//------------------------------//
// Chapter 74: Mentors 
// Story: Piercing the Heavens 
// by Calm Wind 
//------------------------------//

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 74:





“Come on Storm! Pick it up!” Soarin yelled behind him as he pitched upward and did a barrel roll corkscrew through a suspended ring. 

“Rgh!” Storm grunted as he did his best to follow the maneuver. It was sloppy and his leg nicked the edge of the padded ring, but he kept pace with Soarin. 

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Spitfire called as the two zipped by her, swinging her arm around. “Keep that pace! One more lap through the course!”

“Catch him, Storm!” Fleetfoot called from beside Spitfire as Storm struggled to keep up.

Storm was chasing Soarin through an obstacle course suspended in the elite flight gym. The course was a collection of padded rings, beams, and platforms that were suspended in midair. They made a sharp turn near the far wall and began through the course once more. Soarin angled towards the first piece, a platform at the start of the long straightaway. As soon as his hooves touched the platform, he smoothly executed the sequence for the Sonic Blastoff.

Soarin thought through every part as his body moved. Strong, but relaxed. Front hooves, back hooves, front jump, back jump, and force wings!

A loud BOOM echoed throughout the gym as Soarin fired from the platform and broke through an air cone, shooting ahead at three times the speed. Soarin spun and turned his body fiercely, barely fractions of a second to fit his body through the arrangement of obstacles. Storm was battered by the shockwave, but held his wings firm and pumped his wings hard… but there was no way he’d catch up at his pace.

“Storm!” Point Dex yelled from opposite of Spitfire and Fleetfoot. “Utilize everything at your disposal!” he yelled. Storm blinked and locked his eyes on two vertical beams approaching. He angled towards the first, turning his body right before passing and rapidly punching his front hooves against it. His Surface Tap technique propelled him towards the second, back hooves first. He turned his body back forward, repeating the technique with his back hooves on the second beam to shoot himself down the course. 

“Damn!” Storm yelled as he struggled to remain in the course boundaries and avoid the obstacles. He was barely making it by each one… and to top it off, while his Surface Tap had given him extra speed, it was nowhere near as powerful as the Sonic Blastoff. He could only keep going as Soarin pulled further and further away.

Soarin shot through the finish line and instantly pulled up, throwing his wings outward to catch the air as he slowed down and glided around back towards the rest gathered. He looked back towards the course to see Storm finish the remaining obstacles and grunt as he pushed himself all the way through the finish line. 

Soarin stopped and waited as Storm put on the breaks, slowed down, and glided around before the two started back towards the others. 

“Not bad Storm,” Soarin complimented as he caught his breath. “That was a pretty good pace.”

“It wasn’t… good… enough…” Storm panted and wheezed, teetering slightly as he glided along with Soarin. “You left me… in… the dust…”

Soarin thought about saying something, but he knew how Storm was. Storm disliked failing, and even though it was unrealistic for him to beat Soarin in an obstacle course, much less a race, competition was Storm’s way of pushing himself. He heavily disliked failure and would push himself harder and harder towards success.

The two glided down as the rest hovered back to the floor of the gym. Soarin landed first, and quickly reached out with a wing as Storm stumbled upon placing his hooves back on the ground. Soarin ended up supporting him slightly as they approached the rest of the lead squad and squad seven.

“That was a good run, Storm,” Spitfire complimented as Soarin helped him stand up straight. Storm simply nodded instead of replying verbally. Soarin could tell Storm was frustrated with himself. “Alright everypony, that’s all the training we have today. From now until lunch we should go over our show routines and then get off your hooves and rest your wings.”

“Excuse me captain…” Point Dex stepped around Macho Savage. “But who is replacing Autumn? And… isn’t it kind of reckless to use a stand in that’s been with us for a day?” His argument made sense, but Spitfire smiled.

“Funny you should ask…” Spitfire pointed towards the gym doors as they closed and a pegasus walked towards them. 

It was a cream colored sta…er…mare? Stallion? It was… actually hard to tell from the distance. A cream colored… pony with an incredibly short turquois mane. The lack of ability to tell the pony’s gender actually helped Soarin recognize him. 

“Oh…” Soarin said with an eye roll and a smirk. Fleetfoot hopped up and down.

“Hey!” Fleetfoot exclaimed as the pony approached. The pony was indeed a stallion, but looked very effeminate and wore lavender eye shadow. 

“Heyyyyyyyy everypony!” he greeted as Fleetfoot rushed up and gave him a hug. “How are you doing sweetie?” he asked her, his voice incredibly flamboyant.

“Lead Runner will be replacing Autumn until further notice,” Spitfire explained as she walked over to him. “Squad thirteen has been practicing the exact same synchronized flying routine you guys have and was in Autumn’s position in the formation. He’ll fill in perfectly.”

“Actually, I was in the spot Storm Front flies in, but I’ve memorized all the positions and flight paths, I could fly all four if you needed me to,” the stallion winked as he explained his skills proudly. Fleetfoot smiled happily beside Lead Runner.

“He’s really smart! Trust me, he’s perfect!” she clapped her hooves together.

“You’re not just saying that because you two are shopping buddies?” Soarin snickered. Lead Runner slinked over towards Soarin and Storm. Storm blinked and leaned away as Lead Runner brushed his head against Soarin’s shoulder.

“You know my invitation to our next shopping spree still staaaaands!” he said while slowly rising along Soarin’s shoulder. 

“Yeah, no… nice try,” Soarin chuckled as her reached up and gently pushed Lead Runner away. “My lack of shopping interest hasn’t changed.”

“You play hard to please,” Lead Runner bounced his eyebrows at Soarin before glancing over and locking his eyes on Air Mach, who was pushing up his sunglasses and giving him a confused look. “What’s on your mind, handsome?” 

“You confuse me,” Air Mach huffed. “You’re definitely a stallion, but you act more like a mare than any stallion I’ve ever seen!”

“Oh boy…” Soarin chuckled. This was going to be quite an exchange. Two Wonderbolts well known for being strange in their own enjoyable way were about to clash. Point Dex and even Macho Savage backed away as Lead Runner sauntered towards Air Mach.

