MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 77:
“Everypony ready? Squad captains, all members accounted for?” Spitfire asked as the train pulled into the station down below about a quarter-mile outside Cloudsdale. Obviously, it was hard to have a train stop in a city in the sky, much less one made of clouds. They had a blimp waiting for them to take them and their staff the last bit of distance and up to the city.
Dash made one last check to make sure her squad was ready to go, specifically to make sure Twister didn’t vanish on her like he had a tendency to do. All four of them were there and waiting as the elites gathered up as well. Dash turned her attention to Soarin, thinking about the past few hours that ranked up pretty high among some of the best hours of her life. Soarin glanced over at her and flashed a smile, which she returned before a loud SLAM drew their attention. They, along with the rest of the Wonderbolts looked towards the exit door of the train car and saw Fleetfoot with her back to the door and an expression of dread on her face.
Dash was confused but Soarin and Spitfire both sighed heavily.
“Who tipped them off this time?” Soarin said sarcastically as he and Spitfire moved towards the windows and looked outside.
“I don’t know why I bother trying…” Spitfire shook her head. “Even when I keep the arrival time secret, they always find out.”
Dash’s curiosity got the better of her and she walked up beside Soarin to look out the window. Her eyes widened when she looked out… and saw hundreds of ponies gathered on the station platform.
Of course… the press.
Dash wasn’t so surprised after a moment. The lead squad of the Wonderbolts was here after all. From their reactions, this was a normal occurrence. Soarin glanced down at Dash as the rest of the recruits gathered by the windows and stared in awe.
“Welcome to the Wonderbolts,” Soarin said with a chuckle and pointed out the window. “Let me introduce you to the love of our lives, the overzealous media.”
Dash looked outside and saw the reporters and photographers battling for positioning near the door of their train car.
“I think that’s putting it lightly…” Dash said with a snicker. This wasn’t the first time she had been bombarded by media. It happened to her at the royal ball when she arrived with Twilight. She knew what was coming, but how were the rest going to take it? She looked over and examined her squadmates. Matteo looked unaffected, but he’d sooner pluck out all of his own feathers than show emotion under stress. Star’s jaw looked like it was about to unhinge as she stared out at all the ponies gathered. Squall looked uncomfortable, as he should. He didn’t like his personal space being violated and it was likely about to be… a lot. Twister looked excited. In fact, Dash felt sorry for any reporters that tried to approach him.
Dash looked beyond them and saw Storm looking out as well. He didn’t look too pleased. This was definitely not the first time he had experienced this, having been an elite for a little while now. Knowing Storm’s modesty though, he probably didn’t like the extreme amount of attention.
“What are we waiting for?!” Air Mach suddenly yelled out as he burst out of the bathroom at the back end of the car. “Time to take Cloudsdale by storm!” he shouted with vigor as he trotted towards the door without looking outside.
“WAIT!!!!!” Fleetfoot yelled as Air Mach reached for the door, but it was too late. Air Mach ripped the door open, took one step out, and was immediately pushed back into the car as the reporters rushed against the car and camera flashes flickered like strobe lights.
“You… dumbass…” Spitfire growled as she quickly turned to Soarin. “Soarin, keep them out,” she pointed towards Air Mach as the reporters began pushing themselves into the car while bombarding Air Mach with questions that sounded like gibberish with how many voices were going.
“THE GREAT… ANIMACK… SHALL HOLD FIRM!” he yelled as he struggled to hold his ground.
“Son of a…” Soarin flattened his ears before turning. “Savage! Matteo!” Soarin called out. “You’re with me!” he ordered before moving towards Air Mach. Macho Savage immediately followed. Matteo glanced at Dash, who gave him a head motion towards Soarin before he too followed. Dash watched as the three of them got behind Air Mach, and on Soarin’s word, started pushing them back out.
“Dex,” Spitfire spoke up again.
“Ma’am?” Point Dex saluted.
“Suggestions? There’s way too many for the security team to keep them off of us,” Spitfire consulted him. Point Dex looked out the window, and then back towards the group trying to keep the reporters out. They had pushed them out and placed Matteo’s back to the doorway, his large bulk preventing them from getting in.
“Perhaps we can make use of the unicorns,” he began. “If our security team can keep the reporters at bay long enough for the five unicorns to create a shield around us then we will have an easy trip to the blimp,” he explained his thoughts as he looked out the window towards the blimp waiting for them. “A shield generated by five unicorns will be more than enough to keep them all at bay,” he adjusted his glasses. “I suggest rerouting the blimp directly to the hotel as well if possible. It’s safe to suggest more of this will be waiting for us in the city.”
“Good idea,” Spitfire nodded in agreement. “We’ll use the door in the second car to leave as well, that will catch them off guard. Go to the third car and explain the plan to the security team,” she ordered.
“Yes ma’am,” Dex nodded before turning and heading for the third car. Spitfire turned to the rest.
