? Shoe on the other hoof, huh?”
“Oh no, please don’t start acting like him…” Celestia groaned as Sombra audibly snorted. “The truth of the matter is… the nature of what’s been eluding us out there is still mostly unknown,” Celestia began explaining, sounding like she was forcing her voice a little to hammer down the idea that she wasn’t blowing smoke. “We have seen little of what it is really capable of, and only have the warped abilities and nature of the Shadowbolts to thank for knowing anything about it at all. I asked Discord to personally look into it a few months after I hid my power away… because if there’s anypony that can find that which no one else can, it’s him. He obliged, but… something is horribly wrong now.”
Soarin blinked, not expecting her to end with that.
“Care to elaborate?” he pressed. But he didn’t have to push her, Celestia looked eager to explain.
“I’m sure you’ve…” she suddenly trailed off. Soarin tipped his head. Celestia swallowed and looked away slightly, the eagerness in her expression fading a little. “Sorry,” she cleared her throat, her tone softening a little, sounding sympathetic. “I’m sure you may have noticed how Discord has… changed as we’ve gone through all this?”
Soarin looked at her carefully, narrowing his eyes a little as he took a moment to think. But as he did, his eyes slowly opened all the way up again.
“He…” Soarin blinked as he continued to run through all his recent and not so recent encounters with Discord he could remember. “You know… now that you mention it…”
“His head is stuck further up his own hind quarters?” Sombra interrupted. “Frankly, I’m impressed, I didn’t think he could get it in any further.” Sombra finished with a satisfied snort, but when he noticed that both of them were ignoring him, he turned away with a quiet harrumph.
“Yeah, he hasn’t really been acting like himself, has he?” Soarin pointed out. “I’ve been so distracted by everything happening to me I didn’t really notice, but now… what the heck happened to him? It’s like he’s completely different.”
“Yes,” Celestia nodded. “Normally he’s always laid back, often scheming pranks, and never without a smirk or shifty sneer that keeps you on your hooves. He enjoys that others are on edge around him, waiting for him to play a trick or spring a trap. His control of the space he occupies is something he relishes. He finds humor in any situation and never lets an opportunity to entertain himself go to waste, especially at the expense of another if possible.”
“And that’s not how I’d describe him recently at all,” Soarin added.
“Most definitely not,” Celestia agreed. “I was only able to communicate with him spiritually after I was forced to shed my form, but we spoke often. He was the only one who knew where I was and the only one who could speak to me… so I confided in him to keep me apprised and if I had anything I wished to be investigated, he was my only option. During all that time, he continued to be his usual self… up until I asked him to personally look into the matter of the Shadowbolts’ so called ‘client’, whom I was beginning to believe was actually in control of them. He accepted without hesitation and went on his way without a care in the world, but… things suddenly began to change. At first I didn’t notice, he’s always been very good at keeping his worries to himself, but over time it was very easy to spot that he wasn’t acting like himself anymore. When the infamous prankster god of chaos is suddenly behaving himself more often than not… the difference might as well be night and day.”
“When you asked him to look into…?” Soarin trailed off, tilting his head a little and scrunching up his face slightly. “What was that name again? I can’t remember.”
“Kayn Ost.” Celestia nodded.
“Yeah, that one!” Soarin pointed. “That guy…? Girl…? Thing? All I know is they supposedly gave the Shadowbolts the crystals when they hired them, with the Shadowbolts in our face at every given moment I often forget they’re part of this.”
“Yes, Kayn Ost…” Celestia sighed. “A name that made Discord chuckle the first time he heard it, though he never told any of us why. When he accepted my request and the shift in his demeanor became too drastic to ignore, I confronted him. Though he acted natural, the moment I asked him about the investigation… he turned pale. He tried to change the subject and dodged the question entirely. When I pressed him about it, he eventually snapped his fingers and vanished.”
“This just keeps getting better,” Sombra grumbled as he moved over to them. “Let me guess, this is the part where you express sympathy for him… and then you tell us you never asked him again because you were afraid to hurt his feelings.”
“As a matter of FACT…” Celestia shot a hard, frustrated look at Sombra. “I DID ask him again… SEVERAL times. You think I would let something so obviously out of place go unaddressed? It only got worse from there. He became increasingly distant and eventually unapproachable and even stopped pranking the guards standing outside the basement chambers before speaking with me. He still did some odd things with his magic here and there, but he’s become bitter, always scowling and not enjoying a single moment. I’ve watched him when I could from my viewpoint within here too… and it’s like he’s become the very opposite of who I know him to be. It’s been a slow decline and every time I’ve asked him about the investigation it just seems to make it worse.”
