//------------------------------// // Chapter 97: The Longest Leap of Faith // Story: Piercing the Heavens // by Calm Wind //------------------------------// MLP: FiM Piercing the Heavens By: Calm Wind Chapter 97: The Longest Leap of Faith Dash’s eyes were stuck wide open, her mouth slightly ajar as she stared directly at Spitfire. The office was drowned in a thick, painful silence as Spitfire slowly pulled her desk back towards her and plugged the P.A microphone back in, grabbing it with her hoof, but not pulling forward. She simply stared at it, gathering the words and the courage she would need to make such a difficult announcement to all the ponies waiting for her guidance. Silver turned around and stepped back towards Dash. His face was expressionless, but in a way that looked forced as if he himself didn’t want to show how hard this was for him to take. Dash looked towards him, as if looking for some sort of answer or reassurance that this wasn’t happening. The compound had become such an amazing home for her. She had only been there for a short time compared to most, but she had already made enough memories to form an attachment. She could only shudder at the thought of how hard this would be for the veterans. The compound had become such an integrated part of their lives. Leaving it was likely no different than tearing off an arm. Descent was already speaking to Starry, no doubt giving orders on how to gather up the Renegades, but not a single word he said registered in Dash’s brain. It was like the shock of what was happening was so intense that it shut off her senses, allowing no other sound to enter as she and the rest of the Wonderbolts in the room stared at Spitfire as she prepared to deliver the news. It was really happening. They were going to leave the compound behind. Dash felt a sudden tightness in her chest, her heart feeling heavy at the thought of how hard this would weigh on everypony. Not only the current Wonderbolts… but the former as well. She looked towards Blazetail and Flashwind, the former lead captain duo of the legendary Wonderbolt Gold Squad. They were just as shocked as the rest, dreading the struggle to come without the security of their former home… But then Dash perked up as Blazetail suddenly looked down, blinked, and then looked towards his wife. He whispered something to Flashwind. Her ears shot straight up from being against her head, looking at her husband before staring towards Spitfire. Both of them no longer looked shocked. Spitfire took a deep breath and pulled the microphone towards her… “Hold on,” Blazetail suddenly stepped forward and drew all the attention away from Spitfire. Silver looked over his shoulder, Descent stopped talking to Starry, and Spitfire’s hoof hovered over the P.A. button on her desk. Blazetail glanced back at Flashwind for a moment before focusing on Spitfire. “There might be an alternative.” As if the reality shock hadn’t already thrown everypony off their hooves. One word… ONE WORD was all it took to completely shatter the somber mood and lock their attention on Blazetail. ALTERNATIVE. Spitfire’s eyes were wide the moment the word left Blazetail’s lips. “Uh…” Spitfire tipped her head as he immediately snatched up her curiosity. “Excuse… me…?” “We may not have to abandon the compound,” Blazetail said with a nod. He didn’t have to look behind him to know that the collective reaction from everypony behind him was one of extreme interest. Nopony wanted to leave their home behind, so at the first mention of the smallest shred of hope was like a tidal wave crashing against them without warning. Dash frantically looked about the room. Fleetfoot, Air Mach, Silver, Fire, and Storm all shared her eagerness to hear what this apparent ‘alternative’ was. Descent and Starry simply stared at Blazetail, curious as to what he was going to suggest. Spitfire’s eyes narrowed and she stared at her former captain seriously, removing her hoof from above the P.A. button and pushing the microphone away. “I’m listening… but make it quick, we don’t have much time to spare,” she said as she propped her chin on her hooves. “Well, we…” Blazetail began but paused as he looked back at Descent. Descent lifted an eyebrow as Blazetail looked away from him and towards Flashwind. Flashwind stepped up next to Blazetail as she spoke up. “When we first joined the Renegades…” she began. “Blazetail and I decided to…” she also paused and looked at Descent. “Is there something on my face besides scars?” Descent growled as the two seemed to be nervous to speak with him there. Blazetail sighed. “Well, whatever, he’s going to know now,” he said as he looked back at Spitfire. “Shadowbolt records were salvaged from the wreckage of the flying fortress after it was destroyed half a year ago. The two of us decided to poke around them.” “WHAT?!” Descent’s ears stood up as he reacted to the explanation. “You snooped around our records?!” he growled as he stepped forward. Flashwind remained facing Spitfire, but Blazetail turned around and met Descent glare head on. “Oh come on, Descent…” he said with a scoff. “You used to be the rivals of our organization. Do you blame us for being curious?” “No…” Descent flattened his brow. “But when the hell did you sneak into my room? You two are really pushing my patience. I ought to rearrange your face for disrespecting my space!” Descent growled as he stepped forward. Blazetail stepped towards him as well and the two butted heads. “Spare me, son,” Blazetail growled right back as they forced their heads together. “It’s not our fault you don’t lock your door.” Spitfire loudly cleared her throat to remind them of their situation, but the two continued to growl and snarl at each other. Flashwind stepped into Spitfire’s vision to take over. “Anyway…” she began. “We came across some old records about the founding and history of the Shadowbolts, and how the original Shadowbolt, Raider, wanted the Shadowbolts to be everything the Wonderbolts were. Only… as mercenaries, free from the strict authority, able to use their skills and talents however they chose to…” she paused and turned around, glaring at her husband and Descent as they continued to push against each other. “Seriously, how old are you two?” “He started it!” the two replied in unison as they snarled at each other. “My point exactly,” Flashwind sighed and shook her head. Art by: Foxenawolf “As I was saying,” she turned back to Spitfire. “Raider wanted everything to be the same, absolutely everything, save for the style of administration. He was eager to stick it to the Wonderbolts, to be more successful than them by partaking in the very practices that got him discharged. His desire to mirror them included having his own compound, the Shadowbolt fortress. He not only paid for its construction using stolen bits from the Wonderbolts, but the design he submitted to the unmentioned architects was apparently identical to the Wonderbolt compound.” She stopped there. Spitfire and the rest all stared as if waiting for her to continue the story, but she didn’t. The room was silent save for the consistent growling of Blazetail and Descent. “Okay…” Spitfire rotated her hoof in front of her. “And…?” Flashwind smiled and chuckled. “Honey… IDENTICAL,” she repeated. Descent suddenly let up from Blazetail and blinked, turning his head sharply towards her. Spitfire tipped her head, still not understanding. “Yeah, I heard you say that so—” Spitfire’s eyes shot open. “Wait… are you… suggesting…” Spitfire’s jaw dropped as Blazetail walked up beside his wife and smiled. “Indeed, we are…” he nodded. “It’s highly possible… that the Wonderbolt compound is capable of flight.” A loud collective gasp quickly spread around the room amongst everypony. Dash blinked as she tried to picture what the two former captains were suggesting. It sounded ridiculous, but then again, she had not only seen, but had also been within the flying fortress in the past. She just never considered the possibility of the Wonderbolt compound being capable of the same thing. It was something that she only associated with the Shadowbolts and their endless surprises. “WHAT?!” Spitfire’s expression suddenly turned from shocked to puzzled. “Uh… I’m sorry, but… that sounds incredibly farfetched,” she sighed as Silver moved towards the old captains. “‘Highly possible’ implies that you’ve based this ‘alternative’ on conjecture… which is not something we can afford to place our faith in right now,” Silver huffed, feeling like his time was wasted listening to an idea that wasn’t solid. “Besides… how can you think such a thing is possible? Have you looked around the compound grounds? The last time and every time I’ve checked, the compound is firmly planted in the ground.” As much as Silver and Spitfire’s reactions seemed to suppress any sudden hopes the revelation had roused, Dash and the rest had to agree with them. While the thought was attractive, given what they were about to give up, it did seem a little ridiculous. Spitfire was ready to defend her stance on it as well. “How do we know that Raider didn’t just add the flight mechanisms to the design?” Spitfire asked while leaning back in her chair. “That or maybe one of their many leaders after him had the fortress modified? I read in Soarin’s report that the building of the fortress itself was arranged differently, who’s to say they didn’t remodel it at any point in time?” “Raider apparently brought the original compound blueprints to the builders,” Flashwind spoke up. “At least… that’s what the records say.” “I don’t recall seeing anything about this in our own records. Were the blueprints included in what you found?” Spitfire asked while smacking a hoof against her desk. The old captains both shook their heads. “No,” Blazetail admitted. “This is purely a theory.” “Theories are not something valid to base our decisions on,” Spitfire sighed while glaring. “Besides, like Silver said, the compound is firmly attached to the ground. Not only that, but if it really is able to fly, it definitely hasn’t done so for a very long time. The compound has undergone several remodeling and renovation projects over the years, adding new foundations, plumbing, electrical networking, and even underground passages. It was being renovated when I first joined up!” “It’s undergone two renovations during my career,” Silver added with a scoff. “Say it is able to fly, would it even work with the new foundations? Would it be able to lift off?” “Have you seen the size of those propellers on the flying fortress?” Blazetail cut in, frustrated with Spitfire and Silver and their lack of consideration. It was a shot in the dark for sure, but the only other option was to let everything be destroyed. “I bet with several of those propellers and the crazy amount of uplift required to keep the whole structure afloat… it could easily tear this old building right out of the earth. Aren’t you even the least bit curious?” “I am, but I suspect there is a reason you didn’t bring it up until now,” Spitfire looked at them sternly. “Do you really expect something that’s both incredibly old and has been stationary for quite some time to suddenly work? How to we even start it up? Where are the propellers? Did you even think about how long it would take for us to both find and fix it up until it’s in working condition?!” Spitfire seemed a bit miffed that her hopes got up only to be handed a ridiculous proposition. Off to the side, Fleetfoot sighed and her ears flopped down. So much for their little ray of hope. She wanted to remind Spitfire that they had Shadowbolts approaching and this argument had become a pointless quarrel, but she doubted she could cut in. “Um… excuse me…” Fleetfoot perked up and looked down at Rivet. He was holding a hoof forward and wincing as he looked directly at Spitfire, Silver, Blazetail, and Flashwind. “Ex…excuse me…” he said quietly again as he took a half step forward, but none of the four pegasi so much as glanced at him. “Um… guys? Excuse me…” he was clearly trying to get their attention. Fleetfoot looked between the group of arguing ponies and Rivet several times. She was curious what he had to say, and it seemed important. So… she got their attention for him. “HEY! GUYS!” Fleetfoot yelled at them, causing Rivet to flinch hard as all four of them looked towards him and Fleetfoot. She pointed a hoof down at Rivet. “Rivvey wants to say something,” she said calmly. Rivet stiffened for a moment as all eyes went to him, including the rest of the Wonderbolts, Descent, and Starry. Rivet looked around at all of them, his nerves slowly thawing as he realized he had been given his chance to speak. He swallowed, took a deep breath and stepped into the middle of the room. “Um… Actually…” he began nervously, but kept on going. “There’s… a second basement below the research and mechanics sector…” Rivet paused as he saw Spitfire’s eyes go wide. He slowly glanced about, everypony eagerly waiting for him to elaborate. “A second… basement… below the first…” Spitfire tipped her head to the side. She glanced at Blazetail and Flashwind, but Blazetail only shrugged as Spitfire’s eyes met his. This was new to them too. “Yeah, uh… I found it a while ago when I was testing our prototype x-ray goggles.” Rivet continued. “There’s a hatch that leads further down at the end of the first basement hallway, which explains the weird dead end after the last door on the right. It leads down into an enormous wide open area that I think spans the entire length of the compound, maybe even some of the courtyard and backyard. It’s pitch dark down there, but I poked around with a flashlight, it’s full of machinery. Some pieces are incredibly large. Gears, axles, chains, engine belts, I’ve never seen contraptions so large. But—” “Hold on a second…” Spitfire held her hoof out. “You never reported this to me?” she asked, lifting an eyebrow. Blazetail suddenly grunted. “Spitfire, does that really matter right now?” he asked with annoyance. Spitfire glared at him. “How were you here so long and never knew about—” “HEY!” Fleetfoot yelled out again, causing both Blazetail and Spitfire to look towards her. She pointed at Rivet again. “Really, guys? Let him talk!” Spitfire and Blazetail looked back at Rivet. “OW! OW!” Blazetail suddenly yelped as Flashwind grabbed his ear with her mouth and pulled him away from Spitfire, forcing him to the other side of her to separate the two. “Flash!” he grunted in embarrassment. “Dear, let the young stallion continue,” she said sternly as he scrunched his face and focused on Rivet. “So uh… yeah,” Rivet spoke up now that he had their attention again. “I didn’t report it because I wanted to find out what it was first. I figured it was some sort of engine or similar mechanism, but I never really figured out what the function was. Some of them have large hatches on the top, about eight to ten feet in diameter. I got one of them open and it looks like something is supposed to extend upward.” “Propellers?” Blazetail said to himself as he and Spitfire glanced at each other. “I’ve actually been tinkering with all of it for a few months on my free time…” Rivet continued. “Trying to see if I could get it running. A lot of the parts were incredibly worn and rusted. I’ve been using spare parts from my workshop to replace some of the old or broken bits. I’ve fixed up almost everything along the wall surrounding the whole area, but I have yet to venture towards the center of the room. I have working lights set up, but I haven’t seen all of it yet.” Spitfire held up a hoof before he could continue. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, rewind…” she stopped him. “Tinkering? Fixed up a lot of it?” she turned and looked at Blazetail and Flashwind. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this, but if it were any other pony besides Rivet telling me this, I wouldn’t be so curious to try. If the Shadowbolt records and your theories are true… Could it possibly be… that this old building really can fly?” “Won’t know unless we try something,” Blazetail shrugged. Spitfire stepped around her desk, made her way past everypony, and stopped directly in front of Rivet. He stared at her with wide eyes as she bent her neck down to look him directly in the eyes. “Rivet… I trust you more than ANYPONY else when it comes to machinery… give me your honest assessment. With the amount that you’ve fixed… would you say it’s in good enough condition to work?” All the ponies locked their eyes back on Rivet. It was still farfetched, but the hope was rekindled. If the compound really could fly… it could be their answer to saving their home. Rivet was aware, but he was also aware of what was on the line. He stepped back for a moment and looked down as if in deep thought. “There’s still a significant amount of the machinery I have yet to see, assuming there’s more in the center… the only answer I can give you is… maybe,” he looked up and saw the distraught faces. They all knew as soon as he said that, Spitfire was going to be pushed to abandon the idea, but Rivet couldn’t afford to stretch his opinion. Lives were on the line. “If I had a moment, and some help to look at the rest of it and make an assessment, we could go from there… but I still don’t know how to start it.” Spitfire quickly turned and looked towards Descent as the rest kept their eyes on her, wondering what was currently going through her head. “Descent,” she pointed. “What was the arrangement of the equipment in the flying fortress?” she asked suddenly. Descent reclined his head backwards while furrowing his brow. “Don’t look at me, I don’t know a damn thing about machines,” he cringed in disgust. Starry suddenly pushed him aside and stepped forward, walking up to Spitfire while looking down at Rivet. “The middle,” Starry spoke directly to Rivet. “You said you’ve never been in the center of the room, correct?” she asked. Rivet just stared at her for a moment before nodding quickly. “It dips down in the center and my work lights don’t reach very far. I was afraid to go down there without somepony with me in case I got stuck or something. Safety precaution,” Rivet replied, and then flinched as Starry stepped forward and put a hoof on his shoulder. “In the flying fortress engine room, there was a central piece that I always saw the engineers huddle around when they started it up. Hell if I know how it works, but that has to be where it’s activated.” As soon as Starry gave her little tidbit of information, all eyes went to Spitfire again. She put her head down, turned, and walked back towards her desk. “This is… urgh, this is not smart, but I can’t ignore it… a shot in the dark…” she mumbled. Silver cleared his throat and moved up beside her. “If it can save the compound, it’s worth a shot, but we have to consider the chance we’re taking,” he shared his thoughts. Spitfire turned back and looked towards Rivet. “This is the longest leap of faith… but… it’s not completely impossible…” she took a deep breath and tipped her head down again for a moment before looking up sharply with determination in her eyes as she turned to Descent and the former captains. “Okay… here is what I propose,” she began as everypony looked towards her eagerly. “We’ve already spent more time than we needed with this conversation. Based on Descent’s scouting report, I’d say we have maybe twenty-five to thirty-ish minutes until the Shadowbolts arrive. I don’t want the defenseless or injured here while we attempt this, so I say we evacuate them… however, with the enemy so close, we risk putting them in danger by moving them out over the courtyard lawn. I say we shift the evacuation through the tunnels that lead to Canterlot Castle…” she paused and turned to Rivet. “Those who are still able to fight will stay behind… and try to buy Rivet some time.” She was going through with it. Dash couldn’t believe it, but she was just as happy to know... that they might have a chance, even if it’s just a slim chance, to save the compound. The rest shared her feelings, as they all paid close attention for their incoming orders. “Are you sure that’s wise?” Descent spoke up. “You understand that this puts a large majority of our strongest in harm’s way. If we take this chance and fail, which I feel is highly likely, we’ll all be caught in the fortress’ cannon fire.” He brought up a very good point. There was a heavy risk involved, but Spitfire was already two thoughts ahead of him. “I completely agree. That’s why I feel we should still have an evacuation plan. If the situation quickly turns hopeless, we flee… don’t let pride get in the way, a single life lost is much more tragic than the destruction of the compound…” she turned to Rivet and approached him again, placing both of her hooves on his shoulders and looking at him sternly. “Rivet, I realize I’m asking a hell of a lot from you here. It’s a big risk, and survival is not guaranteed. We won’t force you.” Rivet stared right into Spitfire’s eyes as she spoke, her words swirling in circles in his head. When he didn’t answer, Spitfire nodded, understanding his hesitation. “I still want to at least try, we can assemble a team, if you can give them some basic instructions and—” “I’ll do it,” Rivet cut her off with a nod. “Are… you sure?” Spitfire wanted to make sure he wasn’t making any rash decisions. She was responsible for him as well. “So much of my life’s work is here in my workshop, I don’t have time to move it. If I have a chance to save it all, I’ll take it and…” he paused. “And this place has been great to me. I’ll give it a shot.” Spitfire smiled and gave him a soft pat on the shoulder. “Thank you Rivet,” she said with a clear sign of appreciation in her voice. “I’m going to need some help though. I’m not expecting my unicorn assistants to stick around,” Rivet wasted no time in getting down to business. “I agree,” Spitfire nodded. If there was a need to escape, wings would be helpful. “Actually, I know exactly who to send down there with you,” she smiled as she turned to Storm. “Storm, I want you to gather up your squad. Point Dex and Lead Runner are perfect for this. They have great knowledge of mechanics as well.” “WHAT?!” Descent reacted as he quickly stepped over to Spitfire, but she didn’t look at him. “You and Macho Savage can offer support as well. Again, this is a high risk situation—” “HOLD ON A SECOND!” Descent growled as he placed himself between Spitfire and Storm. “I’m not letting you send my son on such a risky task!” he yelled as everypony looked on, Starry Skies still trying to recognize her leader in such rare form. “If you’d let me finish my orders Descent…” Spitfire flattened her brow. “You’d know I’m giving him a choice in the matter.” “I’ll go,” Storm spoke up as he walked up beside his father. Descent’s eyes widened as he turned to look at Storm. Storm looked him right in the eye and nodded. “This place has been the best home I’ve ever known. If we can save it, I’m going to try,” he stated adamantly. Descent growled, ready to protest, but Storm didn’t let him. “Dad, this is my choice. I’m standing by it.” Descent ceased growling and looked at the determination in his son’s eyes. Who was he to deny his full-grown son freedom of choice? He said nothing, only turning his head away and facing Spitfire again. Storm could tell that he was worried though, and that was even more motivation for him to help this plan work. Before anypony else could speak, Fire Streak stepped up as well. “Squad Three will assist as well!” he spoke out. “The core function of our squad is coordination. I’m sure we’ll be able to assist Rivet.” “I’ll go,” Starry Skies spoke up, walking over to Rivet. “If the room is really identical to the fortress’ engine room layout, I can get him where he needs to go quickly.” Spitfire smiled as the plan took shape. It was a risky longshot, but the more they had working on it, the better their chances of success. She was about to give the final word, but before she could. “I’ll take the lead,” Fleetfoot stood up from the couch and hopped down beside Rivet. “If Rivet’s going down there, I’m making sure he gets out alive,” she rapped a hoof against her chest. Spitfire’s eyes widened and she quickly shook her head. “No,” she looked sternly at Fleetfoot. “You are a member of the lead squad. We’re going to need your help to buy time. I don’t want to put you at risk.” “OH, SHUT UP!” she snapped while getting into Spitfire’s face. “So you’re willing to let Fire go down there with his squad, but not me? Forget it, Spitty, they need somepony to lead them down there. If you’re going to put some of our best at risk, I’m going with them to make sure they survive!” she glared directly into Spitfire’s eyes, not backing down for a moment despite the disapproving glare she was being given. “You’ll still have Air Mach out there with you anyway. That might not be as reassuring, but I’m not letting them go down there without me.” “That’s extra harsh…” Air Mach scratched his head off to the side. “Fleet… I…” Spitfire started to counter but stopped and sighed. “Very well…” “WE’RE GOING TOO!” a voice turned all of their attention to the door as it swung open, revealing Shine Struck and all of Squad Zero behind her. Spitfire blinked as Shine barged right in and stood before her. “Nice to know my office is always being eavesdropped on…” Spitfire growled as she shot a glance at Dash. Dash flinched and grinned sheepishly, having been guilty of doing just that more than once. “Are you guys even in any condition to be active?” Spitfire quickly replied, while watching Calm, Playbitz, and Swift enter the room shakily. “Please…” Shine asked, dodging the question aimed at their current state. “Let us help Rivet. We’ve got to redeem ourselves,” she pleaded as Silver moved up beside Spitfire. “Shine, there are other ways to redeem yourself,” he said calmly. “Putting yourself into an incredibly risky situation when you’re not at full strength is a recipe for disaster, not redemption.” “Rivet is our friend,” Calm Wind spoke up before Shine could answer. “If he’s being put in danger… then we’re going with him, whether you like it or not,” he said defiantly towards Silver and Spitfire, Swift and Playbitz both nodding in agreement. Silver turned his attention to Spitfire, lifting his brow in a manner that suggested it was her choice to make. Spitfire rolled her eyes, but realized that after Fleetfoot’s adamant display, nopony was going to take no for an answer. She smiled as she turned to Rivet. “Well Rivet, looks like you’ve got yourself a whole team. Best make good use of it…” she turned away, stopping as Descent cleared his throat and pointed at the clock. Spitfire took note that they had spent ten minutes already. She nodded, acknowledging Descent before turning towards the rest of them. “LISTEN TO ME… VERY CAREFULLY,” she emphasized every single word. “I want you all to promise me… that at the first sign of it being a lost cause… you all get the hell out of there and get to safety. Nopony dies today, got it?” she looked around, receiving nods from all taking part in Rivet’s attempt to save the compound. “Good.” “Now quickly,” Descent took over. “Time is short, what’s the plan to stall the Shadowbolts?” Descent implied that he was onboard with the current situation, saving Spitfire both the time and the energy towards convincing him. “With our current numbers, can we afford to divide our forces any more than we already have?” Spitfire asked. “Most of those still in fighting shape are elites, so I’m not worried about us holding our own for a short time,” she turned to Blazetail as he walked up to them. “If we’re looking to buy time, a small, surprise attack might be enough to startle them, at least for a few moments,” he suggested. “Have the Renegade Shadowbolts fly out right now and take up positions in the abandoned buildings outside the compound grounds. The old and new Wonderbolts can stay out in front, drawing their attention. We can attack from both sides.” “That’s not much,” Descent nodded in agreement as he looked at Spitfire. “But we might be able to delay the fortress from firing for at least a few minutes, and from what I gather, that could make all the difference. I’ll have Lightning Dust lead the surprise attack. If I’m not out front with you all, they might get suspicious.” “Then that’s it!” Spitfire stomped her hoof as she turned to the rest. “Let’s all get moving! Descent, Blazetail, gather up your forces. Silver! Head down and start organizing ponies to move the injured and then gather the rest of our forces in the lobby! Let’s move! GO!” Dash glanced back and forth as everypony started moving in the office. She felt like just a bystander throughout the whole meeting that she technically wasn’t even supposed to be in, and on top of it, everypony had been given a task… except for her. She thought about asking Spitfire, but she was already heading towards her desk to use the P.A. system and make the announcement. So she looked to the next best place. “Silver!” Dash called before Silver could leave, he stopped and looked towards her, his pain medication clearly kicked in because he was moving normally. “What? Make it quick,” he said as he turned towards her. “What should I do?” she asked. Silver blinked and looked back at Spitfire for a moment. “Should I gather my squad and get ready to fight?” she pressed. “No,” Silver turned back to her and shook his head. “I want you to gather your squad and meet me in the lobby. The remaining recruits are going to help evacuate the injured.” “Wait, WHAT?!” Dash stared at him in disbelief. “But what about—” “Dash, we DON’T have time to argue this. This is a dangerous operation, and everypony has to play their part! Spitfire has put me in charge of organizing the evacuation, and I need to do it fast so I can join them outside! Get your squad, and meet me in the lobby for instructions! Need I remind you… that among those that need to be evacuated