“Everypony gather your things and head for the second car! We’re leaving through there! Soarin, can you guys get that door shut?” she asked.
“Way ahead of ya!” Soarin yelled back as he and Savage finished closing the door and locking it.
“Alright, let’s get in position!” Spitfire ordered as they all began moving to the second car.
Dash chuckled as she gathered up her bag and followed the rest. This was a little more intense than when she was with Twilight. It made sense though. Cloudsdale wasn’t as quite a high end location, effectively tripling the amount of reporters that could possibly show up. Dash ended up walking beside Storm as they moved and smirked at his less than amused expression with his ears folded back.
“Not a fan of this part, huh?” she asked as Storm grunted and nodded.
“I’m not knocking my job, but I can’t stand this part. This is the fourth time and I’m still not used to it. I don’t know how Soarin and the lead squad have handled this for so long, it drives me insane,” he explained as he growled quietly. Dash was honestly not expecting that much of a response. It seemed like Storm was just about as protective of his personal life and space as Squall was. The two had more in common than they’d like to admit. “You seem to be taking this alright,” Storm suddenly added. Dash shrugged.
“Been through this once already… I don’t think it’s because I’m okay with it, I just know what to expect,” she explained. Storm looked at her curiously.
“You’ve been attacked by the media before?” he asked as they gathered and waited with the rest in the second car.
“Yeah, I attended the Canterlot Royal Ball about half a year ago or so,” she said casually. Storm blinked.
“And… the media bombarded you? Why?” he said while lifting an eyebrow.
“Oh… it wasn’t because of me,” Dash laughed. “I was riding with my friend Twilight, she was the reason that—”
“Wait, Twilight? As in Princess Twilight Sparkle? You know her?” Storm asked in surprise. Dash blinked and looked at him in confusion.
“Storm… she was at the banquet… she’s one of my best friends,” Dash said as if Storm was crazy. Storm just stared and blinked a couple of times. Dash tipped her head. He was serious? “Didn’t you see the purple alicorn I was talking to?” Dash added. Storm blinked again and shook his head.
“I… don’t think I saw her…” Storm chuckled sheepishly. “How are you on a first name basis with Princess Twilight?” he asked.
“Oh, that’s a long story…” Dash scratched the back of her head. “It would probably take a few years to tell it. I can’t believe you didn’t see her at the banquet. Heck, you ran right past her at one point. Although…you were passing by us to get to Derpy. Guess she had you really distracted, huh?” Dash smirked at him.
“I had more than a few things distracting me at the banquet…” Storm sighed and let his ears droop.
Dash frowned, feeling bad that she may have brought up something that was rough for him. Storm did end up breaking down in the middle of the banquet after all… Dash comforted him after he voiced his longing for friends and family like she had.
Luckily, they were cut off before anything else could be said.
“Wonderbolts, ready up!” Spitfire called from beside the door. “The security team is moving towards this car while making it look like they’re going for the first… when they pass in front of this door we are jumping out and getting between them, alright? If any reporters get to you, DON’T answer any questions. In fact, you have my permission to defend yourself... just DON’T punch anypony out okay? Keep it gentle!”
“Here comes the fun part,” Storm said sarcastically.
“Line up! Single file! I don’t want any idiots trying to get through the door at the same time!” Spitfire ordered as they all shifted into a line.
“They’re almost here,” Soarin let her know from the door. Spitfire nodded and approached him.
“Open the door on my mark and bring up the rear,” she instructed Soarin. Soarin nodded.
“Got it,” he acknowledged as he gripped the handle.
Dash found this whole scenario… amusing. The way Spitfire was giving out orders and how everything was being organized… it felt like a military operation. Dash’s first mission as a Wonderbolt! An impromptu maneuver to evade the media… with how strange everything had been throughout the process she couldn’t think of a more fitting way to begin her career.
“On my mark!” Spitfire yelled as all of them got ready to pour out as quickly as they could. Dash glanced to the window beside the door catching a glimpse of the earth pony security team making their way through the reporters that had poor positioning and not even close to the first car. Behind them, the unicorns were keeping pace. Dash focused forward as Spitfire put her hoof in the air. “GO! GO! GO!” she yelled while bringing her hoof down.
Soarin ripped the door open and Spitfire jumped out, followed close behind by Fleetfoot, Air Mach and then one by one, everypony else. Dash leapt out right behind Storm, instantly seeing the earth ponies who had stopped and were trying to push the confused reporters out of the way to form a comfortable barrier around them. They all landed within the pseudo-circle and Soarin leapt out, bringing up the rear.
Unfortunately… the unicorns got held up in the confusion. By the time all the Wonderbolts made it down, the reporters crowding the wrong car had all turned and were moving towards them.
“Ah, feathers…” Dash winced as the earth pony guards on their right tried, but failed to hold them all back as they poured towards them.
