//------------------------------//
// Chapter 30: Forgiveness and Secrets 
// Story: Piercing the Heavens 
// by Calm Wind 
//------------------------------//

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 30:





“Fluttershy… can’t… breathe…” Dash gasped for air as Fluttershy hugged her tightly.

Dash had decided to apologize to Fluttershy first. She was very eager to get to Scootaloo, but she knew Fluttershy needed more immediate attention. Scootaloo was built tough like Dash. She’d be able to hold out a little longer. Fluttershy on the other hoof… looked absolutely crushed when Dash arrived at her house. 

Needless to say, it was clear Fluttershy was ready and willing to accept an apology and forgive her. Dash had barely gotten a few words into her apology before Fluttershy began squeezing the life out of her. She may be small, but Fluttershy sure knew how to give a strong hug.

“I’m just so glad!” Fluttershy squeaked as she pulled away. “You were so angry… and then the stuff with Applejack… and then…” she squeaked again, but with a huge smile on her face as she gave Dash another strong hug.

“Yeah… sorry for causing all of that too…” Dash chuckled as she had to literally force Fluttershy off of her. Fluttershy smiled and clapped her hooves together happily.

“I’m just glad you came around! I was so worried about you,” Fluttershy explained as she reached out and caught Angel Bunny as he bounced by. He struggled as she pulled him in and began applying nonconsensual snuggles to him. Angel eventually stopped struggling and glared at Dash as if it was her fault he was suffering.

“Thanks for putting up with me,” Dash sighed. “I gotta go find Scootaloo now, okay? I owe her an apology more than anypony,” she explained as she turned towards the door. She chuckled, assuming Fluttershy had heard her. She was still forcibly cuddling Angel and smiling happily. 

Confident this portion had been mended, Dash left Fluttershy’s house. She stretched and shook her wings out, preparing them for flight as Big Macintosh casually made his way up the path towards Fluttershy’s house. Dash smirked as he approached and gave her a simple nod.

“Watch out,” she spoke up as she started lifting off. “She’s feeling extra huggy right now,” Dash chuckled as she took off.

Mac lifted an eyebrow briefly, his usual minimalist response to something that slightly confused him. He turned and knocked on Fluttershy’s door. He got two knocks in before the door swung open and Fluttershy leapt out of her house and clung to Mac’s neck while nuzzling him.

“Whoa!” Mac reacted, realizing what Dash meant.





“Scoots… Scoots…” Dash mumbled as she looked down and around Ponyville. 

She had no idea where Scootaloo would be right now. Up until recently, Scootaloo’s locations were limited, but now that she could fly a little, it was highly possible that she could be up on a cloud as well. It didn’t help that it was a partly cloudy day.  

Dash pondered, trying to narrow down where she could look to find Scootaloo. Scoots had a bit of pride… much like Dash. Where would Dash go if she was bothered by something? Probably to her house. So where would Scootaloo go? 

Dash blinked as she thought about one additional factor. She had to take into account that Scootaloo was a diehard fan of hers. So it was highly possible that Scootaloo was at, or at least near Dash’s house despite how Dash treated her earlier. It was the only possible lead Dash had. It wouldn’t hurt to at least check.

Dash glided along casually towards her house, wondering exactly what to say to her little sis. Fluttershy was easy, all Dash had to do was show up and say ‘I’m sorry.’

Since Scootaloo was more like Dash… it would probably take more than that. Hopefully not much, Dash was already not very good at apologizing. She drilled herself over and over again as she flew to keep her cool no matter what. When stubbornness meets stubbornness, it tends to escalate even if it wasn’t intentional. 

“Huh?” Dash blinked in surprise. She didn’t even have to look as she approached her house. Scootaloo was lying flat on a cloud, facing Dash’s front door from a few feet away. Dash gulped as she approached Scootaloo from behind, hoping to Celestia the little filly wasn’t crying. She wasn’t expecting Scootaloo to let tears fall so easily, but it would tear Dash’s heart in two if she knew she made her little admirer cry.

