//------------------------------//
// Chapter 189: I Don't Mess Around 
// Story: Piercing the Heavens 
// by Calm Wind 
//------------------------------//

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 189: I Don’t Mess Around





“C’mon, c’mon, everypony in,” Silver rotated his hoof, the Wonderbolts filing into their briefing room. “Let’s go, time’s a wastin’.” His voice lacked the level of enthusiasm he usually poured into every given moment, but given how well the morning practice went, he wasn’t expecting to get much done the rest of the day. “Let’s go, let’s—”

He paused as Spitfire walked in. The two of them locked eyes as she passed.

“Let’s go, c’mon,” Silver continued once she had moved by. He was also still thinking about his exchange with Spitfire earlier. He had already come to a conclusion about what he had to figure out, but it was still fresh in his mind. It didn’t help that he was somewhat distracted about just exactly how he planned to ‘fix’ the current state of things.

When the current flow of Wonderbolts ended, Silver checked over his shoulder into the room. It looked like everypony was there and there was nopony else in the hallway. But it only took a moment for him to notice a distinct lack of the most recognizable mane in the force. 

Rainbow Dash wasn’t there. 

At first Silver wondered how he hadn’t already noticed. Dash had been the first one there almost every meeting and he even poked fun at her for it a few times. He somehow didn’t notice her absence. 

Silver took another look out the door, looking both ways down the halls. No Rainbow Dash.

Silver turned and looked up at the clock on the wall. They were already ten minutes behind schedule… and again, Dash had yet to be late to any meeting. 

With the Wonderbolts murmuring and conversing around him, Silver made his way down the center of the room between the tables, taking a direct turn halfway through to approach Dash’s squad. It was a quick turn that startled everypony in the row, Little Star, Squall, and Thunderlane all flinching and staring as Silver approached them. Matteo held his composure without fail and Twister turned to face the opposite way of everypony else.

“Foxtrot,” Silver addressed them as he stopped and looked between them all. 

“Sir!” Only Matteo replied.

“At ease, Fluffy,” Silver snorted. “Where’s Rainbow Dash?”

The question seemed to catch them off guard and even caused a few heads to turn toward them. But he didn’t get an answer. Matteo looked at Thunderlane, Thunderlane looked at Squall, Squall looked at Little Star, Little Star looked at Twister. Twister slowly looked over his shoulder with a devilish smirk on his face. He lifted up a small jar in his hoof and bounced his eyebrows a few times.

Silver grabbed the jar out of Twister’s hoof, turned it over, and slammed it down over Twister’s head. His whole head somehow comically fit itself into the jar without any resistance. Twister started letting out muffled screams and flailing his arms around, falling over onto the floor as Silver turned back to the others.

“Well?”

“Uhhhh…” Thunderlane looked at Squall again.

“Haven’t seen her,” Squall answered simply. 

“She’s usually here before we are, Sir,” Matteo added.

“What they said,” Star tipped her head towards the stallions. “I haven’t seen her since lunch, I assumed she’d be here.”

“Hrm…” Silver flattened his brow. He looked over his shoulder and within seconds caught Spitfire staring right at him with a hard gaze. Silver narrowed his eyes at her briefly before glancing about the room again. The rest of the Wonderbolts seemed to catch on that Dash wasn’t present, or at least some of them. Those who weren’t looking around were slumped in their chairs or looking low on energy in general.

Silver’s eyes returned to Spitfire, who was still giving him a hard look. Silver snorted.

“You stop that.” He growled at her. That got everypony’s attention. All eyes went to him and Spitfire.

“Excuse me?” Spitfire lifted an eyebrow. 

“That look you’re giving me,” Silver turned to face her. “Cut it out.”

“You know why I am,” Spitfire huffed. “Do you really want to do this here? In front of everypony? I’m not afraid to do it just because they’re all here, you know,” she stated firmly.

“Do what now…?” High Winds said quietly while blinking.

“I don’t think that’s what they mean, Windy…” Blaze shook her head, but her eyes widened. “At least I fucking hope not.”

“You don’t scare me,” Silver made his way across the tables, approaching her. “And if you think you do, you forgot who I am.”

“Silver…” Spitfire stood up from her chair and placed her hooves on the table and leaned forward. “Back off, NOW. Or I’m letting you have it.”

The room became very tense, confusion all around as Silver walked all the way up to the table and leaned over it to get in Spitfire’s face. They glared fiercely at one another for several moments.

“We’re not doing a damn thing here,” Silver scrunched his face.

“You don’t scare me either, Silver,” Spitfire snarled. 

“I should,” Silver tilted his head, moving his good eye closer to her. “Because you know what I’m capable of doing. And right now…”

Everypony froze as Spitfire lifted a hoof from the table and balled it up.

“You should calm the hell down because you’ve already made your point.” Silver cocked his head back and forth. Spitfire blinked, her head jittering slightly as Silver’s expression softened to a familiar joking look of his. “I don’t mess around,” Silver tapped a hoof on the table. “We’re fixing this right now.”

“Wait… What?” Spitfire thought her brain was going to twist into a knot. 

“Did I stutter?” Silver rapped his hoof on the table. “Or were you all talk this morning?”

“Bwuh…?” But before she could fully register what he was getting at, Silver did a full 180 turn  and whipped her across the face with his tail. “OW!” she winced as she fell back into her chair.

“LISTEN UP, EVERYPONY!” Silver made his way to the front of the room. “Especially you, Storm!” he pointed at Storm Front as he faced them all.

“Huh…?” Storm looked around at the others as if Silver was referring to somepony else.

“YES YOU!” Silver’s voice boomed. “UNLESS THE SLAP DICK NEXT TO YOU STOLE YOUR NAME!” he pointed at Wave.

“Don’t look at me, it’ll make it worse,” Wave quickly whispered to Storm before he could look at him.

“I want all of you to read my lips…” Silver stood up straight and put on a serious glare. “I fucked up.”

There was a long, somewhat painful pause. That wasn’t what any of them were expecting him to say.

“So like…” Lightning Streak broke the silence. “You were on the bottom?” The white board eraser came screaming from the front of the room and smacked him right between the eyes so hard it made his chair tip back. “BRO!” Lighting yelled as he fell backwards and off his chair with a loud crash.

“Now that...” Silver pointed towards Lightning. “Was the intended outcome of that throw!” he proclaimed triumphantly, then pointed at Storm. “But what you all saw happen between Rainbow Dash and Storm during last night’s training?” He shook his head. “No. I have a confession to make,” he lowered his tone and looked towards Storm. “I made that situation happen, but apparently I completely misjudged where she was. I knew about the situation between you two, but I didn’t gauge how angry she was about it.”

He scanned the room. All eyes were on him and all ears were turned, even Lighting on the floor.

“Everypony listen up because I’m about to get sappy and I ain’t repeating it!” he yelled out. “The Wonderbolts are very important to me. You’re ALL very important to me. Yes, even the ones of you I want to kick in the ass on a regular basis.”

“Aw…” Fleetfoot cooed. “That’s—”

“ESPECIALLY YOU!” Silver reached his cane over and smacked it down right in front of her.

“AH!” Fleetfoot tilted back, and smacked the back of her chair against the table behind her.