“I take it the moment he thought I was dead and gone was the first time you’ve seen him act like a clown in a while?” Sombra asked while lifting an eyebrow. Celestia rolled her eyes.
“The situation with you didn’t help his mood much either,” she mumbled loud enough for him to hear.
“Oh, I do apologize,” Sombra made a blatantly flamboyant gesture. “I certainly don’t want to upset him!” he said in a mocking tone.
“So…” Soarin spoke up, furrowing his brow. “Why haven’t you demanded he tell you? He’s clearly hiding something from you.”
Celestia shook her head.
“Discord doesn’t hide things from me.”
“HA!” Sombra guffawed. “Wow! Really now?! I believe somepony here implied I was naïve in my endeavors, would they like to redirect that implication?” he said while slowly glancing at Soarin. Celestia narrowed her eyes.
“Do I really have to explain why he wouldn’t?” Celestia shot at him while inching her neck forward to get in his face. “Because I’m pretty sure it’s the same reason you wouldn’t either.”
Sombra held firm as Celestia leaned in, narrowing his eyes to match her.
“What are you implying?” he growled.
“Should I shake my sun-marked flank to remind you?”
Sombra quickly scrunched up his face and blew air through his nostrils, but said nothing as Celestia lifted her brow and smarmily tilted her head.
“I rest my case,” she said, satisfied.
“Not with ME you haven’t!” Soarin said sternly, drawing both their attention to him. “I’m not going to take ‘I’m a fine piece of ass’ as an answer. Convince me, dammit!”
Celestia turned away from the grumbling Sombra, taking a long deep breath and releasing it.
“Fair enough,” she nodded. “I’ve known Discord for a very long time…” she paused and glanced at them both. “And by long time, I mean thousands of years. I’m very familiar with how he thinks, acts, and handles himself. I can tell you, without a shred of doubt, that something is very, VERY wrong here. Discord is an extremely resourceful individual. It is near impossible to hide anything from him due to his curiosity, inductiveness, and persistence all with chaos magic at his disposal.” She turned to Sombra. “He was the only one who figured out what I had really done to Soarin… and all it took was recognizing your magic. He felt and pinpointed the exact sting of your offensive magic for the first time in a thousand years when Soarin lost control during a training session. He’s always been like this… able to deduce and unearth any and all information to satisfy his intense need to know and understand the nature of everything he experiences no matter how deeply it’s hidden or buried.”
“So he’s a nosey prick…” Sombra said quietly to himself while rolling his eyes, but Celestia ignored him.
“With all that said…” Celestia went on. “If there is one thing Discord cannot stand… it’s when he comes face to face with something he can’t figure out. When he is met with an unsolvable dilemma or something he simply cannot comprehend… he loses himself. Discord wields frightening power, the ability to bend reality to his heart’s content is not a power to be mishandled. There have been incidents in the past where he has abused his power for his amusement, but even before he accepted reformation and agreed to keep his powers in check, there was one thing that always remained constant. He will not use his power to unfairly get the better of somepony. He believes that he is of unmatched wit, wisdom, and ability and refuses to use his powers to simply remove challenges from his way. He has too much pride to take the easy way out of things.”
“Him?” Sombra piped up. “Pride?”
“Did he simply erase you from existence when I fell in love with you?” Celestia asked while looking Sombra in the eye. “Believe me, he could have at any point. He couldn’t understand what I saw in you, but was determined to prove that he was better than you instead of simply making you vanish. And when he couldn’t, he was driven mad. But even in his rage, he ‘defeated’ you by making his move when you were physically aged and mentally weakened. Did he destroy you then? Or did he not offer you what you were seeking? If I recall correctly… you accepted and gave him the opening to corrupt you.”
Sombra held a glare that twitched slightly every few words. He could not speak against anything she said.
“I can only recall two other times in our long life that I’ve seen Discord acting like this,” Celestia continued. “The first was with Sombra. The second was during the last Griffon-Drake war, when the chaos of the fighting became so unhinged that he was released from his seal and—”
Soarin perked up.
“Blizzard Strike?” Soarin said, cutting off Celestia. Sombra blinked and quickly turned to look at Soarin. Celestia looked surprised.