“Hey…” Dash said quietly as she came close. Scootaloo visibly flinched at her voice, but remained facing away. Dash gently landed on the cloud beside her. She glanced briefly at Scootaloo, granting her some slight relief. Scootaloo was just staring forward. She looked distraught, but as soon as Dash landed, small tears began building in the corners of her eyes. She was clearly trying to hold it back though. Scootaloo was concerned with keeping up a tough image. She wasn’t going to cry. Dash knew she wouldn’t.

“Hi, I guess…” Scootaloo suddenly spoke up harshly. Dash winced as the words stabbed at her. 

No.

It was alright. She deserved that one. Dash literally pushed her aside coldly upon returning. Scootaloo was angry with her. It was to be expected. 

“Hey look, I…” Dash paused to gather her thoughts. “Look, Scoots, hear me out, okay?” she tried, but Scootaloo still didn’t look at her.

“I dunno Dash, you didn’t hear me out at the station,” Scootaloo continued the cold tone.

Double ouch. Dash wasn’t sure how to handle this.

“C’mon squirt, I didn’t mean to… I mean, I… well I was angry and…”

“No shit,” Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed, but she kept them off of Dash. Dash flinched REALLY hard. First course of action, Dash would have to watch her mouth a little more around Scootaloo. She was still a bit young to be cursing like that and it was kind of Dash’s fault. 

Secondly… wow…

Scoots was being very stubborn. Dash came to a small realization as her brain fought to find her next course of action: Scootaloo was like a mirror image of Dash… Was this what she was like whenever her friends tried to talk sense into her? Dash never realized how much of a pain in the ass she was whenever she got all stubborn on her friends.

Part of her felt like retaliating, but the last time she pitted anger against another’s anger, it put a rut in her relationship with somepony very, very important to her. She was not going to repeat that mistake.

“Scoots… I had a rough time and I…” no matter what Dash tried to say it all sounded like bullshit. “Screw it, I’m sorry. That’s all I can say, I’m sorry,” Dash saw no change on Scootaloo’s face. Her heart sank slightly. After how easy it was with Fluttershy, Dash assumed she had gotten the hang of it… but apparently not. Scootaloo was a tough nut to crack… and if she couldn’t get her diehard fan to accept an apology, how was she going to get Soarin to? She had done him more wrong than anypony else. 

Dash felt defeated. It was a feeling she’d usually fight, but after the harsh realizations of the day, she didn’t feel like fighting back. It was clear to her that damage had been done, and she would have to work to repair it, although she wouldn’t have expected to have to do so with Scootaloo. Dash sighed and stood up from the cloud while spreading her wings.

“Wait! Don’t… don’t go…” Scootaloo suddenly spoke up. Dash stopped and blinked. “Stay, please,” Scootaloo added. Dash was confused, but refolded her wings and retook her spot beside Scootaloo.

“Sorry…” Dash repeated.

“Stop saying sorry, I don’t care,” Scootaloo said quickly. Dash flinched at the harsh tone, but still couldn’t figure out what was on her mind.

“Scoots, I was a bi— I mean, it was really mean of me to push you aside, I was frustrated and—”

“I get it…” Scootaloo cut her off again. This time Dash felt the need to retaliate. 

“Scoots, I just want to apologize…”

“It’s FINE Dash!” Scootaloo suddenly yelled. Dash reclined slightly, still confused. “I just…” Scootaloo finally showed more. 

“Just what?” Dash quickly tried to pry loose Scootaloo’s mind. Scootaloo let a single sniffle slip.

“I just wish you came to me… I thought we were like sisters y’know?” she finally let out. Dash’s eyes widened. 

So that was it.

She hadn’t even contemplated that. She just assumed Scootaloo was angry for being pushed aside, but it was less about that more about how Dash neglected her little sister to cope with it. 