Before they knew it, they were all surrounded by the reporters that managed to elude the guards. The reporters were talking so fast and all at once to the point where Dash couldn’t make out a single word. It didn’t matter though because they were ordered not to answer any questions. It was quite a bit more hectic than her first experience with the media. Everywhere she looked, it was just a sea of ponies trying to get to them. There were even pegasi above them, mostly photographers snapping pictures endlessly.
Dash lightly pushed any that got too close to her away as the security team reached in and pulled ponies out. Dash found she wasn’t being swarmed quite as much as some of the others, mainly Soarin and Matteo. It was understandable. Soarin was wearing a unicorn horn artifact, and Matteo was a griffon.
Dash yelped as the group suddenly stopped and she ran smack into Storm’s plot. She gritted her teeth as a new wave of reporters got past the guards and surrounded her.
Storm was right… this was… awful.
She didn’t mind attention, but this was just ridiculous. She had gotten completely surrounded, unable to even move….
But then she blinked in surprise. A thin blue veil of light suddenly surrounded her. She turned and looked towards Soarin.
Soarin had had enough. He never liked the media to begin with and since he gotten the horn fastened to his head, it had only gotten worse. They already pissed him off a little by running the ‘Princess Soarin’ headline, so he felt why not give them a taste of WHY he was wearing it?
Nothing harmful obviously, but he saw this as a great opportunity to use his shield spell. He didn’t want to push away the other Wonderbolts with the shield dome that could expand outward from him, but utilizing the split mind, the projection and the simple shield, he felt he could give the security team and the unicorns the chance they needed to get in place.
He had his eyes closed and was concentrating despite the cacophony around him. The reporters nearby all instantly shut up and backed away when Soarin’s horn began to glow. Soarin opened his eyes and focused, a light blue glow rising from his eyes, tensing his body and thinking about protecting all of his fellow Wonderbolts. A single, thick beam of blue light extended from the horn before it splintered and split into eight smaller threads, each traveling towards a Wonderbolt. As the light touched each one of them, they were encircled by a gentle blue aura and eventually a thin spherical veil encompassed each of them. Any reporters that got near them were pushed away. The Wonderbolts all turned and looked at Soarin, not even them expecting him to call upon his magic. Each one of them looked in awe, except for Spitfire, who instead looked at Soarin with disapproval.
The reporters began backing away as Soarin suddenly brought his magic to life, definitely not sure what they were looking at. The photographers however, went nuts, snapping photos continuously. With the reporters backing away, the security team found themselves able to position themselves.
“Move in now!” Soarin called out. The unicorns broke free from the retreating crowd and stepped up in between them all. All five of them stood in the center and lifted their horns skyward, all activating their magic at the same time. Five beams shot up and connected overhead, forming a shield dome that slowly encompassed all of them.
Soarin exhaled and released his magic, the blue light returning to his horn and disappearing from his eyes. Spitfire glared at Soarin, but wasted no time in giving orders.
“To the blimp! Let’s go!” she ordered, pointing to the large blimp parked outside the station, waiting to transport them and their staff up to Cloudsdale. They all moved with the unicorns through the sea of reporters as they were pushed aside by the barrier, making their way down the path to the blimp pad outside the station. The reporters followed them down the winding path, but they were denied getting close to the blimp. The pad was encompassed by a large, tall wire fence and once the Wonderbolts were inside, they dropped the shield and the security guards closed the gate shut. Pegasus staff members from the station flew up to block any of the pegasi photographers from getting in.
They all trotted towards the large, red blimp, heading towards the two-story cabin below the balloon that was about the same size as the train cars. One by one they hopped in, Spitfire staying outside to make sure everypony was in before jumping in herself.
“Phew!” Soarin sighed as they all got in. He stopped before he could go any further, realizing that everypony was staring at him. “Oh… sorry if I startled anypony… I was getting tired of all that…” he chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.
“Soarin… you… are an idiot…” Spitfire said with an exasperated sigh as she latched the door shut and turned to him.
“Uh… you’re welcome?” Soarin scrunched his face at her, but she shook her head.
“Yeah, you got us through, but I hope you’re ready for the news tomorrow. Not to mention all the questions you’re gonna get at the press conference and reception tomorrow…” she said as she shrugged. Soarin’s ears flopped down and his pupils shrank.
“Oh…” he said, having not thought about that at all. He just used his magic in public for the first time right in front of hundreds of crazy reporters. Son of a—
“That… was pretty terrible…” Matteo grumbled as Dash relaxed and sat down on a bench against the side of the cabin. They all sighed in relief as the blimp jostled lightly and lifted off.
