MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
This chapter was edited by both Kestrel and Lucky424
Chapter 102: Reassurance from the Shadows
Dear Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie,
I’m writing to let you all know that despite any strange things you have heard or read… you don’t need to worry, I’m still alive and kicking. You know me, too awesome to kick the bucket so easily. I just wanted to get that out of the way, since I’m sure Fluttershy has lost sleep over me as it is. Let everypony know I’m okay, especially Scoots, Thunderlane, Derpy, and Bulk Biceps. In fact let, those four know the Wonderbolts are okay as well.
Now… onto business. I can’t give you any specifics about our location for safety reasons, but we are being hunted. The Shadowbolts I’ve told you about in the past are on our trail and trying to wipe us out for reasons that we are still trying to put together. The compound was not destroyed. This may be hard to believe, but it moved, it can fly just like the Shadowbolt base. Also, you can rest easy Twilight, Princess Luna is with us. We’re also not taking this all on alone. Descent, Starry Skies, and Lightning Dust, the three who helped us during the last Shadowbolt incident, have formed a resistance force called the Renegades, consisting of Shadowbolts who broke away and former Wonderbolts. It’s because of them that we survived and their support is keeping us alive.
I’m not sure yet… but based on discussions with Luna, we may need the Elements of Harmony at some point. I don’t know when exactly, but be ready to be called upon in the near future. Something big is happening. We still don’t know what it is, nor do we know how everything ties in. But it’s clear we are going to need everything when the time comes. And hey, just another day, another problem to solve, that’s what we do best!
But really, I’m alright, I promise. I swear on my Element of Loyalty that I’ll see you all again soon.
With all the love and awesomeness,
Rainbow Dash
(P.S.) Twilight, you won’t be able to send anything back, but regardless, could you look up something for me for when we meet up again? Please see if you can find anything on pink, magically infused crystals. They are apparently a form of chaos magic, at least according to Discord. Also, could you see if there is anything, ANYTHING at all about something or somepony named Kayn Ost? Lastly, and this is more of a personal request. Could you look up anything about earth ponies or pegasi in the past who have used an ancient artifact to learn or control magic? You know, like the one Soarin was wearing when you guys showed up at the banquet. I’d like to know, if anything just to know more about it. Thanks Twi, hopefully we can meet up again soon.
Dear Mom and Dad,
How have you been? It’s been an incredibly long time since I’ve had a chance to talk to you both… or even write for that matter. I’ll get the obvious out of the way. I’m sure the media has put quite the twist on whatever they think the current situation is but… I’m fine, as are all of us.
The compound moved, it wasn’t destroyed. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s way too complicated to explain. There is a major threat to Equestria on the loose, but they are so largely focused on us that you can all carry on without worry for now. We will take care of business, we always do.
Also, I’m sorry that I’ve been so distant. My life has been so busy since I became a lead commander. Many things have happened… many of which I believe you have a right to know about. I love you both so much and I promise that sometime soon I will come visit and catch up. In fact, I have somepony I want you… need you to meet.
Until then, please rest easy. Things have been rough, but we’re the Wonderbolts. There’s nothing we can’t handle.
Love,
Soarin
(P.S.) Tell Glide his ass is grass if he touched anything in my room.
Dear Serenity,
Part of me would like to think that you’re concerned about the explosion and the disappearance of our compound, but at the same time I’ll just assume you’re not even worried because you know I’m too stubborn to die. Well, you’re reading this so now you know you’re right, as always. There have been a lot of crazy things happening and while it’s been hard on these old bones, I’m doing my best to keep up with all the kids.
I’m not gonna sugarcoat it and say that we’re safe, or that we’ll be out of danger anytime soon, but for the moment, we are fine. I won’t bother you with the details because I know all you’ll say is ‘suck it up and come home when you can.’ I wouldn’t miss a chance to come home and get a no-nonsense lecture from you as I drag myself right to bed.
All joking aside. I’m still alive. We’ve had some close calls, but that’s part of the job. I’ve lasted this long, I’m not gonna clock out now after all this time. The day my career as a Wonderbolt ends will be when my wings stop working. I refuse to let anything else take me down. I promised you that someday I’d come home, and we’d enjoy the rest of our lives away from all the crazy Wonderbolt spotlights and dangerous missions. That’s a promise I intend to keep.
Please let the kids know their old stallion is still up and chugging. I love you.
Silver Lining
“Hey, damn old ass!”
Silver flattened his brow as he put down the pen and began looking over his letter. Blaze suddenly trotted up behind him and draped an arm over his shoulder while leaning into him.
“You writin’ to your chick?” she asked as she tried to read over his shoulder. Silver quickly and smoothly folded the paper in half while snorting.
“Yes, Blaze. I’m writing to my ‘chick,’” he replied with an exasperated grunt.