After all… A family is all about supporting each other.

“Great, now you have me getting all sappy…” Scootaloo whined while facing away. “Tough ponies don’t cry, I— whoa!”





Art by: Scootafail/Chiweee


Scootaloo stopped mid rant as Dash turned her around and pulled her into a hug. 

Not just family… but also friends. Dash felt like her moment of weakness had made her forget so many life lessons. What was the point of all the friendship lessons she had learned throughout her life if she was so quick to lash out? She felt like she was learning the most important lesson of her whole life in the course of a single day… and it hurt.

Seeing and realizing just how easily she messed up a lot of things that made her life so great… it stung. Pain right in the heart.

She had to shape up and face her mistakes. The Wonderbolts didn’t select her… so it was up to her to show them they should have. Most importantly, she would do it with the support of all those around her. It was no time to be stubborn. It was time for action. She just hoped the most important piece of the puzzle was willing to hear her out… because without him, she would never truly feel complete.

“Scoots,” Dash finally spoke up while still clutching the little filly tightly. “It’s okay to cry. I was crying earlier,” she released Scootaloo, who just stared up at Dash with wide misty eyes. “I didn’t mean to forget you or anypony else who could have helped me. It was wrong of me to face it alone. It sucks that I didn’t get chosen, but I’m heading right back soon and I’ll take ‘em by storm,” she ruffled Scootaloo’s mane. “I’ll do it for both of us,” she smiled. 

And she’d do it for Soarin. Things were in a bit of a mess because of her. She was sure he was more than miffed at her for being so stupid. If re-earning his respect was the only way to show him her heart was still strong, then that’s what she would do. 

“So what do you say squirt?” Dash smirked. “Wanna go flying?”

Scootaloo instantly hugged Dash again. 

Dash felt she still needed to give a small apology to the rest of her friends… maybe not to Applejack… she’d have to get her back for the sore cheek later. Bulk, Derpy, and Thunderlane as well. In fact, she felt the need to give Derpy more details about Storm Front, she was sure Derpy would be giddy about it.

For now though, Dash just wanted to spend some time with her little sister.






“You can’t?” 

“Rgh! It’s just… I can’t focus like this right now!” Soarin grunted as the magic faded from the false horn and he sat down roughly. The red marble hovering before him fell to the floor and bounced between a blue and green marble before it rolled to a stop in front of Fancy Pants.

Soarin had been called in for magic training. Considering how much his head hurt already, he wasn’t even slightly eager to report, but he’d rather do as he was told. It was better than having Luna personally hunt him down later and shout until his brain fired out of his opposite ear.

It was proving to be difficult. Soarin was having trouble holding just one marble up. He couldn’t even grab the second. Fancy and Luna glanced at each other as Soarin sat and panted on the throne room floor.

“My boy, is there something troubling you?” Fancy spoke up, putting together the possible circumstances quickly. Soarin glanced up at him as sweat ran down from above the metal headband. Fancy was perceptive, plus Soarin was more than certain his lack of concentration was a bright red flag.

“Yeah, I’m frustrated,” Soarin said nothing further. Fancy eyed him, expecting the conversation to go further. Fancy opened his mouth to speak, but stopped to think first.

“Frustrated, you say? Well, I will not ask the details, but I can see why this is a problem. Emotions tie heavily into how our minds function and work. An experienced magic user knows how to form a disconnect between emotions and magic, much like how you create disconnects in your mind to pick up multiple objects…” Fancy turned and paced back and forth. “However, it is a much more difficult disconnect to achieve, I don’t expect you to master it,” he stopped and faced Soarin. "Emotions can cause negative feedbacks with untrained magic, but it can also help channel the magic as well if properly taught. With a magic as powerful as yours, it’s important to keep your emotions in check.”

“Your point?” Soarin snapped rudely. Fancy didn’t even flinch.

“Do you wish to talk about your troubles to clear your head?” Fancy suggested.

