MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 47:
“Oh? Oh ho!” Soarin hopped over to Silver and grinned at him smugly. “I get to fight the old guy?” Soarin’s smirk widened. Silver glared right back into Soarin’s eyes, not giving an inch. “Hey, what gives?!” Soarin jeered further while nearly pressing his face to Silver’s. “A few minutes ago you looked like you wanted scrap! Scared?” Soarin chuckled. Silver’s eyes narrowed slightly, but once again he did nothing else.
Spitfire looked at the exchange and bit her lip. She looked down at the two I.D. cards, and then back up at them as Soarin continued to taunt and egg on Silver. She specifically looked at Soarin, and then at the false horn.
She wasn’t sure what to do here. Soarin was feeling better, that was crystal clear… but the way he was acting suggested it wasn’t so simple. Something clearly had him in a euphoric state. He wasn’t acting like himself, he couldn’t sit still like a little colt on a sugar rush, and frankly, he was being a real ass. She suddenly felt iffy about having him fight in this state. Soarin and Silver had fought in the past, in fact they were a spectator favorite. She was more than confident that Silver could handle it… it took more than a slight beating to bring him down, but she was still worried. Too worried.
“Sorry Soarin,” Spitfire shook her head and put his I.D. card back in the bowl. “I don’t want you fighting today,” the instant she finished, Soarin had turned and was in her face.
“WAIT, WHAT!?” he shouted into her face. She winced and glared at him.
“You heard me, I don’t want you fighting today… you just solved an issue with your magic, I don’t want something else going wrong,” she explained, bending the truth a little. She was really just worried about him… or him doing something stupid. But she added some believable reasons to give it more credit. Unfortunately, Soarin was going to fight her choice.
“Spitfire! I’m perfectly fine!” he threw his hooves out to his sides. “I can totally fight! Are you trying to hold me back or something?!” he pouted dramatically at her. Spitfire blinked as she saw a dim flash of yellow in his eyes and around his horn.
“Soarin, you are not fighting today. That’s an order! And—”
“No.”
Both Spitfire and Soarin stopped and looked towards Silver. He was glaring at Soarin and growling.
“I’m fighting him,” Silver stated sternly.
“What?” Spitfire tipped her head and flattened her heard.
“You heard me,” Silver glanced at Spitfire before returning his glare to Soarin.
“Silver, I said—”
“I know what you said,” Silver cut off Spitfire. “And I’m ignoring it,” he stated firmly. Spitfire didn’t like that. Not one bit. Soarin smirked and nudged Spitfire.
“You heard the old grump!” he chuckled and turned towards the armor sets. “Show must go on!” he yelled triumphantly while pumping a hoof in the air. Silver began following, but Spitfire stomped up to him and pressed her hoof hard against Silver’s chest.
“Silver, I will not stand for this. You are blatantly disrespecting my authority as the lead captain... You are NOT fighting Soarin and that’s—”
“Who said I’m fighting Commander Soarin?” Silver cut her off. Spitfire froze and her eyes widened. “I’m fighting whoever the hell THAT is…” he pointed towards Soarin. “I don’t know what happened, but I refuse to believe that’s Soarin. Soarin is a proud and honorable individual who has earned my respect. I don’t know what happened to him… but I plan to give him a beating until he comes to his senses,” Silver tried to walk past her. Spitfire didn’t move for a second, but quickly came to her senses and followed, stopping Silver again by the shoulder.
“Silver… wait…” she dropped her stern glare and put on a look of concern. “That’s… why I don’t want you to fight him. You’re right, I’ve been skeptical since this morning. Something is wrong with him,” she shook her head. “That’s why I’m worried! I don’t know what he’ll do! I don’t want him to hurt anypony.”
“Hah!” Silver let one laugh loose. “Soarin fights with composure and discipline… without it I won’t lose to him,” Silver stated. Spitfire flattened her brow.
“I’m talking about his magic, Silver…” she clarified.
“Doesn’t matter,” Silver huffed. “I won’t lose,” he was adamant. Spitfire could tell she wasn’t going to change his mind. He said he wasn’t going to lose, but would that truly be the case? She felt like a bit of testosterone went into this decision because it didn’t seem reasonable in the slightest.