“I feel sorry for her if she has to put up with you,” Blaze added with a yawn. “I bet sex is fucking difficult when you’re old,” she added purely for the reason of being vulgar and believing she was being witty.
“Please resist the urge to dry hump the mail slot,” Silver said as he grabbed the envelope beside him. “I know how you are with tight openings.”
“Tight open…” Blaze trailed off as she thought over what he said.
“What are you guys…” High Winds leaned in beside Blaze and yawned. “Talking… about…?”
“WHAT?!” Blaze pushed back from Silver while glaring at him. “I oughtta slap your shit, you ancient—”
“Better hurry up and finish your letter to Lesbia,” Silver said casually as he stuffed his letter into the envelope. Blaze flattened her brow and began to growl.
“You’re asking for it…” she grinded her teeth together, losing her cool even though it was her own fault for challenging Silver. “Give me more of your shit and I’ll cook you up a nasty hoof to the face.”
“Blaze, we all know you don’t cook,” Silver said as he stood up, sealing the letter. Blaze eyed him curiously.
“The fuck makes you think I can’t?” Blaze recklessly continued to bite back. Silver finally turned his head to look at her while nonchalantly lifting his brow.
“We all know you prefer to eat out,” Silver said while giving High Winds a brief glance. Blaze froze with her mouth agape. High Winds yawned and looked towards Blaze.
“Well,” she yawned again. “He’s got you there…”
“YOU…” Blaze leapt at Silver, her blanket somehow remaining around her as she launched herself. “SON OF A—”
Silver took a single step backwards causing Blaze to completely whiff in her attempt to hit him. Silver gently held his letter in his mouth as he reached forward, grabbed Blaze’s blanket with one hoof as he shoved her to the battledome floor with his other hoof. He smoothly pulled her blanket around until he had her completely wrapped in it like a parcel and tied it off, leaving her trapped inside while flailing and swearing excessively. Silver placed his letter in his hoof, moving it back to tuck it under his wing as he grabbed the Blaze-in-a-blanket and held it towards High Winds.
“Candy gram,” he said simply as he dropped Blaze at Winds’ hooves and walked towards where the Renegades were collecting letters. High Winds just yawned before laying down on the struggling Blaze.
“Just what I’ve always wanted…” she said sleepily, dozing off as Blaze continued to yell and make up a few new words when she ran out of ones to shout.
Just as Spitfire had said, the very next morning, Descent, Starry Skies, and Lightning Dust showed up with a group of hoof picked Renegades that were going to make mail runs for them. With Comet and Steady Wing among those selected, it was obvious they had chosen their fastest and most elusive Renegades. The Wonderbolts had been given a large supply of pens, paper, and envelopes to write letters to their friends and families, along with a supply of postage stamps for any letters being dropped off in Fillydelphia for further long distance sending.
The letters were being gathered by the Renegades at the front doors of the battle dome, organized depending on location being sent. Single Renegades were making runs to nearby locations while a small group of five waited for the letters being taken to Fillydelphia.
Soarin and Rainbow Dash had just finished writing their letters, and were making their way over to drop them off to the right ponies, at least after stopping for a moment to see High Winds sleeping on a blanket that was both shaking violently and swearing.
Dash leaned into Soarin, looking at his envelope to see the address as they walked towards the doors of the battledome.
“What are you doing?” Soarin asked while playfully leaning back to stop her.
“Making sure you’re actually sending a letter,” she said with a smirk. Soarin frowned and let his ears flop down.
“Do I really seem that detached from my family?” he asked as Dash quickly shook her head and put a hoof up on his shoulder.
“I’m just giving you a hard time,” she giggled. “You’d think by now you’d know me well enough.”
“I forgot about your sarcasm for a moment,” Soarin chuckled in response as he and Dash approached the group of five Renegades heading to Fillydelphia. Soarin’s letter was going to Manehatten, which wasn’t too far from them compared to some of the letters heading out, namely Matteo’s letter to the Griffon Kingdom, Squall’s to the Crystal empire, or Little Star’s to Whinneyapolis. But it was far enough away to warrant a ‘long distance’ send.
Dash examined the Renegades handling the Fillydelphia run. They were all former Shadowbolts, which she found odd. The Shadowbolts weren’t quite as team oriented as the Wonderbolts. They were probably chosen for their speed and technique. Besides, Dash was more surprised to see Squall’s letter at the top of the pile beside Soarin’s.
But despite how strange his parents may be, Squall still decided to let them know he was fine. Though knowing him, he probably did it to avoid being smothered with worry upon seeing them again.
Soarin followed Dash as they made their way over to Comet, who was holding a paper sign that read: ‘Ponyville.’ He had no letters with him.