The blimp was not quite as luxurious as the train, but how many luxury blimps were there anyway? It was a simple passenger cabin with a long bench on both sides with windows over them. There was also a large window at the front of the cabin to look out forward that extended from the floor to the ceiling. In the back was a small set of stairs that led up to the cockpit where the blimp crew worked and maintained the blimp. It felt weird taking a blimp up to Cloudsdale. Under normal circumstances, Dash would just fly up, but she honestly preferred this over being bombarded by the media.
“Yeah, I’ll say…” Dash agreed with Matteo as she watched the unicorn staff go to work on the earth ponies and themselves, casting long term cloud-walking enchantments on themselves.
“Anypony want gum?” Twister suddenly held out a hoof full of gum packets, so many that he couldn’t hold them all. Dash blinked, reached down and picked up one of the packets he dropped.
“Twister, where did you get all of these?” she asked with a chuckle.
“Frisked every reporter that touched me,” he said with a snicker.
“You troll…” Dash shook her head as Twister turned and dumped all of the gum packets into Squall’s bag when he wasn’t looking. “So Matty,” Dash glanced up at Matteo beside her, who was preening all the ruffled feathers in his wings. “How hard was it not to punch any of them out?”
“Excruciatingly…” Matteo said with a grunt before stuffing his beak back into his wing. Dash felt sorry for the big guy, being absolutely blasted with more questions than the rest of them combined. They didn’t care that he was only a recruit. He was a griffon, and therefore was singled out by the reporters. He looked incredibly uncomfortable, which was a rare site from the stone-faced Matteo.
“You should’ve punched them,” Squall mumbled from one space over. Dash leaned forward to see Squall grinding his teeth and grumbling to himself on the other side of Matteo. “They wouldn’t stop… touching me…” Squall hissed as he scowled so hard it looked like his face was going to break.
“Well you guys better get used to it, we are only part of a famous organization now,” Dash said as she leaned back. “By default we’re awesome and everypony wants a piece of the awesome.”
Dash suddenly looked back and forth before sitting up sharply.
“Whoa! Hold on! Where’s Little Star?” she asked in a panic. They all looked around them, even back towards the elites. Star was nowhere to be seen. Squall sprang up from his seat and looked around all of them.
“She’s not still out there is she?!” Squall exclaimed as he stepped up on the bench and looked out the window at all the reporters gathered and all the pegasus photographers following the blimp.
Art by: mlplover789
Dash gave Squall a surprised look before she felt something moving against her side. She looked down at her duffle bag beside her and saw it moving. Dash instantly felt relieved, putting two and two together quickly.
Her bag unzipped slightly before Little Star poked her head out from inside it.
“We’re safe?” she asked as she looked back and forth like a little meerkat poking its head out of a burrow. Dash chuckled as she looked down at Star.
“Safe and sound… when did you climb into my bag?” Dash asked as Star pulled herself out and hovered up into the air.
“As soon as they got past security… the media scares me…” Star said slight a slight shiver. Dash blinked and looked Star over.
“Where’s your bag?” Dash asked. Star pointed at Matteo.
“Hung it off his,” Star grinned as she hovered over and pulled her bag off Matteo’s. Matteo lifted an eyebrow and released his wing from his beak.
“I thought my bag felt heavier…” he said to himself as Star hovered back over to Dash.
“How did I not feel it?” Dash smirked and glanced at Squall. He had moved further down the bench and was hiding his face with his mane. “Heh, Star… I don’t think you had anything to worry about,” Dash said to Star. “Somepony here freaked out when we thought you didn’t make it,” Dash said while cheekily looking towards Squall. Star blinked and looked past Dash towards Squall, who, upon hearing Dash, shifted so his back was turned to them as well.
“Wow, seriously?” Star said as if she couldn’t fathom it. Dash hopped off the seat and looked around frantically.
“She’s not still out there is she?!” Dash said with a deepened voice, reenacting Squall from a moment ago. She hopped up on the seat and pressed her face to the window looking outside. Matteo let slip an amused snort as he watched Dash mock Squall.
“Ngh…” Squall grunted as he scooted himself further down the bench. Star giggled at Dash’s acting before moving towards Squall.
“Wow, worried about me? I didn’t think you had it in you!” she said sarcastically.
“Ngggghhhhh…” Squall grumbled and scooted himself all the way to the end of the bench, facing the corner.
“Hey! Get back here!” Star hovered after him.
Dash chuckled as she watched Star pursue Squall. Indeed it was a bit of surprise when Squall reacted out of nowhere. Maybe he cared about them more than he was willing to admit. Heaven forbid he lost his image of ‘toughness.’
Dash looked between her squad mates as they all got settled and started thinking about how she was going to explain everything to them. Where would she even start? Everything she knew about the Shadowbolts reached back a whole year. Actually, even more than that if she included when Nightmare Moon hired them to try and sway her away from her friends.
To start though… she wanted just a little more information for herself. Spitfire gave her a rundown before and Soarin had mentioned them a few times, but she wanted some specifics. Red headband and red goggles… but physical features could help them. Spitfire said that one of them had shown up twice, so knowing what to possibly look for would be a plus.