Plus… she had to consider her system. She fought long and hard to get this system of random selection implemented. She had to remain true to her policies as the lead captain. Going against one blatantly for a “hunch” would not look good, especially in front of other high ranking Wonderbolts and the recruits spectating. So she caved.
“Fine…” Spitfire sighed. “I should remain true to my system. Random selection, no exceptions. It’s a policy I made and all have an equal chance of being selected…” she turned away from Silver and looked towards Soarin eagerly fastening the padded armor pieces to himself. “I trust you...” she said reluctantly.
Silver glanced at Spitfire, then down at the bowl of I.D. tags on the ground. He looked back to her and lifted an eyebrow as he stepped up beside her.
“Equal chance, huh…?” he reached his wing out and suddenly swiped its feathers against her wing. She jumped in surprise as she felt Silver’s feathers intertwine with hers.
“Hey!” she yelped as took a step away from him.
Silver pulled his wing away from hers and quickly flattened it as something landed on it. It was an I.D. card…
Spitfire’s I.D. card.
Spitfire turned and saw her card sitting in Silver’s wing, then nervously looked up at him.
Art by: EchoSong
“It’s perfectly fine to be worried. You are responsible for us after all…” Silver flipped her I.D. card back to her and she quickly hid it beneath her wing again. “It’s a lot to ask of you at your age… but as our system dictates… those with the highest degree of skill and ability are given the highest ranks,” he started walking. “If something gets out of hand… just step in. How long did Soarin last against you last time? Ten seconds?”
Silver said no more. Spitfire watched him as he made his way over to put on an armor set. She reached her hoof back and dropped her I.D. card into her hoof. She looked at it carefully. Then she looked at the bowl on the ground filled with the rest of the I.D. cards… and then back at Silver.
She hoped she wasn’t too transparent… but then again, it was hard to keep anything from Silver. With how long he had been in the Wonderbolts, she wouldn’t be surprised if he had a sixth or seventh sense.
“Whoa… whoa, whoa, whoa…” Thunderlane leaned forward. “Am I seeing that correctly?” he blinked. Matteo was leaning forward as well, casting a shadow over the others.
“Commander Soarin and Instructor Silver?” there was a rare tone of excitement in Matteo’s voice.
“Oh my god… this is going to be AMAZING!” Dash bounced up and down in her seat.
On the surface Dash was giddy… but in the back of her mind she was… worried?
Of course she was. Soarin was fighting… but Soarin was acting strange, and the whole deal with the magic just happened. Should he be fighting?
Also… she found herself worrying about Silver. Soarin wouldn’t use the magic against him. He was smarter than that, but based on Soarin’s… ‘happy’ state earlier, Dash couldn’t help but think Soarin was having trouble controlling himself.
On the flip side, she was excited to see Silver fight. She had seen little bits, but she had never gotten to fully observe his technique. He was her mentor now after all, this was a golden opportunity to analyze and break down how her ‘master’ fought… and to apply the rules of a battle he had drilled into her head during their first session.
It was going to be interesting indeed.
Soarin and Silver stood in the inner circle as Spitfire walked up between them. Soarin was smirking and snickering as he had since he put the armor on. Silver took no notice, cracking his neck and shaking his head to shift faceguard slightly.
“You two know the rules…” Spitfire glanced between the two of them. Silver spoke up before she could continue.
“Five minutes, held for a five count, or until I beat his face in,” he put flatly. Spitfire opened her mouth, but stopped before saying anything.
“Pfffffffhahaha!” Soarin let a few laughs go. “You’re a hoot, you relic!” Soarin taunted while bouncing one eyebrow at Silver. “I wanna see you try it!” Soarin pointed to his face as his smile widened and he snickered some more. His left eye twitched and a faint yellow light flashed from the horn.
Spitfire glanced at Silver as Soarin began laughing like an idiot. They both saw it. Silver could see the concern in Spitfire’s face, but he only shook his head. Spitfire nodded, she would let Silver have his way and step in if things got bad.
“Alright… get to the starting spots and wait for my go,” Spitfire ordered while pointing. She turned and proceeded to a safe distance as Silver gave Soarin one more harsh glare.