“Well,” Lead Runner leaned changed course and draped an arm over an uncomfortable Point Dex. “I’m neither a stallion, nor a mare,” he said jokingly.

“If you’re neither, than what the hell are you?!” Air Mach demanded. Lead Runner suddenly zipped up really close to Air Mach’s face. Air Mach leaned his head back while gritting his teeth and glaring.

“The name’s Lead Runner… but you can call me Learun for short.” he bounced his eyebrows. “Beautiful Princess works fine too!” 

“WHY THE HELL WOULD I CALL YOU THAT?!” Air Mach barked back desperately as Learun kept leaning into him. 

Soarin and Fleetfoot were trying their hardest not to burst out laughing. Even Spitfire was cracking a smile. Storm, Dex, and Savage just looked confused as they watched a pony single-hoofedly fluster ‘The Great Animak.’

“You think you’re real smart, huh?!” Air Mach grimaced even harder as Learun continued to lean into him. 

“Play you’re cards right and I can show you just how much I know,” Learun continued teasing him as he brought up a hoof in front of their faces. “I can show off my… dexterous hooves!” he offered, his hoof wobbling smoothly in front of them. Air Mac stopped grinding his teeth together and groaned in frustration while rolling his eyes, but Learun just held the wavy hoof closer. 





Art by: Noble Savage


“Doesn’t the poor thing look starved?” His eyes narrowed and a sneer grew on his face. “Tell me, how does this feel?” he started reaching his other hoof towards Air Mach’s legs.

Air Mach instantly stepped back, pushed his glasses back down on his face, and put up his hooves to fight, but Spitfire casually stepped up and pushed his hooves back down to the floor as Learun’s hoof continued to wobble in front of Air Mach. 

“Lead Runner will be joining us tomorrow and I’m confident he will do his job well. We should go over our routines now, Point Dex?”

“Ma’am?” Dex pushed his glasses up and saluted.

“Lead Runner’s smart, but make sure he’s up to speed with how squad seven likes to fly the routine,” Spitfire ordered.

“Easy,” Dex nodded. Spitfire turned to Soarin and Fleetfoot. 

“Let’s run through ours as well, from the top. No mistakes, let’s go!” Spitfire clapped her hooves together. Soarin glanced back at Storm as he shuffled along, following his squad. 

Poor body posture, lacking confidence or… was it filled with frustration? Storm wasn’t short of confidence, he knew he was capable, but was he capable enough for himself? Soarin had been trying really hard to get Storm to open up and relax, but he was hell bent on being better than he could be. That wasn’t a bad thing, not in the slightest, but Storm seemed to lack the patience to take a couple spills along the way. He wanted to be better and he wanted to be better now. 

As the squads parted to opposite ends of the gym to practice, Soarin wondered if there was anything else he could possibly do to help.





“You sure you don’t want it?” Twister endlessly snickered as he held a small circular pillow out towards Squall. 

“I said no!” Squall glared as Twister held the pillow across the ‘border’ that Squall had tried to add to in order to keep Twister out of his space. The pillow had an image of Squall’s head glaring forward with the words ‘Super Grump Chump’ written beneath the image.

Dash walked by the two of them, snorting when she saw the pillow. She kept moving towards the back wall of the barracks where the bathrooms were as Little Star floated out of the bathroom and took notice of the commotion. She floated over to Twister and Squall, saw the pillow, and burst out laughing.

“Can I have it?!” she asked while giggling her little wings off. Twister cleared his through and put on a very serious expression.

“To avoid copyright infringement, I first must consult the owner of the visage before handing over crucial materials to the desiring party,” he turned to Squall. “Sir, have you any personal attachment to this pillow?”

“FOR THE LAST TIME, NO!” Squall snapped. Twister’s face instantly reverted to his crazy stare.

“KAY!” he said as he tossed the pillow towards Star. Star caught the pillow and held it out in front of her while giggling.

“Hehehe! This is so perfect!” she beamed as she turned and took the pillow to her space. Squall perked up and his jaw dropped as she took the pillow.

“Wait! Why are you keeping that thing?!” he whined as he trotted towards her. She turned and held it towards him. 

“Could you say no to this face?” Star joked while pointing to the glaring image on the pillow. 

“Give me that!” he demanded, but she held it away from him in one hoof, holding her other little hoof against his forehead while sticking her tongue out. 

“Too bad. You turned it down, it’s mine now!” she teased as Squall growled. Twister appeared beside Squall.

“Psst, hey buddy, I’ve got another one right here if ya want it!” he held up another small pillow, but this one had the image of Squall’s plot on it instead and read ‘Super Grump Rump’ beneath it. “This one’s half price!”

“PFFFHAHAHAHAHA!!!!” Little Star fell to the ground, landing on the face pillow as she laughed. Squall just folded his ears back and gave Twister a flat look as Twister dangled the butt pillow in front of them. Without saying anything, Squall tried reaching for the pillow, but Twister held it away. The two scuffled and fought over it until the pillow flung from Twister’s grip and hit Matteo right between the eyes as the Griffon was turning away from his bed. 

“What in the—” Matteo reached up and pulled the pillow off his face, his eyes widening when he saw what was on it. Twister somehow popped up from behind Matteo’s arm like he was peeking over a wall, wearing a fake, stylish moustache.

“Tis a work of art to rival ze Pona Lisa, is it not? Hon hon hon?!” he said in a strange accent. 





Art by: Scootafail


Matteo flattened his brow and looked towards Twister before reaching up his free talons and grabbing Twister by the face, causing a very loud HONK followed by a WHOOP WHOOP WHOOOOOOOOP from Twister. As Twister flailed about in Matteo’s grip Squall moved towards them while swearing continuously, going after the pillow of his plot.

Dash saw the whole sequence play out from near the bathrooms and rolled her eyes comically. What a bunch of awesome morons she had to work with. She wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“Hmmm…” she went back to thinking about the real reason she had walked over. She was wondering about the door beside the bathrooms, the one that led to the personal room that Silver used while they were recruit training. She was, in fact, standing right in front of the door now, curious if the room was being used for anything.