“But you all know, at least I hope you all know by now… that I’m hard on all of you because I care. And while I can be a bit harsh and very direct in the way I teach you… sometimes my experience goes to my head and I think I can do no wrong. Here? I did wrong. I threw Rainbow Dash at Storm knowing full well there would be a scuffle. I was expecting it, and was going to use it as a way to teach her a hard lesson about holding grudges and letting her emotions distract her.” He paused and looked at Storm again. “Like I already said, I wasn’t expecting her to go at you that hard, or legitimately try to hurt you. What’s worse, when I saw it getting out of hand I let it happen instead of trying to stop her. I got the situation I wanted afterward, but look at what it did to everything else? You’re all looking around wondering what the hell is wrong with her, no one is focused, and for the first time in the history of her being a training perfectionist, Rainbow Dash didn’t show up for training. I sure as hell didn’t want this to happen…” he looked over to Spitfire. “And by the way…” he made his way back over to her and slammed his cane down in front of her. She didn’t flinch. “See this mare here?” 

Everypony looked at Spitfire, she lifted an eyebrow as Silver began circling the tip of his cane around her head. 

“Yeah this mare right here, the one with the glare stiffer than Wave Chill when she shows up anywhere covered in sweat.”

“Silver…” Spitfire flattened her brow as a few snickers came from the Wonderbolts and Wave’s fur made a full tone change.

“Do NOT fuck with her!” Silver yelled out suddenly, causing them all to flinch. “Unless your name is Wave Chill!” he added.

“SILVER!” Spitfire shouted, turning red herself as Wave somehow didn’t start whistling like a tea kettle.

“Alright enough jokes,” Silver kept a straight face. “But I mean it. She finally pulled her head out of her ass and she ain’t messing around anymore. She’s the reason I’m up here shitting rainbows at you right now. She called me out for that shitshow and didn’t let me weasel out of it… and believe me I tried. You can bet your ass she won’t be screwing up to the point where you have to tackle her and hold her down in the heat of battle anymore!” 

“I really can’t tell if you’re praising me or not right now…” Spitfire hummed in frustration.

“Good, can’t let you think you’ve got me figured out, can I?”

“Wha—?”

“TRAINING IS CANCELLED FOR THE REST OF THE DAY!” Silver cut her off, everypony else genuinely surprised. “We have something more important to handle right now. Everypony needs to be on the same page, and right now we’re all over the damn book. You’ve all heard my piece, now we have to go find where Skittles is hiding!”

There was a long pause.

“Well don’t all speak up all at once!” Silver snorted. “Anypony have any ideas where she may be?”

Most eyes went to Foxtrot, but they again all shook their heads.

“Don’t look at us,” Star waved her hooves. “We haven’t a clue.”

“How are we supposed to find her?” Fire Streak spoke up. “She could be anywhere, the Empire’s a huge place.”

“Yeah, just ask Descent how long it took to find Starry Skies,” Wave added.

“PLBPLBPLBPLBPLBPLB… WAVE… FIRE…” Fleetfoot held a hoof out. “Everypony… come on now, really?” she said as she hopped off her chair and trotted out. “You’re all kidding me right? If she’s not with us, there’s only ONE place she’d be and you all know it.”

“Hurry up and—” Silver stopped mid yell and blinked.

“Yeah, see?” Fleetfoot giggled as a few more pairs of ears perked up. “You know!”

“If she were you I wouldn’t have had to think,” Silver rolled his eyes.

“She might as well be me when it comes to her hubby,” Fleetfoot winked and giggled.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve heard her admit she’s a fucking whore,” Blaze tried to say under her breath. But Fleetfoot spun around and gave her a smarmy look.

“What’s that Blazey Cakes? You wanna piece of me too?” she bounced her eyebrows as she inched closer to her.

“You stay the FUCK away from me!” Blaze shouted while backing herself all the way into High Winds. Silver brought his cane around and pressed it over Fleetfoot’s back with a snort.

“You can have a threesome after we catch a Rainbow,” he grumbled.

“Uhhh… Quick question!” Surprise waved a hoof in the air. “If she’s with the big guy, how are we gonna get to her? The guards glare at us just for walking past the door.”

“Luna and Discord likely won’t let us in either,” Fire added. 

“They’ll let us in,” Silver grunted.

“They won’t even let me in, Silver,” Spitfire spoke up, lifting an eyebrow.

“They WILL let ME in,” he said harder. “Come on, everypony on their hooves, NOW!” Silver ordered, the Wonderbolts finally showing some signs of enthusiasm as they scooted from their chairs and stood up. “We’re going to kill two birds with one stone here. We’re going to find Rainbow Dash, and assuming she’s where Fleetfoot’s built-in thirst radar is pointing, we’ll pay our first commander a long overdue visit as a team! Something I’m sure he could really use with all the bullshit he’s gone through.”

“Built in thirst radar?” Fleetfoot blinked and shrugged. “Eh, sure I’ll go with it.”

“Lead the way, Thirst Radar!” Silver pointed at Fleetfoot.

“Okay, you don’t need to call me by it…” Fleetfoot pouted as several chuckles and snickers rang out. 

“HA! You’re a fucking THIRSTY THOT!” Blaze shouted out, smacking Fleetfoot upside the head before running out the door.

“Oh, them’s fighting words!” Fleetfoot charged after her as the rest began filing out.

“Situation normal,” Wave shrugged and shared a hearty snort with Silver as he passed. 

“Move it!” Silver waved to the rest as they moved. “Just because I cancelled practice doesn’t mean we slack off! Let’s head down there with some energy! We’re letting ourselves in even if we have to kick the door down! Hup, hup, hup!”

Silver kept herding them all out the door… until the only pony left in the room with him was Spitfire, still sitting at her table. They stared at each other in silence… it was like deja-vu if not for the different mood. 

“Something on my face?” Silver asked abruptly. 

“Pfft…” Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Really? That’s what you’re going to say?”

“What were you expecting me to say?” Silver tapped his cane on the floor and gave her a narrow look. Spitfire shrugged it off and tilted her head.

“Well, I was expecting you to drag it out for a very long time because you can be a real stubborn donkey. I sure wasn’t expecting you to turn around and smack us all over the head with an epiphany less than twenty-four hours later.”

“Look in a mirror, you convinced me,” Silver turned his back to her and faced the door.

“Since when does what I say sway you so easily?” she asked before he could take a step. 

“Since you pulled your head out of your ass,” Silver repeated while looking over his shoulder. “Weren’t you listening to me just now?”

“Yeah I was, very flattering…” Spitfire huffed.

“And I mean what I said,” Silver turned to face her. “I don’t blow smoke, Captain.”

Spitfire flinched. It was such a small thing, but… Silver referring to her formally?

“You looked me in the eye and you put your hoof down… the way a good Lead Captain of the Wonderbolts should,” Silver went on. “Yeah, I didn’t want to admit I messed up, but I had no ground to stand on against you. And once I saw Dash didn’t show up for training? Straw that broke this old donkey’s back. You were completely right and I was barking up a tree I couldn’t climb… so I decided to fix it.”

“I…” Spitfire blinked and looked away. “Huh… I actually don’t know what to say.”

“Good, cause I don’t wanna hear it.”

Spitfire snorted loudly and let her head fall to the table with a THUNK. 

“I swear to Celestia, Silver…” she slowly looked back up and shook her head. “Even in times like this, you’re a jackass. How did Blizzard ever handle you?”

“He was worse than me,” Silver tipped his head to the side and lifted an eyebrow. “I got it from him, and it ain’t changing.”

“…good,” Spitfire smirked and stood up. “Come on… let’s go catch up with the others.” She suggested, reaching a wing towards his cane arm.

“What the—?” Silver felt her wing on his arm and quickly shook it off. “I can walk god DAMMIT!” he shouted. Spitfire flattened her brow.

“You just sent everypony ahead and you’re walking with a cane,” Spitfire pointed at his legs. “You want them sitting outside the chamber for twenty minutes before you get there?”

Silver returned her flat expression… and snorted.

“Okay fine… you’ve got me there,” he admitted.