“Oh… so scared…” Soarin cooed as he bouncily trotted towards his start line. Silver growled as he proceeded to his. It seemed like Soarin was getting worse. From what he had seen, it was just pure overconfidence at first… now it was becoming belligerent… and childish. It seemed like Soarin was slowly losing more and more control of himself. Silver decided it was time to stop it.
Silver turned and faced Soarin from thirty yards away. Soarin wasn’t even getting ready. He was still bouncing around while hooting and hollering. With a sharp grunt and a loud crackling of joints, Silver set his hooves firmly into the mat and awaited the start.
“Hoohaa! YEAH! Let’s do this!” Soarin finally turned around and set his hooves down and facing Silver. Soarin was ready to throw down. There didn’t seem to be an ounce of seriousness in his body. In fact, he was still smirking and snickering smugly.
Spitfire turned and faced them after moving back towards the group of Wonderbolts and checked the clock and scoreboard operator as usual. She looked back down and glanced between Silver and Soarin one more time before taking a deep breath.
“BEGIN!”
As soon as the word left her lips, Silver had crouched down, spread his wings, gotten a three gallop running start and took flight while remaining barely three feet off the ground.
Soarin remained in place, waiting for Silver to come to him. Silver didn’t like it. It was an uncharacteristic tactic of Soarin. Soarin always, always took the fight directly to his opponents. He’d use his greatest weapon, the Sonic Blastoff, and close the distance between him and his enemy in an instant. Silver almost felt like Soarin’s standstill was a taunt… one he did NOT take kindly to.
Soarin spread his wings, grinning while keeping his eye trained on Silver as he approached quickly. With one solid flap of the wings, Soarin rose up onto his back hooves.
Silver pulled back his right hoof, ready to punch as soon as he got in range.
Soarin pulled back his right hoof as well.
“BRING IT!” Soarin yelled as Silver closed the gap. Soarin poured all of his strength into his punch, aiming it right for Silver’s face. “Huh…?”
In the blink of an eye, Silver swiped his left arm across, batting Soarin’s punch aside effortlessly. Silver used the motion of his body twisting with the left arm swipe… as the first motion as he began making all the small subtle shifts to pour as much power into his movement as possible. Silver fired his right hoof forward, using all the extra momentum and motion from his body shift for the maximum effect.
KA-POW
Silver punched Soarin SO HARD against the faceguard that the impact sounded like an explosion. Soarin was sent flying backwards. The headpiece to his armor tore to pieces and flew off his face as he was sent airborne.
Off to the side Dash gasped in surprise, but held herself down. The rest of the recruits were going nuts, but she didn’t want to freak out and cause a scene. But… holy hell, Silver just punched the CRAP out of Soarin!
Silver touched to the floor briefly before springing back up into the air and giving chase.
“He’s still going?! Soarin lost his faceguard!” Fleetfoot exclaimed as both she and Wave Chill readied to take off. Spitfire quickly stepped in front of them and shook her head.
“Let them fight,” she said sternly. Wave glanced over Spitfire’s shoulder as Silver approached the defenseless Soarin.
“But Captain—”
“LET THEM FIGHT!” Spitfire yelled in Wave Chill’s face. “That’s an order!” she added as Fleetfoot and Wave quickly backed away in confusion.
Silver caught up to Soarin and dove into him, tackling him by the stomach and driving Soarin hard into the mat. Silver bounced off after the impact, and quickly tapped off the ground, twisting towards Soarin as he tried to get up. Silver prevented him from doing so by spinning and dropping his back right hoof into Soarin’s stomach, forcing him to exhale and slam back to the ground.
“OOF!” Soarin grunted as his back crashed against the mat. Silver twisted his body again, planting his hooves to the mat beside Soarin and pulling himself forward. He grabbed one of Soarin’s legs and pumped his wings. Silver rose up in the air, dragging Soarin by the leg with him. He began spinning as soon as he had Soarin off the ground. He spun around and around and around and around before letting go of Soarin and sending him careening towards the wall at the edge of the arena, right below the bleaches where the recruits sat.