She reached up and opened the door after finding it to be unlocked. There was nothing in the room. It was stripped bare, even the bed was gone. It appeared that once Silver moved back into his room on the third floor, the instructor room was just left there.

She looked back over towards her space, specifically at the ‘office’ area with the desk, tables, filing cabinets and couch. The small open office was about the same size as the empty room. She glanced to the right, taking a look at her squadmates and then looking between the office and her friends. She had a thought concerning the small, but silly dispute Squall had with Twister stepping into his space. She knew Twister was just being a troll and Squall was just overreacting, but maybe… it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to have a neutral space where they could all relax or talk without invading personal space. 

As a captain, Dash felt the need to maintain an environment to nurture camaraderie. While she felt there wouldn’t be much of a problem with it after all they’ve been through, she wanted to do absolutely everything she could.

“Heh…” Dash chuckled quietly to herself. Listening to herself being all responsible and thinking things over. She had changed a lot. Making it into her dream and being given a position of responsibility… she really wanted to get this right. She wouldn’t stop being a bit brash, a little quick to jump the gun, and a tad sassy, but she knew what was important and she was willing to take steps to assure success.

“Hey guys,” Dash turned and walked towards them. “Matt, put him down,” Dash casually ordered as she saw Matteo still holding onto Twister by the face.

“I’ve… been trying…” Matteo grunted as he shook his arm but Twister’s face appeared to be stuck to his shanks. Dash flattened her brow. 

“Twister,” she said only his name and he detached form Matteo, falling flat on his back and staring up towards the ceiling with the sneer plastered to his face. Dash looked over at Squall and Star. Squall had looked up and was waiting for Dash to continue, Little Star had the pillow of Squall’s grumpy face up in front of her face. Damn, Dash loved these guys. 

“It looks like Silver’s room from the recruit training is completely vacant, I’m thinking of moving my desk and office stuff in there so we can have a little recreation space. Anypony have a problem with that or want to use the room for something else?” she looked around. They all glanced at each other briefly before they all shrugged. Star smiled and nodded.

“That sounds like a good idea,” she smiled while holding the pillow away from Squall, who was still trying to get it. 

“I’ve no qualms,” Matteo agreed. 

“As long as I can still put bacon in my coffee,” Twister snickered as Matteo glared down at him.

“You don’t NEED coffee,” he snorted at Twister down by his talons. Dash grinned and shook her head as she looked towards Squall.

“Squall, any issues?” she asked. Squall stopped reaching towards Star and looked towards Dash. Dash knew exactly what he was going to say,

“What—”

“—ever,” Dash finished for him. Squall’s eyes widened and his ears flopped down as Little Star broke into a giggle fit. Dash shrugged towards Squall. “Hey, that’s your answer for almost everything I ask you, don’t look so surprised!” she stuck her tongue out at him as he huffed and scrunched his face. “Anyway, it’s settled, Matt, could you help me move the stuff?” Dash asked Matteo. Matteo looked towards Dash’s office area and nodded.

“Very well,” he said as Dash moved past, following right behind her. Dash yanked at her desk a few times to drag it out from between the filing cabinets before the two of them flanked it, grabbed the sides, and lifted it up, moving in synch towards the empty room. Dash glanced over at Matteo’s space as they passed by. 

It was a little… messy. At least that was the best way to describe it. It wasn’t a disaster like Twister and Squall’s spaces… it looked more like Matteo was trying to be neat, but lacked the housekeeping skills to be effective, which Dash already knew after watching him launch his bed sheets across the room while trying to make his bed during recruit training. In comparison, Twister’s space was likely purposely messy, and Squall probably just didn’t give a damn.

However Dash did notice that among the balled up bed sheets and blankets spilling on the floor, Matteo had pushed his nightstand over beside the wall next to his dresser. There was a large collection of wooden carved statues sitting on them. In the center there were five wooden figurines, each depicting a griffon sitting down, and all different sizes. These five carvings were all very detailed and impressive, but the rest of them? They looked… strangely sloppy in comparison the five in the center. They weren’t there the night before. He must’ve just put them up.

Dash couldn’t help but be incredibly curious. She had never seen wood carved art of that style, much less wood carved art in general. It wasn’t a pony practice that was for sure. She instantly felt like asking him about it as they set her desk down in the room and went back to get the filing cabinets.

“Say, Matt…” Dash asked as they picked up the small filing cabinet and started moving it. 

“The wooden carvings?” he asked before she could even bring it up. She looked up at him, surprised, but he made a head motion towards them. “I saw you looking,” he confirmed.

“Ah,” Dash smirked. “You know me, always interested in the crazy Griffon Kingdom,” she said with a little bit of sarcasm. Matteo scoffed and cracked a grin. 

“They are talon carved, wood-life statues,” he explained as they passed by them and moved into the office. 

“Wood-life statues? Talon carved?” Dash asked both at once. 

“Indeed,” Matteo nodded as they set down the filing cabinet against the wall and pushed the desk forward towards the middle of the small room, trying to organize it like Spitfire’s office despite the smaller size of the room. “Statues that depict loved ones or wildlife… it’s one of the most practiced arts in the Griffon Kingdom.”

“Besides beating the crap out of each other?” Dash joked as they walked back out and moved to grab a couple of chairs. 

“We’re a militaristic society, but we have our artists and our craftsmen,” Matteo explained as they picked up two chairs each. “It’s also one way to use our talons in a pure way,” he added.

“Pure?” Dash was full of questions.

“That’s right,” Matteo nodded as they shuffled into the office with the chairs. “You recall what I told you about our talons?” 

“Yeah, if you draw blood, you have to kill whoever you drew blood from… er, what was the rest?” Dash grinned sheepishly, trying to remember.

“Or else we live with the blood of a living creature on us. It stains our talons, thus stains us… because our talons are very important to us,” he explained.

“Oh, that’s right, but I don’t remember you going further about the talons,” Dash tipped her head curiously as they set the chairs down and left the office.