“Finally!” Comet chuckled as Dash hoofed over the letter to him. “I was worried I wouldn’t be getting any.”
“Might be the only one,” Dash smiled… admittedly a little bit in awe. She still had yet to communicate much with the retired Wonderbolts.
“Better than nothing,” Comet nodded while looking at the letter. “Princess Twilight Sparkle?!” he smirked and ran a hoof through his mane. “Delivering to royalty! I must look my best!” He hammed it up with a suave tone as Dash and Soarin stared at him awkwardly. Somepony behind them cleared their throat loudly. Soarin and Dash both glanced to their left to see Princess Luna walk up beside them, her horn alight, holding three letters in her magic.
“Former second commander Comet…” Luna began with a stern tone. “Princess Twilight Sparkle is young enough to be your daughter,” she stated as she hovered two letters towards him.
“Like that would stop him from trying,” Silver’s voice came from behind them as he walked by, carrying his letter to a snickering Steady Wing for a Canterlot delivery.
As Dash finished chuckling along with Soarin and Steady, she caught a glimpse of the two letters that Luna gave to Comet. The first was addressed to Twilight, but the other was covered by it. Dash looked back to see the third letter, still in Luna’s magic, was addressed to Princess Cadance. Dash looked towards the hidden letter to Ponyville as Luna hovered her third letter over towards the long distance pile.
“Luna, who else are you writing to in Ponyville?” Dash asked curiously. Luna looked down at her and smiled.
“We have been pen pals with little Pipsqueak since our first Nightmare Night visit to Ponyville,” she frowned. “It pains us to think of how worried for us he must be.”
“Pipsqueak writes to you?” Dash blinked as her pupils widened slightly. “God, that’s cute.”
“Indeed,” Luna’s face brightened back up again. “He is such a darling little colt.”
The three of them perked up as Spitfire crossed directly in front of them with a pile of letters tucked in her wing.
“This one goes here… and this one here…” she dropped letters as she moved by. All of them had the official Wonderbolt stamp seal on them. “And here…” she dropped one addressed to Twilight next to Comet as she moved on. Even Twilight was getting an official letter of their status, despite not being much involved in official authority yet. Princess perk by the looks of it.
“Sheesh…” Soarin tipped his head to the side as Spitfire moved along. “Hope she had time to write back to her parents…” he thought out loud as Lightning Dust passed by behind them with a small stack of letters she had collected and suddenly halted in her tracks. Soarin, Dash, and Luna all turned and glanced at her as she stared at the letter on top quizzically, then glanced up at Dash.
“What the…?” Dust blinked as she looked back at the letter. Dash’s curiosity got the better of her.
“What’s up?” Dash asked as she casually approached Dust, who simply shrugged.
“Uh… I’ve got a letter here addressed to you,” she said as she flipped the letter off the top of the pile with her wing. It jumped up and floated towards Dash.
“Huh?” Dash blinked as she snatched the letter out of the air in her teeth and dropped it into her hoof. As Dust had said, it had her name on the envelope. Dash stole a brief glance at Soarin and Luna, who were both looking at her with curiosity. “Might as well…” Dash turned the envelope over and opened it.
The instant the seal was broken, Twister’s head popped out of the letter.
“DIDN’T EXPECT THIS ONE, DIDJA?!” he yelled in Dash’s face as he reached out and placed a party hat on her head before grabbing a party horn and blaring it into her face, causing her to squint as her mane blew back.
Without a single yelp or flinch, Dash reached her free hoof up and forcefully shoved Twister all the way back into the envelope and slammed her hooves tight to keep it closed.
“You know…” Dash said in a very calm and casual manner as she turned and looked at the surprised Soarin, Lightning Dust, and Luna. “I honestly don’t know why I didn’t expect that,” she said as a foal-like giggling noise continued to come from the envelope. She looked back at the envelope, noticing that it had completely stopped moving and making noise.
“AH!” Luna suddenly shouted. Dash turned to see Twister sitting beside her with the end of her long flowing mane in his mouth, nomming on it.
“You have a TASTY mane!” Twister said, slightly muffled with his mouth full. Dash sighed as Soarin and Lightning Dust continued to look back and forth between the envelope in Dash’s hooves and Twister, trying to make heads or tails of what they just saw, but Dash knew better. She simply shook her head as Luna tried to pull her mane away, but Twister slid along the floor on his plot, keeping pace with her.
“I hope we’re not stuck here in the mountains for too long,” Dash sighed. “I can’t imagine what’s going to happen if Twister gets bored…”
“And finally… here,” Spitfire dropped several official letters into the pile being taken to Fillydelphia. She took a deep breath and exhaled, pushing a faint cloud of mist into the air in front of her as she looked at the last letters. It had taken her a long time to write all of those. She had even gotten up earlier to get a head start on the rest. With all the official business out of the way… she opened her wing and dropped two letters into her hoof.