“Hgh!” Soarin rounded himself until he was upright and threw his wings out to air brake. He slowed down and stopped himself a foot from the wall.
Silver had been following, and was about twenty yard away. Before Soarin could do anything else, Silver stretched his wings up and cupped them in a manner similar to High Winds for her powerful wind blasts. Silver thrust his wings down, a loud POOF sounding throughout the arena followed by a loud BANG as the powerful gust of wind pounded against Soarin and the wall behind him. Soarin was thrust roughly and painfully against the wall below the bleachers. A few of the recruits above were knocked out of their seats as well.
Soarin peeled off the wall… and fell face first against the ground.
Silver backed off and landed. He kept his wings and hooves at the ready as he panted steadily, sweat building on his brow.
“Soarin!” Dash called out as she was the first to spring up. She scrambled down to look over the edge of the stands. The rest of the recruits struggled to pick themselves up after the sudden slap of wind to the face. Dash’s eyes landed on Soarin, sprawled out on the ground and not moving.
The instant before she called his name again, a yellow aura flared around Soarin’s horn.
Silver flinched in surprise, but held his ground as the aura pulsed from the fake horn, ready for whatever was going to happen. But then… the glow stopped.
“Well then!” Soarin stood up casually and cracked his neck. Silver’s eyes widened slightly, but he didn’t falter, nor show signs of surprise… unlike the rest of the Wonderbolts and the recruits, who were all staring in complete awe that Soarin seemed nearly unscathed by all that, save for a faint bruise on his cheek. “Not bad for an old stallion!” Soarin’s smirk quickly returned and a faint yellow glow began to rise from his eyes. “You’re a tough one alright! So sorry! But I gotta get rough!”
The instant he finished speaking, Soarin executed the Sonic Blastoff so fast it looked like he went from a complete standstill to breaking a sonic boom and closing the gap between him and Silver faster than Silver could blink. Soarin landed a heavy kick right into the forehead of Silver’s headpiece, whiplashing Silver’s head back and sending him through the air away from Soarin. A large divot was pressed into the padding of Silver’s headgear and two of the straps ripped off, but it remained in place.
Spitfire’s eyes widened, and Fleetfoot made another attempt to fly in, but Spitfire grabbed her by the tail and yanked her back down.
“YYEEEOW!!!” Fleetfoot yelped as she reached for her plot in pain. She turned and glared at Spitfire. “Spitty! What gives?!” her glare instantly faded as Spitfire pressed her face against Fleetfoot’s so hard it made Fleetfoot fall backwards.
“LET. THEM. FIGHT.” She repeated… reluctantly.
“GRRRH!!!” Silver did a quick backflip to turn himself upright and landed on the mat. “AH!” He crossed his hooves in front of his face to meet an incoming punch. The force of Soarin’s punch caused Silver’s back hooves to slide against the mat and skid to a halt a few feet away.
Soarin pursued, but Silver forced his hooves down to stop sooner than expected and twisted his body to pack power into another heavy punch. Soarin smirked and reached up in time to block Silver’s surprise attack and counter with another heavy blow to Silver’s face.
Silver’s head was whipped around and he stumbled back, the loosened headpiece shifting awkwardly over his face. Silver quickly grabbed it and tossed it aside as he readied both his hooves and charged at Soarin.
“Yeah!” Soarin grinned as he put up a guard. “Come at me, old bro!” he beckoned as Silver closed in.
“RAAAH!!!!” Silver roared in frustration as he began throwing rapid punches at Soarin’s face, switching up his power strategy in favor of quick attacks. Soarin however demonstrated his defenses by blocking every single punch that Silver threw at him. Silver could both see and feel that none of his attacks were getting through, but he kept up the attack anyway.
“Hey! Hey!” Soarin taunted as he batted away two more punches and ducked under a third. “Doesn’t this look familiar?” Soarin dodged side to side before pushing down another punch. “Mr. Perfect Guard Silver Lining!” Soarin jeered as shifted back and met two punches with his own. “Damn, you NEVER shut up about it back when I was a recruit!” Soarin reached forward and caught Silver’s hooves as he thrust at him. The two had their hooves locked in a power struggle.