“I didn’t before, but I can now,” Matteo began. “Our talons are used for many things in our lives. The only tools griffons use are hammers for making spears and then using those spears for combat. Everything else is done using beak and talon. Farmers, crafters, weavers, etcetera. Our talons are considered our life tool, an extension of ourselves that allows us to create. Hence why using it to harm is considered barbaric.”

“So… killing what you harm is not barbaric?” Dash asked curiously. That seemed to contradict. Matteo shook his head as they left the office.

“We are a society of honor and strength. We stain our honor by using our talons as weapons. It’s considered a lack of discipline and emotional control. It is our punishment that we must finish the job should we misuse our talons,” he said as they stopped in front of his space.

“But you didn’t kill Gilda…” Dash thought out loud. Matteo looked away and sighed. 

“Yeah, no griffon knows about that… but would you kill the one you’d fallen in love with for the sake of preserving an old cultural practice? I respect the code of honor and the history of griffon culture, but I’m not so blind to ignore what’s in my heart,” he said as he moved towards the carvings. 

“Heh…” Dash smiled as she joined him by the carvings. That was a very good way to look at it all. Matteo respected the practices of his species, but he didn’t let it cloud his judgment. That much was evident when he decided to become a Wonderbolt, but hearing it directly from him as well was even better.

“But these carvings…” Matteo picked up one of the shoddy ones. “Well, let’s just say I was never very good at it. I tried, but my talons lack the steady softness required to create masterpieces… like these,” he reached down and picked up one of the five statues in the middle. “These were made by my mother,” Matteo explained as Dash took a closer look. 

“Wait a sec… are these…” she looked at the four that were remaining on the table. Two of them were of adult griffons. One was a very large male, the other a female about half the size. The other two were much smaller, both young. One was a small female, the other a very small male. “Is this you?” Dash asked while pointing at the large male griffon figure. 

“Yes, that’s me,” he pointed at the others one by one. “And Gilda, Teodora, and Gianni.” 

“Wow, your mom is really good with these, the resemblance is almost perfect!” Dash said with awe as she looked between Matteo and his figurine counterpart. Even without the colors, the features, especially the glare were all almost perfectly identical. Then she looked at the figurine Matteo was holding… and had been looking at since he picked it up. “Who is that one of…?” Dash asked instinctively. 

“My…” Matteo paused, hesitating slightly. “Father…” he said quietly. 

Dash instantly winced. She was only asking since they were on the subject, but she instantly felt like she overstepped her boundaries. She didn’t say anything else… but she took a moment to observe the figurine of Matteo’s late father. With how accurate the carving of Matteo, Gilda, and their children were, Dash assumed that the figurine of his father was just as accurate. 

It wasn’t quite as big as the figurine of Matteo himself, but it was close, only about a head shorter. His father must’ve been just below the size limit to be in the Sky Wings, especially because he was the former Master of the Sky. The features though… were very similar to Matteo. The glare, the beak, and the way his chest puffed out in the sitting position. Matteo was every bit his father’s son, even in appearance it seemed. Dash could suddenly imagine how hard it was to be rejected from Sky Wings… to be denied following in the footsteps of a father who Matteo himself embodied nearly every quality of, down to appearance. Yet it also made her glad that he was able to find his way into the Wonderbolts and put his abilities to use. Not only was his family stripped of his father, but also of a chance for him to gain and match the honor his father had earned. The Wonderbolts gave Matteo a chance to gain his own honor and make the spirit of his father proud.

They were both interrupted as the sound of the front door opening roughly and slamming against the wall echoed throughout the barracks. 

“My god, what the hell did they do to this place?” a very familiar voice to them all came through the door. All the recruits looked up from what they were doing to see Silver Lining standing in the doorway. He took a few steps in, looking back and forth at the five of them while lifting an eyebrow. “What? Something on my handsome face?” he asked bluntly.

“DADDY!” Twister suddenly appeared and clung to Silver’s neck with fake river of tears running down his eyes. “YOU CAME BACK FROM THE STORE!” he joked.

Silver narrowed his eyes at Twister, grabbed him by the hooves, spun around and threw Twister onto Squall’s bed. Twister bounced upon landing on Squall’s mattress… and kept bouncing to the point where all the sheets and pillows were thrown in different directions.

“HEY!” Squall yelled as he tried to catch his bed items that were flying about.

“If I were your dad…” Silver began as he watched Twister bounce, “I’d lop my own balls off to ensure tragedy never strikes again!” he snapped. 

“Pffffffff…” Dash threw a hoof over her mouth to stifle a laugh as Squall reached up and shoved Twister off his mattress, sending him over to his own mattress to continue bouncing, only everything remained neatly on Twister’s bed as he bounced.

“Anyway…” Silver took another step in as Dash, Star, and Matteo all approached in a much more NORMAL manner and stood attention.

“Captain Silver,” Matteo nodded.

“How are you doing, sir?” Star greeted politely.

“Oh, I’m fine… just thought I’d go on a little walk and see how they set you five up… to be honest, I preferred the bunks,” he walked by Star and Matteo, who both stood still. Silver paused and glanced at them. “Oh for the love of Celestia’s divine ass cheeks, at ease. We’re in your damn living space,” he grunted as Star and Matteo glanced at each other briefly before looking at Dash, who had not once stood attention since.

“C’mon guys, we’re Wonderbolts now too. Just be casual,” she waved a hoof at them. Silver huffed.

“I’d prefer a degree of respect in the rest of the compound, but we generally let it go in living quarters,” Silver explained as he stopped in the middle of the room and looked around. “But some of us still do it. Hell, I room with Wave Chill and he salutes me every damn morning when we get up, like he needs my permission to go use the bathroom or something…” Silver trailed off as he looked around. Behind him, Dash snickered as Matteo and Star were clearly struggling to relax after how heavily Silver drilled the lessons on authority into them. 

Squall was still frantically picking up everything that Twister had tossed from his bed. Silver watched Squall scurry around. Squall had his head down as he moved about. Twister not only caused everything to fall off the bed, but romping on the bed somehow also made the pillow cases and protectors unzip and come off, the comforter as well. Twister had effectively removed everything from Squall’s bed by bouncing uncontrollably on it. 