“Exactly, come on,” Spitfire nestled a wing under his cane arm and lifted him slightly so he could walk at the same pace as her. He grumbled all the way out of the gym.





“Hng…” Soarin groaned, rubbing his head perpetually. He sat beside the image of Dash in his mind and waited… and waited. Nothing had changed since morning. Dash’s soul was still churning uncomfortably as it lay beside him and Celestia had been outside his body speaking with Discord and Luna for hours… 

And Sombra was back to sitting on his own. Soarin tilted a little to get a better look and notice that Sombra once again had the conjured chess board in front of him, moving the pieces about as if playing against an invisible opponent.

At this point Soarin was completely fed up with his headache, it felt like a vice tightening on his head a quarter turn every couple of minutes. Desperate for a distraction, he was actually considering talking to Sombra. While the two had shared some agreements and opinions on the gods, they had hardly broken the ice. And as much as he wanted to stay by the side of Dash’s soul squirming slightly as it slept. He needed something else to think about.

He reached down and gave Dash’s head a gentle stroke.

“I’ll be back,” he whispered to her as if she was really there sleeping, but it was the thought that counted. 

Feeling slightly dizzy as he stood, he hobbled towards Sombra, slowly curving around to try and get into his peripheral vision as he approached. Eventually Sombra perked up and glanced to his left as Soarin came into view. He didn’t say anything at first, simply watching Soarin as he came around and got closer, noticing that Soarin was mostly looking at the conjured Chess board.

“Do you need something?” Sombra asked rather bluntly, lifting an eyebrow.

“What are you doing over here?” Soarin asked. Sombra shifted his eyebrows to the other side.

“Why are you asking?” Sombra added, using his magic to shift the board out of view. It was almost like a colt hiding a toy from another. Soarin gave him a flat look.

“You’ve been at that since this morning and I want to think about something else besides my headache.” He tried to look past Sombra, but he only shifted the board further behind him. “What’s so secretive about a Chess board, anyway?” Soarin asked. 

“Hm…?” Sombra blinked, looking surprised. “You know of Chess?”

“Are you kidding me?” Soarin asked, but when he got no answer he realized that Sombra was not joking. “You’re not kidding me.”

“I did not expect it to still be known,” Sombra said truthfully as he slowly slid it back around.

“Yeah, it’s probably the most recognizable board game out there, as far as I know it’s existed for… well farther back than I could know.” Soarin explained. 

“Fascinating…” Sombra didn’t answer the question as he looked back down at the board. “To think that there are more pieces of my world still intact than I thought.”

“Did you play it a lot?” Soarin asked, sitting down and doing his best not to think about his head.

“Hm…” Sombra hummed while nodding. “Quite often, yes. Though I’m unsure if ‘play’ is quite the right word for it, nor would I really consider it a game in the grand scheme of things.”

“What do you mean?” Soarin asked, genuinely curious as he scanned the chess board. 

“While I did enjoy it as a pasttime, it held a much greater significance in the era of kings and domains. Before the Black Dragon Scourge and before the Celestial sisters descended from the sky, Equestria walked a thin line of peace at all times. Disputes and skirmishes were common… the pettiest offenses could threaten wars. A kingdom’s survival hinged not only on the mettle of their armies, but also the strength of their ruler, be it in body and mind.”

Sombra motioned to the board, his horn lighting up and the pieces all resetting to the starting positions.

“My father introduced me to the game as a colt, and while it was all fun and games at first, he slowly revealed to me over time that there was much, much more to it. Chess is a battle of wits, planning, foresight, misdirection, and execution. To succeed against the toughest opponents, you must think several moves ahead and think of every consequence that might stem from every action you take.” Sombra explained as he moved the pieces around. Eventually he pushed both kings together side by side. “It wasn’t until I was older that I understood what my father had done… he had prepared me to be the next king… in more ways than I could have imagined.”

One of the kings tipped over and clattered to the board. Sombra turned and looked Soarin in the eye. 

“The fragile peace of our kingdoms…” he continued. “Surely we’d have destroyed ourselves long before the rise of the Black Dragons… had it not been for the game of Chess.”

“Eh…?” Soarin blinked, trying his best to follow.

“Heh,” Sombra smirked. “A realm is only as strong as its leader. If the head of the beast is not fastened on straight, it cannot hope to survive. Even I cannot say who it was, nor when the game found its way before us all, but it was the cornerstone of solving unending disagreements. While it could not divert all conflicts… many, many wars were averted via a chess match between the rulers of two nations at odds. When I became King, I found myself sitting across the board from another ruler quite often.”

“Let me guess… you never lost?” Soarin tilted his head. Sombra glanced at him and furrowed his brow.

“Of course I did,” Sombra snorted. 

“Oh…” Soarin blinked. “Guess I just assumed since you’re always—”

“Though it wasn’t very often.”

“THERE it is,” Soarin stifled a guffaw.

“You jest, but I had to be skilled at it,” Sombra shook his head. “It was seen as an alternative to war when possible, and I held the interests of my kingdom and my citizens in my hooves with every move I made. The very pawns on the board were the ponies I was, in a way, fighting for with my knights and soldiers close behind. All the pieces on the board mattered, every choice I made mattered. Sometimes I had to make sacrifices, sometimes all it took was a little nudge in the wrong… or right direction to change the course of everything. For that reason… I practiced when I could, often against subjects or knights of mine who showed a particular aptitude for the game.”

“Did they ever beat you?” Soarin asked.

“Sometimes,” Sombra didn’t hesitate to answer. “They would grovel and apologize, but I always put an end to that quickly. I was grateful to them for exposing weaknesses in my strategy… my mistakes were to be learned from, to make me better, just like everything else in our lives are meant to. Personally, I would envision them on my board when the time came for me to sit across from another king. It was because of them that I could perform my best, and I would not let them down.”

“Sheesh…” Soarin suddenly turned and rubbed the back of his head.

“Something the matter?” Sombra asked curiously.

“I dunno, it’s kind of hard to imagine a game like chess being so… significant? I’ve never known it as anything else than a little fun. It’s hard to believe that it was such a powerful tool for solving disputes… did all the kings really just get up and honor the outcome?”

“HAH!” Sombra guffawed. “Most of them did, but a particular few were… testy about it.” Sombra reset the pieces on his board. “The Czar of the drakes at the turn of the century… Czar Makar…” Sombra shook his head while chuckling. “He partook in the practice just like the rest of us, but he despised it… he humored it because he felt himself superior to all, but in reality he had the intelligence of a smooth stone. The drakes were always showing up on our border and making demands, often for the most trivial and odd things like any crystal they could set their eyes on. Even though their numbers were insignificant compared to my army.”

“They showed up and asked for crystals?” Soarin blinked.

“Drakes are nothing more than a shadow of their ancestors, discarded runts of ancient dragon hordes. They lack all manner of social dignity, have easily sparked tempers… and like their ancestors, have a similar affinity for anything shiny that they think is treasure. At first I disliked being forced to a chess table with Makar, but I quickly figured out he would do the same thing every time. And…” Sombra moved the pieces on the board one at a time until white checkmated black in less than ten moves. “I learned how to beat him in a minute… and it helped that he never questioned why I chose the side that moves first.”

“And I take it he eventually got fed up?” Soarin asked.

“That he did,” Sombra nodded. “But not honoring the outcome of a match meant all agreements were off, and to ME… that was my cue to run my sword through his chest.”

Soarin perked up.

“So you killed him?”

“T’was the way of the times,” Sombra nodded with a loud snort.

“And you went to war with them for it?” Soarin pressed.