One was to her mother, the other to her father. They had to be separate letters due to her parents being divorced. She had only met Blaze’s father twice, never getting a chance to get to know him… though she had to wonder where Blaze got her foul mouth, because it was definitely not from their mother.
Not that it bothered her. It had been that way for years now. She had gotten used to it and was busy all the time anyway. She gladly used part of her enormous paycheck to support her family, it didn’t matter what their marital status was. She dropped the two letters into the pile.
She looked up at the group of Shadowbolt Renegades handling the trip to Fillydelphia, noticing that one of the five had disappeared while she was walking around.
“Have we collected all the mail?” Descent’s voice from behind her interrupted her search for the fifth Renegade. Spitfire turned to look at Descent before acknowledging his question and looking around checking.
“It looks like we have a few still writing,” she said as she scanned the Wonderbolts. She turned back to Descent, a question coming to mine. “So I have to ask, what exactly is your plan to get all of these out? I mean, I’ve been wondering in general how exactly you’ve all been able to remain so elusive. Isn’t the blizzard affecting you as well?”
“Our best weather handlers are the best for a reason,” Descent chuckled. “We have about fifty of them managing this storm in two different shifts, all the best weather control ponies you’ll find. They can easily make flash manipulations or weaken certain parts of the blizzard… redirect wind currents, giving us pseudo-pathways through the blizzard… If a Shadowbolt comes into range, they can close it up, or even strengthen it just as fast. With their help and our techniques it’s been a breeze to keep the Shadowbolts completely out of range and chasing false leads.”
“That is pretty impressive,” Spitfire had to agree. She knew there were a few retired Wonderbolts among those she saw leave to create the blizzard.
“Rest assured, we also have our fastest and most elusive Renegades gathered to handle the mail. They will get the job done. They always do,” Descent added as he and Spitfire watch the last batch of Wonderbolts come forward with their letters.
“Descent, are we all clear?” a new voice caught Spitfire’s attention, one she had heard before. She turned to see the Renegade with the wing braces approach, the braces creaking as he stretched and folded his awkward wings. Spitfire’s eyes widened slightly as Descent turned.
“Patience, Astral. We’ve almost gathered all the letters,” Descent assured him.
“Good, I need to get back up in the air. Getting too stiff just sitting around,” Astral huffed as he continued to move his bent wings in and out.
“Just make sure your team is ready,” Descent snorted as Astral rolled his eyes and did just that. Descent turned and glanced at Spitfire as her eyes remained glued to Astral. “Something wrong?” He asked. Spitfire blinked and looked towards Descent. She opened her mouth to speak, but paused and closed it, shaking her head back and forth for a moment.
“No,” she lied about her curiosity… and worry. Descent could see right through it, but he didn’t press the subject. He was beginning to understand Spitfire’s thought process, and as one leader to another, he respected that she would make herself heard eventually. “Looks like the last letters are being dropped. Again, thanks for the help.” Spitfire dodged any discussion. She was… puzzled. Her morals and the Wonderbolt code telling her one thing, but her constant curiosity told her to not bring it up. Descent was spot on, she would speak up once she felt the need to.
“Good, then we can…” Descent trailed off as his head turned and looked down towards the other Renegades that were delivering to nearby locations. Spitfire tipped her head to the side before following Descent’s eyes.
Descent was looking at Comet, who was having a discussion with Steady Wing, but that’s not what had his attention. Storm Front was dropping a letter into Comet’s small pile of letters. Storm looked up at Comet for a moment, before smiling down at the letter and going about his business.
“Excuse me,” Descent said indirectly to Spitfire as he walked towards Comet, keeping his eyes on Storm as he moved. He kept his pace slow until Storm was back mingling with the rest of the Wonderbolts, picking it up into a slow trot as he moved all the way over, and stopping in front of Comet’s small pile of envelopes.
He looked back over his shoulder to make sure Storm was out of sight before looking down at the envelope. It was upside-down. He quickly reached down and grabbed it off the top of the pile, turning it over. He blinked as he read the front.
“Derpy… Hooves?” he read the name while lifting an eyebrow, stealing another glance over his shoulder. He read further, his eyes widening. “Ponyville?” he stared down at the address.
Ponyville… the small town in the middle of nowhere that they were sent to destroy… the event a little more than a year ago that changed everything for him and the Shadowbolts. Storm Front was sending a letter there?
“Oh, is that the last one?” Comet’s voice alerted Descent, who quickly pressed the letter against his chest as if he was caught red-hooved. “Perfect, I can get going then,” Comet said as he reached for the pile on the floor.
“Wait,” Descent suddenly reached forward and stopped Comet’s arm. Comet blinked and looked towards Descent curiously. “Help Steady Wing with the delivery to Canterlot. I’ll make the Ponyville delivery.”