“Too bad you didn’t listen!” Silver answered as he reared his head back and delivered a hard headbutt to Soarin’s face, aiming for the eyes to avoid hitting the fake horn. Soarin’s head snapped back, but instantly slung back forward and delivered his own headbutt back to Silver. The metal band of the horn smacked right up against Silver’s nose. “ARGH!” Silver’s hooves were ripped free from Soarin’s as he fell to the mat on his back.
Dash gasped as Soarin leapt above him.
Rule number three… Never go to the ground if you can avoid it. A wall that’s knocked down no longer stands in the way of those it was halting… if you go to the ground...
Soarin plunged down towards Silver with both hooves cupped over his head.
You are giving your opponent a perfect opportunity to knock you out, severely injure you…
Silver’s eyes snapped open as he saw Soarin right above him.
Or worse...
Silver rolled left as Soarin’s hooves crashed to the mat beside him. His hooves went through the padded surface and the impact caused a small yellow shockwave that burst out and pushed Silver away. Silver leaned over and looked up at Soarin. The yellow glow was surrounding the horn now as well as his eyes. Silver glanced over at Spitfire to see her literally struggling to hold the other Wonderbolts back.
Good. That’s what he wanted. Silver felt something wet on his face. He reached up, wiped his arm over his nose, and looked down at it.
Blood. His nose was bleeding. Normally this would cause a match to stop… but he told Spitfire to only step in if she absolutely needed to… and it took more than a bloody nose to slow him down. He pressed his hoof to his non-bleeding nostril and blew hard through the bloody one. A large hunk of blood shot out of it and splattered to the mat.
“Damn allergies…” Silver said to himself as he fixed his eyes on Soarin again… right as he charged.
Dash saw it too. The magic. Soarin’s yellow magic was flaring. She wanted to get up right there and stop them, but upon looking at Spitfire, she noticed the lead captain was restraining the others. There had to be a reason… but… she didn’t know what to do!
Silver quickly got up and took to the air to avoid an incoming flying kick from Soarin. Silver turned around and looked down as he ascended as Soarin made an incredibly quick turn before exploding after him.
Soarin would have never attacked a fellow teammate with such a devastating attack… that settled it, Soarin had completely lost control of himself. Silver refused to lose to an opponent drunk on a power he didn’t understand. Silver stretched his wings up, readying them for another wind attack. He locked his eyes on Soarin, and waited for him to get within range.
“HA!” Silver shouted as he thrust his wings down with all his might. A sharp, powerful gust of wind shot down towards Soarin…. But Soarin smirked.
“Right…” Soarin shifted upright and twisted his body as the spiral gust approached. “Back…” he lurched his body while extending his left wing and his body did a full turn. “AT YA!!!!!” Soarin yelled as his wing came around and crashed against the pulse of air… bouncing it back towards Silver!
“WHAT!?” Silver yelled out in disbelief as he shielded his body with his hooves and wings. The wind crashed against him with a loud POW and forced him up towards the ceiling. “RGH!” Silver grunted as he flipped helplessly upward. He finally righted himself and looked towards the ground, but Soarin was already in his face.
“Getting a little dizzy?” Soarin taunted as he threw a blow into Silver’s stomach.
“Gah!” Silver coughed up saliva as Soarin lifted above him and slammed his hooves over Silver’s back, sending him flying back towards the ground. Soarin dove after him, but the moment he caught up, Silver flipped upright and threw a surprise punch. Soarin spun and let Silver’s hoof pass by his face, and used his spinning momentum to turn and drive his elbow right into Silver’s eye. “AUGH!” Silver yelped as Soarin did a somersault and kicked both of his back hooves into Silver’s chest, sending him the last twenty feet to the ground and crashing hard to the mat, grunting and gasping as he bounced at awkward angles.
Soarin slammed to the ground a few feet away and sneered as Silver twitched on the ground.
“Aw… you all done?” Soarin jeered, and then burst out laughing. Silver’s ears twitched and a low growl escaped his throat. He slowly and shakily forced his body up, placing one hoof on the ground at a time. He stumbled and swayed as he stood, but managed to stand up, turn around, and glare at Soarin. Blood was trickling from his nose and past his lips and he had a left black eye from the elbow to the face.