“It was over in a week. The griffons were all too happy to join us for what was already to be a thrashing. The Griffons will tell you it was their triumph in their second war with the Drakes, but they’ll leave out the part where the Drakes provoked the Crystal Empire first.”

“Seems a little excessive…” Soarin chuckled awkwardly. 

“Had you been one of my era… you’d think differently.”

“And that wasn’t the only time?” Soarin pushed on.

“Correct… but…” Sombra looked down at the chess board, resetting the pieces again. “As much as I excelled in combat… a game of chess was much preferred when possible. I wished for my kingdom and my citizens to thrive… and they would not if we were always at war.” Sombra paused, looking down at the board. “Perhaps that meaning is long gone from the game… but…” he moved the pieces around a little. “It is at least something I can still do… and remember my time as King.”

Soarin glanced between Sombra and the board. He observed the way Sombras eyes moved about the board carefully, even though he was playing against nopony.

Against… nopony…

Soarin’s ears stood up and he looked down at the board. The whole reason he asked was to get his mind on something else other than his headache. 

So why not…?

“Would you like an opponent?” Soarin asked.

The pieces on the board all froze as Sombra looked up, surprised. Soarin made his way to the other side of the conjured board and sat down.

“I’m not the best, but… better than playing against yourself, right?” Soarin looked over the board. “Can I touch these?” Soarin asked while reaching out and tapping a hoof to the black king. “Yeah, looks like I can.”

“Hmm…” Sombra hummed, a small smile curling on his lips as he watched Soarin touch the pieces and look them over. “Why not?”

Soarin flinched as the board flickered, the pieces reset, and the board turned around so the white pieces faced Soarin.

“Your move,” Sombra nodded.





Soarin smiled and reached for a pawn, but…

“Sombra! Soarin!” Celestia suddenly appeared like she had just barged through a door. Soarin blinked as Sombra immediately dissipated the board. The two turned to look at her.

“What…?” Sombra asked with a grumpy huff.

“Sorry,” Celestia brushed a strand of her mane out of her face. “Rainbow Dash just showed up.”

“What…?” Soarin perked up. “Right now? Isn’t it…?” he trailed off, scratching his head as he assumed it was training time.

“If she’s here we can figure this out, quick! The spell!” Celestia waved her hooves out, sounding a bit eager.

“Feh, fine…” Sombra sat back and sulked. 

Soarin did not let it go unnoticed. Sombra really did want to play chess with someone, but… Dash came first. 

ALWAYS.





“Hrgnnn…” Soarin grunted as he sat up and slowly opened his eyes, not thrilled that his headache was just as bad as it was on the inside as he awoke. He wasn’t surprised, but he had little time to think about it as he heard some commotion.

“Hey, HEY!” Discord’s voice sounded out along with the noise of cantering hooves. “Give him a second to—”

Soarin opened his eyes just in time to feel something slam right into his stomach.

“OOF!” Soarin exhaled and lurched forward as he felt arms clutch as far around his body as they could manage. He blinked and looked down, but couldn’t see anything. He inched his neck forward to look past his chest, finally seeing a blue body… with a rainbow tail attached that was curled around it. “Dash?” Soarin’s head was nearly upside down as he looked through his arms to see Dash clinging to him, her face shoved into his stomach fur, and visibly shuddering.

“Mrph…” she made a noise against his body.

“Dash, what’s wrong?” Soarin asked with worry, but she just kept her face pressed to him. “Dash?” Soarin touched a hoof to her shoulder. “Dash, c’mon, talk to me,” he gently brushed his massive hoof up and down her back. “What’s…” he stopped, trailing off as he glanced up to see Discord standing just a couple of paces from them with his arms crossed. Soarin flattened his brow.

“What?” Discord snorted.

“Do you mind?” said Soarin as he made a head motion past Discord. 

Discord’s face scrunched up, but before he could say anything in response, a magic aura from Luna clasped Discord’s shoulders and started pulling him back.

“Thank you,” Soarin thanked Luna as Discord grumbled and glared at her. “Hey, it’s okay…” Soarin returned his attention to Dash. “Take your time…” he continued rubbing a hoof up and down her back.

“What is she do—MMPH!” Sombra’s voice chimed in very briefly before he was audibly muffled. 

“Thanks, Celestia,” Soarin said very quietly to himself, keeping his eyes on Dash as her grip on him refused to let up. She did not move from the spot, and he had yet to see her face with how hard she was pressed into him. Soarin tipped his head as he felt her take a long breath and waited for her to say something.

“MMMMMMMMMRRRRRRRPHHHHHHH!!!!!” Dash suddenly screamed against his body.

“Aaaaaaiiiiiieeeeeeeaiyai!!!!” Soarin vibrated as Dash’s voice buzzed against him

“PFAAAAAH!!!” Dash pulled her head back and leaned her head all the way back, looking up, but not at Soarin, a slightly vacant stare in her eyes. Soarin shuddered as the last of the tingling over his body ceased and looked at her curiously.

“Dash? What the hell was that?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“S… Sorry…” Dash finally spoke, her tone shaking and weak. “I…” she pulled her head back towards him, but just rested her forehead against his fur. “I had to let that out…”

“Is everything okay?” Soarin asked, as if the answer wasn’t already clear. “What’s going on? Why are you here right now?” he asked while gently embracing her with one hoof. “Don’t you have training right now?”

“I wanna be here…” Dash replied simply. Soarin’s ears twitched. He looked over at Discord and Luna, then back down at her. 

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” he pressed, hoping to get an answer eventually.

“I don’t know…” Dash mumbled. 

Soarin flattened out his lips. He felt like he was getting nowhere, but Dash was clearly distressed about something and he was getting to the bottom of it.

“Hey,” he tried to gently pull her away from him, but she had a tight grip on him. He didn’t want to be forceful, but he had no choice. “Look at me,” he tugged at her a little harder than she was expecting and felt her hooves grabbing at him as he pulled her free and put her where he could see her. She was staring at his chest and grabbing her hooves at it. Whatever was bothering her, apparently squeezing him as hard as she could was the only thing she thought could fix it.  

Soarin was worried. It was clear something was wrong, but what in the world had Dash acting like this? It was very uncharacteristic of her. She’d grown so strong willed and minded over this whole adventure and suddenly she was avoiding eye contact, talking like an awkward teenager, and clinging to him like a lost filly? 

The sudden role reversal was almost giving him whiplash, but he’d overcome so much recently thanks to her, so it was time to keep it a two way street. He reached down, placed a hoof on her chin, and gently tilted her head up to look her in the eyes. Dash’s blank stare made him feel uneasy, but he was determined.

“Talk to me… please…” he pleaded. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Dash’s eyes seemed to fill with life on the spot, or at least she went from staring vacantly to looking right back into his eyes. She only stared for several moments, but eventually she leaned forward, smushing her chin onto Soarin’s hoof and reaching an arm up to grasp his.

“I… I’m sorry…” she apologized, sighing heavily. “I’m serious though… I don’t know. I did some things, I thought what I did was right, but then it wasn’t? Even though I was told it was? But then I was told it wasn’t? But also it was? I’m so confused!” she spoke quickly and Soarin could barely follow.

“Er…” Soarin’s eye twitched.

“That probably didn’t make any sense…” Dash groaned, sliding past his hoof and moving up against him again, pressing her side into his stomach and sitting down. “I’m not even sure what happened.”

“With who and what?” Soarin tried to pick her brain.

“Storm… and Silver… and stuff…” she mumbled. “And… stuff…” she repeated.

“Storm and Silver?” Soarin tilted his head to one side. “What about them and—”

“I tried to beat up Storm in a training game.”

Soarin’s face went blank.

“Uh…”

“Then Silver told me to not forgive him.”