“Huh? But…” Comet flinched as Descent glared at him.
“I’ll make the Ponyville delivery,” he repeated with a low growl in the back of his throat.
“Yeesh, fine, fine…” Comet put up his hooves and backed off, moving towards Steady as the Renegades began gathering up the mail in small saddlebags and heading out of the battledome. Descent stole a quick glance at the rest of the letters in the stack. “Princess Twilight Sparkle… Princess Twilight Sparkle… Pipsqueak?” Descent read off the names as he saw what else he had to deliver with this job he had decided to take on. He shrugged as he picked up the saddlebag that Comet was issued and strapped it on, placing the first four letters in the pouch before looking at Storm’s again. “Derpy Hooves…” he repeated the name as he looked over the address again. With his curiosity about this apparent important acquaintance of his son’s fresh on his mind, he placed the last letter in the pouch, sealing it tight before following behind the rest of the Renegades. They all looked rather surprised to see him suddenly include himself in the mail run.
What awaited Descent in Ponyville?
“Heh, you’ve got some nice moves for an amateur!”
“I’m full of surprises!”
“Well? What are you waiting for? Surprise me.”
“Who the hell are you?!”
“More than you could ever handle, colt!”
“Hmph…” Descent grunted as he cleared the edge of blizzard, following directly behind Steady Wing, Comet, and Astral’s group of five. Six Shadowbolts burst out of the blizzard, following behind as their pink crystals began to glow.
However, none of the mail carrying Renegades reacted to them or panicked. Bomber, Cannon Ball, Pixie, Fairy, and Valkyrie were waiting for them. The five dove down from above, flying the opposite direction of the mail carriers. Valkyrie, without warning him, grabbed Cannon Ball and flung him at the Shadowbolt in front. Cannon quickly curled into a ball and slammed into the Shadowbolt’s face, knocking him backwards and colliding with his five comrades who all foolishly flew in a straight line. With them dazed, Pixie and Fairy moved in and flew in quick circles around them, causing rotating winds that spun the Shadowbolts around to make them dizzy.
“HRRRRAAAAAAAH!” Valkyrie released a battle cry from beside Bomber as the two rammed themselves into the disoriented Shadowbolts, forcefully pushing them back into the blizzard.
Descent stole a quick glance over his shoulder as Cannon, Pixie, and Fairy moved back into the blizzard before focusing on his task. The carriers began to split off in different directions, as did he, aiming himself in the direction of… Ponyville.
His objective was clear, his curiosity was specific, but unexpectedly… this decision was causing lots of memories to resurface.
“Having fun, Descent?”
“Heh, I like this colt. I crammed his face right into the dirt, full speed. But he still has the gusto to resist. I admire his determination and willpower, but in the end, he was just another weakling. How was your opponent, Nightshade?”
“Spunky, but careless. She wasn’t much of a fight. I saw Starry Skies make quick work of the third. She’s already above, making the storm clouds. Are these chumps really the lead squad of the Wonderbolts? These weaklings took over for Blazetail and Flashwind? If this is the legacy of the legendary Gold Squad, then all the apples have fallen far from the tree.”
“Nightshade…” Descent spoke to himself as he cleared the expanse of the mountain range and flew over an open field. He remembered how blindly he followed Nightshade’s orders. How his own loyalty was used against him. He had fought countless battles and taken on so many jobs without question… only to have one battle, that battle, change everything for him. It wasn’t just because of afterward, when he learned Nightshade took on the job just to get more of the crystals. It was also because of Soarin. Descent was far stronger than him… but even badly beaten and injured, Soarin kept pushing back. Nightshade and Starry were right there with him, but even the presence of all three could not douse the flame of Soarin’s will to fight.
“This bastard just won’t die.”
“His mind has completely overpowered his body. I doubt he’d stay down even if we ripped his legs off.”
“You are quite a piece of work. I’ve never seen a pony fight so hard past their limit. You are a rare find indeed. As much as it pains me to kill you, it has been beyond satisfying! YES! CLING TO LIFE! SHOW US JUST HOW STRONG YOUR DESPERATION IS!”
“HEY! Captain, cut it out before you start rubbing yourself all over me too! Save your twisted fantasies for another time!”
Descent shook his head as he continued to glide at high speeds across the grasslands, finding the rail line that led to Ponyville and locking onto it, following it the rest of the way.
Perhaps that’s why they failed… because Nightshade was wrong. Desperation? Soarin wasn’t fighting desperately. He was fighting like a warrior, one that wouldn’t go down until they had squeezed every drop of life out of his body. Nightshade’s overconfidence ended up being her undoing. Her inability to properly gauge Spitfire made her careless… and Descent’s own underestimation of Soarin was what led him to his first defeat at the hooves of someone he was physically superior to in every way.