Because he was busy scanning the floor for every loose article, he carelessly moved towards Silver, who simply stood still with his eyes locked on Squall until fate struck and Squall walked face first into Silver’s chest. 

“What the—?!” Squall looked up and his eyes widened.

“Hate to break it to you, son…” Silver said as he lifted his brow. “But I’m not the hugging type.”

Squall stared for another moment before folding his ears back and slowly backing away. Silver glanced over at Dash, who shrugged before Silver approached her.

“So,” Silver said as he stood before her. “Time to get you squared away…” he stopped and looked over his shoulder, catching all the others looking at him. As soon as he looked they all looked away and acted like they were doing something else. Silver snorted and leaned towards Dashes ear. “By the way…” he whispered. “Your squad is the only recruit squad still in the barracks… you better get their asses in gear.”

“Huh?” Dash blinked as she registered what he said. “Oh, um…” she grimaced. Way to start out as a captain. She hadn’t realized how long they had been in the barracks since breakfast. “Uh… squad!” Dash yelled as she stepped around Silver. “Look alive! We need to get some training in! Um…” she awkwardly tried to rally them. “I guess, uh…” she blushed lightly. “I MEAN… HIT THE WEIGHTS! Let’s break a sweat before lunch!” 

Dash felt so stupid, that couldn’t have been more cheesy or over the top at the same time. Her friends all heard her, but were both caught off guard and confused. Behind her, Silver rolled his eyes before shooting a heavy glare over her shoulder at all of them. They instantly flinched and saluted.

“Yes, ma’am!” Star yelled. As she, Matteo, Twister, and Squall all quickly shuffled out the door. Dash exhaled and looked back at Silver, but he looked away quickly as if examining the room again.

“I guess I’ll go too then,” Dash started moving, but Silver reached out and caught her shoulder. 

“Hold it right there, missy… didn’t you hear what I said? We need to put together your schedule,” he reminded her.

“Oh… right,” Dash exhaled as she relaxed. Silver noticed her slightly slumped posture.

“Don’t worry,” he assured her. “You’re a brand new captain. In general, unless you have scheduled down time, make sure your squad is doing something. It’s your job to keep them active and training. It will be second nature after a few weeks.”

“Alright… I just felt so silly giving orders,” Dash admitted as she winced. 

“You’ll get used to that too,” Silver nodded. “Now, where are all your captain materials?” he asked while looking around.

“Oh, we turned your instructor room into my office,” Dash grinned sheepishly. “Actually we just did that.”

Silver blinked and smirked. 

“You turned MY room… into YOUR office?” he lifted an eyebrow.

“Er… yes?” Dash forced a wide smile nervously. Silver kept an eye on her for a few moments before cracking a smile and snickering. 

“You’re a riot,” he shook his head. “Well, captain… Show me to your office,” he said with sarcasm.

Dash scrunched her face and blushed in embarrassment. She found a use for the room, but wasn’t expecting the previous occupant of said room to visit immediately afterward, especially since it was Silver. She quietly motioned a hoof towards the door and two started walking towards it. Dash’s eyes suddenly widened and she hopped away from Silver, locking her eyes on him from about a yard away. Silver stopped and blinked.

“What?” he asked. Dash glanced down at his hooves, then back up at him. She narrowed her eyes and exhaled through her nose.

“Nothing…” she said as the two started walking again. Dash walked very stiffly while keeping an eye on his hooves to avoid any… ‘surprises.’





“Alright Storm, spill it,” Soarin asked as the two emerged from the showers and grabbed their towels. 

“What?” Storm asked as Soarin threw his towel over his head and rubbed the water from his mane roughly. 

“You heard me, you’ve been moping since the end of the agility course,” he said, his voice slightly muffled by the towel. “Ah,” Soarin grunted as the towel got caught on the fake horn. He carefully pulled it around and draped the towel over his back. “You can’t just stay silent, dude. You’ve gotta tell me if something’s bothering you.

“Urgh…” Storm groaned as he draped his towel over his head. “But I feel stupid about it…”

“Why?” Soarin asked as the two moved towards the lockers to dry off away from the steam rising from the showers.

“One side, gentlestallions!” Lead Runner sauntered by them while twirling his towel over his head. The two stood very far aside as Lead Runner passed them before sitting down by the lockers.

“It’s just… I don’t know…” Storm sighed as he dried off his arms. “I don’t like failing… but that usually pertains to screwing something up or doing something wrong. It’s different this time…”

“How so?” Soarin asked as he whipped his towel over his shoulders to dry off his back. Storm shook his head and turned away.

“It’s stupid, forget about—” 

“Storm,” Soarin rolled up his towel and whipped Storm with it, making a loud WHA-PISH noise as it struck Storm’s shoulder.

“OW!” he yelped. “What was that for?!” he glared at Soarin as he rubbed his shoulder.

“Tell me or I’ll do it again,” Soarin threatened as he spun the towel up again between his hooves. Storm reclined as he saw the second rat-tail at the ready, giving in.

“Fine… all I did this time was fall short compared to you in the training.” Storm explained. “But for some reason I’m getting pissed off as if I failed at something important. See? Stupid…” Storm grumbled as he balled up his towel and rubbed it against his chest with frustration. 

“Storm, that’s not stupid at all…” Soarin began as he let go of the rat-tail and let the towel unwind.

“BACK OFF HE/SHE/IT DEVIL!” Air Mach’s voice belted from the showers. 

“Oh dear, my shower handle is stuck!” Lead Runner’s voice followed. “Come over here and give it hard stallionly TWIST!” 

“I’M OUT!” Air Mach trotted out of the shower (wearing his sunglasses), grabbed his towel and cape and went straight out the door even though he was soaking wet.

“Wet pony! Extra wet pony!” Blaze’s voice came from outside the locker room as the door closed.

“THAT… is stupid,” Soarin chuckled while pointing towards the door. Storm rolled his eyes and went back to drying himself off. “But really Storm, there’s nothing wrong with that, in fact I think that’s good.”