“For… beating him up…?” Soarin tilted his head to the other side.

“Now everypony looks at me funny and Silver told me I deserve it…”

“After he… wait… how did it go from that to…” Soarin’s face was contorting as he tried to make heads or tails of what she was saying.

“I DUNNO WHAT TO DO!!!!” Dash screamed, smacking her head into his stomach repeatedly.

“Ah, ah, ow, Dash…” Soarin reached down and held her still.

“I thought I knew what I was doing, but apparently I didn’t, and I don’t know what happened with Silver, I did what he told me but it was wrong? I’m so confused and I feel bad about what I did to Storm… well now I do, I didn’t at first, but I feel I should? But… but…” Dash grabbed her mane. “RRRRRRRGHH!!!!!” 

“Ow!” Soarin winced as a sudden tenseness in his head flared up. He quickly placed a hoof to his head, his headache really coming in hot the moment Dash groaned out loud. 

“I dunno what I did here,” Dash simmered down a little and shook her head. “I’ve been so sure of myself constantly, then I did this and I somehow have NO idea what to say or do?”

Soarin swallowed, putting up with the lingering pain in his head. 

“You gotta tell me more, Dash… start from the—”

They both jumped as the sound of yelling suddenly came from outside the chamber. They quickly looked as both Luna and Discord whipped around as well to face the door. It sounded like the guards were having an argument with… somepony shouting very loudly.

“What in the world is going on out there?” Discord said as he moved towards the door. He lifted his hand and twirled it in the air, his magic grabbing one of the doors and pulling it open.

“—THAT CRYSTAL TIPPED SPEAR OF YOURS SO FAR DOWN YOUR THROAT THAT IT STICKS OUT YOUR ASS! AND YOU’LL NEED TO GO TO A SPECIAL HOSPITAL THAT SPECIALIZES IN REMOVING SPEARS FROM DIGESTIVE SYSTEMS TO GET IT OUT BECAUSE IT SURE AS HELL AIN’T GONNA PASS WHEN YOU TRY TO—”

Discord closed the door. He turned around and stared into the chamber.

“What is HE doing here…? WHY is he here…?” Discord said to nopony in a monotone.

Soarin blinked, ears turned towards the doors. 

“That was… definitely Silver!” He looked down at Dash, but she was frozen, eyes wide. “Oh… uh…” Soarin looked between her and the door. “Is he… looking for you?”

The door began to jostle and move. Discord quickly turned around and reached an arm towards it, his aura clasping both of the large doors and holding them shut. Soon after, a loud banging sounded out against it from the other side.

“OPEN UP, DAMMIT!” Silver’s voice bled right through the thick doors.

“Absolutely not! Especially not for you!” Discord growled back. “I don’t know why the hell you’re here, but beat it! I have enough to handle in here and I’m not adding YOU to that list!”

“Oh, don’t have time for me, huh?! Quit hiding behind that door you tiddlywink-lip-puckering-son-of-a-taco-night-shit-shaped PUSSY!” Silver had to have his face pressed to the door. It was the only way to explain how his voice was so loud through the door.

“Who is that…?” Sombra’s voice came from Soarin’s head, sounding intrigued. “I demand to know whom is angering that snake so.”

“Give it a moment,” Soarin nodded. “If he wants in… he’ll get in.”

“LEAVE… don’t make me say it again!” Discord snarled, still holding the door shut as it jostled. “What the hell are the guards out there doing?”

“One of them is gonna have a limp for a month and the other knew better than to fuck with me after that! If you want me to leave so badly, come out here and make me yourself, you goddamn flaccid COWARD!”

“Oh, that tears it!” Discord thrust his neck forward, using his magic to phase his head through the door. “Listen here y—”

Discord was abruptly silenced as his head was suddenly violently forced back through the door and he was sent tumbling back from the door.

“GYAAAAHH!!!!” Discord wailed as he rolled to a stop on his back and grabbed at a giant reddening mark in the dead center of his face between the eyes. “OW! OW!” he whined, kicking his legs in the air. 

Consequently, his magic grip on the door faded. One of the doors flung open and hit the opposite wall with a loud THUNK. 

The quiet tap, tap, tap of Silver’s cane came from the entrance as he made his way in. Soarin’s eyes widened. He felt Dash shiver and lock up against him, but… it was the first time he had seen any other Wonderbolt since he gained his new form. 

And what a sight for him to see. The last time he saw Silver, he was clinging to life, barely alive after his stand against Nightshade. To see him again, missing a wing, wearing an eye patch, supported with a cane, and covered in scars… but still carrying himself with the same rock hard, no nonsense, imposing strength? The sight was energizing… and to top it all off, Silver didn’t even look at him, he was glaring directly at Discord writhing on the ground and kept making his way towards him.

“Name.”

“Huh…?” Soarin blinked as Sombra’s voice chimed in again.

“Who is that stallion?” Sombra repeated. “Tell me.”

“You’re about as sharp as a bowling ball!” Silver snorted at Discord. “You really thought you could stick that ugly piece of abstract art you call a face through a door without getting my John Hoofcock?” Silver grunted while walking beside Discord and looming over his face.

“YOU!” Discord ground his teeth together and clenched his fist, chaos magic building around it.

“Discord!” Luna took a step towards them but froze as Silver shot a hard glare at her. “Eee…” she squeaked, not daring to take another step. 

“Quit grandstanding, you won’t do it,” Silver lifted an eyebrow as he glared down at Discord. “You never did it to Blizzard.”

“You PUNCHED me!” Discord growled, the aura on his fist glowed harder. “Blizzard never punched me!”

Silver reached down, grabbed Discord’s arm and pulled the magic filled fist right up in front of his face.

“Then DO IT!” Silver barked at him. 

The room went silent, the sound of swirling chaos magic echoing as nopony moved.

“TCH!” Discord scoffed as he relaxed his hand and the magic receded.

“I’m not Blizzard,” Silver let go of Discord’s hand, but then pushed his face right into his. “But you’re still Discord.”

Discord held his glare, but his eyes were shuddering. 

“ANYWAY!” Silver turned to Soarin and Rainbow Dash, his first step was right on top of Discord’s chest, causing him to grunt uncomfortably as he started moving towards them.

Silver looked up and down as he slowly approached. Dash was right there, but his eye was completely focused on Soarin all the way until he was standing just a few paces away from both of them. Luna was twitching in place, biting her lip and staring with wide eyes at the scene. She kept looking back and forth between them and Discord, but strangely Discord seemed, or at least appeared not to care. He was still on the floor and glaring at Silver as if he wanted to do something, but just simply couldn’t. 

Silver glanced Soarin up and down for the umpteenth time, still not sparing one glance towards Dash as she shuddered.

“You’ve gained weight,” Silver said with a single tap of his cane.

“HRMPH…” Soarin held his mouth shut, his cheeks puffing out as he tried to stifle a laugh, but he failed miserably. “HAHAHAHA!!!!” he blurted out, leaning down so far that he nearly bent Dash all the way to the floor.

“What’s so funny, chuckle nuts?” Silver asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“After all this time, that’s the first thing you say to me?” Soarin asked as he continued to chuckle, wiping a tear from his eye as he tried to catch his breath.

“Whaddya want me to do? Grovel at your hooves and call you princess? Ain’t happening, kid.”

“No, absolutely not,” Soarin quickly waved a hoof in front of his chest. “But hell, you—”

“Hold on,” Silver cut him off.

“Huh?”

“Stand up,” Silver ordered.

Soarin blinked, but shrugged. But Dash clinging to him made it hard.

“Dash, you’re pulling on me,” Soarin whispered to her.