are Princess Luna, one of your squadmates, and SOARIN!” he made sure to put extra emphasis on Soarin’s name and it had the desired effect. Dash gritted her teeth as she looked around the room at the ponies filing out. She watched Fleetfoot leave… She watched squad zero leave… She watched Fire Streak leave, and she watched Storm Front leave. All of them were ponies she had come to know and care about in some shape or form and she wanted to help them… but Silver was right, as usual. Soarin, Squall, and Princess Luna needed to be evacuated along with the rest. She would play her part. “SILVER! GET TO IT!” Spitfire yelled as from her desk while holding the P.A. microphone with a grip to rival a vice. Silver nodded before glancing at Dash. “That goes for you too,” he tapped her chest before turning and quickly leaving. Dash took one last look at Spitfire before following right behind Silver. The longest leap of faith… but it if it worked… “ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL…” Dash broke away from Silver as they touched to the ground floor, making her way towards the barracks as Spitfire’s voice blared over the loudspeaker. She began explaining the long, unexpected plan to the rest of the compound as Dash pushed her way through the doors to the barracks hallway. She had no doubt that Foxtrot was a little confused, so the sooner she got to them and gave them their orders the better. She got to her barracks and was through the door the moment Spitfire finished her explanation. Matteo and Little Star both turned their heads from the P.A. speaker to Dash. Squall was lying on his bed, not really paying attention due to his fatigue. Twister, who had apparently returned while she was away, was standing on the ceiling. “Did you guys get all that?!” Dash yelled as she skidded to a halt in front of them. Star threw her hooves out in confusion. “Uhh… we’re leaving the compound but we’re not?! I don’t get it!” she asked frantically. Dash quickly shook her head. “Short version: The compound is still likely screwed, but there’s a slight chance it won’t be. In the event of it being screwed, we have to make sure all the injured are evacuated and then leave the premises ourselves!” “What?!” Matteo’s eyes widened as he turned and looked towards his space. Specifically, he was looking towards all of his family wooden carvings, he was about to turn and move, but Dash zipped around and got in front of him. “Matty, forget it! We don’t have time!” she ordered, realizing what was on his mind. “They couldn’t have given us more warning?!” Matteo growled, clearly protective of his personal belongings. Dash looked over her shoulder at all of the things Matteo had set out that he clearly held dear. Dash glanced over at her space at her floor locker, which held her cherished photo of her and Soarin and her signed copy of the first Daring Do book. No doubt the others had things valuable to them that had to be left behind, but what was more important right now? “This is sudden for all of us, Matty… a few lost personal belongings is nothing compared to being blown to smithereens… the Shadowbolt fortress is on its way back, and if we want to ensure our safety and the safety of our fellow Wonderbolts… we have to leave, NOW!” “Grr…” Matteo grunted as he looked towards his space again. Dash waited patiently for him to turn away and move towards the door. “I’m sorry…” Dash said quietly, knowing how much Matteo cherished his culture. Leaving behind what reminded him of his family was no doubt hard for him, but even he understood the situation. She followed behind him with Twister galloping across the ceiling towards the door. “Wait!” Star suddenly yelled. Dash and Matteo both came to an abrupt halt. Twister tripped and fell, bouncing off the ceiling and landing spread eagle on Matteo’s back. Dash turned and looked as Matteo pulled Twister off his back, let him go, and watched as he fell back up towards the ceiling. Dash’s eyes widened as Star pointed to Squall who was struggling to move out of his bed. She had completely forgotten about Squall’s current state. “Star!” Dash quickly pointed. “I’m putting you in charge of getting Squall to safety! When you get to the lobby, follow everypony into the east hallway, they’re taking an underground passage to Canterlot Castle!” Dash explained. Star tipped her head to the side, never having known of this passage until now. “Trust me, Dash nodded, just follow everypony else!” she reassured her. Star gulped and nodded, before turning to Squall and helping him slowly get out of his bed. “Come on, Squall! We gotta move!” Star encouraged as her rolled over. “I know… I’m trying!” Squall grumbled as he winced and cringed. With Star taking care of him, Dash turned back to Matteo as she hovered up and forcefully pulled Twister off the ceiling. “You two, come with me, Silver is giving out instructions to all the recruit squads in the lobby! Let’s go!” The three of them made haste into the barracks hallway as Star slowly followed behind with Squall in tow. The lobby was once again a mess of ponies moving about, but this time they were all moving in one direction, the east hallway towards the underground passage. The only ponies not moving were the remaining elites and Wonderbolt Renegades that were waiting to fly out and make their stand against the fortress. Lightning Dust had already taken the Shadowbolt Renegades out into position outside the compound walls, leaving Descent behind with the Wonderbolts to prevent speculation of their surprise attack. Descent waited patiently as Spitfire spoke to her detachment that was heading down to the basement with Rivet. Rivet was already, donning his multi-purpose working goggles and carrying a saddlebag full of miscellaneous tools and supplies. Fleetfoot, Starry Skies, and squads three, seven, and zero were all prepped and ready to go. Squad three was still without Surprise, but Point Dex had returned to squad seven. They needed him to help Rivet anyway, so he agreed to go despite still being a bit shaken. “Remember…” Spitfire pointed at all of them. “Above all else, if it’s not working, get out of there AS FAST as you can. Survival is the top priority.” “Yes ma’am!” all but Starry replied. “Be careful Storm…” Descent gave Storm a pat on the shoulder. “Now go.” “Good luck, Dad!” Storm put his goggles down as he turned and joined his squad. Descent simply gave a nod to Starry as she turned as well. “This way!” Rivet called out as he quickly began moving down the west hallway towards the basement. Fleetfoot turned to follow with the rest, but before she could take a single step, Spitfire reached out and caught her by the arm. “Fleet… wait…” she said, her voice going completely soft from its hard commanding tone. “Yeah?” Fleetfoot asked, tipping her goggles up and looking curiously into the concerned eyes of her friend. She flinched in surprise as Spitfire reached forward and pulled her into a hug. “Spitty?” Fleetfoot said in surprise as Spitfire gave her a squeeze. “Promise me…” Spitfire began, the concerned tone in her voice sending a wave of comfort through Fleetfoot, allowing her to relax in Spitfire’s embrace. “That you won’t take any unnecessary risks. I mean it, if things look at all hopeless, in ANY way… I want all of you out of there. You’re in command down there, so I trust you’ll do just that. And… please do… I don’t want to lose a best friend.” “Aw… Spitty…” Fleetfoot hugged her back. “Either way, I’m coming back. I promise,” she gave Spitfire a smile as they broke apart. “Gotta fly!” she winked as she turned and took off, gliding after Rivet and his group. Spitfire watched Fleetfoot leave until she blended in with the moving group, before turning to survey the rest of the Wonderbolts. She turned just in time to see Silver sending the recruits off to help with the evacuation. She spotted Dash immediately moving towards the east hallway with Matteo and Twister in tow, no doubt to go to the infirmary. Spitfire felt at ease, knowing that Dash would definitely help Soarin first. That scratched another fear off of her list. “Captain lady, the elites are ready to go!” Air Mach spoke up, drawing her attention towards him and squad two. Unfortunately, Blaze was still absent, being evacuated with the injured due to her wound across the chest. Spitfire had no doubt she was being dragged kicking and screaming because of High Winds being put in danger without her, but they couldn’t afford to keep an eye on her while also fending off Shadowbolts. It was already a stretch that she let squad zero and Point Dex go with Rivet, she wasn’t going to put any more injured at risk. “Are you ready to go?” Spitfire asked Air Mach. He cracked a smile and pointed directly upward. “Is that even a question?! The great Animak is always—” “That’s what I like to hear,” Spitfire cut him off, much to his dismay. “The way you were acting in the meeting, I was afraid you lost your gusto.” “Me?! NEVER!” Air Mach pounded his chest as he removed his glasses and replaced them with his custom goggles of the same shape and style. “Good, because we’re gonna need all the confidence we can get…” she looked towards Silver, who was standing attention with High Winds and Wave Chill beside him. “All set, Silver?” “As set as I can be,” Silver acknowledged as Spitfire looked over his shoulder towards the rest of the able elites lined up behind them. She stole a quick glance at Wave Chill, who gave her a nod and a smile. She smiled back, before looking towards Descent as he finalized the Renegade preparations with Blazetail and Flashwind. All the retired elites were standing ready, the rest of the retired Wonderbolts waiting eagerly behind them. Spitfire’s attention shifted as one of the lobby doors flew open and Descent’s scout, Astral, burst into the lobby. He slowly folded his wings as he walked towards Descent, but one of his wing braces didn’t cooperate with him. He paused, glaring at his left wing and forcing it outward a few times before the brace clicked and let him fold it down to his side. As curious as Spitfire was yet again about this ‘scout’ of Descent’s, it would have to wait, because he was there to report. “The fortress is within a mile of the compound, still approaching from the south,” Astral said to Descent. Descent and Spitfire both looked outside, and indeed, they could see something large slowly approaching in the distance. “Thanks Astral,” Descent nodded as Astral looked over his shoulder. “Should I try to make it back out and join Lightning Dust?” he asked. Spitfire’s ears stood up. If Descent flat out told this… clearly mostly disabled pony to go out and join the fight, she was going to have a word with him. Descent looked out the window, and to Spitfire’s relief, he shook his head. “At this rate, they’ll definitely notice you if you try to make it back,” Descent began. “Go lend a hoof with the evacuations,” the manner he responded suggested he would have said yes otherwise. “Will do,” Astral nodded as he turned and started walking. He stopped as he caught Spitfire staring at him, noticing she was staring directly at his wing braces. He rolled his eyes and kept walking, Spitfire watching him as he moved into the east hallway. “Spitfire,” Descent called to her, drawing her attention back to the task at hoof. “We’re all set and their nearly upon us, we should get out there,” he suggested. Spitfire glanced out the doors towards the incoming fortress and gave a nod. “Let’s do this,” she turned and took a deep breath, smirking suddenly as she glanced towards Blazetail and Flashwind. “Heh, this may be the last time I ever get to do this… do you guys remember the launch cadence?” she asked. The two old captains blinked as they turned towards her, looking at her as if she was crazy. “Honey…” Flashwind chuckled. “We’re the ones that perfected it,” she said with a wink. “Giving it a go? I’m sure the rest here would get a kick out of it,” Blazetail smirked. “Then let’s do it,” Spitfire said as she turned and faced them all. Descent was already up and moving towards the hangar window, but he stopped and turned when he realized nopony was following him. “What the hell are you all waiting fo—” “ALL SQUADS READY?!” Spitfire yelled, cutting off Descent. All the Wonderbolts, current and Renegade alike all fell in line, all reaching up and pushing their goggles down. “AYE!” They all replied in unison. “ALL PONIES SET?!” Spitfire continued. “AYE!” the Wonderbolts replied while all opening their wings causing a loud FLAP noise to echo around the lobby. Spitfire stole a brief glance at Blazetail and Flashwind, who both gave a nod in return. “WONDERBOLTS! GO!!!!!” Spitfire yelled out as she, Air Mach, Blazetail, and Flashwind all took off. “HOO-RAH!” the rest yelled as they all broke into a canter, taking off row by row while staying in formation. Descent shifted aside as the Wonderbolts, both young and old, shot past him in an organized manner, moving out to meet the Shadowbolts all together as a single unit. Descent blinked as he watched them clear the hangar window and scoffed while shaking his head. “What a bunch of showoffs…” he said to himself as he followed behind, but even he had to admit it looked pretty impressive. “Scuse me! Pardon me! Coming through!” Dash called out as she pushed her way into the infirmary. She felt like a salmon swimming upstream as she made her way through the sea of ponies, specifically the mass exodus of the injured Renegades. Only she and Twister had made it through initially, Matteo had gotten stuck for a moment outside, trying to squeeze his giant bulk through the moving crowd and through the door, but he would catch up shortly. Once they were in the infirmary, Dash and Twister lifted up and glided over the crowd of ponies. Dash locked on target, spotting Luna and Bliss huddled around Soarin. Just as Spitfire had suspected, Dash’s top priority was to get Soarin to safety. But the moment she spotted Bliss and Luna… she knew something was wrong because Soarin was still in bed, and they were examining him curiously. “Hey!” she called as she approached, causing Bliss to look up at her. “What’s the big deal?! We gotta get Soarin out of here! NOW!” Dash yelled in frustration as she landed right beside them. “Seriously, what’s going on?!” “I don’t know!” Bliss quickly answered with a worried tone in her voice that alarmed Dash. “We can't move him!” she explained as Matteo finally made it through and landed behind Dash, beside Twister. “What?!” Dash exclaimed as she looked past Bliss. Luna was standing over Soarin’s bed, her magic alight in her horn. She was trying to move Soarin with telekinesis, but as her magic aura surrounded him, Soarin’s horn came to life with a bright yellow glow, surrounding him in a yellow aura that knocked Luna’s away. Luna growled and shook her head. “It’s no use! Every time we try to move him, his magic resists ours!” Luna looked towards Dash with worry. “Confound it!” Matteo suddenly growled from