“Oh, that’s it! I’m going to smash your smug little head until your eyes pop out!”
“Better watch your own!”
“I’LL KILL YOU!”
“THAT’S RIGHT YOU OVERGROWN BULL! COME AT ME!”
The most humbling experience of his life and one that he would never forget. While the discovery of his son helped unlock his emotions… the discovery of Soarin unlocked great wisdom. Descent had fought countless opponents that matched him in power, speed, and ability. Each one was a great battle, and he had earned many scars… such as those he obtained fighting the Master of the Sky, Massimo. But Soarin was the first opponent who, despite being inferior at the time, took him head on and defeated him.
It proved to Descent that true strength comes from devotion and pride. Soarin refused to lie down, and pushed back again and again until he achieved victory, no matter what the cost to protect Ponyville and others that he held dear. It was this devotion that really made Descent take a long, hard look at the direction the Shadowbolts were going. Then after his second confrontation with Soarin and the Wonderbolts… it led him to make one of the hardest decisions he ever made. To push his undying loyalty to Nightshade aside… and leave the Shadowbolts with the intention of someday returning them to their former glory… the real Shadowbolts… his family.
“Hm?” Descent gazed forward as he followed the tracks. He had been flying for a good half an hour now. On the horizon he could see what looked like a two story tower and several hay-thatched rooftops. He simply stared for a moment, realizing that his destination was closing in. He pitched upward, shooting into the air until he was flying sky-high and stared down.
It was Ponyville.
Descent came to a halt, hovering in the air and looking over the rather small area that the town covered, at least it was small compared to Canterlot and most of the other cities and towns he had been to. Of course this wasn’t the first time he had seen Ponyville… but it was the first time he had been back since the battle… and the multiple revelations he had come to.
“Such a small, peaceful looking place…” Descent spoke to himself as his eyes scanned around and moved towards the dark, murky looking forest nearby as well as the open field next to it.
He stared for a long time at the two areas. It was the very place that he, Nightshade, and Starry Skies had battled the Wonderbolts. He sighed as he took note of a clear imbalance in the trees and grass surrounding the area. It seemed there was still a scar from their tornado. Luckily, the tornado had been stopped before it reached the village, which remained unscathed.
“Heh…” Descent chuckled as he thought. Luckily? How ironic that he’d think that way. He was one of the three controlling the damn tornado and now he considered their failure to be lucky.
He looked over his shoulder at the saddlebag that hung off of his side, and then back towards Ponyville below. He had letters to deliver… but at the same time, he was incredibly curious.
He was about to see with his own eyes the very town he was sent to destroy a year ago. Just what was in store for him?
Descent was no doubt a little hesitant to simply land in the middle of Ponyville and start looking around. It was a thought that hit him halfway down. He was wearing a rather menacing looking outfit, which didn’t help the fact that he himself looked a little menacing to say the least. The Shadowbolt uniform was designed to be intimidating and he felt it wasn’t worth risking anypony possibly noticing it and panicking. He doubted that anypony living in such a small secluded town would know of the Shadowbolts, but he, Starry, and Nightshade did attack the weather team here. The possibility was very slim, but in case anypony managed to catch a glimpse of them, he didn’t want to cause a stir.
Descent took a sharp dip downward as he glided near the outer edge of the town, quickly landing between a pair of large bushes behind the last house on the town’s edge. Even if he was on the far edge of town, he didn’t want to risk being spotted by pegasi in the high speed airways.
Confident that he had landed unseen, he ducked behind the bushes and set his bag of mail on the grass. He shed his uniform, headband, and goggles, neatly folding them up and hiding them beneath the bushes before strapping the small mail bag back to his side.
He grunted as he stole a quick glance at his hidden uniform. He’d look less suspicious without it, but it’s not like simply taking off the flight suit would get rid of the intimidation factor. He was a large, mean looking pegasus who was covered in battle scars. He began to wonder if this whole thing was a bad idea. Comet wouldn’t have stood out quite so much. There wasn’t much he could do about it now either way, but regardless, he was being driven by his desire to find out who this pony his son had written to. Not to mention he also had to get several messages to Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Descent took a deep breath and released a long, gentle exhale before he stepped out from behind the house and started walking down the path into town.
Absolutely nothing happened as he suspected it would.
As he grew closer to the center of town he started passing several ponies. However, while he drew many looks, none were of suspicion, worry, or fear. In fact… nearly everypony who gave him a look also flashed him a smile. Some of them even said hello.
Descent was immediately awestruck by how incredibly friendly and neighborly everypony was… he wasn’t even from Ponyville and he was being acknowledged like a long time resident. His curiosity drove him to stop and observe once or twice as he moved through town. The genuine smiles, the friendly greetings, and the seemingly carefree nature of everypony no matter what they were doing… he had never seen anything like it.