“I’m impressed you know of this…” she admitted, tipping her head. “How did you know about it? Unless…”
“Silver told me the story,” Soarin explained. “Blizzard Strike was his mentor.”
“Pardon me,” Sombra shifted forward and put himself in front of Celestia. “Please do go on. I’d like to hear more of this one who put that snake in his place.”
Celestia sighed, nudging Sombra aside.
“You know most of it then,” she continued to Soarin. “Blizzard turned Discord’s focus away from Equestria and solely to him. He outsmarted Discord time and time again. I remember watching from afar, I remember seeing the flabbergasted looks on Discord’s face as every challenge or trick he brought was calmly handled by Blizzard. Discord could not comprehend it, he could not figure out why he couldn’t get the better of this one, old stallion. There was anger, frustration, and at times… fear. Discord was afraid of Blizzard. The way in which Blizzard easily got the better of him at every turn was reminding him of something very familiar…” she trailed off while glancing towards Sombra. “Though perhaps it was even worse this time… for Sombra was by every measure a powerful, symbolic, and influential king and stallion of the highest caliber… Blizzard was a Pegasus stallion past his prime and not even the highest ranking member of a special military force.”
“I need to meet this Blizzard Strike,” Sombra spoke up strongly. “Now.”
“Might be a little hard, buddy…” Soarin sighed.
“Indeed,” Celestia tipped her head down. “Blizzard was killed in action before Discord could best him. Unwilling to accept that he would never get another chance to defeat him, Discord willingly sealed himself away without any of us lifting a hoof. In a way…” Celestia glanced at Sombra. “Blizzard truly defeated Discord more than you ever had.”
“Hmmm…” Sombra looked down. “Such a pity… sounds like he was quite the stallion.”
“But my point is…” Celestia quickly kept going. “Discord only behaves this way when caught out of his element. And the way he is behaving now… is just like how he behaved when you and Blizzard became a part of his life. If he had this figured out, he would have told me. Based on his current behavior, my best guess is that he either doesn’t know or hasn’t put together enough to be satisfied yet… or he is afraid of something and refuses to admit it. As a matter of fact, I’m willing to believe it could be both.”
“I still say he’s hiding something,” Sombra snorted.
“Then you haven’t been listening to me at all,” Celestia sighed.
“Have I? Your trust in him is so woefully misplaced. You don’t ever wonder if he’s scheming something? Your insistence on an answer tucks his very tail between his legs! Why not think further? Perhaps he thought you’d forget… perhaps he’s the very entity you asked him to look into!”
“Enough!” Celestia pouted at him. “That is an absurd accusation! Have you forgotten I’m involved? Discord would never harm me!”
“You think yourself such a treasure don’t you?”
“You certainly did!”
“I’ll take your word for it…” Soarin spoke up, catching both their attention quickly. Celestia looked surprised, but Soarin quickly shook his head. “You know what I think. I don’t need to repeat what Sombra just said, but… everything you said just now made sense.”
“Nothing she said made any—”
“Stop,” Soarin cut off Sombra while swiping out a hoof. “Just stop. You already can’t say anything unbiased about Discord. You haven’t been around him through all this, I have and I can confirm his change in behavior. I know all about Discord’s dust up with Blizzard Strike. My wingmate, Silver, told me the whole story. If she says this is the same, then I believe her. Because if she’s lying… Silver is lying. And Silver DOESN’T lie about Blizzard.”
Sombra held still, saying nothing as his gaze clashed with the resolve in Soarin’s eyes.
“Now… that being said…” Soarin slowly turned back to Celestia.
“I asked him again the other night,” Celestia said before he could ask.
“I’m glad we’re on the same page,” Soarin smirked briefly. “I’m assuming you got no response.”
“I did not,” Celestia shook her head. “He just said ‘I’m working on it’ then demanded I focus on you. He did not look happy that I brought it up and barely looked at me the rest of the night. I’d have pressed him more, but I needed his help with Soarin and he’d have vanished if I had gone further.”
“If he doesn’t know anything, he should just admit it,” Sombra grumbled.
“You know he never would,” Celestia shrugged.
“If he’s scared of something, he should also admit that.”
“Would you?” Celestia narrowed her eyes and tipped her head towards him. Sombra quickly turned to face her.
“I fear NOTHING, I’ll have you know…” he growled.
“Oh, here we go…” Celestia rolled her eyes.