behind them, stepping up and pushing past Dash, Bliss, and Luna. “Ponies and their magic!” he reached towards Soarin. “Did you not try to simply move him yourselves?!” “WAIT!” Luna called out, but Matteo already grabbed Soarin’s arm. An intense yellow aura surrounded Soarin’s horn and lashed out, striking Matteo in the chest. Matteo’s massive body was propelled backwards, flying through the air. Dash, Bliss, and Luna all stepped aside, but Twister sat completely still. Matteo landed back-first, right on top of him, causing Twister to release a long drawn out whoopee cushion cheer. Bliss stepped over to Matteo and glared down at his face as he slowly rolled upright. “You think we didn’t try that already?!” she said to him with a flat look. “And of course…” Luna growled while looking all around the room. “OF COURSE!” she stomped a hoof. “Discord shows up to ‘CHECK’ on us… and then the moment we could use him, he’s nowhere to be found!” Luna’s eyes suddenly widened as she felt a tug on her mane. She looked down to see Twister smiling up at her with her mane wrapped around his face and his pupils wide and starry. “You have a pretty mane…” he said with a giggle before Dash grabbed him and growled in his face. “TWISTER I SWEAR… ugh… forget it…” she let go of him as his eyes spun in circles. She looked towards Soarin and bit her bottom lip, her mind racing as she thought about what to do next. If it were the blue magic reacting, she wouldn’t second guess reaching forward and doing something about it herself… but the yellow magic never reacted to her. After what happened to Matteo, she doubted it was a good idea to try. She looked towards the entrance, where the last of the injured Renegades made it out, leaving Soarin as the last to be moved. “What are we gonna do?!” Silver looked to his left and right as he and the rest of the Wonderbolts came to a halt about fifty yards from the compound. There was a clear sign of fear among them, but he didn’t blame any of them. They were out, facing down an enemy much more powerful than them… with the intention of buying time. There was no victory in their scenario… at least not a plausible one. As good as it was to hear that they may have a slight chance to save the compound, Silver felt it was the most farfetched thing he had ever heard in his life. They had to view it as if they were out there to buy time for the injured… not for Rivet. Silver just hoped that Fleetfoot would be smart enough to pull all of them out of there in time. Losing a lead squad Wonderbolt, a lead Renegade, two elite squads, their experimental special force, and their head engineer on top of it would be a devastating blow they wouldn't need on top of the compound being destroyed. He only hoped that Fleetfoot carried the same concerns. “Hold steady!” Spitfire called out as the fortress drew within a quarter mile of them. The Shadowbolts could now be seen flying along slowly with it. The fortress did not have its cannons activated, suggesting they were going to roll up and immediately begin charging the main cannon. “Wait for Lightning Dust to move!” Spitfire ordered as she and Descent carefully watched the surrounding area outside the compound, making quick glances at the fortress to keep tabs on it. Something was bothering Silver. The ten commanders were clearly out in front with the fortress… but… their numbers aside from them looked… small compared to what he had seen before. “There they go!” Descent exclaimed as Lightning Dust and the Shadowbolt Renegades emerged from beyond the compound walls. “Time to go!” he yelled to Spitfire. Silver was paying attention, but… if the rest of the Shadowbolts weren’t all out there… then… “Oh no!” Silver suddenly yelled, catching all of their attention right before Spitfire gave the order to advance. “Silver?” Spitfire looked towards him. But before anything else could be said… Screams started erupting from the compound. All of the Wonderbolts looked back in horror as pink flashes started appearing from the windows. “WHAT?!” Spitfire exclaimed as her eyes went wide. “Short range teleporting!” Descent shouted in disbelief. A Wonderbolt security guard rushed out the front door. “SHADOWBOLTS IN THE COMPOUND!” he yelled right before a pink beam of magic shot through the door and struck him in the back, knocking him out. Descent and spitfire looked at each other quickly. “BLAST IT! I’M A FOOL!” Descent roared as he grabbed his mane and gave it a hard, annoyed tug. “I didn’t even CONSIDER their short range teleporting! They must be hopping in directly from their fortress!” “We only have recruits inside the base!” Wave Chill yelled towards Spitfire. “They’re defenseless in there!” he called out as Spitfire’s mind raced on what to do. Their whole plan had just shattered before it even began. “WE’LL GO BACK!” Blazetail suddenly yelled. “STICK TO THE PLAN OUT HERE! WE’LL GET EVERYPONY OUT!” he yelled and turned. “BLAZETAIL!” Descent called out. “WAIT!” he tried to stop him. “EX-WONDERBOLTS! TURN AROUND! GO! GO!” Blazetail ordered. Without a second thought, all of the Wonderbolt Renegades had turned around and were heading back into the compound, leaving them with roughly half the numbers. “That IDIOT!” Descent growled as he watched them leave. “The Wonderbolts are not trained to fight against the magic!” “Hey!” Spitfire rushed over to him. “We’re the Wonderbolt elites! We may not be trained to handle the Shadowbolts like you are… but we do learn from our mistakes! We have no time to argue, Lightning Dust is almost upon them!” Spitfire was clearly resisting the urge to turn around and help, but if they could salvage any of the plan… she would. That, and she trusted Blazetail and Flashwind to protect everypony back inside the compound. “There’s no time to second guess or think it over! Let’s buy them all the time we can give!” “We have to move NOW!” Silver yelled as he inched forward and looked back at Spitfire. She and Descent turned and glared towards the fortress. “You heard Silver! LET’S GO!” she ordered… and the Wonderbolts launched towards the Shadowbolts. Their slim plan was now even slimmer… but their hope was still alive. It was likely that Rivet and his team were now being hindered by Shadowbolts as well… and she trusted Fleetfoot to get them out of there. Her thin hopes of saving the compound were now dashed. Now it all came down to survival. Silver glanced at Spitfire as they charged in. There was a clear sign of uncertainty in her eyes. With this new development, he couldn’t help but feel the same… Uncertain if their plan had any chance of success now. “WHOA! WATCH OUT!” Twister suddenly yelled from beside Dash. She was about to turn and berate him for not being serious again, but she yelped as he jumped in front and a blast of pink energy struck him in the shoulder, glancing off and veering away, exploding against the ceiling. “EEEEYAI!” Twister yelped as the ricocheted magic blast spun him around and tossed him to the floor. “WHAT THE—?!” Matteo looked up, Luna and Bliss looking around him. Four Shadowbolts… each with a single pink crystal orbiting them. They were standing near the entrance of the infirmary and sneering towards them. “SHADOWBOLTS?! IN THE COMPOUND?!” Luna exclaimed with her eyes wide. The Shadowbolts held their hooves forward, the crystals glowing as a buildup of pink magic surrounded their hooves. “NO!” Luna yelled as she glanced back at Soarin. She stepped forward and poured her magic into her horn. A flat shield expanded forth, widening in front of them as the Shadowbolts fired pink blasts towards them. Luna’s shield easily blocked them, but she winced and grunted as each one struck. “Twister!!” Dash yelled as she crouched down to examine him on the ground. The moment she reached for him, he turned over, had a bushy moustache and a milk jug in his hoof and he took a large swig of it, leaving a milk moustache. “Ey, I’m alright! Cause I drink my milk!” he said with a wink. “Got milk?!” he yelled before pouring the entire contents over his head. Dash flattened her brow and quickly hoisted him back up, his suit and face completely dry and without stache once he was back on his hooves. The two of them, Bliss, and Matteo all flinched as the pink blasts of magic pounded against Luna’s shield. “AH!” Luna yelped as she crouched down. Her horn aura was flickering as the shield slowly grew thinner. “Luna?!” Bliss quickly grabbed her arm and tried to support her. “We are still weak! We cannot hold this for long!” she exclaimed. Matteo looked back at her, and then glared towards the Shadowbolts. “Then we take the fight to them! Drop the shield!” he ordered as he spread his large wings. “Matty! Wait!” Dash called to him, but he didn’t listen. “Follow RIGHT behind me, you two!” he said to Dash and Twister. “DROP THE SHIELD!” he yelled again. “URGH!” Luna groaned as she released her magic and the shield fell. Matteo immediately leapt forward, angling and pounding his wings down to execute his Air Burst acceleration. A loud POOF and the air exploding behind him generated strong gusts that knocked over many appliances and ripped several medical posters from the walls, crashing against Dash and Twister as they forced through the pressure to follow him. Matteo threw his arms up in front of his face, willingly flying into the blasts of magic, using his sturdy body and iron poise to keep moving forward while protecting Dash and Twister. He grunted and gasped as the magic struck him, painfully pelting and ripping at his arms as he forged on through the attacks. The Shadowbolts began to back away as they noticed Matteo plowing right through their magic, but they had little time to move. Twister shifted forward and bounced off Matteo’s back, twisting right over Matteo’s shoulder between his head and his wing, catching two of the Shadowbolts completely off guard as he shot down from above them and pushed their heads down hard into the floor. “Shhhhhhhh…” he hushed them comically as he let go of their heads, fell up and crash landed on the ceiling, making the sound of breaking glass as he did. With the blasts ceasing and the remaining two Shadowbolts focusing on Twister’s odd antics, Matteo reached back and grabbed Dash’s hoof, slinging her around and flinging her, back hooves first towards them. Dash kicked her back hooves out, striking and clipping the two other Shadowbolts, sending them flipping backwards and slamming into the back wall. Dash and Matteo came to a halt, both panting as they stood over the knocked out Shadowbolts as Twister dropped down from the ceiling, grabbed his two unconscious targets and double noogied their heads together while snickering. Dash stared in disbelief for a moment. These weren’t clones… they were real Shadowbolts… and the three of them just felled them easily with their teamwork, skills, and strength. She remembered struggling against them the last time she had fought a real Shadowbolt head-on before this crisis… All the training really had paid off… But she would admire herself later… besides, it wasn’t like these were the higher ranking Shadowbolts. She could hear all the commotion and screams of fright and pain out in the hallways… things had clearly taken an unexpected turn for the worse. Then realization hit her. The Shadowbolts were in the compound… clearly with a quick avenue of escape based on how easily they got in. They were slowing down the evacuation process… Trying to keep any Wonderbolts from escaping… They wanted to kill them all right here and now. And what was worse… she also couldn’t move Soarin… meaning he was stuck in the compound regardless of what happened. The only way she saw them saving Soarin was if this ridiculous idea of the compound flying… actually worked. Her hopes were now stretched very thin… but it was clear… If she wanted to save Soarin… they had to get the compound moving. And based on the situation in the compound… Rivet’s team was most likely under attack! “Ah!” Dash yelped in surprise as two more Shadowbolts jumped into the infirmary, but before anything could happen, two incredibly powerful blasts of blue magic hurled past her and struck them hard, sending them tumbling to the ground, sizzling. Dash looked up to see Luna with her magic alight, being supported by Bliss. Luna was up… and able to fight back a little, it seemed. Dash knew what she had to do… it was their only hope now. “TWISTER! MATTEO!” she called to them. “I want you to follow me! We still have a slim chance, but I’ll need your help!” she ordered. “What are you talking about?” Matteo blinked in confusion. Dash pointed at me. “I have no time to explain! I just want you to trust me!” she yelled at him while turning to Twister. “Twister we—” “WHEREVER WE’RE GOING… I’M GAME!” he said while doing stretches near the door. Dash smiled as she looked back at Matteo. He shrugged, but gave a solid nod as he stepped up beside her. “LUNA!” Dash yelled back at Luna and Bliss. “Can you protect Soarin?!” “What…? We can but…” “GOOD!” Dash yelled as she turned and ran towards the door with Matteo and Twister in tow. “Rainbow Dash?! WAIT!!!” Luna called after her, confused, but Dash and her two squadmates were already moving through the door. The moment the three stepped into the hallways, they came to a halt, staring in disbelief at the cacophony. Shadowbolts were everywhere, the injured Renegades and Wonderbolts along with the recruit squads fighting desperately to try and get to the end of the hall, but they were having little luck. The Shadowbolts had completely blocked off the path to the underground passage. They even had three generating a pink barrier that kept anypony from even getting near the doors leading underground. “INCOMING!” Dash yelled as she turned to face towards the lobby. Six Shadowbolts had turned towards them and were charging magic in their crystals. But then… right before they fired, the compound shook violently as Bomber suddenly crashed through the window beside them, going right through the armored bars as he body slammed all six Shadowbolts into the opposite wall, causing them all to cry out in pain as they were nearly crushed by his massive body. “Whoa!” Dash’s eyes went wide as Comet and Cannon Ball flew in through the broken window. Bomber turned around and swung his hoof, striking Cannon as he curled up. Cannon shot over Dash’s head, clipping three Shadowbolts that were flying in a line towards them from behind. Comet reached a hoof out, allowing Bomber to grab him and throw him towards the lobby. He shot through the hall, taking out several Shadowbolts as a red blur with a white streak behind it. As amazing as the display of fighting ability was, Dash saw an opportunity. If the Renegade Wonderbolts had turned around to help, she, Matteo, and Twister could easily slip all the way through to the west hallway while the veterans handled the Shadowbolts. “COME ON!” she yelled to Matteo and Twister. “Let’s break through while we can!” Without a second of hesitation, Dash