The Sea Of Clarity, a simple gulf filled with dangerous cliffs, hoodoos, meniscal plateaus and water that is so clear, you can see almost ten feet below its surface. Star Bolt didn’t know why he decided to go this way to New Foalreins, but it was too late to turn back now. The only good thing about it was that he was traveling by land; though he still had to fly over the gulf, otherwise he would have to add a day to his traveling. He didn’t know if he had the supplies for another day in the wilderness, so as he stood on the Cliffside, looking into the gulf, he removed his cloak and put it in his saddlebag so it wouldn’t get in his wing’s path while flying. Then he jumped into the sky and flew offer the sea, just high enough so he was clear of the cliffs and hoodoos.
As he flew for the other side of the gulf, an unknown pegasus came out of sky above and clipped his right wing, causing him to lose his control and almost sending him into a cliff face. Luckily, Star Bolt was able to regain his control and land safely on the cliff rather than colligating with it. after landing Star Bolt looked around trying to find that pegasus who clipped him, but it seemed that the unknown pegasus disappeared among the rocks and cliffs below. Star Bolt looked around in the sky and saw that the sky had a number of clouds in it but nothing else was visible. But this didn’t ease his mind, Star Bolt could remember a few battles that started with Princess Celestia hiding troops behind cloud cover.
Star Bolt decided to continue on his flight so he turned and flew into the direction he was traveling in before his little distraction took place. After flying for a few more minutes, the Pegasus from before flew up from below, and tried to do the same thing he did before, only this time Star Bolt was expecting it. Star Bolt rolled around so the pegasus would miss his wing, then as he was rolling Star Bolt grabbed the attacker’s tail and slammed him against a nearby cliff. Almost immediately, the attacker’s body went limp so while still holding onto his tail, Star Bolt flew to the closest plateau and dropped the unconscious pegasus so he wouldn’t fall into the ocean below.
After Star Bolt landed next to his attacker, Star Bolt realized that he was wearing some kind of jumpsuit that seemed very familiar. “HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!! GET AWAY FROM HIM!!!”
Star Bolt took a few steps back from his attacker as a large number of pegasi flew down from behind the clouds and landed on the plateaus and cliffs around him. With each one wearing the same uniform, Star Bolt finally figured out where he had seen it before, then his theories were confirmed, when a mare flew down from the clouds above and landed in front of him. Star Bolt could only smile and speak, “So if I'm not mistaken you’re Spitfire from the Wonderbolts, right?”
Spitfire Replied, “It’s not surprising that you know who I am, but I'm afraid your journey ends here. By order of Princess Celestia, we the Wonderbolts are placing you under arrest.”
Star Bolt smiled, “And what prey tell is my crime?”
Star Bolt could tell by Spitfire’s expression that she didn’t know, “Oh… uh… I… It doesn’t matter what your crime is. Princess Celestia asked me personally to have you brought to her alive, so that’s what we are going to do. so how are we going to do this… the easy way? or the hard way?”
Star Bolt smiled, “Easy way… hard way… The difference between easy and hard is merely an opinion put down by those who have never been able to understand the two. Explain which is which… then I'll choose.”
Star Bolt’s attempt to stall and annoy Spitfire was working better than he expected. She sneered as she replied, “The easy way… you will come with us quietly and without any trouble. Or the hard way… we will drag you to her in chains. It’s your choice, Commander Bolt!”
Star Bolt nodded his head then replied, “Ok since you’re apparently trying to arrest me for no reason… I guess this should answer your question then.”
Star Bolt lowered his head and scraped the ground below him as if he was going to charge. However, as Spitfire readied herself for the attack, Star Bolt reared up on his hind legs and fell backward off the edge of the cliff behind him. As he fell, Star Bolt rolled around, and opened his wings bringing himself into a glide mere feet from the water below. Spitfire immediately yelled to the rest of the Wonderbolts as she dove off the cliff after him, “ATTACK PATTERN BRAVO!!! GO! GO! GO!”
Most of the Wonderbolts chased Star Bolt right behind Spitfire but a few others flew into a different direction.