“No, not particularly,” Soarin answered flatly while averting his eyes. He didn’t even want to think about it right now. Rainbow Dash was normally such a wave of motivation for him, but after the previous night… Soarin felt like part of him was missing now. The part that had full control over whether or not he was happy. He was stuck on the wrong side of it. His initial moping had subsided and had been replaced with a little bit of anger. He still couldn’t believe the way Dash had treated him. He did what was best and what was right. If she couldn’t see that, it was all the more necessary for him to make the choice he did. She was immature. Immaturity would get her hurt or worse in their line of work.

So no, he most certainly did not want to talk about it. Thinking about Dash only made it even harder to concentrate.

“Then this is a perfect opportunity to work on something else,” Fancy smiled. Soarin blinked in confusion. “The best way to learn offensive magic capabilities is to do so with an emotional catalyst first. Much like how you originally felt the flow of magic, if you can recall the way your emotions sparked you magical power, it can be rekindled without the intense emotions later.”

“Hold on a sec!” Soarin held his hooves out. Did he hear Fancy correctly? “Did you say… offensive capabilities?” 

“That I did, my boy,” Fancy confirmed casually. Soarin glanced at Luna, who was sitting as if nothing was the matter. Soarin looked back to Fancy and put a hoof up.

“One moment…” Said Soarin as he approached Luna. Luna kept a straight face as Soarin glared at her. “Look Your Highness… I can’t help but feel like I’m being left in the dark about a lot of things. You’ve given me the impression that the point of these lessons was to allow the magic room to move and be used… but offensive capabilities? I thought we were containing the magic, not using it as a weapon!” 

Soarin had been wondering for a while now. The magic lessons were helping with his problems… but things never seemed that simple. Why was it always in the throne room? Why was it usually under the watchful of Luna, and a good number of royal guards? Why was it that every time he came to the throne room he always saw the three same ponies leave just before he could get a good look at them?

Luna bit her lip and averted her eyes.

“Um… we… we only wish to help you,” she stuttered. Soarin shook his head.

“Princess, you aren’t telling me the whole truth. I believe I deserve some explanation for all the shit I’ve been put through,” Soarin was NOT in the mood to be led on and around blindly. He had enough problems already with his magic being stubborn and all the problems with Dash.

“No, she’s not,” an arm suddenly rested on Luna’s head. She flinched, but her brow and ears instantly flattened in disgust. Discord had appeared beside her and was leaning all of his weight down atop her head. She grumbled and grinded her teeth together, but she did nothing to retaliate, having learned well it only ever led to more humiliation. 

“A-HEM!” Fancy cleared his throat while glaring at Discord. Discord blinked and scoffed.

“Oh, get your pants out of a fancy knot,” Discord rolled his eyes.

“We had an agreement,” Fancy reminded him. Discord appeared beside Soarin and hovered a finger over the false horn. It was really close, but he wasn’t touching it.

“And I haven’t interfered!” Discord pouted, while edging his finger closer and closer to the horn to the point where it was hard to tell he still wasn’t touching it. “That was the agreement, was it not? I never said I wouldn’t observe with interest,” he bounced his brow before lowering himself into Soarin’s face. “Awww, is someone having love problems?” 

“Discord…” Soarin immediately glared and gritted his teeth. 

“Rainbows are spicy aren’t they? Did you bite off more than you could chew?” Discord taunted again. Soarin released a deep, loud growl and the horn suddenly sparked to life with an intense aura swirling around it. Fancy backed off and Luna rapidly stood from her spot. Discord casually reached up and pressed his fingers over the tip of the horn. 

The horn’s aura sputtered and shot back down into Soarin’s forehead. 

“GAH!” Soarin yelped as small bursts of light shot out from his nose, eyes, ears, and mouth. He stumbled back and fell onto his plot, panting as small trails of steam rose from his mouth, ears and nostrils. He felt completely disoriented, like there had been a small explosion in his head.