took to the air with Matteo and Twister following directly behind. Art by: Foxenawolf They shot past Bomber, following in Comet’s wake as he left several Shadowbolts dazed and recovering behind him. They reached the lobby, but were quickly forced to take a wide arc, avoiding Valkyrie as she dove in and thrust her hooves into the chests of two Shadowbolts, driving them to the ground before they could hinder Foxtrot’s path. Dash led Matteo and Twister around the north edge of the lobby, passing by the stairs as Steady Wing glided past them in the opposite direction with three Shadowbolts struggling to chase him. “No! Look!” Matteo yelled as they neared the west hallway, pointing towards the mail counter. Dash followed his gesture and gasped. Little Star and Squall were pinned down on the floor, stuffed in the corner between the wall and the mail counter. Squall had pushed Star into the corner and covered her with his body, his back facing two Shadowbolts as they peppered him with small magic blasts. The orange pony behind the mail counter was popping up and down, peering over and shivering as all hell broke loose around them. “WE GOTTA—” “WAIT!” Dash cut off Matteo and pointed. “The twins!” she yelled out. Pixie and Fairy, in perfect sync, rammed the two Shadowbolts from behind before turning and landing by Squall and Little Star. Squall slumped down, falling into Star as he cringed. Dash was torn between keeping on track and helping them, but was relieved when she saw Pixie and Fairy personally help Star with Squall. “They’ve got it! Keep moving!” Dash yelled as they veered left and made a hard right, dipping down into the west hallway and making a beeline towards the basement. There were absolutely no ponies in the west hallway, making their travel easy until… “Up ahead!” Twister yelled as about a dozen more Shadowbolts appeared out of thin air in loud flashes of pink light. “DAMN!” Dash was ready to put on the breaks, but right as they began to slow down, two ponies shot past them. Blazetail and Flashwind had entered the scene. They made several lateral shifts as they approached the group of Shadowbolts, making it hard to keep track of which of them was in front. Flashwind suddenly grabbed her husband by the arm and gave him a gentle push in the back, launching him forward at twice the speed. He held his arms out, clotheslining eight of the twelve Shadowbolts that barely had time to blink. The other four turned to face Blazetail as he shot by, but they were struck from behind by Flashwind as she passed. “Get going!” Blazetail yelled at Dash. “We’ll handle these guys! Make sure Rivet’s team is alright!” the urgency in Blazetail’s voice suggested that he was hopeful of the long-shot plan being successful. He was the one that suggested it after all. “GO! NOW!” he yelled as the Shadowbolts they knocked down started to get back up. “YOU HEARD HIM!” Dash yelled back at Matteo and Twister. “MOVE! MOVE!” Dash burst forward with her wingmates in tow. They passed by all the Shadowbolts and the two former Wonderbolt captains, giving them a straight shot for the stairs leading into the basement. After what Dash had just witnessed while flying through the compound… it looked as if literally nopony had been evacuated before the Shadowbolts appeared. She had no idea how the fight was going on outside, but she had to assume not well if the Renegade Wonderbolts were forced to turn around. Time was clearly short… and with little to no ponies actually evacuated… their last hope of survival was an incredible leap of faith. She only hoped that Rivet was okay… and that what he found in the second basement really was the answer to their safety… Because if it wasn’t, they were all dead. “Damn!” Silver cursed as he barely dodged an incoming blast of magic, the beam grazing his back and ripping a piece of his suit off with it. He had three Shadowbolts coming after him as he flew, glancing at the flying fortress as he came near. Their efforts weren’t having much of an effect. They charged the fortress from both sides, but after ten or so of the Renegades from Dust’s group painfully bounced off a magic shield surrounding it, they were forced to keep a little bit of distance. The Wonderbolts and Renegades tried to engage the Shadowbolts in front of the fortress’ path, but whoever was piloting the monstrosity seemed to care very little for their fellow Shadowbolts, simply knocking them aside if they got too close to the shield. “URGH!” Silver grunted as he took a blast directly to the back before veering off and flying away from the fortress to create some distance, a small trail of smoke rising from a singed piece of his suit. He was glad the Renegades were engaging the commanders, because he was having a hard enough time dealing with the lower ranks. His body was much stiffer than he realized, feeling like he was barely at seventy-five percent of his usual potential. His eyes widened and he came to a sudden halt as five Shadowbolts dropped down in front of him with fully charged crystals. With the three behind him, he had been completely surrounded. He cursed himself for not paying attention to his surroundings. Now he was going to pay for it. He stopped in his path and curled up to shield himself… But nothing happened. Instead he heard eight screams of pain, followed by a gust of wind. “Silver! You’re not looking so good!” Spitfire’s voice met his ears. Silver opened his eyes and fluttered his wings to hover, spotting Spitfire right in front of him and all eight Shadowbolts falling towards the ground below. He grunted and cracked his neck. “I’m a bit stiff, but what else is new?!” he grumbled as he and Spitfire went back to back. “Not like it really matters… we’re not stopping this thing at all!” he referred to the fortress as he and Spitfire repelled two Shadowbolts that tried to flank them. “I’m open to suggestions!” Spitfire asked as she met an incoming Shadowbolt with a hoof to the face so hard that his goggles blew to pieces and he tumbled towards the ground. “It’s worrying me how much you’re asking for ideas,” Silver began as he grabbed a Shadowbolt, spun him around and threw him into another. “It’s your job to have the ideas you know!” “I’ll take that as a no!” Spitfire growled as she turned to glare at Silver. Silver hated this scenario. If they were going to go out fighting, it would be preferred fighting with a chance. They were so thin in numbers that the commanders weren’t even generating their clones. It felt like they were being toyed with, treated as an afterthought as they casually floated their giant overcompensation cannon into firing range. “HEY! HEY!” A gruff voice came from above them. Silver and Spitfire both looked up, and with barely a moment to react, Spitfire rammed herself into Silver shoving them both out of the way as Sin came crashing down missing them. “Crap! Commanders!” Spitfire yelled as she pointed up as the two began moving to stay in motion. Silver looked up while panting, barely keeping up with Spitfire as they moved. Ruin and Blade were charging down at them, fast. “Looks like the lead captain has come out to play!” Ruin cackled as he and Blade gave chase. Blade already had his magic sword drawn, but before he could fly any closer, he was forced to turn and guard as Descent came flying out of nowhere and intercepted him. “How the hell do I always end up fighting you?!” Blade yelled angrily as Descent pushed his hooves against the flat edge of Blade’s sword. “Personal grudges die hard!” Descent yelled as he and Blade continued to struggle and fly in the opposite direction. “Look out!” Spitfire yelled back at Silver as small orbs of pink magic began shooting from around Ruin and homing in on them. Spitfire and Silver pitched and turned to avoid, but every time an orb missed, it would turn around and come back after them. Spitfire was dodging them alright, but Silver… “ARGH! AH! DAMMIT!” Silver grunted and cursed as he got struck by three of them in a row, the third stunning his left wing and causing him to tumble. “Silver!” Spitfire yelled as she turned around and dove towards him, still avoiding the orbs as she tried to reach Silver. “URGH!” Silver grunted as his vision continued to spin out of control. He heard a sudden burst of wind followed by Spitfire’s hooves suddenly grabbing him around the shoulders and helping him shift upright. Silver was still dizzy, but as he focused, he saw Spitfire turn and do something with her wings that caused another loud POW followed by a backdraft of wind. Silver focused and saw that all the magic orbs were gone and they were still a good distance above the ground. “Damn magic…” Silver grumbled as he shook his head out. “HEY! WE’RE NOT DONE!” Sin dropped down from above again. Silver’s eyes widened as he noticed he was right in Sin’s path, his hooves alight with crackling pink magic. Before he could strike though, Spitfire shot up, pushed Sin’s hooves aside and punched him incredibly hard in the gut. Sin exhaled painfully as Spitfire reached up, wrapped an arm around his neck and pumped her wings, adding speed to his momentum and breaking through an air cone as she drove him straight towards the ground, releasing him twenty yards from impact. The force of Sin’s motion sent him directly into the torn up ground of the courtyard with a thundering crash that kicked up a great deal of dust and debris. “Yikes Captain…” Silver blinked as he regained full control and watched Spitfire easily pull up and shoot right back into the fray. He looked towards the flying fortress as he painfully flapped his stiff wings, but his eyes widened as realization hit. The fortress had stopped advancing… And he could hear clanking and creaking noises. It had to be the massive cannon rising from the deck. It would still be a little while before it fired, but their time was running very short. “If there was ever a time for a miracle…” Silver muttered to himself as he glanced back at the compound. “It’s now…” “STAY BEHIND ME!” Fleetfoot yelled as she backed Rivet against a wall and swiped her hooves back and forth, batting away strikes by two Shadowbolts as they slowly pushed her and Rivet backwards. Rivet was fully pressed against the wall, staring wide eyed through his goggles and looking back and forth at all the fighting going on around him. They had been suddenly jumped when they reached the middle of the basement. Shadowbolts appeared in their path and also behind them, cutting off both their way to the end of the hall and their avenue of escape. They also outnumbered them by five ponies, making it difficult for the Wonderbolts to respond. Squad zero was clearly not in good fighting condition, the special force struggling to keep up with the low ranking Shadowbolts as their injuries hindered them. None of them were expecting an attack, and their current weaknesses were being exploited. “Comin’ through!” Starry Skies yelled as she flew in and rammed the two Shadowbolts attacking Fleetfoot. However, Fleetfoot was forced to engage the Shadowbolt following Starry, who shoved her against the wall, dragging them down the wall away from Rivet as the two grappled. Rivet was now exposed as he looked up and around frantically. He yelped as a Shadowbolt turned to him and approached with their crystal glowing. He stared wide eyed as the Shadowbolt pulled back a hoof with a collection of magic surrounding it… But at the last moment, Misty Fly shot in front and took the blow to the face. She was thrust against the wall, squishing Rivet in between them, but she pushed herself right off and head butted the Shadowbolt below the chin. He stumbled back, but quickly recovered and fired the remaining magic from his hooves. Misty scooped up Rivet in her wing and broke into a gallop, outrunning the magic as several blasts came towards them, exploding along the walls. “SUPER…” The Shadowbolt looked up as a shadow cast over him. Macho Savage was falling towards him with his elbow leading the drop. “SLAM!” he drove his elbow into the Shadowbolt’s back pressing him to the ground and knocking him out. Misty skidded to a halt as the attacks ceased and tried to open one of the doors to hide Rivet in, but she was struck in the side, causing her to stumble and drop Rivet. Misty balanced herself and put up a guard to shield herself from an incoming blow. Her eyes widened as a Fire Streak shifted past her and grappled with the Shadowbolt. Rivet lay completely frozen as the two stallions struggled directly above him. Misty quickly reached under and pulled Rivet out, moving him away before Lighting Streak shot by her and delivered a punch to the Shadowbolt’s face over his brother’s shoulder. Squad three backed up together, the Streak twins standing in front as Misty held onto Rivet. “This is not good, we’re wasting time!” Fire growled as they stared down approaching Shadowbolts. “We’re toast, ain’t we?” Lightning sighed as they planted their hooves, ready to protect Rivet and Misty. “None of that!” Fire scolded him before gasping. “GET DOWN!” he yelled pulling both Lightning and Misty down. Calm Wind and Playbitz both shot backwards over their heads, crashing painfully to the ground. Playbitz got up quickly, but Calm winced and cried out in pain, landing right on the wound on his back. Rivet peeked over Misty’s arm as Shine and Swift were both thrown backwards. Fire caught Shine before she could crash. Lightning tried to do the same for Swift, but whiffed it and the two ended up as a pile on the floor. Storm Front grunted as he was forced towards them, but held his hooves to the ground, skidding to a halt in front of the Streak twins as the rest of his squad, along with Fleetfoot and Starry, struggled to fight a few yards away. “If only we could break through!” Storm yelled as he looked towards the Shadowbolts blocking their path to the end of the basement. They all flinched in surprise as sudden cries of pain echoed from the opposite direction. They all turned and looked to see the three Shadowbolts blocking the escape route go flying forward, revealing Dash, Matteo, and Twister searing towards them. “Hey! Backup!” Lightning Streak cheered as he picked himself and Swift up off the ground. Storm wasted no time in rushing forward, taking advantage of the Shadowbolts’ confusion just as Fleetfoot and Starry Skies were. The three of them had caught the remaining Shadowbolts in a pincer attack between them and the incoming Foxtrot assault. With them mostly distracted by Foxtrot, Storm, Starry, and Fleetfoot were able to deliver knockout blows to several of their enemies between them, leaving only three for Foxtrot to deal with. Dash and Twister flew in front, but right before the first two Shadowbolts could attack them, they broke apart and flew around them, Matteo rushing forward and grabbing them both by the necks. He spun around and threw them both simultaneously past all of them towards the Streak twins. The twins stepped forward, leapt up and spun around delivering