Star Bolt flew at a very low altitude crisscrossing between the rocks and hoodoos in the gulf, trying to lose his pursuers. As Star Bolt looked back, he noticed that his quick maneuvers weren’t helping as much as he hoped. Then he looked back, he turned a corner and was caught off guard when he saw a ship sailing through the crevices. Star Bolt tried all he could to stop but he still hit the railing right in front of the helm stopping him immediately. As he shook it off the captain of the ship yelled, “YA DERN FOOL! Annabelle don’t take kindly to stowaways! Get off me ship! Don’t make Captain Sail get physical on ye plot!!!”
Star Bolt quickly reached into his saddlebag and put a hoof full of bits on the deck as he replied, “This should cover it Captain!”
Captain Sail was confused, “Cover what!?!”
Without replaying Star Bolt jumped into the air, drew his sword and cut one of the ropes that held the sail boom in place. When the boom swung into their path, Spitfire and the rest of the Wonderbolts tried to dodge it, but most of the pegasus colligated with it causing them to fall into either the ship or the water below. However, Spitfire and a small number did manage to dodge it and continue chasing Star Bolt trough the gulf.
Star Bolt looked back as he continued and noticed that Spitfire and the others were catching up to him. He could only think to himself, “This mare is just as good as I expected… but she is still isn’t the best I’ve seen.”
When Star Bolt looked in front of him, he notices a long straightaway in the cliffs with a ninety-degree turn at the end. So he continued increasing his speed as fast as he could go with Spitfire and the others close behind. While looking at the same cliff, he saw something under the surface of the water that could help too, but he decided to wait until later to use it. As Star Bolt approached the turn, he had to close one wing while he turned the other down just to get enough drag on his side while he attempted to make the sharp turn at the alarming speed. He was going so fast in fact that he had to put his hooves out and run along the cliffs in the turn, just so he wouldn’t hit the wall on the other side of the dangerously sharp turn.
After making the turn and leveling himself, he looked behind him. He watched in awe as Spitfire and one other Pegasus completed the same stunt exactly as he did. However, the rest of the pegasi either stopped, being too afraid to attempt it, or they failed to make the turn, hit the cliff, and fell to the water below. Star Bolt smiled at the skill that Spitfire was demonstrating in keeping up with him, but as he turned to look in front of him he didn’t notice that the pegasi that didn’t follow him into the canyon have set up a net in his path.
As he approached the net, Star Bolt drew his sword, closed his wings, and cut a small slit in the net, just big enough for him to fly through with his wings closed, after making it through Star Bolt opened his wings and continued his flight. Star Bolt looked back to see how Spitfire and the other pegasus did with their obstacle. Spitfire successfully mimicked his stunt and made it through the net. However, the other pegasus wasn’t so lucky; he hit the net getting his wing tangled and taking him out of the chase, now it was just between Spitfire and Star Bolt.
Spitfire called to Star Bolt, as she got close enough to grab his tail, “Face it commander! You can’t outrun the Wonderbolts!”
As soon as he felt Spitfire grab his tail Star Bolt replied, “No, but I can out smart them!”
With that said, Star Bolt used the same wing maneuver he used to make the ninety-degree turn and fling Spitfire off his tail with the first try. When Spitfire regained control, she caught up to Star Bolt quickly, only this time, her anger was controlling her actions… not her ability. While choosing his direction carefully as he flew, Star Bolt made a complete U-turn to the area where the ninety-degree turn was. As he got into the straightaway he increased his speed and slowly increased his altitude, Spitfire called to him, “This again? You need to learn some new tricks if you want to get away from me!”
As soon as Star Bolt approached the turn for the second time, he called back, “Ok how’s this?”
Star Bolt continued his speed but immediately went straight down diving into the water right in front of the cliff. Shortly after hitting the water, Star Bolt used his wings to swim through a cave entrance that could be seen just below the surface. After making his way through the entrance, Star Bolt emerged from the water to find himself in an underground aquifer inside the cliff. He climbed out onto a small portion of dry land and shook himself off, “Well… I think that did it.”