Soarin stared flatly as the two began bickering once again, rubbing a hoof to his forehead and letting out a long sigh.
“Wonderful…” he said to himself. “I’m stuck with them no matter where I am…” He slowly looked down at Dash’s spirit nestled into him. “Really wish you were in here with me right now,” he spoke to her as he gently ran a hoof up and down the back of her head. “I’d take you over these two in a heartbeat.”
He briefly looked up to see Celestia and Sombra shouting, Sombra trying to out-loom her, but Celestia kept herself as tall as possible to prevent him from doing so while poking a hoof on his shoulder. It looked like it was going to go on for a while.
He looked back down at Dash.
“I wonder what you’re up to right now…?”
“I DIDN’T ORDER A MEAT SLAPPING SALAD FOUND IN A DUMPSTER FIRE FOR LUNCH! BUT IT SURE SOUNDS BETTER THAN THE TASTE IN MY MOUTH SEEING THIS PERFORMANCE RIGHT NOW! PICK UP THE PACE! COME ON!”
Silver’s voice boomed from below as Dash gasped and panted, pumping her wings through the fatigue as she pitched down, slammed to the grass, turned, and took off again, several others passing by her as she changed direction before they all did the same.
Flight sprint suicides… Silver wasn’t holding back. Having to land, turn, and take off again and again didn’t sound too bad on the surface, but going forty yards forward, then thirty yards back over and over until they covered a measured one hundred yards from the start point to the end point? And then flying all the way back to the start and starting over again? AND… each round was endless until Silver blew his whistle and they had to finish whatever full lap they were on? Yeah it was rough… and this was their fourth round of five.
Dash was about halfway through a lap, she and everypony else way too gassed to react to whatever the hell Silver just yelled at them. Dash was only catching quick glimpses of her team, Squall, Matteo, and Star all equally struggling through. Thunderlane was forcing himself along the best he could as well and… Twister was shooting through the air with his wings pinned to his body while screaming into an open jar of peanut butter. Silver didn’t seem to pay any mind to Twister, probably for good reason. He was more interested in the rest of them, the ones who were taking it seriously, and at this point the lines between recruit and elite were blurring greatly, everypony so tired that they were all forcing themselves along. Even the three who partook in the testing of their new routine were looking ready to drop. The great Spitfire herself sounded like she was about to heave up a lung as Dash passed by her.
This was no joke, it was only a couple of days in and Silver was already pushing them as hard as he could. He said something about easing them in, but apparently that was only a day or two before breaking chairs over their backs.
“I better not see any of you taking breaks!” Silver yelled. “If any of you stop before I blow the whistle or doesn’t finish their lap after I do, I’ll kick you so hard in the junk or the foal maker that you’ll be screaming like horny cats stuck in a taffy pulling machine! AND THEN I’LL DO IT TO EVERYPONY ELSE TOO! NOW MOVE, DAMMIT! MOVE!”
Dash kept herself focused.
Land, turn, take off…
Hard wing beating to pick up as much speed she could manage…
Land, turn, take off…
Silver’s eyes darted about, doing his best to keep tabs on every single one of them. With a subtle nod and a quiet hum to himself, he reached for his whistle and began reaching it towards his lips.
“URGH!”
Silver stopped lifting the whistle, his eyes snapping to Fire Streak as he began faltering from his flight path and slowing down.
“GAH!” Fire grunted again as he began lowering towards the ground.
“FIRE!” Silver belted in his direction. “DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!”
“C’mon, cap!” Surprise broke from her path and swooped down to grab Fire by the arm. “We gotta… keep moving…!” she encouraged between wheezes.
“I… GRH!” Fire forced his wings back into motion, pushing his way back up into the flight path as he continued on his way.
Silver kept his eyes on Fire, specifically waiting for him to land on the end line and get back into the air towards the start.
The moment Fire was back up, Silver blew the whistle.
Only a lucky few were near the start line. They landed and crashed onto their backs and sides, gasping and panting the moment they had stopped. Those still in flight pushed to finish the lap, Dash included, but…
The moment Silver blew the whistle, Fire faltered again. He immediately eased up and glided toward the ground.
“FIRE STREAK!” Silver yelled again, louder and stronger.
“Bro!” Lightning Streak followed him down, but stopped short of landing. “Come on! Finish the lap or Silver’ll tear us new ones dude!”