simultaneous roundhouse kicks to the two incoming Shadowbolts, forcing their heads to knock together before they hit the ground and slid, stopping right in front of Misty. Dash slammed to the ground and skidded to a halt in front of the last Shadowbolt stuck between them. The stallion faced her and charged. As Dash readied to defend herself… she had a thought. Watch the chest. She remembered when Matteo attacked Descent, Descent never once took his eyes off Matteo’s chest. In doing so, he seamlessly dodged every single attack. With the crystal glowing and magic surrounding his hooves, the Shadowbolt lunged and began throwing punches. Dash dodged each punch by a mile, as if she could see their path long before they were thrown. Then it hit her. The arms could not swing forward without movement in the chest muscles. The moment she saw movement in her opponent’s chest, she could easily predict where the blow was going to land. Of course this would only work in a frontal assault, but any motion for a kick was given away by a turn in the entire body. No wonder Descent dodged every attack thrown by Matteo so easily, this method was effective against an opponent attacking straight on. She threw both of her hooves up and pushed the Shadowbolt’s arms away as she ducked between a double punch and rammed him, sending him tumbling backwards. His crystal clattered to the ground beside him. He tried to get up, but right before he could, Starry Skies appeared above him. She lifted her hoof up… but instead of attacking him, she smashed the crystal, causing it to explode into pink light and disintegrate. “NO!!!!!” the Shadowbolt stallion cried out as he reached towards where the crystal once sat, clawing his hooves on the ground desperately while breathing heavily. Dash blinked and watched in horror as Starry simply stepped backwards as the Shadowbolt grabbed her by the leg. She shook it off and snorted, turning away as the Shadowbolt curled up on the ground and began to shake. “Leave him,” Starry said as she glanced back at Dash. “Trust me, he won’t do anything else.” “Uh…” Dash stepped past the stallion as he cringed on the ground, tears dripping out from beneath his goggles. “Good… god…” she winced and gritted her teeth. Was the power of the pink crystals so potent that immediate disconnection caused massive withdrawal? Watching the Shadowbolt go from a strong position and attack to being completely broken was… disturbing. Starry’s method of subduing this one Shadowbolt almost seemed cruel compared to the rest, who they had simply knocked out for the time being. Dash quickly looked away and focused on the task at hoof. She trusted Starry, who had had experience with using the crystals, that the stallion wouldn’t budge. Matteo and Twister both took long, disturbed looks as well as they followed behind Dash. They couldn’t afford to be distracted, they were short on time, and still had to act fast! With the rest taken care of, the Streak twins quickly turned and alongside the rest of squad seven, engaged and easily defeated the remaining three Shadowbolts blocking their way to the end of the basement. “Dash!” Fleetfoot called to her as she pushed up her goggles and approached Foxtrot. “What the heck are you doing down here?!” she asked out of concern as Misty and Rivet helped Squad Zero get to their hooves. “No time to argue!” Dash quickly replied. “The Shadowbolts are wreaking havoc all over the compound and blocking the path to the underground tunnel! The Wonderbolt Renegades are trying to fend them off, but nopony and I mean literally NOPONY has been able to evacuate yet!” Fleetfoot and Starry Skies visibly reacted as Dash relayed the dire situation up above to them. “If this machine below the compound isn’t what we’re hoping it is… we’re all gonna die, plain and simple!” “Well, what are we waiting for then?!” Starry replied before Fleetfoot could muster a response. Starry quickly moved over to Rivet and scooped him up onto her back with her wing, causing him to squeak in surprise. “Come on! Dying is NOT on my to-do list today!” she said as she broke into a gallop towards squad seven and the Streak twins, who were now waiting at the end of the hall. Misty Fly quickly gave chase as Fleetfoot turned and glanced at Dash. “From the looks of things, we need all the help we can get… Let’s go!” Fleetfoot encouraged as she pushed her goggles down and she followed behind Misty. Dash, Matteo, and Twister brought up the rear. “Is that everypony?!” Fire yelled back, looking around to make sure everypony was accounted for as the last of them caught up. “Looks like it,” Lightning confirmed after taking a headcount himself. All eyes shifted to Starry Skies as she stepped forward and let Rivet down from her back. “Well little guy…” she nudged him forward. “Your turn. Let’s see this hatch,” she encouraged as Rivet landed on his hooves and looked towards the dead end wall at the far side of the basement. “Right…” he nodded as he reached up and turned a dial on his goggles. A pair of tinted lenses shifted down over the clear ones as he focused on the floor. He turned his head back and forth before his eyes locked on a certain spot. “There’s the door… and…” he looked up and focused on a specific part of the wall beside them. “And there’s the lever, right where I left it,” he said as he pushed his goggles up and hovered up to the wall. He pressed against a spot on the wall that pushed inward as he touched it. The rest all watched curiously as a hidden panel opened on the wall, revealing a lever that looked a bit old and rusty. Rivet grabbed the lever in his hooves and glanced back at the rest of them. “I’d recommend taking a few steps back,” he warned them. Taking his advice, they moved backwards… and Rivet grunted as he forced the lever down. A loud CLANK came from the floor as if something unlatched. They all flinched in surprise as a set of four floor tiles buckled and swung upward from the floor, stopping with a loud, painful creak as it revealed metal staircase that led further down. It was about three yards wide, large enough for three ponies to walk down comfortably side by side. They all stared in awe as the passage was revealed, especially the Wonderbolt elites, who had never known such a passage existed. They heard about it just now in the meeting, but they definitely had their doubts… until right now. “Well…” Fleetfoot gulped as Rivet stepped up to the stairs and pulled a flashlight out of his saddle bag. “Let’s do this.” The only light that led them as they descended into the darkness below the metal steps was Rivet’s flashlight. The Wonderbolts stepped carefully, following behind their little mechanic as he shined the light on the pathway before them. Dash walked side by side with Fleetfoot and Shine Struck near the front of the group, staying as close together as possible so as not to lose anypony in the darkness. “There it is…” Rivet spoke up, his voice causing an unexpected echo as he moved the light from the floor to the wall about ten yards from the bottom of the stairs. There was a fuse box that looked like it was recently mounted on the wall. It didn’t match the rusty, worn look of the wall it hung on, suggesting it was something that Rivet had put there himself. There were multiple wires that extended up from the box. Rivet floated up to the box while holding the flashlight in his teeth, opening it and flipping several switches. Loud clicking noises sounded out nearby and got quieter. It sounded like they were moving far and around a large area. The clicks were followed by a quiet buzz of electricity. Dim lights hanging from the ceiling began to flicker on… revealing an incredible sight. The lights turned on one by one, and continued to do so for a very long time as the lights, placed about ten yards apart each, kept coming to life, extending far beyond where they all stood. The lights wrapped around the outside of an enormous room, that easily extended across the length of the compound, maybe even more, just as Rivet had described. The lights shined down upon multiple large pieces of machinery, the likes of which most them had never seen before. They were mechanical, engine-like mechanisms full of gears, axles, chains, and running belts, again just as Rivet had described earlier. Lead Runner and Point Dex both stepped forward and stared in awe. “Dear sweet sexy mother of machinery…” Lead Runner commented as he pushed his goggles up. Point Dex flattened his brow and turned back to Rivet. “What’s with you and always finding the fascinating stuff?” he asked grumpily as Rivet stepped past him and up towards the first piece of machinery closest to them. He looked it over as the rest of the Wonderbolts made their way in behind him and looked around in awe. “This has been here… the whole time?” Fleetfoot shook her head as she and Dash approached Rivet and looked over the contraption. “How was none of this in the Wonderbolt records? This seems like a pretty huge thing to omit…” Fleetfoot continued as she glanced at Rivet. “Based on what Blazetail and Flashwind said,” Rivet began. “It might be reasonable to assume that the Shadowbolt, Raider, took everything having to do with the compound with him. Don’t know why they never fixed the gap in the records though, unless it just slipped their minds.” Dash could hear them, but she was barely listening. She was too busy staring in awe at the large machine before them. As Rivet had said, it looked like a lot of the parts had been replaced, but the chassis itself still looked old. It was also huge, many times larger than her, which made it even more awe inspiring that there were several of these machines lining the outer wall of the massive area they now stood in. The metal floor below them was vented, suggesting that there was more to the machine below them. She floated up to take a look, spotting one of the large hatches. Judging by the hatches Rivet had described, it could be where the giant propellers were stored. Assuming this was all a flight mechanism like the Shadowbolt fortress. This really could be everything Blazetail and Flashwind suggested, but they wouldn’t know unless they started it. Despite the doubts, it gave Dash a little bit of hope that they could really do this! “There’s no time to dawdle!” Starry stepped up to Rivet and pointed towards the center of the room. “We have to keep moving!” Dash followed Starry’s gesture and looked towards the center. She could see the machines extending all the way around the outer walls, but it was pitch dark in the middle. All they could see before it grew too dark was the metallic pathway tipping downward. “Right!” Rivet grabbed his flashlight again. “Now that I have some help, let’s see what’s down…” Rivet froze and his eyes widened as he looked up. “Huh?” Starry blinked as she turned and looked towards the center. “Aw… crap…” she growled as the rest of the Wonderbolts all quickly stepped forward. Several pink lights lit up within the darkness in the center of the room. The lights grew brighter and brighter until they created auras that surrounded the outlines of ponies… A LOT of ponies, easily twenty or thirty. Which only meant one thing… “SHADOWBOLTS!” Fleetfoot yelled as the pink lights surged towards them. “Shine! Dash! Starry!” Fleetfoot called to the three closest to her. “We have to get the brainiacs down to the center! Everypony else, engage the Shadowbolts!” she ordered. “You heard the lady!” Starry yelled as she scooped up Rivet again. “Keep that Flashlight pointed forward!” she yelled as she broke into a gallop towards the decline in the center. Dash hesitated for a moment, but quickly followed directly behind Shine and Fleetfoot as they kept Point Dex and Lead Runner in between them. They stayed grounded as the rest of the Wonderbolts lifted up, using the pink lights from the incoming Shadowbolts to guide their path through the darkness and clash overhead. Dash had to lean back in her steps as the path sharply turned downward. It wasn’t too steep, but enough for her to surely tumble and roll forward if she didn’t compensate. She kept her eyes on Shine Struck in front of her as they all used the light from Rivet’s flashlight to guide them down the path. It took them down in between the machinery, a narrow walkway that was barely large enough for two ponies to fit side by side. “INCOMING!” Shine yelled out. Dash looked up to see a Shadowbolt diving towards them with Misty Fly giving chase directly behind. “Whoa!” Dash ducked as Misty Fly rammed the Shadowbolt in the back and sent him flying into the machinery extending overhead, he bounced between the machines flanking the narrow path and landed in front of Fleetfoot. “AH!” Fleetfoot yelped as her legs got tangled with the fallen Shadowbolt and she tumbled over the top. Shine and Dash could not stop themselves in time and found themselves also toppling over, landing in a pile with Fleetfoot as Starry continued onward with the three mechanics. All three of them quickly rose up and started after the rest, but they had lost ground. “SQUAD ZERO!” Shine yelled up into the air. “DEFENSE PATTERN OVERCAST!” Dash looked up as they started catching up to see Calm Wind and Playbitz take a flight position directly overhead, gliding along with them. She assumed that Swift was there too, but with how dark it was in the room, he was completely invisible. They were acting like a shield, keeping an eye out for anything coming near the group below as squad three, Matteo, Twister, Storm, and Savage continued to engage with the Shadowbolts. Each clash caused a burst of pink light that slightly illuminated the surrounding area. Dash could barely see any movement overhead, only catching a brief glimpse every time Wonderbolt and Shadowbolt collided or when the Shadowbolts fired their magic blasts. The Wonderbolts were being smart about it, keeping themselves angled slightly above the Shadowbolts to direct any magic fire away from the machinery. Squad Zero did their part, fending off any Shadowbolts that tried taking a dive at the group moving below. Calm and Playbitz were putting themselves in front of any who angled towards them, and once they were halted, the Shadowbolts would be struck and knocked away by an invisible force… likely Swift. They finally reached the bottom of the decline, the floor evening out as it also opened up wide. They were free from the confines of the narrow path, giving them space, but making them an easier target. “It should be just up ahead!” Starry yelled as Rivet shined his flashlight over her shoulder. Indeed there was something different approaching, but a sudden grunt and cry from above caught his attention. Rivet quickly looked above him and gasped. “LOOK OUT!” he yelled as he grabbed Starry around the neck and yanked her hard to the right. “OW!” Starry yelped in pain and stumbled as Rivet forced her body to divert. She was about to snap at him, but then both Calm Wind AND Matteo came crashing down from above, slamming to the metal floor painfully and bouncing to a stop. “AAAHHHH!!!!” Calm cried out as he landed on his back again, only this time with the weight of Matteo’s body also smashing against him. Matteo quickly rolled off and tried to regain his senses, but a Shadowbolt was heading right for the two of them. “I DON’T THINK SO!” Fleetfoot took flight and flew over Calm, ramming the Shadowbolt before he could slam down. The Shadowbolt was knocked off course, but kept control of his flight, only to be knocked aside by an invisible attacker and then driven to the ground by an aerial plunge attack from Playbitz. Playbitz and Swift, who was just barely visible within the light of Rivet’s flashlight, quickly moved in to help Calm. “I’M FINE! Get back up there!” Calm yelled while pointing back towards the battle overhead. Playbitz and Swift both glanced at each other before doing as they were told, shooting back up to continue the ‘overcast defense.’ Matteo had gotten up and launched himself back towards the battle as well, quickly forming up beside Twister to attack as a pair. Fleetfoot rushed up to Calm while crouching down to help him. “Calm!” Fleet grabbed him by the arm but he shook his head. “I’ll manage! Help Rivet!” he winced as he pointed at the rest. “Come on Fleet!” Dash grabbed Fleetfoot’s shoulder and pulled her away from Calm as he struggled to stand. She reluctantly complied and turned to keep moving with the rest. Starry blinked as she watched the whole, realizing she barely avoided taking a heavy hit because of Rivet’s intervention. She glanced at Rivet as they waited for the rest to catch up with them. He shied away under her intense eyes, but she cracked a small grin. “Thanks,” she said simply as the rest caught up with them, turning Rivet back forward to once again shine his flashlight towards the middle. They came upon another collection of large, engine like machines that were even larger than those up above. Unlike those around the outer edge, these were clearly untouched by Rivet, the pieces looking like they had definitely seen better days. “I see something!” Dash yelled as they weaved between the contraptions. There was something closing in, it looked much different than the rest of the mechanical pieces, and it extended up towards the ceiling to the point where it disappeared into the darkness above. It was like a large pillar, a hexagon in shape with lots of levers, valves, and indicators all over them. They all came to a halt in front of it and Starry quickly let Rivet down to take a look, but right as he jumped down, a Shadowbolt and Storm Front both slammed down, grappling. Rivet yelped and fell backwards as Starry grabbed him and pulled him away. Storm pulled back and head-butted the Shadowbolt, causing him to stumble back as Shine leapt up and delivered a strong kick to the Shadowbolt’s face to knock him out. Storm fell to the ground, barely propping himself up while panting. “Storm!” Dash yelled as she galloped up to him and supported him. “Damn!” Storm cursed as he reached a hoof up to his shoulder. “That one took me by surprise…” Dash looked up at the fight overhead. It looked like the battle was being handled well despite the numbers disadvantage. The Streak twins, Misty and Savage were proving their elite status by taking on as many as three each at a time while Matteo and Twister fell in line, supporting them the best they could. “Stay down here with us,” Dash ordered Storm. “No! I’ve gotta-ARGH!” Storm tried to spread his wings, but it was clearly painful with his shoulder. “Storm, now’s not the time for pride!” Dash reminded him as she glanced around to keep an eye out. “Come one, we gotta let Rivet get at this… thing,” she said as she helped Storm move aside. Rivet stepped forward with Point Dex and Lead Runner as Fleetfoot and Starry Skies remained close behind them. Rivet set his saddle bag down and opened up the main pouch, pulling out a large battery and four portable lights that he quickly set around the area. He wired them to the battery, and clicked a switch on the wire, bringing the lights to life and illuminating whatever the large structure standing before them was. Just as they saw before, levers, valves, and indicators littering the surface of it… but now they could see large opening about twelve inches wide and tall that sat at the bottom of it. There was a grate covering it that was slightly ajar. There were also several pipes and tubes littered all about the pillar moving both up and down, on which most of the valves and indicators were attached to. All of them looked at the new machine curiously, even Point Dex and Lead Runner. Rivet’s flashlight dropped to the ground, clattering against the metal floor as he stared with his eyes wide and his mouth agape. “You’ve gotta be KIDDING me!” Rivet threw his hooves up onto his head in disbelief. “What? What is it?” Fleetfoot asked as she stepped up between the others and stood beside Rivet. Rivet shook his head. “This thing is STEAM POWERED?!” he exclaimed as he stared at it. Point Dex and Lead Runner both visibly reacted as well. “Something this large is run by a boiler?!” Point Dex exclaimed, his voice nearly cracking at the revelation. “I didn’t see any smokestacks on the flying fortress…” Lead Runner pondered out loud. “It must be heavily modified… this is such an old design!” “QUICK!” Rivet turned to the two of them. “There’s no time to gawk! We probably don’t have much time left! We need to get this thing started!” he yelled as he ran a quick circle around the centerpiece while shining his flashlight around it. “Okay, the main boiler is right here,” he said as he stopped back in front. “There are two secondary boilers with valve releases and pressure controls that will be needed to ease the stress off the main boiler once we get the engine running,” he stopped and glanced between Point Dex and Lead Runner, who both just stared at him. “Uhhh…” the two of them both scratched their heads. Rivet flattened his brow. “Please tell me you two know how a steam engine works!” he asked in disbelief. They both shook their heads. Rivet threw his hooves up into the air while groaning. “You two call yourselves mechanical wizards and you don’t know how to operate a STEAM ENGINE?! It’s the most basic of locomotive devices! Come on! I’ll direct you! They’ve gotta have what we need laying around here!” “AH!” Fleetfoot yelped, catching Rivet’s attention. They both looked up just in time to see two Shadowbolts hovering above them. They fired magic blasts before any of the others could realize what was happening. Fleetfoot quickly grabbed Rivet and turned her side to the magic to shield Rivet. She felt the shockwave of an explosion, but she didn’t feel any pain. Art by: Foxenawolf “Ahhh…AHHH…” familiar grunts of pain came from above them. Fleetfoot’s eyes widened and she gasped. She turned around and saw Calm teetering towards her. “CALM! OOF!” Fleetfoot grunted as Calm’s large body fell against hers. “My… BACK!” Calm shivered in pain as his wounds once again took a heavy hit, the back of his suit turning red as blood from his re-aggravated injury seeped into it. Fleetfoot looked over his shoulder with dread as the Shadowbolts fired again. She had nowhere to move him! He was going to get hit again! Shine Struck leapt up in front of Calm and pulled her hooves back, using the magic deflection methods she had been taught to strike at both blasts. They bounced back towards the Shadowbolts and caused them to awkwardly dodge while trying to stay afloat. As soon as they were off balance, Starry was up in the air going after one of them. The other dove towards Shine, but Storm dove in from the side, tackling the Shadowbolt out of the air and pinning him to the ground. The two struggled, but the Shadowbolt could not break free from Storm’s strength. Fleetfoot took the opportunity to move Calm out of the way, gently helping him to the floor and grabbing his hoof, giving it a tight squeeze as he continued to grunt and groan in pain from multiple blows to the wounds on his back. Dash and Shine started moving towards Calm, but Rivet stepped in front of them and shook his head. “Let Fleetfoot take care of him! I’m going to need your help if we’re gonna get this thing moving!” they all flinched as Starry Skies and her opponent clashed right above them, the Streak twins shooting right by shortly after as they were perused by Shadowbolts. Rivet turned and grabbed another flashlight from his bag. He gave one of them to Shine, the other to Dash. They jumped in surprise as Playbitz crashed to the floor, slamming a Shadowbolt down, bouncing off and painfully tumbling to a halt before forcing himself up and propelling himself back into the air. Swift appeared briefly in the surrounding light, giving the downed Shadowbolt a good whack to the head to knock him out before disappearing. “PAY ATTENTION!” Rivet forced both Dash and Shine to look at him. “Boilers are never kept without the running materials nearby! Dash! I need you to find any container of water. Celestia knows how old the water may be, but I doubt any is left in the boiler, seeing as how it has to be ventilated outside. Shine!” he turned and pointed at her as he turned and shined a light into the opening at the bottom of the boiler. “This firebox is nothing but dust and soot! I need you to find a stash of kindling or coal, anything that could be used to start a fire! If you find anything like oil or kerosene, that will help as well! GO! GO!” he yelled as he turned back to the firebox, grabbed a work light and a few tools, opened the grate all the way, and stuck his head and arms inside to inspect it. Dash and Shine glanced at each other briefly before turning and starting their search as directed, ignoring the cacophony all around them to address the urgency of the situation. Time was short… for all they knew they could be blown to pieces any second. Silver glided to the ground, his hooves hitting the ground roughly. He tipped forward, dragging his chin slightly through the dirt as he lost control and crash landed. He slowly pushed himself up and shook his head out as he panted and wheezed. He looked up at the flying fortress as the super cannon continued to charge, slowly building up energy as it had the day before as it aimed, unhindered, towards the Wonderbolt compound. The shield around the fortress crackled and popped, appearing for a moment as two ponies bounced off of it and fell directly towards Silver. They both managed to round themselves upright as they fell, coming into view and landing beside him. Silver looked towards Spitfire and Descent as they growled and stared up at the flying fortress. The remaining Wonderbolts and Renegades struggled to keep fighting above. Descent immediately took off again, roaring as he charged back at the flying fortress, only to be repelled again and engaged by Shadowbolts. Spitfire just shook her head as she looked towards Silver. “This… this doesn’t look good,” she said as Silver continued to pant. “What tipped you off?” Silver grunted as he fell onto his plot and sat. “The cannon is about to fire… there’s clearly still a struggle going on in the compound… and the Shadowbolts out here are barely trying against us. We’re dead screwed Spitfire…” Silver gave in tipping his head down in defeat. Under normal circumstances, Spitfire would have probably punched him across the face and tried to rally him back into action, but this time… Silver was right. She had no plan of action, nothing to use and nothing to do. They could run if they wanted, but that left all the ponies inside. The Shadowbolts got in easily, so they could probably get out, leaving everypony else inside to die with the compound. She felt strength leaving her body as well as she began to accept it. She looked away from the fortress and to the compound. “Rivet…” she said out loud. “If you’re going to give us our miracle… do it now… please…” “The pressure valve should work properly now!” Rivet called, his voice muffled from inside the firebox. “What was that?!” Lead Runner called from the other side of the boiler. Rivet pulled his head out and brushed the soot from his face. “I said to try increasing the air pressure!” he repeated. “Okay!” Lead Runner disappeared behind the boiler and a loud creaking noise came from within it. Suddenly a sharp burst of steam fired out of the firebox and sprayed against Rivet. “ARGH! AH! TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!” he yelped as he flailed and tried to block it. “RGH!” he grunted as the steam ceased before sticking his head back into the firebox to take another look at the flue pipes. “RIVET!” Dash called out as she landed, startling Rivet and causing him to jump, bopping his head against the top of the firebox rim. “OW!” he pulled his head out and saw Dash holding a bucket. “I found a water reserve tank! The water is rusty as hell, but—” “It’s all we’ve got!” Rivet jumped up and hovered towards a pipe with a cap and wide nozzle. He opened the cap and pointed. “Pour the water in here!” He yelled before pointing to an indicator next to it. “And keep filling it up until this ticker hits the green!” he pointed to an indicator that showed the water level in the boiler. “Will do!” Dash yelled as she poured the water in and went to grab more. “Whoa!” Rivet yelped as a Shadowbolt suddenly crashed to the floor right beside him, the faint outline of Swift on the Shadowbolt’s back for a moment before the Shadowbolt was swung around and thrown upward. Misty Fly dove in and intercepted the flailing Shadowbolt, driving him away from the boiler. Rivet shook his head out and quickly got back down into the firebox with a wrench in his teeth, grabbing a wad of sealing gum to patch up the valve that still had a rupture. He found the hole and pressed the gum over it as he saw Shine’s hooves touch down back outside. He quickly shifted back out and pushed his goggles up, two rings of clean fur around his eyes, surrounded his soot covered face. “There was no coal,” Shine dropped a pile of wooden blocks next to Rivet. “But I found these in a box labeled ‘kindling!’” “Wood? Yikes, this thing is very primitive! We’ll have to make do! Go grab some more just in case!” Rivet ordered Shine as Dash flew overhead with more water. He turned to his right as Shine left. “Point Dex! Are the secondary boilers all patched up?!” “Water is dripping from the pipes overhead!” Point Dex yelled back. “Seal those NOW!” Rivet ordered before returning to the firebox. He stuck his head back in, looking around with a flashlight. He shined it in every corner and at every flue pipe to make the final checks on his patchwork before pulling his head back out and grabbing some of the firewood. He organized a neat pile of it in the center before just tossing the rest in as Shine dropped another batch beside him. With the firebox completely stuffed, he yelled around the boiler again. “Are all the pressure valves open?” “All open! No