When Star Bolt looked back into the crystal clear water, he saw an orange and yellowish figure hit the water and make it through the cave entrance.
Star Bolt could only think to himself as he drew his sword, “Great… looks like I'll have to deal with her after all.”
As he stood there with his sword out at the ready, he noticed something strange. The yellowish figure was kicking and moving… but it wasn’t surfacing. It was only holding its position underwater. Star Bolt continued holding his sword at the ready until the figure stopped moving… then the bubbles that were reaching the surface stopped, “Oh, No…”
Star Bolt immediately stuck his sword in the ground, took his saddlebag off and dove into the water to save her.
After diving in, Star Bolt franticly looked around for Spitfire until he saw her slowly sinking to the bottom. Like before, Star Bolt used his wings and hooves to swim through the water, grab Spitfire, then pull her to the surface. As he carried her onto the dry ground, he laid her down and listened to her chest. She wasn’t breathing so Star Bolt knew what he had to do… but he didn’t like it… and he knew she wouldn’t like it either. Star Bolt started pushing against her chest to try to get her lungs to start breathing again. when the first few times failed, he held her nose and preformed mouth-to-mouth, pushing air into her lungs from his own. then he listened to her lungs, pressed against her chest again, and repeated his first few actions.
After a few minutes just as Star Bolt was about to give up, Spitfire woke up and started coughing up the water that was in her lungs. Star Bolt backed up and sat against the side of the cave so she could get some air while she rolled to her side and finished coughing up the remaining water in her lungs. Star Bolt started looking through the supplied in his saddlebag for any damage as Spitfire caught her breath then started looking around the cave. As soon as she saw Star Bolt, she sneered at him, “Are… you ready to… surrender yet?”
Star Bolt could only smile and reply, “I admire your determination, even when returning from the half-way point of the river Styx, you still put your princesses orders before your own life… back then, I would have called it loyal devotion… now I call it foolish.”
Spitfire was confused, “What are you talking about, I wasn’t near death… you’re the one being foolish.”
Star Bolt continued looking through his things as he replied, “Think about what just happened to you for a few second.”
Spitfire started to think, after a few second she started to realize what happened, “Well I dove in after you then I… then you…”
All of a sudden her face turned beat red as she looked at Star Bolt in complete shock, “DID… DID YOU JUST… AND THEN YOU…”
Star Bolt smiled, “You’re welcome.”
Spitfire continued her tantrum, “I can’t believe you actually… and then…”
Star Bolt replied, “If it makes ya feel any better I didn’t enjoy a second of it… no offence sweetie, but you’re not necessarily my type.”
Spitfire commented back, “Oh I'm sorry I forgot your type is the dark gloomy kind who want to bring eternal night.”
Star Bolt gave her a serious look, “Watch it…”
Spitfire continued, “I'm sorry I can’t raise the moon and bring forth an eternal night like you would want, mab…”
Before Spitfire could finish her sentence, Star Bolt had charged her and pinned her against the cave wall with his sword against her throat, “Say one more word about her… and I'll throw you back into that water… and this time I won’t do anything, when the bubbles stop. Then for you, it will be an eternal night. Understand?”
Spitfire’s confidence was completely drained all at once by that one split second, she couldn’t even reply. All she could do was nod her head in agreement to his command. Star Bolt slowly lowered his sword, turned around, sheathed it, and speak, “Sorry… as you can tell… I don’t like to talk about what’s passed. The best thing for you to do now is get some rest and catch your breath. I'll decide when you’re ready to get out of here.”
Spitfire felt embarrassed at the fear she showed moments ago, so she lowered her head and replied, “What do you mean by, You’ll decide when I’m ready to get out of here.”
Star Bolt trotted back to his saddlebag that was sitting at the side of the cave. Then he sat down as he replied, “Look around, there are no openings, cracks, or passages leading in or out of this cave, other than the one we went through. So if you’re going to get out of here you’ll need my help, seeing is that you can’t swim and all. I have some supplies that survived the water, I hope you like apples.”
Spitfire felt a little uneasy taking food from the pony she was supposed to arrest. However, he did save her life, so she could assume that poisoning her would be a waste of time. So she trotted over to him, and sat down beside him as she replied, “Um… yes I do like apples.”