Dash hopped off her seat and started moving towards the elites. She moved towards Spitfire first, but hesitated when she saw Spitfire busy chewing out Air Mach. Instead, she turned towards Soarin, who was standing at the head of the cabin with Storm Front, looking out the front window.
“Yikes, they are not giving up are they?” Storm said as he and Soarin looked out the window towards all the pegasus photographers trying to get close to the blimp. There was a cloud of them below, busily taking photos. Members of the station staff were doing their best to keep them away, but every few moments, one or two got through and took a few photos before being yanked back down.
“The life of the media, shamelessly throwing yourself at celebrities to try and get the drop on all your other fellow reporters…” Soarin chuckled. “What a line of work…”
“Coming from a Wonderbolt that can use magic with a fake horn strapped to his head,” Storm joked with him. Soarin shrugged.
“I guess I like to make life interesting,” Soarin said while activating his magic gently to make the horn blink.
“That was a fun little surprise you pulled on us by the way,” Storm nudged Soarin. Soarin frowned and sighed.
“I wish I thought about it before I did it. Spitfire is right, I fended them off, but now I’ve given them more reason to breathe down my neck,” he said reluctantly before smirking. “But I guess I could scare them off with it too.”
“Sorry to interrupt the bro-love over here…” Dash’s voice caught Soarin’s attention. He and Storm both turned to see her approach with a smirk on her face. “But can I ask you guys something?”
Soarin glanced at Storm before smirking right back.
“As long as it doesn’t have to do with bromance,” he said while leaning into Storm jokingly. Storm flinched.
“Hey!” he chuckled as he hopped away. “I dare not stand between you and this firecracker!” Storm laughed while pointing towards Dash.
“Damn right you won’t,” Dash giggled as Soarin smiled and stepped towards her. He was glad Storm seemed to be finally loosening up a little. He was still tense, but Soarin could tell his efforts were having an effect. That… or Dash was helping him settle in as well. He knew she had invited him to play cards the night before and he felt it was good for Storm to reconnect with those just as new as him to the Wonderbolts.
Storm aside though, Dash had a question on her mind. Soarin could see it in her eyes.
“So what’s up?” Soarin asked her. Dash looked back at her squad for a moment before looking back up at Soarin.
“Well…” her expression turned serious. “Spitfire wants me to explain the Shadowbolts to my squad… which I can do, but…” she looked between Soarin and Storm. “You guys have actually seen what some of them look like. Can you give me some specifics? Like size and colors? You know, besides the new headwear,” she asked, referring to the headband and goggles.
Soarin thought over her request. It was true. Dash had not been given that particular information. Soarin felt it would be better for Spitfire to explain, but Dash clearly came to him because Spitfire was still busy berating Air Mach. In general, Spitfire was in a very tense and stressed mood. It was almost better Dash came to him to spare her Spitfire’s current state.
“You came to the right ponies,” Soarin said while cracking a smile. “Because of the three Shadowbolts sighted, I’ve seen one and Storm has seen one,” Soarin mentioned while motioning to Storm. “The one I encountered was in Manehatten back while you were still in recruit training with Silver. He was…” Soarin paused as he recalled the encounter. “White with a grey mane if I remember correctly. Probably around the same size as Fire Streak,” Soarin nodded before turning to Storm. Storm took the cue and cleared his throat.
“I saw mine just the other day,” Storm began. “Dark green with a short, black mane, but honestly, it wasn’t his colors that set him apart… he was massive, I’d say almost Matteo’s size. Heavy set, a bit on the chunky side. He’d be hard to miss,” Storm nodded, looking back to Soarin.
“If I remember Silver’s report correctly,” Soarin took over. “The Shadowbolt he saw was bright red with a slicked back, white mane. Pretty swift though, he was out of sight before Silver could even get close.”
“I see…” Dash looked down to contemplate for a moment. “White with a grey mane, Fire Streak’s size… Giant fatty, dark green, short black mane… Red with slicked white mane…” she looked up. “None of the Shadowbolts we know, huh?”
“Yeah,” Soarin scratched his head. “Trust me, I’ve been listening carefully, but no report we’ve gotten so far matches Descent, Starry Skies, or Lightning Dust,” Soarin added. He turned and saw Storm looking at him quizzically. “Oh…” he chuckled as Storm looked between the two of them. “Right, you have no idea who they are.”
“Or Nightshade or Rapidfire,” Dash added. Soarin flinched hard and growled.
“Well… I haven’t ruled them out either…” Soarin grunted. “Nightshade… I hope she’s dead. Rapidfire? I hope he went down in the burning wreck of their compound and…” he stopped, looking up at Storm, who now looked even more confused. “You know what Storm?” Soarin grinned sheepishly. “You should probably join Dash when she explains all this to her squad…”
“Yeah, I think I will… I have no idea who or what you guys are talking about,” Storm said while shaking his head.