leaks?!” Lead Runner called back. “No leaks!” Rivet confirmed. “Are the secondary boiler water pipes sealed?!” he called around the other side. “No more dripping!” Point Dex confirmed. Rivet hovered up as Dash poured another bucket of water into the water tank. Rivet checked the indicator. It was in the green. “That’s enough, Dash!” Rivet pointed at her as he landed and looked back into the firebox. He examined the firewood and wondered if simply lighting it with a match would be enough to get it started. Without something to help start the fire, it would take way too long to— “RIVET!” Shine called from above. Rivet looked up to see Shine flying towards him with what looked like a small oil drum. “I found some kerosene!” “PERFECT!” Rivet reached up for it. “But…” Shine winced as Rivet grabbed it, his ears drooping when he realized how light the can felt. “There’s barely any in there…” “We have to go with what we’ve got!” Rivet quickly turned to the boiler with the oil can and opened it, sprinkling the last bits from the bottom of the can onto the wood. He was unsure if it would be enough to start a fire, but they had to try. Dash and Shine landed side by side as Rivet reached for his saddle bag. He paused for a moment to look up. The flashing of pink lights still going on overhead, however it looked like the Wonderbolts had the situation well in hoof, subduing the remaining Shadowbolts. Calm had shifted and was helping Storm hold down the Shadowbolt they had pinned. Rivet felt confident he could continue without any additional worries. Fleetfoot and Starry landed behind them as Rivet pulled a box of matches from his saddle bag, pulling one out and getting ready to strike it. “Lead Runner! Point Dex! Keep an eye on those indicators, I’m gonna try to start it!” he yelled as he closed the grate and struck the match. Starry and Fleetfoot turned their backs to them to keep an eye out for any of the remaining Shadowbolts as Dash and Shine watched Rivet. He tossed the match into the firebox… But nothing happened. After a moment, Rivet struck another match and tossed it into the fire box… Again, nothing happened. “NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME!” Starry yelled over her shoulder. “I’m trying!” Rivet growled as he struck another match and tossed it in, but even as he tried to toss it onto the bits of kerosene, the wood still barely caught fire. Shine and Dash gritted their teeth, their hearts pounding knowing that with how long they had been down below… the Shadowbolt fortress could fire at any moment. “Blaze just had to be injured right now!” Fleetfoot freaked out a little as she also watched over her shoulder. “DAMMIT!” Rivet cursed when the third match didn’t catch. With no other option, and feeling just as desperate and hopeless as the rest, Rivet struck a fourth match, but stuck it into the remaining matches in the box. The box erupted into one big flame as he wound up and chucked the burning box of matches into the firebox. A loud FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH sounded from inside the firebox as a bright orange glow erupted from within. It was followed by an incredibly loud, ear piercing hissing noise that forced all the ponies nearby to shout in pain while throwing their hooves over their ears. The noise was so loud that Dash lost hearing for a moment, nothing but a high pitched ringing noise going through her head as she stumbled and felt a rush of air against her. Both she and Shine were knocked off their hooves, tumbling on their backs before rocking up to take a look. The first thing she saw as she opened her eyes was the boiler coming to life. “YES! YES! YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS!!!!!!!” Rivet yelled out triumphantly as the release of compressed air from the long dead pressure valves and vents rushed against him. Art by: Foxenawolf Multiple lights all around the enormous engine room began to flicker on, suggesting the engine was sending power through all the renaming machines in the area, even bringing power to all the old dusty lights scattered around. Everypony’s eyes turned to the center of the room, Wonderbolts and even the few remaining Shadowbolts. They stared in awe as flames shot out from the vents that ran up the pillar all the way to the ceiling as the running lights brightened the entire room, no longer giving anypony the benefit of the shroud of darkness. Loud creaking, popping, and groaning noises began sounding from all the engines and machinery throughout the entire basement. The machines had come alive. The axles and gears were turning and the chains and running belts were clanking and clattering. The engines along the outside walls up above were working fine, but the ones down below were clearly straining themselves as all the old, rusted parts were forced into movement after being frozen for so long. “AH!” Rivet suddenly yelled as multiple valves began to hiss and groan all over the boiler, one of them bursting and shooting steam. The old piping was being strained under the intense pressure of the cold start, the indicators bouncing against the red edge of their measurements as the boiler itself began to shake and creak. Rivet sprang into action as the rest of the ponies backed away. He turned multiple valves, pulled levers and grabbed rags from his bag to wrap around the steam leak, tying it tight to the old pipe to seal it the best he could. “WORK THE PRESSURE VALVES!” he called to Point Dex and Lead Runner on the other side. “TAKE THE STRAIN OFF OF IT! RELEASE THE STEAM IN INTERVALS!” Point Dex and Lead Runner did as they were told, doing their best to follow his instructions and keeping the boiler from destroying itself from within. “Oh my god… what is happening…” Dash said to herself, knowing nopony could hear her. The engines were becoming incredibly loud as the gears and chains turned and clanked faster and faster and faster. The creaking and groaning of the old metallic contraptions only grew louder and louder as the power output from the boiler increased. It was clear that the machinery was being strained due to its age, but it was holding together. All the ponies flinched as loud snapping noises sounded from atop multiple engine pieces. They looked around to see the engines that had hatches on top had opened… and a moment later, giant poles shot up from the openings, the floor shaking as if the poles were being ripped up from the very foundations below them underground. “WHOA!” Fire Streak shifted as he, Misty, and Lightning overhead dodged the poles extending upward. Art by: Foxenawolf They all quickly landed with the rest near the others, unsure if staying in the air was a good idea. “BRACE YOURSELVES!” Fleetfoot yelled as they all realized… that the poles shooting up towards the ceiling were not stopping! They all crouched down and yelped as the poles collided with the top, causing the room to shake. They forced right through the ceiling as if there was supposed to be an opening in their path. Rivet stumbled and fell backwards, landing on Dash and Shine, shielding himself as bits and chunks of plaster fell from above. He looked back at the boiler and glanced up, watching as the pillar that the boiler was attached to itself also began to turn, grinding upward into the ceiling and piercing through as well. “YIKES!” Point Dex yelped from the other side as a large portion of the metal floor opposite of where they stood unlocked from the rest of it. They barely had time to see what it was, but there were several metallic boxes on it, that started opening right before the piece of floor also shot upward and crashed right through the ceiling. Three more poles extended up from way in the back of the engine room, lined up side by side with multiple pipes converging towards them. Like all the rest, they crashed into the ceiling and forced their way through. What had they unleashed?! “WHAT THE DEVIL?!” Blazetail shouted as the floor of the west hallway shook beneath him. He and Flashwind looked around as the compound continued to shake violently. The floor beneath him suddenly cracked. “Honey, lookout!” Flashwind dove towards him and knocked him out of the way. The two broke apart as a giant metal pole erupted from the floor and drove right through the ceiling above. Art by: Foxenawolf The two former captains watched with awe. The sound of crumbling and crackling continued as the pole kept extending upward, likely through the rest of the floors. Several other poles shot from the floor along the hallway and from out the window they could see many rising from the earth, rising up over the courtyard close to the compound itself. “Celestia alive!” Blazetail picked himself up off the ground and galloped towards the lobby with his wife close behind him. The compound continued to shake and buckle as they weaved in between the poles and looked out into the lobby. The Shadowbolts were retreating, spooked by the sudden rocking of the compound. A massive pillar was extending upward, breaking through the stairs, literally pushing them aside as it grinded through the floor and past all the steps. An additional piece about twenty yards wide and long suddenly broke right through the center of the lobby floor, extending up through the center of the floor with what looked like metallic panels and a large lever positioned on one end. Renegades and other ponies all leapt aside or jumped off the metallic floor piece as it continued upward and broke right through the ceiling. It continued upward, pushing aside all the pieces of the compound that apparently used to not be there as the old machinery worked. The ponies below shielded themselves as chunks of metal and plaster fell from above, clanging and clattering to the floor. “I can’t believe it…” Flashwind’s jaw dropped as the two watched the compound literally force itself to transform. “WE WERE RIGHT! IT’S WORKING! IT’S REALLY WORKING! HAHAHA!!!!!” Blazetail cheered. Silver’s ears turned as a strange noise caught his ears… the sound of crunching metal? His focus was ripped away from the flying fortress that was seconds away from firing and he turned to look at the compound. His eyes went wide and he slowly reached over, grabbing Spitfire by the shoulder. “Captain…” his voice squeaked as if he couldn’t quite find to words. “The compound!” Spitfire turned and looked with him. Her eyes going wide. “Wh…Wh…WHAT?!” Spitfire stuttered. Giant poles were not only breaking out of the courtyard within close proximity of the compound, but they were also shooting out of the roof?! Then one giant pillar broke right through of the center of the compound roof, followed by three large smokestacks that punched right out of the back yard. Spitfire and Silver both got to their hooves and turned around to look directly at the compound. Spitfire felt all the air leave her lungs as she barely managed to speak. “No… you’ve gotta be kidding…” The smaller poles extended up at least three stories from the roof of the compound. They came to an abrupt, loud halt when they reached their zenith. A large portion of the pole tips unfolding into giant propellers similar to those on the flying fortress, extending thirty yards from end to end. The three smokestacks reached their maximum height and locked into place as the enormous pillar continued to extend upward from the dead center. Several hidden ropes and cables ripped from beneath the rooftop, latching onto the pillar and hoisting upward with it. When it finally reached its full height, three stories above the rest of the propellers, the pillar also unfolded into one massive propeller that was almost as long as the entire compound itself, easily fifty to sixty yards from tip to tip. With a long, loud, drawn out groan… The propellers began to turn. It was a slow rotation at first, but the smaller propellers began turning faster and faster. As they continued to increase speed and the giant propeller began moving faster as well. The smokestacks spewed out giant puffs, shooting flames out the top as the compound roared to life and shot intense streams of smoke skyward. As the giant propeller slowly matched the intense speed of its smaller brethren, incredibly powerful blasts of wind rushed all over the surrounding area, knocking Wonderbolts, Renegades, and Shadowbolts every which way through the air with strong gusts and cross breezes. The floor below Dash began to shake. Well… it was already shaking, but the shaking had grown more intense. She and all the ponies were being knocked off their hooves. Rivet struggled to hang onto the valves and levers of the boiler as the compound shook more and more violently by the second… followed by what sounded like loud ripping sounds coming from below them. The very walls and floor that surrounded them began to creak and groan… The compound wasn’t the only thing shaking. The very ground of the courtyard that surrounded the compound was shaking and rumbling. The earth began to tear asunder… a large crack appearing on the ground about thirty yards from the lobby doors. The tear in the ground began to grow, extending further. Grass and dirt were being tossed up in the air as the rip in the earth shot along the ground, extending in a circle all the way around the compound as it cracked and crumbled. Not even the concrete walk that extended from the entrance survived, breaking to pieces as it was torn apart. The intense uplift of the enormous propellers was ripping the compound right out of its own foundations! The sounds of tearing and crumpling metal and the grinding of stone and plaster began to ring out all around as the compound slowly… Slowly… Slowly… Began to lift out of the ground. Pipes and wiring snapped and tore, the concrete tunnel that connected the compound with the castle broke to pieces, collapsing. Bricks and metal beams that were part of recent renovations were completely ripped apart, falling from the compound as it continued to move up. When it cleared the ground and had risen two stories, it revealed the lower outer walls of the second basement. Multiple doors opened along the bottom of the structure and several more, smaller propellers emerged, pointing downward and spinning to life. A large propellor emerged between all the smaller below, much like the large one above, slowly rotating until it matched the speed of the others. With the added strength of the propellers below, the compound’s ascent increased speed. Bits and pieces of the newer foundations dropped from the structure to the ground… As the Wonderbolt compound… Took flight. Spitfire and Silver looked up, their eyes as wide as can be with the smallest their pupils could possibly shrink without disappearing completely. “Oh… My… God…” Spitfire uttered quietly as she continued to arch her neck back. Beside her, Silver slowly reached up and pushed his goggles onto his forehead to make sure it wasn’t a trick of the light gleaming off the lenses. “Dear… Sweet… Celestia…” he whispered. ---To Be Continued---