Star Bolt pulled a very large red apple from his bag and tossed it to her, “How do you like them apples?”
Spitfire couldn’t help but smile at the corny joke, as she looked at the large apple, “Wow this is pretty impressive. Where did you get apples this big?”
Star Bolt replied, “When I was passing through a small town called Saddle Ridge there were a number of ponies there who worked orchards of all kinds. I offered my services in exchange for some apples and a small number of bits to help me in my travels.”
As Spitfire took a bit off the apple she asked, “So why didn’t you stay there?”
Star Bolt replied, “A young filly saw my picture in a history book and started calling me Commander Bolt. At first I joked about it and let her it since she wanted to, and the other workers saw it as an innocent nickname from a young friendly foal… but soon the rest of the villagers started asking about my past, so one night after I received my payment for the previous week’s work… I left.
before that, I was in another town called Equestrian Springs, that was a beautiful town… but soon the royal guard started snooping around that town so I had to leave. Before that, I was in Cloudsdale, that’s where I saw one of your shows, but I found a statue of myself in the local museum so to prevent anypony from pointing it out. I left there too. One by one… I left anyplace where the ponies started to figure out who I was, or if the royal guard came looking for me.”
Spitfire lowered her head, “Ok, ok, I get it… it’s hard for somepony in your horse shoes to get a moment of peace. But why are you on your way to New Foalreins?”
Star Bolt replied, “I hear they discovered silver there, I'm going to see if anypony there wants to hire a stallion to work in the mines.”
“Work the mines? I didn’t know you had talent as a miner.”
Star Bolt smiled, “I don’t.”
“You don’t?”
“Nope, I just wanted to take a shot at it… besides I may be a wanderer but I still need food just like anypony else, so the only way to do that is to get a job from place to place. If they start to discover who I am or if the royal guard starts looking for me there then I'll move on just like the last one.”
Spitfire finished her apple then she spoke seriously, “What are you doing?”
Star Bolt replied, “I'm trying to make a living… what’s it look like?”
“No, I mean… what is it that you’re planning? Princess Celestia wants you arrested, I know a little about your past but I hardly think the princess wants to see you for any reason that isn’t crucial, so what is it you’re doing?”
Star Bolt smiled and casually spoke, “I'm building an army to attack and destroy Canterlot.”
“WHAT?”
Star Bolt laughed, “I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I actually plan to destroy Canterlot alone.”
Spitfire started to get annoyed, “This is serious Comman…”
“Star.”
“What?”
“My name is Star Bolt, I’d appreciate it if you would call me by my name, I'm not a commander anymore.”
“Fine then Star why can’t you be serious about this?”
Star Bolt replied, “Because I'm done. Celestia, Canterlot, the royal guards, the lighting orb, and the lifestyle I once had… all done. If they were to fall of the face of the planet, it wouldn’t make any difference to me. I only want to leave that life behind.”
Spitfire continued, “And… Luna? you didn’t mention her in that list. Do you want her to fall off the world too?”
Star Bolt lowered his head, “I just want her to be happy… that’s all. And I’ve never seen her happier than when she is with her sister… without me.”
Spitfire nodded her head, “I see… so you’re not planning anything to harm the Princesses in anyway right?”
Star Bolt replied, “Don’t get me wrong, if Princess Celestia needed my help in any way I would probably turn it down. But I'm not out to get them. The way I see it, if they leave me alone, then they won’t have to worry about ever seeing my face again. I don’t ever plan to return to Canterlot.”
Spitfire could tell that the subject wasn’t something that Star Bolt wanted to talk about so she changed the subject, “You’re a very skilled flyer, where did you learn to fly like that?”
“War… I learned all of that, while fighting in wars.”
“… Is war really that terrible?... I mean… did you really have to fly like that to survive?”
Star Bolt gave Spitfire an unamused look while he ignored the question and changed the subject, “Why are a group of acrobats chasing down a lowlife anyway?”