“I’m far from done, you punk ass son of a bitch…” Silver hissed as he grinded his teeth together. Soarin scoffed and shrugged.
“If you say so!”
Off to the side Spitfire frantically looked up at the clock. There was still forty-five seconds on it.
That was it, she was calling this off. She whistled up to the score box. The earth pony looked down at her. She made a sharp motion with her hoof across her neck. The earth pony waved in response and cut the timer on the clock. She fired from her spot and sped towards the two.
“Time’s up!” She yelled as she landed near them. Silver’s ears perked up and he glanced over at her. Soarin however, was still staring at Silver, the yellow light now rising from his eyes and horn. “Soarin… time’s up…” Spitfire repeated but he still didn’t look at her.
Then he leapt at Silver.
“No!” Dash yelled as she pressed her hooves to the railing at the bottom of the bleachers.
Dash was too focused on Soarin to see it… but suddenly Spitfire was directly in front of him, between him and Silver.
“I SAID…”
Spitfire pulled back a hoof…
Dash blinked. And apparently missed it…
Spitfire had stepped forward and her hoof was jammed into Soarin’s gut… THROUGH the padded armor piece he was wearing. Soarin’s neck and body were strained forward, his eyes were bulging out, and his mouth was stuck open. Not a single sound escaped his throat as the light faded from his eyes and horn and he fell forward, draped over Spitfire’s shoulder.
“Time’s up…” Spitfire finished as she gently set the unconscious Soarin on the ground. She quickly turned and moved to Silver as he dropped down, struggling to stay on his hooves. “Silver!” she exclaimed as she moved him to help. He instantly swatted her hoof away.
“I’ll live…” he growled as he forced his body up, as wobbly as it felt. Spitfire sighed and shook her head.
“Well Silver? Was it worth it?” Spitfire questioned, a little peeved that she listened to him and let that all happen.
“It was worth a shot,” he looked away from her, “I guess I’m…” he winced and almost fell over. Spitfire stepped up, but he quickly caught himself. He shook his head in dismay. “… not quite the warrior I used to be…” he turned and hobbled towards the exit, ripping the loose pieces of practice armor off his body and tossing them aside as he left.
“Sir!” Wave tried to go after him, but Spitfire stopped him.
“Wave! Leave him…” Spitfire paused, and looked away to conceal her face changing color. “Leave Silver be…”
“Huh? Dash!?”
Spitfire’s ears perked up as she heard Storm Front call from the stands. Spitfire, honestly, wasn’t surprised. She turned to see Rainbow Dash shooting towards Soarin. Spitfire quickly stepped away from Wave to intercept.
“Whoa there Dash…” Spitfire said as she blocked Dash’s way.
“Spitfire! Let me…” Dash flinched and froze. She quickly stepped back and saluted. “Captain! Please allow me to help Soarin! Er… the Commander!” she corrected herself while biting her lip nervously.
“Heh… at ease Dash,” Spitfire quickly gave the word. Dash relaxed and looked towards Soarin with concern.
“What’s going on…? I thought we fixed him…” Dash frowned. Seriously… Soarin couldn’t catch a break.
“I thought we did too…” Spitfire pondered. “But it looks like we solved one problem and jumped into another…” she glanced at Dash and saw the worried look on her face. “Oh… he’ll just be out for a little bit,” Spitfire chuckled. Dash gave her a confused, slightly mortified look. “That’s not the first time I’ve done that to him. He’ll be fine… but…” she narrowed her eyes. “While he’s out… I think I’m gonna go have a chat with Luna…”
“Oh!” Dash perked up. “I’ll come too…”
“No,” Spitfire shook her head. “You still have some recruit business today. I’m gonna put Wave Chill in charge of you guys until Silver is—”
“Wait… where did Silver go?” Dash looked around. She was so focused on Soarin she didn’t see him leave. Her eyes landed on the trail of training armor Silver left behind as he hobbled out. Spitfire shrugged.
“He limped out… refused help… as usual…” she sighed. Dash scrunched her face.
“I’m gonna go help him then…” Dash stated and started towards the door.
“Dash! Let him be!” Spitfire called after her.