“Just GO!” Fire yelled angrily at Lightning, coughing as he hunched down. “I feel like I’m about to vomit, for pity’s sake!”
Lightning frantically glanced over to see Silver glaring at them.
“SHIT!” Lightning grunted as he forced himself back up and flew towards the starting line. He was the last one to finish, leaving Fire behind.
Dash, sitting and propping herself up as she leaned back huffing and puffing, saw Lightning hit the dirt and roll onto his side. She looked around to see everypony around her, all similarly looking half dead.
“I think my heart exploded…” Thunderlane whined from behind her. “Twice… maybe three times…”
“Paaaaaaaaaaain…” Little Star wailed as she lay draped over Matteo’s head. “PAAAAAAAAIN.”
“Why are you on my head?” Matteo asked between heavy breaths.
“It’s softer than the GROOOOOOOOOOUND!” she wailed.
“I dunno what you’re all talkin’ about, I feel fine!” Twister stated proudly while standing on his back legs and pounding his chest. “In fact I feel like dancing!” He bounced once to his right and several loud cracking noises sounded from all over his body. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!” Twister collapsed into a limp pile on the ground. “MY BONES! I CAN’T FEEL MY BONES!”
“I’m too tired to enjoy his suffering…” Squall mumbled as he stared at the shimmering magic dome of the empire extending overhead.
“Take a breather, five minutes,” Silver addressed them all calmly as he moved past Dash.
Dash and those who had the energy to do so looked up, surprised at Silver’s tone. But they weren’t complaining, five minutes was a godsend after what they had been doing.
But Dash kept her eyes on Silver as she remained propped up. Silver had only moved to the starting line a few paces away. He was staring at Fire with a serious look on his face as Fire slowly made his way over to them all, dragging one hoof at a time while puffing and wheezing. He had his eyes down, but Dash couldn’t tell if he was avoiding eye contact with Silver or he was just too tired to look up.
As Fire closed in, Silver suddenly moved towards him. Curiosity piqued, Dash turned her ears and paid attention as Silver met Fire ten yards away from the start line.
“Fire.”
Fire Streak stopped in his tracks, looking up quickly and blinking as his eyes met Silver’s. Neither moved for a moment, but soon after Fire tipped back, falling onto his plot and hunching down to keep catching his breath. He didn’t answer Silver.
“The hell are you doing out there?” Silver asked, keeping his voice level.
“I…” Fire grunted and shook his head out. “I started too fast. I was completely out of steam.”
“No shit you started too fast, I was watching,” Silver narrowed his eyes. “Why didn’t you finish through the end like everypony else?”
“I could barely breathe at that point, Silver,” Fire said plainly. “I nearly lost my lunch too.”
“What kind of excuse is that?” Silver flattened his brow.
“It’s…” Fire trailed off immediately.
“If your brother was being held down by a Shadowbolt at the finish line and was about to be killed, would you have stopped because you are ‘out of breath?’”
“What?” Fire glared. “Of course I would have pushed to save him.”
“Surprise too?” Silver lifted an eyebrow.
“Yes.”
“Misty?” Silver switched eyebrows. Fire just hardened his glare. “That’s the one you won’t answer? I was expecting your brother.”
“YES! I would!” Fire answered forcefully.
“So why did you stop here?” Silver pressed without faltering.
“We’re just training right now, I was just—”
“Just nothing, shut the fuck up right now,” Silver leaned down and got in Fire’s face. “The effort you give in training is the effort you give when lives are on the line. I won’t accept anything less.”
Fire gritted his teeth as his glare faltered under the strength of Silver’s. He looked away in frustration.
“Look at me, son,” Silver said calmly while tapping his cane to Fire’s chest. Fire hesitated at first, but listened, turning his head back to look Silver in the eye. Silver did not look angry, he looked serious. Fire suddenly couldn’t look away. “You are the captain of a top tier Wonderbolt squad. I know I don’t need to teach you any lessons about effort or pushing your limits. You know all that already so I’m not going to waste your time… Just don’t forget that there are those who depend on you, those that I know you would never let down.”
Fires eyes snapped open for a brief moment as Silver took a step back. He blinked and looked down.
“I know you’re better than that, because I’ve always trusted you to have my back and I know everypony else can trust you to watch their back. You’ve always motivated others with that dependability… so be that example for them here too.”
Fire’s eyes remained down, but open. His jaw was slightly agape as he listened. Silver slowly made his way by him, walking a half circle around him.