“Yeah, I think that would be a good idea,” Dash agreed with Soarin as she watched Storm’s bewilderment. Soarin turned back to Dash and nodded.
“So yeah, that’s what we got… just remember the most defining feature is the Shadowbolt uniform missing the mask… then the red goggles and headband. I have no idea what the change in the uniform is for, but…” Soarin trailed off and blinked as he looked at Dash. “Dash?”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes had widened and she was staring at something… behind Soarin?
“Soarin…?” Dash spoke up as she pointed. “Do you mean… like that?”
Soarin’s ears stood up as he heard a tapping sound against the window behind him. He spun around and his eyes widened.
“Yoohoo! Wonderfoals!”
Right outside the window…
A dark grey stallion with a messy, wild, light brown mane. He wore the Shadowbolt uniform without the mask and donned the red headband and tinted goggles.
He was tapping on the glass with his hoof while laughing… as if taunting them.
“Nice weather for a blimp ride! Isn’t it?” he added in a cheeky, snide, middle-toned voice before bursting out laughing.
“Spitfire!” Soarin yelled as he turned around, but he turned around just in time to see Spitfire airborne and shooting past him. Before Soarin could register anything else, a loud CRASH echoed out from behind him and the blimp cabin shook.
Spitfire had rammed her body right through the glass and tackled the Shadowbolt. The two were falling towards the pursuing photographers. Fleetfoot stepped up besides Soarin and the two stared out the broken window.
“HAS SHE LOST HER MIND?!” Fleetfoot exclaimed as she looked between Soarin and out towards Spitfire.
“You can ask her after we stop her!” Soarin said as he leapt out the window and dove after Spitfire. Fleetfoot looked back at the rest of the elites and recruits before grinding her teeth together.
“Air Mach, let’s go! Everypony else, stay in the blimp!” she ordered. “SHIT!” she cursed as she leapt out and flattened her body out to dive after Soarin. Air Mach following close behind.
Soarin was in hot pursuit, slowly closing in on Spitfire as she and the Shadowbolt tumbled downward while struggling against each other.
“Hey! You can’t take a joke?!” the Shadowbolt sneered and laughed as Spitfire growled and tried to get him in a choke hold. But every time she made a move, he shifted, preventing her from gaining the advantage.
“Damn!” Soarin cursed as he saw them nearing the confused photographers. The last thing he wanted to happen was to get innocent bystanders involved. He knew Spitfire didn’t want that either, but she was clearly not thinking straight. He pumped his wings hard, adding to his falling speed and quickly caught up. He had to pull Spitfire away before they hit the photographers!
Spitfire got an arm free and pulled it back, determined to give this new Shadowbolt a face full of hoof, but Soarin reached out and grabbed her hoof as he thrust his wings out, putting on the brakes.
“Ah!” Spitfire yelped as she was pulled free of the Shadowbolt.
“Toodles!” the Shadowbolt taunted as he was freed from Spitfire. He tucked his arms and legs into his body, contorting himself to be as small as possible… and fitting through a very small space in between the cloud of photographers who all yelped and flinched as the Shadowbolt shot between them.
“NO!” Spitfire yelled as she tried to rip free of Soarin. She had her eyes locked on the Shadowbolt below the photographers, but then… camera flashes. With Spitfire and Soarin so close, the cameras started going off rapidly, nearly blinding them. Spitfire shielded her eyes and squinted, looking down, but seeing… no sign of the Shadowbolt. “RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!” Spitfire roared out, causing all the photographers to back off.
“Spitfire! We have to get back to the blimp!” Soarin reluctantly shouted. He wanted to pursue the Shadowbolt as much as Spitfire did, but he was wary of the conditions. The last time Soarin recklessly chased a Shadowbolt, he ended up breaking a whole chunk of a building off with his magic and could’ve hurt somepony if Fleetfoot had not been there to manage the situation. With all the photographers around, it was unlikely they could chase without risking collateral injuries.
“NO, DAMMIT! NO!” Spitfire kept trying to rip free. Fleetfoot and Air Mach dropped down and grabbed hold of her as well, restraining her.
“Spitty! Calm down! Soarin’s right, there are too many ponies here, it’s too dangerous!” she tried to reason with her while glancing at Soarin. Spitfire stopped struggling and looked all around at the photographers, still looking for signs of the Shadowbolt, but he was long gone, nowhere to be seen.
“Uh… Guys?” Air Mach suddenly spoke up. “I think we should be more worried about…” he pointed away from them. “That…”
Soarin and Fleetfoot both looked in the direction he pointed.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me…”
A cyclone…
There was a cyclone approaching at an alarming speed.
And it just hit the blimp.
“WHOA!” Dash yelped as the blimp cabin suddenly lurched and everypony inside was thrown to the floor.