“Hell no! I get enough of that from Soarin!” she yelled back as she left, following after Silver. Spitfire blinked and glanced at Soarin. She smirked and chuckled before tending to him again.
Up in the stands, Storm and Matteo blinked as they watched Dash leave.
“Uh… what?” Storm looked up at Matteo. Matteo shrugged.
“Indeed… I’m confused…” he rubbed the edge of his beak.
“Well… haha…” Thunderlane spoke up. The two looked at him as he scratched the back of his head. “Actually…”
“Silver!” Dash yelled as she caught up to the hobbling wreck of a Wonderbolt. He flinched as he heard his name. “Silver! Hold up!” she yelled as he turned and looked at her, glaring painfully with his black eye.
“What the…?” he muttered as she approached. “Skittles, what the hell do YOU want?” he snapped.
“I came here to help you,” she stated as she reached for him. He instantly put up a hoof and shoved her away.
“I DON’T NEED—” he winced and nearly fell forward with the motion of his own shove. “Ah!” he grunted in pain as he tried to push his left front hoof to the ground, but it gave way and he was forced down onto his leg.
“Let me help you…” Dash said quieter, with less demand in her voice.
“I’m your damn flight instructor… the day I need help from you is—” he tried to force himself up, but failed miserably and sighed. He flinched as Dash crouched down and pushed her shoulder against his, allowing him to stand. She reached under his arm and supported him.
“You’re my mentor now too, you know…” she said sternly. Silver blinked. “Or did you already forget yesterday?” she added as she started assisting his walk. "So let your student help..."
“Fine…” he admitted defeat. “Would’ve taken me twenty years to get to Bliss by myself anyway…” he chuckled as Dash helped him slowly move towards the medical training room.
Silver let out a frustrated sigh as they moved.
“Dammit Dash… something isn’t right with your stallion…” he said casually. Dash stopped in her tracks and her eyes widened. Silver grunted in discomfort as they came to an abrupt stop. He turned and looked at her. “What?”
“How…” Dash blinked. Silver… knew?
“You’ve gotta be kidding me… You two were humping each other in the damn hallways when you visited months ago…” Silver rolled his eyes. “And he never shut up about you either. It ain’t no secret.”
Dash… wasn’t sure how to feel. She had gotten so used to keeping her relationship with Soarin under wraps with the rest of the recruits, that she didn’t even consider the rest of the Wonderbolts knowing about it. Then again, she WAS with Soarin for an extended time during her visit months back… and Soarin apparently WAS very passionate about her. Hell… all the Wonderbolts probably knew by now.
“But seriously…” Silver continued. “I dunno what the hell is going on with him… fake horns, magic and all that crap, but something ain’t right… I just didn’t think I’d get my ass kicked that badly…” he trailed off. Dash looked at him in confusion as they started up again.
“Wait… you’re telling me you expected to lose… and still went at it for that long?” Dash failed to see the logic in it.
“Dash… what were the first two things I taught you yesterday…?” he asked her as they stopped outside the training room.
“Uhhhhh….”
“Rule number one,” Silver tapped his right hoof against her forehead. Dash blinked and remembered.
“Never be afraid of your opponent,” Dash repeated his words.
“Exactly. I know Soarin's better, faster, and stronger than me... but that didn't mean I couldn't win. I gave it my best shot despite my opponent. Didn't quite go my way though...” Silver sighed as he lightly pushed Dash away. “I can make it from here… and… thanks,” he said as he turned and entered the training room.
Dash watched until the door closed behind him. Silver just thanked her? That was a first, but it also felt… really good. He was her instructor, but as she just reminded him, he was also now her mentor. He had to yell and scream at her like the rest of the recruits, but she also got to spend time learning directly from him… she was under the wing of one of the oldest, wisest, most experienced…
“WHAT THE BLOODY HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?!?!?!?!” Bliss’ voice boomed from inside the training room.
…but also plain stubborn Wonderbolts out there.
Dash felt like she was forming a connection with Silver, an understanding between master and student… she was excited for what would come in the future between the two of them…
But for the time being… she had another stallion to worry about… one that was, frankly, much, MUCH more important to her…
--- To Be Continued---