Descent would be the first to admit that he was extremely biased when it came to judging communities. He grew up as an abandoned colt in the slums of Canterlot. His dreadfully harsh and unforgiving foalhood experiences had painted a negative picture of society as a whole for him. Because of this, he generally preferred to avoid civilization, feeling that no matter where he went, he would always see the worst of things first, and that alone would shape his entire judgment of the city or town. And that was exactly the case nearly everywhere he went… but then there was Ponyville.
Try as his brain might, there was nothing, absolutely nothing in Ponyville, at least on the surface, that fed his habit of negative judgment. Everypony was smiling, everypony was happy. And what really took the cake was that none of it looked forced. It was all natural and genuine. So much so that Descent felt if all the ponies around would randomly turned to him and throw him a welcome party, it would still feel natural.
“HEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!”
“GAH!” Descent yelped, rearing back and hopping several steps back as somepony shouted in his face. He shook his head out and blinked. The space directly in front of him was vacant for only a second before a pink pony with a large, puffy mane was suddenly directly in his face with wide eyes and the largest smile he had ever seen in his life.
“Oh my gosh! You’re a scary looking pony!” the pink mare said bluntly with the smile on her face never fading. “I’ve never seen you in town before! Does that mean…” the pink mare’s eyes suddenly grew followed by her gasping so hard and loudly that it was a wonder her lungs didn’t suck her face and head all the way down her throat. “YOU’RE NEW IN TOWN?!”
“Uh…” Descent had absolutely no idea what to say to this… overly ‘happy’ pony. He didn’t know how else to describe—
“Overly happy works!”
“Wha…?!” Descent blinked and she was gone. He flinched as he felt a set of hooves touch lightly to his back.
“Wow! You’re really big too! Not anywhere near as big as Big Macintosh, but still!” her head dropped down in front of him. “BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT! LET ME THROW YOU A WELCOME PARTY!”
“A welcome—?”
“PARTY!!!!!!” she yelled as the sound of noise makers suddenly blared out all around them. Descent’s eyes went wide as the pink mare dropped down in front of him with… a cannon?! It was aimed directly at his face! He slammed his eyes shut as she pulled the cord, but all he felt was a burst of air pressure, followed by confetti shooting all over him. He opened his eyes and flattened his expression as confetti lay draped all over him, one piece hanging over his nose.
He snorted and shook his nose once, dropping the confetti from his face. This was… quite an interesting greeting. Not only that but… despite how loud and rambunctious this mare was, nopony was stopping and staring at them. A few glanced and smiled at her, but otherwise they went about their business as if this was a normal occurrence.
Apparently this pink pony was known for this… and it was something they were all used to. While it was a little annoying to him, it was another case where the citizens of this town seemed to be welcoming and friendly, even if this case was… more than a bit over the top.
“Oh, I’m an advocate of over the top!” the pink mare got back in his face. Descent’s pupils shrank for a moment.
“How in Equestria are you reading my thoughts?” he asked, a little put off by this seemingly psychic/psychotic mare.
“You’d be surprised what you can do if you don’t think too hard!” the pink mare giggled while bouncing on her hooves, which made spring like noises as she hopped up and down.
“That seems to contradict—”
“LESS TALK! MORE WELCOME PARTY!” the pink mare appeared in front of him, floating in midair with balloons tied around her while pressing her nose to his. One of the balloons was self-inflating above her as she floated. “OH! I KNOW!” she continued as Descent’s eyes went to the single balloon growing larger and larger over her. “Let’s have a party at Sugarcube Corner!” The balloon began casting a shadow over them as Descent began to wince while he watched it. He squinted as the balloon exploded with a loud POW, which made the pink mare slam to the ground, but bounce up. “We can invite everyponyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…” her voice slowly got quieter as she rocketed skyward and disappeared.
“What just happened?” Descent asked himself as he stared upward.
“Fun, that’s what!” the mare was suddenly standing right next him, causing him to yelp and stumble away while staring at her wide eyed. “So what do you say!? Party time?!”
As…. Interesting as this encounter was, Descent had to stay on track. This mare seemed overly happy and excited to welcome him, but he wasn’t in Ponyville for fun.
“Perhaps… another time, I’m actually here to deliver some mail, that’s all,” Descent got right to the point.
“Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww…” The pink mare slumped down, her mane making a deflating noise as it also slumped down with her. Descent scrunched his face as he saw her tremendously disappointed reaction. It was a little disheartening to see, not that he was so easily emotionally swayed… or anything. Perhaps asking her for directions would make her feel better. He didn’t know his way around after all. Being pointed in the right direction would save him lots of time.