“How is that good?” Storm stopped and looked towards Soarin. “It’s bad enough that I do it when something actually goes wrong. I’d rather be more realistic and learn from my mistakes and shortcomings instead of beat myself up about them.”

“Nonono…” Soarin waved a hoof at him. “In this case, it’s helpful… you don’t like that you fell short of somepony else in training, and you want to do better, right?”

“Right…” Storm nodded.

“Storm, competition breeds success,” Soarin smiled. “If you want to beat me, cling to that feeling.”

“Why? There’s no way in hell I’m catching up to you any time soon,” Storm flattened his ears.

“But try,” Soarin emphasized. “Make that your goal. You already became an elite through special circumstances, that takes care of one goal… now it’s time for you to make new goals, and chase them with everything you’ve got, just like you did before.” Soarin tossed his towel aside and gathered up his dirty flight suit to drop off at the laundry. “If you can do that, you’ll only keep getting better.”

“Huh…” Storm blinked as he though it over. Storm looked at Soarin and hesitated. Soarin noticed, and waited patiently. Storm though, remained silent again.

“C’mon Storm, I know that look, what else?” Soarin knowingly pried. 

“Can you teach me the Sonic Blastoff?” Storm forced out.

Soarin’s eyes widened. He wasn’t expecting that. The two just stared at each other for a moment until Soarin came to his senses. 

“Er… the Sonic Blastoff?” Soarin repeated to make sure he heard him correctly. 

“Yes,” Storm asked, looking a little embarrassed. 

“Um…” Soarin wasn’t quite sure how to put it. It wasn’t that simple. “I… not that I wouldn’t mind teaching it to you…” Soarin tipped his head back and forth. “It took me quite a long time and personal skill and twists to get it to work… years of work,” Soarin saw Storm’s expression harden immediately.

“That didn’t stop you from teaching it to Rainbow Dash,” he said with slight annoyance. Soarin was waiting for that. That’s exactly why this was difficult to explain. How do you tell a determined pony that they don’t have a certain talent for something? Storm had plenty of talent for the skills he possessed, but Dash… Soarin decided to be as straightforward as possible, the more he hesitated to answer, the less sincere he would sound.

“Listen, Storm…” Soarin began as the two gathered up their dirty laundry. “Rainbow Dash is a different case. It has nothing to do with her being my marefriend. You know full well she has an incredibly unique ability to copy the moves of others to a certain degree. When I first showed her how I do the Sonic Blast-off… she copied it perfectly on her second try… a technique that took me years to develop. She’s different, it’s not because I favor her or anypony else over you,” he paused as he say Storm’s expression did not give an inch.

This was why Soarin liked working with Storm. Storm’s greatest quality? Determination. A product of his life being rough, causing him to only look up and never back.

“You’re not going to back down though… are you?” Soarin asked. Storm instantly shook his head.

“Even if I can’t learn it fully… I can at least take something away from trying,” Storm nodded.

“Good answer,” Soarin smiled. “No, perfect answer. You remind me a lot of myself, Storm. Never backing down, even when the goal seems out of reach,” Soarin said as they left the locker room. “Alright then, when we get back from our show, I’ll see if I can set aside some time to get you started on the basics. A lot of it is going to be your own practice, but I’ll show you everything I do to train and refine my signature move. It’s not gonna be easy, but if you’re willing, I’ll help.

“Thanks…” said Storm with a nod. “And… thanks for helping me out period. I appreciate it,” Storm added.

They both come to an abrupt halt outside of the locker room as Spitfire was standing outside. She saw Soarin and immediately pointed to him.

“Soarin, find Air Mach, and get him to my office immediately. Squad three just reported seeing a Shadowbolt while doing a routine fly around Canterlot." 

Soarin’s ears shot up and his eyes widened. 

“HERE?! In Canterlot?!” he exclaimed. Spitfire nodded with a very serious glare on her face.

“This is the closest they’ve appeared to the compound and that worries me…” she paused and looked at Storm. “Actually, Storm,” she addressed Storm Front, who instantly stood attention.

“Yes ma’am?”

“Round up Lead Runner, Point Dex, and Macho Savage. Have them meet in my office on the double. If they’re at lunch, tell them it’s a priority one meeting and to get their asses up to the second floor. I have an idea regarding our trip to Cloudsdale tomorrow and I need squad seven to hear it too,” she looked between them. “Get to it!” she ordered harshly, before turning and trotting towards the lobby.

Soarin and Storm glanced at each other before quickly dropping their uniforms off at a nearby laundry cage and going to find the rest of their squads as quickly as possible.





“Look at this…” Silver chuckled as he looked at Dash’s makeshift office. It was nothing more than a bare room with a desk, a few chairs, and a filing cabinet, but it wasn’t like Dash had had any time to decorate beyond moving everything in less than ten minutes ago. Dash walked over to the file cabinet, opened the middle drawer, and pulled out everything: the binder, the paper, and the Wonderbolt textbook. She set them down on the desk before sitting in one of the chairs facing the desk. 

“What are you doing?” Silver suddenly asked. Dash turned and looked over her shoulder at him. 

“Uh… sitting?” she replied quickly, because that’s what she was doing. Silver chuckled. 

“Dash, this is your office… sit behind your damn desk,” he pointed. Dash blinked and looked at the desk. Of course… that seemed given, but she assumed that Silver would take the seat as the superior officer. How many more times could she feel embarrassed over and over again? 

“Right…” Dash sighed as she stood up. She took one step and suddenly hopped and rapidly stepped away while looking at Silver’s hooves. She looked up at him again, carefully.

“Something on my face?” Silver asked while lifting an eyebrow.

“No…” Dash scrunched her face as she glanced at his hooves again before walking around and sitting behind her desk. 

“Alright, let me see your binder,” Silver asked as he sat down across from her. Dash spun the binder around and slid it across the desk. Silver reached back and opened one of his wings, dropping a folded up piece of paper into his hoof before dropping it on the table and opening Dash’s binder. He blinked for a second when he looked at it. “One second, they’ve changed these things a lot since I last saw them…” he said as he started flipping through the dividers. Dash tipped her head curiously.