“Skittles, relax.” Silver spoke to her without looking. Dash squeaked and froze. “I’ll get to you in a minute, let him stand up.”

Dash instantly let Soarin go, but kept her back turned to Silver, looking carefully over her shoulder. Soarin stood up, Silver watching as he loomed over him. 

“Okay now wh—” Soarin began but Silver just leaned very far to the left and lowered his head a little.

“Alright good, you’re still a stallion,” Silver said very casually.

“Wait, HEY!” Soarin crossed his back legs. “What part of ‘don’t call me princess’ wasn’t clear?”

“Had to confirm. I heard you have Celestia sucked so far into your ass that a horn came out your forehead, had to make sure it was her horn and not yours.” 

“I beg your pardon?!” Celestia’s voice came blurting out of Soarin as his eyes flashed yellow.

“Aaaaaaand you’re a mare now, make up your mind, kid.”

“No, Silver, that was Celestia… she is in my…” Soarin stopped and blinked. “She’s in here.”

“Why’d ya hesitate? Please complete that sentence for my personal amusement,” he ordered.

“No.”

“Wise-ass,” Silver smirked. “Alright… enough…” he tapped his cane on the ground and looked Soarin in the eyes. “It’s good to see you’re still you, kid.” His tone had completely shifted.

Soarin’s lips parted, the situation only just now really hitting him. After being locked away like some sort of danger… Silver just let himself in, walked right up to him, and acted like nothing had changed. 

He had no idea how much he needed that.

“Heh…” Soarin smiled, looking down. “Good to see you’re still alive and kicking, even if you are missing a few parts.”

“My head’s screwed on straight and my voice still works. You kids won’t get rid of me so easily,” Silver nodded.

“You’re damn right we won’t,” Soarin nodded back.

“You.” Sombra’s voice suddenly came from Soarin with a blue flash in his eyes. Soarin flinched in surprise, but Silver didn’t budge. “Your name.”

Silver narrowed his eye, looking carefully right into Soarin’s eyes as they glowed.

“Let me guess…” Silver snorted. “You must be the stick-up-the-ass jack-wad who tried to steal Soarin’s body.”

“I…” Sombra paused. “What is a jack-wad?” Sombra whispered, followed by a snort and snicker from Celestia. “I’m—”

“You’re Sombra, I know,” Silver cut him off. “Now what do you have to say for yourself?”

“I wish to know thy name,” Sombra tried again.

“My name is Sturdy Cockstrong, now answer the question.”

“Sir Cockstrong, I commend thee for the way you—”

“PPPPFFFFFFFF…” Silver’s demeanor completely broke down. Soarin couldn’t hold it in either, nor Celestia.

“What?” Sombra chimed in curiously. 

“Holy SHIT, he didn’t even hesitate! Somepony clearly hasn’t been around for a thousand years, huh?” Silver heaved a few breaths while holding his hoof out towards him. “Forget it, I already got the rundown from her,” he pointed to Dash. “If you really want to call me that, sure, but my name is Silver Lining, second commander, Wonderbolt squad two.”

“I commend thee,” Sombra repeated. “Any stallion who stands defiantly in the face of a god has my respect.”

“Who, that?” Silver pointed at Discord. “Anypony with a pair of balls and a sense of smell can tell he’s full of shit. He likes to talk like he knows everything but starts shaking like a dog trying to shit a peach seed the moment you grab him by the horns and look him in the eye.”

“I like this stallion, I like him a lot,” Sombra chuckled, his voice changing pitch as if he was speaking to somepony else, a sigh from Celestia confirming that was the case. 

“Anyway,” Silver tapped his cane on the ground, and focused on Soarin. “Great to see you kid, but I’m not here just for you.”

“Mph!” Dash let out a muffled squeak.

“Crap’s sake, Skittles, I told you to relax,” Silver huffed as he made his way forward. Dash just stared, her back still turned. “Turn around.” He stated firmly, but she didn’t move. “NOW.” He added.

Dash turned quickly, but still held still as Silver walked right up to her and lifted a hoof. Dash shut her eyes. She didn’t know why she did… would Silver actually hit her? Well… yeah maybe he would, but would he here? Like this in front of Soarin?

She felt something. Her lips parted and she let out a short breath. But it wasn’t any sort of strike… it was a soft pat on her shoulder. She slowly and nervously opened her eyes to see Silver standing right in front of her, his good arm lifted and his hoof placed on her shoulder. 

He looked… regretful?

“I owe you an apology,” he said.

Dash stared straight ahead. It was so far from what she expected to come out of his mouth that it gave her mental whiplash.

“Ah…?” was all she managed to say as her thoughts spun in circles.

“You heard me, Skittles,” Silver snorted and gave a firm nod. “I’m sorry.”

Dash just blinked.

“I think you broke her,” Soarin chuckled. 

“Yeah, no shit,” Silver snorted as he tipped his head. “Listen to me, Rainbow Dash,” he went on, gripping her shoulder. “I bet you’re wondering what the hell I’m on about right now and I don’t blame you because I’m an asshole who tried to pass off my own mistake as your problem. Everything bothering you right now is my fault, not yours. I’m here to own up to that.”

“Whoa whoa whoa, let’s hold up right there for a moment!” Discord suddenly slithered in beside him. “Are my ears deceiving me?” 

“Who the hell said you could get up off the floor?” Silver shot a sharp look towards Discord and scowled. “We’re having a moment here, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, please go on… I want to hear you admit fault, and relish it,” Discord said with a smarmy smile.

“Okay, I regret not sticking my hoof down your throat and turning you completely inside out. It would have smelled really bad, but at least you’d be fucking dead.” Silver growled at him.

“Heh… heheheh…” a chuckle came from Sombra as Soarin’s eyes flashed blue.

“Been there, heard that,” Discord snorted. “And I am thrilled that you two are already laughing at each other’s petty jokes…” he added while glancing towards Soarin’s head.

“If he hates your ass then we’re already best friends, now shut up and back up, Noodle-dickless,” Silver grunted while turning back to Dash. “Now as I was say—”

“THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THERE?! CAN WE COME IN NOW?!” Blaze’s voice suddenly boomed from the hallway, followed by the sounds of her being restrained and a lot of muffled swearing. 

“Was that… Blaze?” Soarin blinked as he looked over. 

“Nice going, jackass.” Silver puttered his lips and glared at Discord. “You threw off my timing and now the portable f-bomb dispenser just gave it all away.”

“Wait… hold on a moment…” Discord glanced between him and the door.

“MIGHT AS WELL COME IN NOW! BLAZE, YOU’RE FLYING LAPS LATER!” Silver yelled out.

“Did you bring the whole…” Soarin trailed off, his eyes going wide as the shuffling of hooves came from the door.

“No! Enough!” Discord growled as he turned towards the door. “We’re not supposed to be crowding him with—GAH!” Discord yelped as he took a step and tripped over something, falling face first to the floor.

“Awareness,” Silver stated flatly as he set his cane back on the floor. 

“For the love of…!” Discord looked up but it was too late. The entire special training group of Wonderbolts was already in and making their way forward.

While Dash had no idea what was happening, Soarin saw exactly what was happening and he couldn’t find the words. The moment the Wonderbolts appeared around the pillars being led by Spitfire and Fleetfoot he thought he would start crying on the spot. He held it back of course, but he’d be lying if the sight didn’t touch him so deeply. 

“Whoa…” Fleetfoot uttered quietly as they approached, the mood among them much different than Soarin. They had all seen him after he changed to this form but… he’d been kept locked away from them for so long that many of them had forgotten just how massive he was now. Even Matteo bringing up the rear of the group probably only reached up to the top of his chest.

And of course, the fact that he was literally a divine alicorn, the horn, the ethereal mane and everything. 