“What the hell is going on?!” Storm yelled out as the blimp kept tipping forward.
All those capable of it spread their wings and took flight… but the security guards and the unicorn staff weren’t so lucky. They yelped and grunted as they began skidding across the floor towards the front. A few of them were sliding right towards the shattered window.
“Catch them!” Point Dex yelled out to squad seven. Storm and Macho Savage both dove towards the window. Storm got there faster, knocking two of the unicorns aside before reaching his hoof out and grabbing one of the security guards before he could fall out. Savage dropped down and hooked his huge arms around two of the security guards.
“I got ya, brothers!” he yelled out as he kicked off the tipping floor and took them safely aside before they could fall out the window. The earth ponies and unicorns all grabbed hold of something on the side. Lead Runner and Point Dex zipped about, catching the duffle bags before they could fall out as well. They passed them off the earth ponies and unicorns before Dex turned to the rest of them.
“Squad!” he addressed squad seven. “We need to get this blimp back upright and stable!” he exclaimed before turning to Dash. “Recruits! Get out there and make sure the lead squad is alright!” he ordered.
Dash blinked, hesitating for a moment before taking a deep breath and turning to her friends. All of them except for Matteo looked flustered and confused.
“HEY!” Dash yelled at them. “You heard Captain Point Dex!” she got in each of their faces. “We gotta get out there and help! This is what we’ve trained for! Let’s go! NOW!” Squall, Twister, Matteo, and Star all took a moment, but gathered themselves and nodded. “GO!” Dash turned and dove out the open window, all four of her squadmates following close behind. “Arrow formation! On me!” Dash yelled as they cleared the window, all of them lining up in the appropriate spots, Star and Twister beside dash and Matteo and Squall on the edges.
Now free of the blimp, Dash surveyed the situation.
The blimp was still afloat, just spinning slowly and pointing downward. Squad seven would take care of that. But what caused it?
“There!” Dash pointed. “A cyclone?!” Dash exclaimed as she laid her eyes on it. Indeed a cyclone was tearing its way through the photographers. It was small, nowhere near big enough to be classified a tornado, but there was little to no wind today, so it had to be artificially created. Did the Shadowbolt create it? If he did, it wasn’t magic induced by the magic crystals, if he even had any. There was no pink hue in the spiraling winds.
There was no way a single pegasus could have created a cyclone strong enough to push around a flyer worth his or her wings without a long, steady build up… did the Shadowbolt have backup? He couldn’t have created it so fast, or on his own.
All those thoughts aside, Dash could see the lead squad Wonderbolts frantically flying around, being battered by the cyclone as they flew around, assisting the flailing photographers. Of course… the lead squad could easily counter the cyclone, but they were also obligated to make sure nopony got hurt.
The Shadowbolts were smart. They knew the priorities of the Wonderbolts. The cyclone was just strong enough to knock the ponies around and keep the Wonderbolts occupied, chances were, they were long gone by now. Since the lead squad was occupied, Dash saw what they had to do.
“Guys! We’ve gotta counter that cyclone!” she called back to them. “Let’s close in!”
They stayed in formation as Dash led them towards the small funnel. The wind became intense as they closed in.
“Circle up! We’ve gotta counter spin!” Dash ordered. They all complied, breaking out of the formation and circling up. “Go!” Dash yelled as soon as they were ready. The five of them began pumping their wings, turning together as they picked up speed. They slowly moved themselves towards the cyclone as they began to speed up faster and faster. “Keep it up!” Dash yelled, bracing herself against the heavy winds.
She checked each member as they worked against the gusts. Squall and Matteo were holding firm. Twister looked like he wasn’t even affected. Star, directly in front of Dash, was struggling to stay in place.
“Hang in there Star! Keep going!” Dash encouraged her as Star refused to let her small body be her downfall. Dash believed in her.
With five of them, not to mention three flyers with more than enough strength in their wings, they easily created a counter cyclone and moved it into the other.
As soon as the two funnels were upon each other, lots of loud POPS rang out as the gusts collided and began canceling each other out. The winds slowly died down, and eventually with a loud WHOOSH, the wind came to a dead stop.
“WHOA!” Soarin lurched as he felt the burst of wind. He held tight to two photographers, but relaxed his body when he realized the wind had stopped.
“It’s gone?” Fleetfoot spoke up as she looked around. Soarin looked about as well. The cyclone was gone.
“Hey! Look up there!” Air Mach yelled out triumphantly. Soarin and Fleetfoot looked up to see the recruit squad flying overhead.
“Hey guys! Cyclone down!” Dash yelled down to them. Soarin blinked in surprise and then smiled.