“But you’re a captain, don’t you have a binder too?” she asked. Silver paused looked up and smirked.

“Haven’t used it in fifteen years,” he chuckled. “When you’ve been at it as long as I have, you just know when and where your time slots are,” he said as he flipped two more pages and found a page that was an empty spreadsheet. “Ah, here it is,” he unfolded the piece of paper he was holding in his wing and placed it next to it. “Look at this,” he said as he turned them both around. 

Dash looked carefully at them both. The empty sheet from her binder, and then the sheet Silver had brought along. Silver’s page was the same thing, only filled out. 

“I took the liberty of filling out an example. This is squad two’s schedule for this week,” he explained. Dash noticed that the spreadsheet was organized with times marked on the left beside the first column. She looked to the right and saw that each column was for a day of the week, making seven columns. In the columns were squares, some that were empty and some that had a location and training exercise written within it. Meal times were also written in as well as certain spaces that were marked as ‘off time.’ Along with all of these though, there were also gaps in between some of the times. Dash was curious what the difference was between the ‘off time’ and the blank spaces.

“Every week, you will be responsible for putting together and knowing where and when your squad has use of the facilities. You have to sign up for time slots for the gyms and facilities. There are plenty of time slots available so don’t worry about being butted out of using something, but there are times that are more favorable than others depending on what you and your squad has to work on. The early bird gets the worm, so if you want a convenient schedule, you want to sign up your squad the first chance you get…” Silver paused and reached back to his other wing, dropping another folded piece of paper out of it and placing it on the table. This one unfolded into a much longer sheet.

“This is this week’s full printed schedule. It is printed every Monday based on sign up and facility selections made by all captains over the weekend,” he explained as he slid it towards Dash. "By Sunday night every week, you must have your week schedule submitted and any scheduling conflicts with other squads resolved. All schedules are submitted directly to Spitfire during her office hours on the weekends, she will let you know right there if there are schedule conflicts and help you figure out when you can use the desired facilities. Again, first come, first served, so it’s best to get your schedule to her as early as you can for the next week. Oh, and don’t worry about elite squad priorities, the recruit squads, low tier elites, and high tier elites all use a different set of gyms.”

“Uh…” Dash blinked.

“As you can see…” Silver continued. “You also have to schedule down time. All squads are given two slots for down time per week. Use these wisely… I’ve found it’s best to use them on days that are extra strenuous to ensure your squad gets plenty of rest and recovery. These are different than…” he pointed at one of the blank spots. “These. Scheduling is only required for the private gyms and some of the more specific use gyms. The auxiliary gym, the weight room, and the main indoor flight track are always open for use at any time. If you are unable to schedule something or it doesn’t work well with what you have planned for the week, leave it blank and use the time to stay active or do something productive. Of course it’s always a good idea to plan ahead and use some of these extra time slots for strength training or endurance training. Any questions?”

“Um…” Dash slowly let her chin fall down onto the table. “I think my brain just exploded…”

“Pff…” Silver held in a laugh. “Why do you think they assign an advisor?” he chuckled. “For your first couple of months, I’ll be helping you directly with this. It took half a year before I didn’t need Blizzard’s help anymore. This is complicated, but after a while you’ll get it.”

“Yikes…” Dash shook her head. “Yeah, I think it’s safe to say I didn’t catch half of that,” she admitted.

“Nor did I expect you to,” Silver nodded. “We’re back at square one, Dash. Until you’ve got your shit together, you’re under my wing.”

Dash cracked a smile as she heard that. Once again, she had the privilege of learning from a great Wonderbolt. Everything she just heard was incredibly confusing, but after how much she had changed for the better under Silver’s watchful eye so far, she was confident she’d be a whiz at this stuff eventually too.

“So let’s start…” Silver said as he turned over the printed schedule. On the back was a top-down map of the first floor of the compound with each gym and facility marked. “First we need to…

“Good LORD!” a voice rang out into the room. Both Silver and Dash flinched and looked around. “Seriously… living by schedules and rules… I honestly don’t know how anypony can ever have fun with such a lifestyle.”

Dash identified the voice immediately and furrowed her brow. As if the fact that it was coming from all around them wasn’t bad enough, the sly tone was also a dead giveaway.

“That voice…” Silver suddenly said. Dash blinked and looked down at Silver. “You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Silver sighed heavily. Dash tipped her head curiously. 

Did… Silver know Discord? Well, everypony knew who Discord was, but Silver’s reaction suggested he knew him a little better than most.

“Really…” Discord floated down through the ceiling and landed on the desk in a reclined position, facing Dash. “This was your dream? To be a part of something so boring that you have to follow a weekly plan? I could think of many much more interesting things to do, but I doubt your little pony brain could fathom half of them,” he said with a snicker as he poked Dash in the forehead. She reclined while giving him a look of disgust. 

“If you have so many bright ideas, why are you wasting your time bothering me?” Dash snapped at him. Discord burst out laughing, lifting back up into the air, but taking the desk with him.

“Because I live for ponies giving me sass like they don’t even care who I am…” he floated back down with the desk. “Honestly, it amuses me to no end how easily some of you talk to me when I could erase you from existence with a snap of my fingers if I really wanted to,” he taunted. “Oh, but don’t worry, I have no intention of doing such a thing, my eternal life would be so boring if I got rid of all the mortals who I find interesting.”

“Could you come back later, you sorry mix up of the food chain?” Silver suddenly growled from behind Discord. “We’re busy, and frankly we do have better things to do than listen to your dumb ass.”

Dash watched as a blank look made its way onto Discord’s face. He slowly turned over on the desk and looked at Silver.

“Sorry, but… do I know you? That was an awfully personal insult…” Discord asked while looking over Silver carefully.

“Damn right, you know who I am,” Silver said sternly. “Come on, you bad excuse for a god, don’t tell me you forgot a face,” Silver smirked. 

Dash was confused, what the hell was going on here? She backed up slightly, unsure of what was going to happen. Apparently Silver had experience dealing with Discord… but when and where?