“G…guys…” Soarin stuttered, a big smile forming on his face as they all filed in and stood behind Silver.

“Long time no see, Soarin,” Spitfire spoke up with a nod. 

“I swear nopony ever listens to me…” Discord muttered as he turned his side to them all and stomped away.

“There’s a reason for that,” Silver shot at him, just barely catching what Discord said under his breath. Discord glared at him, but Silver completely ignored him, leaving Discord to storm off muttering to Luna’s side and plant himself against the wall snarling all the way.

“I… god, I don’t know what to say…” Soarin sputtered a little, trying his very hardest not to lose it.”

“We’ve—”

“Hold up there,” Silver held his cane up in front of Spitfire. “I’ll let you guys at him, but… we need to take care of Rainbow Dash first. Your half-sister let the cat out of the bag too early.”

“The fuck I did, you took too long,” Blaze grunted.

“Laps and wing ups,” Silver added.

“WHAT-MRPH!” Blaze got muffled by High Winds’ wing.

“But you know… maybe it’s better you’re all in here…” Silver scanned the group until he found what he was looking for. “Storm, c’mere will you?”

Dash flinched as her eyes locked on Storm. Storm pointed to himself briefly before swallowing and coming forward, saying nothing as he shuffled through the Wonderbolts.

“Alright Dash,” Silver turned back to her. “We need to talk about what happened… because it sure as hell wasn’t just your fault and it was wrong of me to side step it later as if I didn’t trip over my own hooves at all.” He glanced at Storm. “I knew what was going on between you two, and I don’t regret the advice I gave you after it all went down, nor do I have a problem with you two talking it out after, but… hoo boy did the process of getting there go off the rails like the Equestria express driving round a mountain during an avalanche.”

“Er…” Dash looked away from him nervously. “Well…”

“I’m done pretending everything turned out alright, cause it clearly didn’t. So there are two things that need to happen. First…” Silver hooked his arm around Storm’s neck and yanked him over.

“Oof!” Storm grunted as he stumbled forward and came face to face with Dash. Despite their differences, both just stared blankly at one another.

“Apologize to Storm,” Silver stated firmly as he moved himself beside them. “You two can grit your teeth at each other all you want, but we won’t be having anymore unhinged unauthorized Wonderbolt on Wonderbolt violence.”

“Unauthorized?” Wave Chill whispered to Spitfire.

“Don’t look at me,” she shook her head lightly.

“Maybe we should ask,” Lightning Streak snickered. 

“I’m pretty sure violence against you is always authorized,” Fleetfoot added.

“Hush from the peanut gallery!” Silver yelled over his shoulder, causing the four to stiffen up and shut up. “Well, what are you waiting for, an order?” Silver asked as Dash’s eyes darted between him and Storm. “As if I have to tell you to do what you know is right.”

Dash swallowed. She was still confused but… Silver engineered the current situation for a reason. Silver never did anything without a good reason. And… he was owning up, so she had to follow his example.

“I’m… sorry, Storm,” Dash said slowly. “It was… a bit much, I dunno…” She took a deep breath. “I dunno what I was thinking, I was just really, really mad and I let it get the better of me.”

Storm said nothing. But he flinched, knocking him out of his thoughts as Silver gave the back of his leg a light tap with his cane.

“Ah… um…” Storm awkwardly looked down. “It’s… alright. Don’t worry about it. We…” he looked back at Silver again, jittering briefly as Silver’s eyes remained locked on him. “We already said what we had to say to each other.” He paused. “You can punch really hard by the way.”

“PFF!” Silver blew air through his lips as Dash blinked. “Bit of jackass in you, huh? Must get it from your dad.”

“Wait, what?” Storm tipped his head but Silver turned around.

“SECOND… there’s one more pony that needs to offer an apology” he rapped his cane on the floor while looking over the rest of the Wonderbolts. “That would be me… to everypony, because a couple ponies behind me weren’t there for the first one. Remember this kiddies because I’m about to get sappy on you twice in one day. If Tartarus doesn’t freeze over then I’ll have to do it myself when I get there someday.”

Ears turned and perked up among the group. Spitfire’s lips parted slightly and her eyes opened a little wider.

“Sometimes… I like to believe I can do no wrong,” Silver began. “I look at all you kids and act like I always know better and always know the right answers. I yell, shout, and swear in your faces no matter what’s going on to whip you into shape and keep you in line. I strut like the alpha male and assert myself no matter where I am, especially over dumbasses like Lightning Streak.”

“There it is,” Lightning pointed at him. “I was waiting for that.”

“Shut up, Moldylocks. ANYWAY…” Silver went on as a few snickers came from the group. “I may act like I’m perfect, but I’m not. I make mistakes too, and I made a big one here. Captain Hardass over here gave me the business for getting in the way of her own goals she’s set for you all,” Silver motioned to her. “And after seeing the cloud hanging over Rainbow Dash, I have to come clean. That crazy shit that went down is on ME. I take responsibility for it. I want all of you to come together and have a strong bond just as much as the captain does. I gotta read the situation better next time before I decide to teach any lessons. So—”

Silver cut himself off as Misty Fly suddenly rushed up to him with wide eyes and stared directly into his eye with concern. 

“The hell…?” Silver blinked as Misty looked him over carefully. He glanced towards Fire Streak, who was stuck halfway through a word in sign language. He was staring blankly at Misty.

“I was… just translating for her,” he explained. 

Misty suddenly put a hoof to Silver’s forehead and then put the other to hers.

“Oh,” Silver flattened his brow. “For crying out loud…”

“SHE THINKS HE’S SICK!!!!” Fleetfoot cried out before bursting out laughing and falling over on her side. Laughter broke out as Misty continued to tip her head back and forth.

“Is it really that strange to hear me say this?”

“Yes.” At least five of them answered. 

“You’re all a bunch of comedians…” Silver reached up and grabbed Misty’s hoof. He furrowed his brow at her, but she only shrugged and stuck her tongue out at him playfully. He gently pushed her away before snorting. “Anyway, I fucked up. Quit looking at Dash like she killed a pony, I put her and Storm in that spot in the first place. Everypony getting along and having a good time is part of all this and I’m not gonna have my mistake muck that up anymore. Got it?” Silver glanced among them. They all nodded. “Good.”

“So…” Storm looked at Dash a little sheepishly. “Does that mean we’re good then? About everything?”

Dash blinked and twitched.

“What?” She gave him an odd look. “No. This has nothing to do with that.”

“HA!” Silver guffawed as he overheard them, turning to Storm. “Nice try kid, but hell hath no fury like a mare scorned. You’re not slipping out of the other thing.”

“I noticed…” Storm sighed.

“But enough… I said what I came here to say…” he turned to Soarin. “Now it’s time to kick back and catch up with our overblown first commander, what do you say?”

“Huh? I—” Soarin barely started before Fleetfoot rushed past Silver.

“HEY BEEFCAKE! HOW YA BEEN!” she giggled while bouncing up into the air and hooking an arm as far as she could manage around the back of his neck. “Jeez! I can barely get halfway around your fat neck!”

“Don’t crowd him!” Discord yelled from the back, but none of them listened. The rest of the Wonderbolts moved forward, all ecstatic to see Soarin for the first time in what felt like ages… and Soarin looked beyond happy to be surrounded by his friends and wingmates again. 

“Discord.” Celestia’s voice suddenly echoed in Discord’s head telepathically. Discord flattened his brow and placed two fingers on the side of his head. 

“What?” he asked flatly, replying with his own telepathy. 

“It would appear Soarin’s headaches have vanished entirely. He shows no signs of pain or discomfort any longer.” She explained.