“That hurt didn’t it?” Discord crossed his arms and shook his head. In the blink of an eye he was gone and appeared beside Luna. For once, he made no effort to annoy her, he simply stood by her side. “Now imagine that pain externally applied to some poor soul who rubbed you the wrong way. I’m sure you’d feel terrible if you were to inflict such a large amount of pain on another pony by accident,” Discord tapped a finger against his own forehead. “Already forgot what happened this morning? It’s too bad you didn’t stay for your strength coach’s reaction to the equipment you fired, he was plain livid! I almost un-camouflaged from the ceiling I was laughing so hard!” Discord chuckled.

Soarin blinked as his head slowly refocused. Yeah, hell, that was VERY unpleasant just now. Discord had a point, he was lucky he didn’t hit anypony with that blast.

“And of course I’m sure you remember…” Discord appeared in front of him, reclining flat on his back. “When you lost control and your poor deaf friend suffered greatly…” the words stabbed into Soarin as he remembered the pain he caused Misty Fly. “She was touched by a bit of your magic that’s roughly the size of a baseball,” he snapped his fingers and a football appeared in his hand. “Whoops!” he hid the football behind his back and snapped his other fingers, making a baseball appear in it. “Just imagine how much it would hurt if you gave a pony the full force!”

“OKAY! I get it!” Soarin shook his head and let it hang. “This… all of this… why…”

“We never wished this upon you…” Luna slowly walked over from the throne to him as Discord turned, pulled back and hurled the baseball at one of the royal guards. The Guard stood completely still as the baseball bounced off his helmet with a loud PANG. Luna rolled her eyes and sat down beside Soarin. “Our sister saved thy life in hopes that you would continue to be a pony of great service, love, and kindness to those around you. It is… our only hope that we may help you achieve balance,” she looked away.

“Liar liar! Fancy Pants on fire!” Discord yelled as he appeared on the other side of Luna.

“Good heavens!” Fancy Pants yelled out as his suit spontaneously combusted. Discord snapped his fingers and a large bucket of ice water appeared above Fancy, dumping its entire contents and leaving Fancy confused and a tad disgruntled.

“Now Lulu…" Discord reached around her neck and put her in a headlock. “There comes a point where you can’t avoid the truth… not even I, the master of being a fly on the wall, know everything that’s going on in that head of yours. Besides, I believe we owe Soarin here at least some details, hmmmmm?” Discord edged Luna’s face towards Soarin. Soarin just kept looking away.

“Fine…” Luna sighed, then yelped as Discord’s grip on her instantly released and she fell in a heap on the floor. She picked herself up and brushed herself off while glaring at Discord as he shrugged innocently. “Soarin of the Wonderbolts… your life and ability to control what has been given to you will be needed in the future of Equestria…” she started. Soarin instantly looked up at her. 

Hold up. This got heavy fast.

“Wait, what? No, no, no… don’t start talking to me about some destiny bullshit…” Soarin quickly reclined while shaking his head.

“There is no such thing as destiny…” Luna looked up at the stained glass windows in the throne room, each one depicting a major moment in Equestrian history. “Our sister and us can only show paths to those who look up to us. They must walk their paths and create their own purpose. Our sister has an ability that even we envy… the power of premonition. She can see events before they come to pass… and act accordingly to prepare. It was a power that she herself only gained recently, one that she ignored for quite some time… until every event came to pass,” Luna’s eyes shifted by every window. “After a few major catastrophes… she vowed never to ignore them again,” Luna looked back down to Soarin. “We have a strict rule as higher powers: we are not to tamper with the course of a mortal’s life. However, about a year ago our sister had a premonition of an incident… and it included you alive and well. You nearly died a year ago… which threw a very bad possibility into the mix. That somepony else was tampering with the balance of life. Celestia refused to let the premonition go unchecked… and that's why she…” Luna stopped.