“Wow, quick thinking,” he said to himself in awe, and proud that Dash took control of the situation. She helped them out quite a bit. The cyclone was pretty weak, but they were in a sticky situation with the reporters being vulnerable to it. Soarin glanced over towards the blimp to see squad seven assisting the blimp as it turned back upright. He looked around at the photographers and not a single one had fallen to the ground. In fact, most of them held their own pretty well. Soarin and the rest of his squad only had to catch a few falling stragglers.
“That was weird…” Fleetfoot said as she hovered over to Soarin. “Is it just me… or was that the weakest cyclone I have ever felt?” she asked. Soarin looked around, seeing no sign of the Shadowbolt.
“It was strong enough to knock around the reporters…” Soarin pondered out loud. “I think it was a distraction,” he said as his eyes landed on Spitfire.
Spitfire was floating in the air a few meters away from them. She was staring straight down and her hooves were shaking. Soarin frowned as he examined her. Based on everything that had happened today and how irrationally Spitfire had just acted… she was not as mentally sound as she appeared to be.
“You guys okay?” Dash asked as she floated down to Soarin. “And… what the hell just happened?” she added.
“Wish I could tell you,” Soarin shook his head. “So many things just happened at once… most of which don’t make much sense at first glance… and…” Soarin sighed. “And it all happened in front of hundreds of photographers. Now this is all going to go public and—”
“I think we’re a-ok actually!” Air Mach suddenly dropped down besides Soarin. Soarin blinked and lifted an eyebrow at him.
“What makes you say that?” he asked.
“MY CAMERA!!!!!” one of the photographers suddenly wailed in despair. Soarin and Dash both looked to see one of the photographers looking at his camera in disbelief. It was completely smashed.
“WHAT?!”
“NO!!”
“THIS COST ME SO MANY BITS!”
The yelling came from all directions.
Every single camera… was broken.
“What?!” Soarin’s eyes widened.
“You can’t be serious…” Fleetfoot floated over to them. “So he didn’t hurt a single pony… but he broke every single camera?” Fleetfoot exclaimed, referring to the Shadowbolt. “I’m sorry but that’s a bit of a stretch!”
“I agree…” Soarin nodded. “Plus start a cyclone? Even a weak one all by himself? I don’t think he was here alone…” Soarin turned to Dash. The two just looked at each other in confusion. Nothing they knew seemed to match up.
Why were the Shadowbolts being so clean and precise? This one caused a ruckus, but prevented any means of being traced or identified, knocking out all the cameras and throw them into disarray. There had to be more than one, there was no way one pony could do all of that at once. Especially smashing every camera while leaving the photographers unscathed. They didn’t seem like the type to be so…discreet. At least not the Shadowbolts they knew. Soarin did recall Descent talking about how the Shadowbolts were before Nightshade was corrupted, how they stayed out of sight and rarely left a trace of their work. Perhaps they were engaging in these practices again… but the question remained…
Why?
“Let’s get back to the blimp while the media is in disarray here…” Soarin suggested as all the pegasi around them continued to mourn their broken cameras. “We’ll talk about it at the hotel later,” he added. Fleetfoot and Air Mach nodded before turning back and flying up towards the blimp. Dash and Soarin turned to Spitfire, who hadn’t moved from her spot.
“She’s… not okay, is she?” Dash said with a frown before turning to Soarin. Soarin shook his head.
“Go on up, I’ll be right behind you,” he said. Dash sighed and pumped her wings, heading back up while glancing back a few times.
Soarin hovered towards Spitfire.
“Spitfire?” he called her name as he approached. “Spitfire we should—”
“Why did you stop me?” she hissed as Soarin came close. He stopped in his path as her cold words hit him. “I almost had him!” she snapped while looking up at Soarin, glaring daggers towards him. Soarin wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He simply did what she would have done to him if he made a rash decision like that. He wanted to argue that, but arguing did not seem like the best idea with both where they were and with what her current state of mind was like.
“Spitfire, I did what I had to do to make sure nopony got hurt,” Spitfire pointed at him and opened her mouth to fire back, but Soarin cut her off. “You can yell at me later, let’s get to the hotel first,” he said. Spitfire kept glaring at him, but Soarin remained calm and firm, meeting her gaze without faltering.
“Fine…” she said harshly before pushing past him and flying up towards the blimp.
Soarin sighed as he followed behind her.
Things just went from complicated, to incomprehensible. At first the Shadowbolts were trying to sneak around. After being discovered a few times, one would think they’d take extra precautions to remain unseen. However, a Shadowbolt just flew right up to them and spit in their face before disappearing. The secretive assumption just got thrown out the window. Either the Shadowbolts were like them and had a few less than intelligent members, or his purpose was to blatantly make them paranoid… why would they do that? What was their motive?
To top it all off, the Wonderbolts had a show tomorrow. Soarin couldn’t begin to wonder how he’d be able to focus after this little run in.
Only one thing was for certain… Trying to get Spitfire to calm down was going to be fun tonight…
---To Be Continued---