Spitfire felt like she had said something wrong so rather than going back to the previous subject she just answered the question, “Apart from entertaining and encouraging young pegasi, we are all sworn to protect Princess Celestia and Princess Luna from any threat.”
“So… you’re royal guards.”
Spitfire didn’t know how to explain it, “Well… Yes and no… you see we will fight in a war if needed but we act as a sort of third party. Meaning Princess Celestia can give the order, but in the end I decide if we should carry it out.”
Spitfire jumped in surprise when she unexpectedly felt water touch her hoof, she looked at the cave entrance and spoke, “Uh… Star?”
Star Bolt looked at the water and realizes it was rising, “We better get going, the tide is coming in. How long can you hold your breath?”
Spitfire felt a little unsure from where the question was leading, “Wait… what are you talking about?”
“We got to get out of here now, otherwise we will drown in here, so unless you want a repeat from earlier, you might want to hold onto me while I swim us both out of here.”
After thinking about what happened earlier, Spitfire blushed as she shook her head, “No, no, no, we will get out, your way.”
Star Bolt put his saddlebag back on and readied himself, “Grab onto my neck and hold your breath.”
Spitfire put her hooves around Star Bolt’s neck, then she gave him a nod just as he started sprinting towards the water, and dove in with her on his back. After Star Bolt dove into the water, he found the cave entrance, and attempted to swim through it, but with the water rushing into the aquifer, the current was too strong. Star Bolt surfaced so that both their heads where above the water, then he spoke, “Spitfire, the current is to strong, so I'm going to need you help to get out, when we are underwater flap your wings behind you, that will help us get through the current.”
Spitfire nodded her head, “Sure, I'll give it a try.”
After letting her take another breath, Star Bolt dove underwater, and using both of their wing power, they were able to push through the current and make it through the cave entrance, and outside the aquifer. Then Spitfire and Star Bolt were able to fly up to the lowest platform that was still about ten feet above the surface. Shortly after shaking the water off herself Spitfire spoke, “Thanks Star the last thing I wanted to do was drown in a place like that.”
When Spitfire looked at Star Bolt she realized that he had already flown to another plateau where he was standing watching her, “What now Spitfire!?!”
Spitfire didn’t know how to answer, as the other Wonderbolts landed around her, “There you are Captain, we’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Spitfire looked at the pegasus who spoke and replied, “Good to see you woke up Soarin, how did that cliff taste?”
Soarin replied, “Yea… sorry bout that. I didn’t expect him to slam me into a cliff by my tail. As we can see he couldn’t out fly you could he?”
Spitfire looked at her companions, then she looked back at Star Bolt as she mumbled to herself, “no… but he did outsmart me…”
Soarin replied, “What was that?”
Spitfire turned to the rest of the Wonderbolts and spoke so they all could hear, “This Pony isn’t Commander Bolt. His name is Star Bolt and I found out that he is no threat to Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, or Equestria in anyway. Because of this… we will no longer pursue him.”
Soarin spoke up, “But captain? Princess Celestia said…”
“The Princess isn’t in charge of the Wonderbolts… I am… and I say that if it wasn’t for the fact that he has his own life to live. I would offer him a position here with us. I’d say he is Wonderbolt material.”
As the rest of the Wonderbolts looked at each other in confusion, Spitfire looked back at Star Bolt. Star Bolt could only smile as he spoke, “Thanks Spitfire… and I would just have to say that… maybe you are my type after all.”
Spitfires Face turned red as she replied, “WHAT!!!”
With that said, Star Bolt dove off the plateau and flew away laughing as he called back, “Just kidding!”
Spitfire watched angrily as Star Bolt flew away then Soarin asked, “Uh… Spitfire? What did he mean by…”
“GET BACK TO THE ACADEMY!!!”
All the Wonderbolts immediately reacted by Jumping to attention, “YES MA’AM!!!”
Then they all flew into the sky and into the direction the academy was in, as Spitfire liked back at them and sighed, “I wonder what the princess will say when she hears about this. I guess I'll just say it to her straight. I don’t know why she would turn to a group of acrobats to catch a former commander anyway. I can’t help but wonder… why is this stallion so important?”