Soarin was already staring wide eyed at her. Her stopping at a moment that could reveal where the hell Celestia was all this time made him fume.

“Why she what? WHY SHE WHAT?!” Soarin stood up.

“We’re sorry, we are not comfortable speaking of it,” Luna admitted shamefully.

“RGH!” Soarin slammed his hooves down and his horn sparked to life again. Discord was ready to snuff it once more, but Soarin backed up and took a deep breath. The magic calmed down and he sat completely still shaking. “Hell… god damn… bloody… hell…” Soarin turned and made his way to the exit. As if his brain didn’t hurt enough already… as if he wasn’t already dealing with enough crap.

“Fear not, it has been over a year since her premonition!” Luna tried reaching out to him. “The event could be years from now! It could be—” A zipper suddenly ran over her lips and locked them shut.

“Let him go Lulu, Mortals don’t quite have the resilient minds we do,” Discord suggested. Fancy Pants, still soaked, walked up beside them and nodded. 

“I feel strange saying this, but I agree with Discord… Any more magic practice now is pointless until another night,” he added. The three remained quiet until Soarin had quit the area.

“But ONCE AGAIN!” Discord unzipped Luna’s mouth and hung upside down before her. “I still can’t believe you keep avoiding the most important part!" Discord berated her while pressing a finger against the middle of his forehead. Luna puffed her cheeks out.

“We can’t simply reveal such a thing!” Luna spat back. “Did thou not just say mortal minds have less resilience?!”

“Oh Lulu… Celestia is laughing at you for sure…” Discord taunted while slowly rotating in the air.

“LEAVE OUR SISTER OUT OF THIS!” Luna's voice boomed through to the far corners of the room and made the walls vibrate.

“Pardon me… but I probably should go change before this suit is ruined for good, I take my leave…” Fancy Pants spoke up, but the two were too busy locked eye to eye. Fancy was a pony of great skill and expertise, but he knew better than to get between two deities so he simply left without another word.

As soon as Fancy was gone. Luna grunted in annoyance and sat right down on the floor where she was standing. Discord hovered down beside her and floated at head level.

“Come now Lulu, your sister made her choice and I have no doubt she had good reason. Celestia isn’t one to just take such heavy risks without provocation,” he twirled the end of his scraggily beard with a finger. 

“There’s just too much… We can’t handle it without her…” Luna let her head hang. Discord sighed and turned over in midair to face the other direction. “So many responsibilities… taking care of the sun and the moon… and now all the recent events… this shadow of a villain Kayn Ost out there somewhere, biding his time—”

“Hold up… what did you say?” Discord was suddenly beneath her looking up into her eyes as she continued to let her head hang. Luna pulled her head back in surprise. “That name just now…” Discord added.

“Did you not hear it before?” Luna lifted an eyebrow. 

“Oh, don’t flatter yourself Lulu, I’m not always stalking you,” Discord scoffed.

“The Shadowbolt uprising a few months back,” Luna began. “It was orchestrated by an unknown villain by the name of Kayn Ost,” she stopped as Discords eyes widened.

“Kayn… Ost…?” Discord’s cheeks suddenly puffed out and his expression became extremely goofy. “Kayn Ost?! PFFFFFHAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!” Discord shot out from beneath Luna and began rolling around on the floor. Luna stared at him blankly, beyond confused.

“What… dost thou… find funny?” Luna asked as Discord kept guffawing.

“Kayn Ost?! That… OH SWEET LORD that’s terrible! I thought I was bad!” he yelled out as he laughed so hard tears were in his eyes.

“Wait…” Luna blinked. “Dost thou know something we don’t!?” she stepped up as Discord calmed down. “Dost thou know who this villain is?!” 

“Oh my… oh my, oh my, oh my…” Discord snapped his fingers and he stood before Luna perfectly straight. “Sorry! I know nothing!” he said cheerfully as he reached up and grabbed hold of nothing, only to sharply shoot upward and disappear.

--- To Be Continued ---