“Actually…” Discord looked Silver over carefully. “You do look familiar… but…” Discord twirled the end of his beard. “I can’t quite put my finger on it…” he said as he hovered a finger over a ceramic sculpture of the word ‘it’ that appeared next to him.

“Heh…” Silver scoffed. “I guess I’m not surprised… I was only watching most of the time…” Silver’s smirk grew into a confident, smug grin. “But I’m sure you haven’t forgotten my mentor… Blizzard Strike?” 

Dash yelped quietly as Discord flinched incredibly hard and froze. The statue of ‘it’ shattered to pieces and before Dash knew it, Discord was up off the table and had backed away to the wall behind Dash while pointing a finger at Silver, his eyes wide and gritting his teeth and hissing with his snake tongue flapping between them.

“Eegad! Blizzard Strike?! That insufferable… intolerable… uncanny… unpredictable…” Discord trailed off as he kept pointing at Silver. “That… that…”

Dash had never seen Discord act like this before. The mere mention of Blizzard Strike sent Discord into a state of anger.

“That… magnificent bastard…” Discord hissed louder. “I do NOT miss him.”

“Oh, I think you do,” Silver chuckled. “In fact, I don’t think you’ve ever kept such a close eye on another pony. How many times did he blow your mind? How many times did he turn your tricks on you? How many times did he take your assumptions of ponies and the weakness of morality and throw it directly back into your face?”

“Grgh…” Discord grunted as if in denial.

Dash was beyond confused… not only because Discord apparently had a history dealing with Silver and his mentor… but… that meant it had to have happened around twenty to thirty years ago. 

Wasn’t Discord trapped in stone then?

“Wait… that would make you…” Discord’s eyes widened and he suddenly broke into a fit of laughter. “Silver Lining?!” he came off the wall and floated down. “Dear me, you have NOT aged gracefully…” he snickered in Silver’s face.

“If you think I’m any more afraid of you than Blizzard was, you’ve got another thing coming,” Silver snorted as he remained firm despite the invasion of personal space. Discord scoffed and pulled away.

“Oh, I don’t doubt you have… Blizzard’s will of steel,” Discord clearly hesitated in mentioning Blizzard’s name. “I SEVERLY doubt you have his peerless wit or skill. Believe me, there is no pony in this compound who will ever be like him,” he poked Silver in the chest, right on the burn scar. “Not even you.” 





Art by: Foxenawolf


The two stared each other down for a moment before Silver lifted his brow and smiled.

“A god is only a big headed being with too much power and inflated ego…” Silver began.

“Oh no you don’t!” Discord pulled away and glared.

“I will look you in the eye and show you that I’m not afraid…” Silver kept going.

“Stop!” Discord covered his ears.

“You can strike me down, you can force me to my knees, you can wipe me from existence…” Silver continued as Discord gritted his teeth. “But it will be a shallow hopeless victory, and you will never forget for your endless life that I didn’t give an inch even in the face of your omnipotence.”

Discord grumbled and removed his hands from his ears, giving Silver a flat look.

“You just couldn’t resist… could you?” Discord hissed at him.

“How could I forget it?” Silver scoffed. “The day my mentor told off a god that was inches away from blowing him to pieces… the words that caused that god to swear and curse at his own weakness in front of us despite his power and immortality… and then bother us about once a week after that,” Silver rolled his eyes. “It’s hard to forget something like that.”

“I couldn’t agree more…” Discord growled. He turned to Dash. “Be wary of this one, Rainbow Dash. If he’s anything like his mentor, he’s a shifty one.”

Dash lifted an eyebrow.

“If you’d been paying any attention,” she began. “He’s already made that very cl—WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!” Dash threw her hooves out. “Hold on for a second! Weren’t you like… trapped in a statue back then?!” she asked straight out. Discord rolled his eyes.

“It’s a long story,” he said. “And frankly…” he glanced at Silver. “I don’t think I’m in the mood right now. Have fun with your silly little schedules and mortal lives…” Discord hissed before raising his hand to snap his fingers.

“Chaos is only what you make of it,” Silver said quickly. Discord flinched hard again and glared harshly towards Silver, suggesting that it was something else Blizzard had once said.

“I REALLY dislike you…” Discord snarled before snapping his fingers and disappearing. 

Dash stared at Discord’s last spot for a few moments before staring wide-eyed at Silver. It was one thing when Bliss shocked Discord with the electro-stim machine, but that was a sneak attack. Silver just stood up to Discord face to face. She had never seen somepony do that before. Then there was all the talk of Blizzard once doing the same… and apparently Discord was not imprisoned at one point? She had never known about that.

“Why don’t we call it for now,” Silver said as he stood up with a smile. “Lunch is in fifteen minutes anyway, we’ll pick this up later…” he stopped and looked at her as she stared. “Dash?”

“Huh?” she blinked. “Oh… um…” she got up. “Alright.”

“You know Discord, huh?” Silver asked. She stopped and looked up at him. “Ironic… seeing as how he used to bother me all the time…” Silver trailed off. Dash looked at Silver in silence for a moment.

“He didn’t like Blizzard Strike, huh?” Dash asked as she stepped around the desk.

“No, not one bit,” Silver chuckled. “Blizzard was a different breed of pony, Dash… if there was ever a pony in history that successfully measured up to the gods themselves, it was him… and the best part was? He didn’t even try, he was just that much of a stallion.” 

Dash said nothing, simply trying to fathom the pony that was Blizzard Strike, the pony capable of earning such high regards from a pony like Silver. The more she heard about him, the more he sounded like something of a folktale, something that simply couldn’t have existed, but he had all the same. 

“Anyway, reminiscing has built up my appetite, lunch time,” Silver said as he turned towards the door. 

Dash smiled as she walked out with him.

“WHOA!” Dash yelped as Silver hook tripped her and she fell flat.

“Awareness,” Silver said simply as he walked ahead. 

Dash looked up and pouted for a moment, before smiling. Discord was definitely right, Silver was a shifty one.

---To Be Continued---