“Show them even in training that you’d never stop halfway. Even if you started too fast and are out of breath, that you’d squeeze out that last bit of effort. If they see you do that, they will always believe you’ll be right there to help them.”
“You hearing me, son?”
Fire remained silent for another moment before slowly looking up towards the rest of the Wonderbolts.
“…yes sir,” Fire said with a nod. He slowly pushed himself up to all four hooves and continued on his way back to the rest.
Silver only watched Fire moving for a moment before he caught Dash staring at him. He smirked before following behind Fire and turning his back to all of them and sitting on the starting line.
Dash kept her eyes on him, trying to process everything she just saw. There was something about it that had her interest but she wasn’t quite sure what. Silver shooting her a look right after also made her wonder if… he was hoping she was watching.
But before she could come to any conclusion, she and the rest nearly leapt off the ground as Silver blew his whistle so hard it left their ears ringing.
“EVERYPONY UP ON THE LINE!” he yelled as he started hobbling back to his spot. “Last one before we hit the gym! Come on! Up! Up! Before High Winds falls asleep again!
“I’m too tired to sleep…” High Winds whined as they shuffled forward and lined up. Fleetfoot blinked.
“Wait, what…?”
Silver blew the whistle again before anything else could be said.
There was a slight delayed reaction, but within three seconds of hearing the whistle, all of them were back up in the air, beginning what was, thankfully, the last round.
Upon landing at the first mark, Dash immediately noticed that Fire was at the head of the pack again. It surprised her after his admission that he started too fast last time, but he was pushing ahead again. She refocused after nearly passing the next line, keeping her mind on her own aching body and wings as she continued the drill.
Like all the rest it felt like an eternity, but the whole time Dash couldn’t stop noticing Fire out of the corner of her eye. As the drill went on, Fire looked just like he had in the previous round, but this time he was pushing through it. Even when he started to fall behind a little, he still kept pushing.
Dash stole a glance at Silver as the round began to go on longer than all the previous ones. He had the whistle in his lips already, but he was keeping a close eye on Fire. Dash passed Fire, tapping to the start line to finish a full lap and begin her next. Fire touched down right after she did, and the moment Fire was back up on his next lap…
Silver blew the whistle.
Dash pushed on knowing she had to do one more lap, but every turn she noticed Fire was keeping up with her and the few other unfortunate souls caught at the start of one last lap. And… he remained with them, pushing himself all the way despite looking more tired than the rest. It was almost as if he had willingly put himself into the same position as before, but this time refused to falter.
Dash touched down upon finishing her lap and stumbled until she fell to her haunches. Blaze tumbled past her, with Fleetfoot and Spitfire skidding to a halt nearby. Fire touched down next and wobbled step by step until he fell onto his side, wheezing. His brother landed behind him and fell ungracefully face first with Surprise bouncing off his back and bouncing continuously with several squeaks until she ran into Blaze and caused a half-effort f-bomb.
Silver made his way over to them, lifting his arm once to catch Twister before he could collide with him and tossing him off to the side, landing on his head and spinning like a top. Silver smiled, his eyes fixed on Fire specifically as he walked among them for a moment.
“Alright, good job,” he said as he stopped and glanced around. He waited a few more seconds to let them catch their breath. “Okay, break time’s over. Everypony on your hooves! Up! Up!” he ordered, the Wonderbolt forcing themselves up with varying degrees of effort and success. “Enough humping the grass, come on! To the gym! Let’s go!”
Eventually they were all up and slowly moving along. Silver didn’t push them along, knowing he had just laid them all out with the suicide drills, but made sure they were on their way and at least moving faster than him. They had no excuse to move slower than an old stallion with a limp and a cane.
And they all did… except for Dash, who lagged behind and made her way over to him. Silver glanced at her, clearly noticing her curious gaze, but pretended not to notice.
“Nice try, I know you can walk faster than me. Get moving,” he ordered.
“Oh stuff it,” Dash rolled her eyes. “I was wondering—”
“Fire?” Silver cut her off.
“Yeah,” she nodded. Silver couldn’t hide a slight grin.
“Did you hear all of it?” he asked.
“Just about,” Dash nodded. “I was kind of expecting you to… well…”
“Crawl up his ass and out his mouth for not finishing the drill?”
Dash’s face contorted slightly.
“I GUESS that’s a way of putting it…” she said with a slight shudder.