“Hmm…” Discord glanced towards Rainbow Dash. She was smiling and chuckling as the Wonderbolts conversed with Soarin, her own teammates all sitting around her. “Then her mental state really does directly affect him… wonderful…” he sighed, removing his fingers from his head as he leaned back and continued to watch the activity.

“You okay?” Thunderlane asked Dash as they sat back and watched the elites practically climb all over Soarin, some literally. Dash only glanced at him first, taking a quick look at the rest of her squad.

“Yeah,” she nodded, smiling as she watched Soarin open one of his massive wings, Fleetfoot and Surprise both perching on it and staring in awe. Lightning Streak and Air Mach were taking a rough estimate of Soarin’s bulky arm and forcing Fire to put his arm together with theirs to gauge just how big Soarin was. They were all being so casual, as if Soarin being an Alicorn didn’t mean a damn thing. And Soarin looked so damn happy. “I’m doing just fine.”

“Rainbow Dash.”

Her ears perked up and her whole squad seemed to flinch in surprise and move aside before she could even glance. She looked to her left to see Spitfire approaching with a smile on her face.

“C…captain?” she addressed her, swallowing. Spitfire didn’t say anything for a moment as she moved right beside Dash and sat down, looking out towards Soarin as well. “Um…” Dash began to fret. “I’m sorry about what happened,” she quickly apologized.

“Hm? Oh, about Storm?” Spitfire glanced at her. “Apology accepted. Don’t dwell on it though, it’s been addressed.”

“Ah… okay,” Dash looked away and tilted her head down. There was another small moment of silence between them, and it piqued Dash’s curiosity. She’d thought Spitfire would be the first one over to get up close and chat with Soarin, why was she sitting with her?

“I want you to know something, Dash,” Spitfire suddenly spoke up. “Because if I don’t tell you… there’s no way he ever will,” she said with a chuckle, her eyes averting slightly from Soarin.

“He…?” Dash said to herself as she followed Spitfire’s eyes… to Silver, who currently had a flailing Blaze in a headlock while otherwise sitting casually. “Silver?” she asked.

“Mmhmm,” Spitfire hummed while nodding. “I want you to understand exactly what you’ve done.” She cracked a grin while looking at Dash. “I haven’t known Silver as long as some, but for the time that I have… I have never seen him so quickly or so WILLINGLY admit he made a mistake.” She looked back to Silver. “I knew what was going on before you went after Storm. Silver pulled another name to be the runner for the other side, but he called out Storm. I should have stopped him right there, but I didn’t and we all know what happened. I found Silver later and let him have it, but he did what he always does… claimed it all went as planned and was unable to admit he miscalculated at least not without me twisting his arm and even then it was half-hearted. Now I get it, Silver likes to be the adult in the room and that’s fine, he’s older and wiser than all of us. That’s how he’s always conducted himself but sometimes he goes a little far, and good luck trying to find someone willing to say that to his face. I walked away from my talk with him feeling like I accomplished nothing. Just like every other time I’ve expressed my discontent with some of his methods, he just tried to stonewall me.”

Dash kept her eyes on Silver as she listened, but perked up when Spitfire placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“But this time… he turned around, backtracked, and came one hundred percent clean not just to me, but to everypony else in less than twenty-four hours. He was a bit of an extravagant jackass about it, of course, but I felt like I had just been clotheslined… and the way Misty reacted to his apology to all of us just now is all you have to know. Silver NEVER does this, EVER… and there’s only one piece of the puzzle that’s different here…” she said while giving Dash a light shake.

Dash looked Spitfire right in the eyes blankly.

“What’s that?” Dash asked.

“Dash… really?” Spitfire gave her a look. 

“…oh. You mean…” Dash pointed at herself.

“No, I mean Fleetfoot.”

“Oh, um…!” Dash put her hoof down quickly.

“DASH!” Spitfire burst into a fit of laughter, leaning into Dash and bumping her forehead against the top of Dash’s head. “YES, I mean YOU.”

Dash’s eyes twitched and she tilted her head slightly. It was obvious but she was still in a bit of a tizzy over the whole situation. 

“Aright, alright, let’s set the joking aside… I’m serious,” Spitfire nodded firmly. “Silver turned around faster than I’ve ever seen… and he did it after seeing what his little plan did to YOU,” she poked Dash in the chest. “YOU… are the reason he threw aside his ironclad pride to come clean with us like this, not to mention he did it in front of those who might use it against him, like Discord. You mattered more to him than any of it.”

Dash blinked and looked back to Silver. He now had both Blaze and High Winds in a headlock… under one arm. Blaze was still flailing, but it looked like Winds had accepted her fate and was taking a nap.

“We’ve all been through a lot…” Spitfire went on. “We’ve had enough life changing experiences to last several lifetimes… but we’ve all grown stronger, we’ve all become better… physically or mentally. And we’ve all discovered things about ourselves… and changed ourselves for the better. Silver might act like he reached this point a long time ago, but he’s changed too. And you’re the reason he has.”

“Uh… gosh…” Dash looked down, cheeks flushing a little. She reached up and pulled a hooffull of her mane up to cover her mouth and nose. 

“It’s impossible to be perfect, but that just means you’re never done discovering ways to be better… thanks for keeping Silver on that path,” Spitfire smirked. “But don’t you dare tell him I said all this or else he’ll have me flying laps for the next three weeks.”

“Th…” Dash tried to speak but her voice petered out.

“Yeah?” Spitfire leaned a bit so Dash could see her.

“Thanks… for telling me,” Dash said through her mane. “That really means a lot to me… especially for Silver.”

“Of course,” Spitfire nodded.

“Say, Dashie!”

Both of them flinched as Fleetfoot suddenly appeared on the other side of Dash, leaning on her the same way Spitfire was albeit at a much shorter height. 

“Have you and Soarin bam-bam’d in the ham yet with him like this? Hoo boy, he could wear you like a sock!” she giggled uncontrollably while leaning hard into her.

“But some things NEVER change…” Spitfire grumbled, reaching over and grabbing Fleetfoot by the head. “Come here YOU…”

“YEEEEEE!” Fleetfoot squeaked jokingly as Spitfire pulled her away. “I’m innocent, I swear!”

“And Blaze would never curse,” Spitfire replied sarcastically as she dragged her away. 

Dash couldn’t hold it in any longer, she let her mane drop from her face and snickered at the ever so well timed shenanigans of Fleetfoot both killing and helping the mood at the same time. 

She felt better… a lot better… and seeing the scene before her with Soarin and the elite Wonderbolts was just the icing on the cake. Silver once again proved that he knew what was best for her… even if he had just done the opposite accidentally. He fixed it while also doing something great for Soarin… and based on what Spitfire said, he did it for her just as much as him. 

She felt vulnerable… but it was in an informative way. She hadn’t faced a personal situation like this in a long time, riding the high of her achievements, accomplishments, and assertion through the toughest situations. Suddenly being thrown into an emotional loop brought her back down to earth a little… and she felt like she needed it, especially with all the strange powers, magical energy, and enhanced physical prowess currently flowing through her.

She kept her eyes locked on Soarin and the Wonderbolts as her squad and Thunderlane rejoined her side. She glanced at all of them, then blinked as she looked back and forth.

“Where’s Twister?” she asked. Matteo was shaking his head before she finished saying his name.

“On our way here a cart filled with bread and pork chops came rolling through the palace halls. He leapt on and said something about porkchop sandwiches, caught fire, and rode the cart right out the doors into the central courtyard. Haven’t seen him since.”

Dash stared blankly at Matteo after how stoically he explained all of it, but just shrugged.

“Typical.”

---To Be Continued---