“I didn’t need to,” Silver shook his head. “Spitting in his face wasn’t the solution to what he did. I wanted to get through to him.”
“You clearly did,” Dash tipped her head a little, looking at Silver carefully. “It was like he completely changed for the last round.”
“That’s because I touched on something personal for him.”
“Pardon?” Dash blinked.
Silver turned his eyes to her, looking her up and down, the look on his face was dead serious.
“Listen up, Rainbow Dash…” he began in earnest. “One of these days you’re going to be a real leader around here. It doesn’t matter what your rank ends up being… you’re going to be in a position where others will always want to follow.”
Dash kept moving, but she was stunned, not expecting it.
“And one thing that every leader needs…” Silver went on. “Is a deeper understanding of those who follow them. Just being their friend and being chummy isn’t enough, nor is ranking over them. You need to dive deep… and uncover everything you can so you understand them. You need to know what motivates them, what worries them, what they are afraid of, their strengths, their flaws, everything... because once you do… you can do more for them than anypony that they simply give a salute and nod to.”
Dash listened to every word carefully, taking her eyes off him and staring towards the rest of the Wonderbolts ahead of them.
“Fire Streak is a dependable stallion,” Silver continued as Dash’s eyes found and fixed on Fire among the group. “Probably the most dependable Wonderbolt on the force. His strongest attribute is his desire to never let anypony down,” Silver paused. “But that’s also his weakness. There’s nothing he’s more afraid of than not being there for somepony. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the heat of battle or in everyday life. The thought of possibly not being there for somepony in need is what gets him out of bed in the morning and keeps him up at night. You ever wonder why he holds the record for learning Misty’s sign language from scratch? He wanted her to know she could depend on him. Notice how often he’s rushing to the defense of others in combat? He wants them to know they have somepony watching their back.”
Silver shrugged as Dash turned her eyes back to him.
“All I did was remind him of who he is, who I know him to be, and who others know him to be. It lit a fire under his ass without me raising my voice once.”
Dash perked up and lifted an eyebrow.
“So you took advantage of something that scares him to get him to do better?” she asked. Silver snorted.
“Oh yes, please put it that crudely. I feel like marshmallows and rainbows on the inside right now,” Silver joked.
“Sorry, that’s kind of how it sounded,” Dash nudged him and chuckled.
“But you understand me?” Silver asked, looking her in the eyes.
“Yeah, I get you.” Dash nodded as she looked towards the group ahead of them again, specifically her squad. “I guess I haven’t given that angle much thought. I already know my own squad inside out…” she found Thunderlane and Storm Front among them. “And some others partially. I haven’t had much of a chance to get really personal with the other Wonderbolts.”
“Food for thought,” Silver said plainly while giving her a tap on the side with his cane.
Dash continued to stare at the Wonderbolts, a determined look slowly creeping onto her face. Silver noticed… and smiled.
But only for a moment.
“Now move it, Skittles!” he yelled, causing her to flinch hard. She turned to him just in time as he got right into her face. “I don’t need help crossing the fucking street! Catch up with the group! If your ass isn’t bench pressing by the time I get there, I’ll bend the bar around your neck and force you to squat walk all the way to the blacksmith to get it welded off!”
Dash swallowed and nodded.
“Yes s-WHOA!” she yelped as she tripped over her own hooves and fell face first.
Silver blinked in surprise and stopped as Dash rolled over and glared at him.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it… awareness…” Dash grumbled. Silver snorted and failed to hold back a chuckle.
“That wasn’t me.”
“Oh, yeah suuuuure it wasn’t,” Dash pouted as she slowly pushed herself up.
“She’s over here,” Silver waved his cane, showing it was opposite of her.
“Like that would’ve stopped you.”
Silver stared at her for another moment.
“Get to the gym or I’ll tell the entire force you spooned with Fleetfoot over vacation.”
“WHAT?!” Dash flinched hard. “That was HER not ME and she was blasted! How the hell did you—?!”
“GO OR I’LL START YELLING!” Silver belted.
“FFFFFGHR… YES SIR!” Dash yelled before turning and moving much faster than her body preferred at the moment, rushing forward to catch up with the rest of the group.
Silver watched her pick up the pace despite the drills they just finished. He smiled and chuckled.
“Heh… you’ll do alright, Dash.” He picked it up a little himself, hobbling after them. “You’ll do alright.”
---To Be Continued---