“I could do with some assistance though,” he spoke up while taking a step towards her. The mare was up in an instant, mane fully re-inflated. Her eyes were wide, her smile large, and she was bouncing in place.
“Ooo~! I can do that!” she agreed after her hilariously quick turnaround.
“I’m looking for the residence of Princess Twilight Sparkle. I have some important mail for her,” Descent got right down to business.
“Oh! That’s easy!” the mare giggled while springing up and down. “She lives at the Golden Oaks Library! It’s a big tree! Hard to miss! Unless you’re some giant centaur-monkey-demon that fires magic beams from between two large horns, but I doubt that’ll ever happen!”
“What?” Descent blinked, trying to understand what she was getting at. He understood the first part about a library built into a tree but…
Descent’s thoughts were cut off as the pink mare unleashed another loud, powerful gasp that was so strong, it sucked all the confetti off of Descent’s body and into her mouth.
“OH MY GOSH! I COMPLETELY FORGOT! I’M LATE!”
And as quickly as she appeared, the pink mare was gone.
“What a strange mare…” Descent said to himself, trying to disregard all the strange and impossible things he just witnessed. It took a few minutes and a lot of odd shenanigans, but he learned that Princess Twilight Sparkle lived in a library built into a tree. That wouldn’t be too hard to find.
Descent spread his wings and lifted off, hovering up just above the rooftops of the surrounding houses. He glanced around until his eyes landed on a tree in the middle of town, a large tree that looked to have windows and a balcony on it. It definitely stood out. With his target in his sight, he casually flew towards it.
He couldn’t help but continue to observe Ponyville as he approached the library. So pleasant and peaceful. So… innocent. That mixed with the collective friendliness he had been shown was creating a tight feeling in the pit of his stomach.
A year ago… he and his comrades were sent to destroy this place? A town that seemed like such a comfortable place to live without worry? A place where everypony was happy and there was no sign of oppression, bitterness, or animosity of any kind? It was nearly a utopia. A small town, set aside from the rest of Equestria where everything was based around friendship. He was having a hard time processing all of it. He never thought such a place could exist, but it was incredibly refreshing to see someplace that was completely free from what ailed many other communities.
Destroying such a place would have been terrible.
Descent snorted as lowered himself towards the front door of the library.
“I can’t believe how much I’ve changed…” he said to himself as his hooves touched down.
He approached the door slowly, trying to figure out what to say. At first he was sure he’d just hand her the letter and get on with finding whoever this Derpy Hooves was, but then he remembered he was about to knock on the door of a princess. The fact that she was a princess had nothing to do with his hesitation. He did not fear her status. She wasn’t even one of the divine sisters. Even if she was a divine alicorn, it wouldn’t have made a difference. He had no problem speaking to Luna like he spoke to everypony else.
What crossed his mind was something else, the situation. An intimidating pony like him showing up and handing off information? Well… that would be taken care of by the official Wonderbolt seal on the letters from Spitfire. Should he fill her in on anything? No, again Spitfire’s, Luna’s, and Rainbow Dash’s letters would take care of that.
“Just focus,” Descent grunted as he reached up and knocked on the door. The sooner he got the letters to Princess Twilight delivered and dropped off Luna’s letter to her pen pal… he could track down what he really came there for.
But the door didn’t open.
Descent tapped his hoof, waiting for a response, but received nothing. He reached up and knocked again. After waiting for a few moments, he once again received no response.
“Grr…” he growled as he slowly realized there was nopony home. Under normal circumstances, or if he were just another mail pony, he’d have left the letters in the mailbox. But these were not just letters, they were important messages about an important situation. He didn’t feel comfortable just leaving them there, especially the letter written by Spitfire with the official Wonderbolt seal on it.
“Can’t catch me!” a snide voice of a filly suddenly caught Descent’s ears.
“No fair!” Another filly whined. “Flying is cheating!”
Descent turned his head and stepped back from the door to see two little fillies move around the tree towards him. One was an orange pegasus with a dark purple mane, gliding over the ground while looking back and blowing raspberries at a little white unicorn with a fluffy mane with shades of purple and pink. The two were not paying attention, heading straight for Descent.
“Sorry! Now that I can use ‘em, you better bet I’ll always—” the orange filly flew head first into Descent’s chest. “OOF!” she grunted as she bounced off of him and plopped plot first onto the ground. The unicorn filly immediately skidded to a halt and stared wide-eyed at Descent as the orange filly groaned.
“What the heck was…” the orange filly froze as she realized she was sitting in a shadow. She slowly tipped her head up, her pupils shrinking as her eyes landed on Descent, looking down at her.
The filly’s mouth hung open as she stared, her unicorn friend equally frozen in place.
Descent sighed as he looked at the reaction of the fillies to him. No surprise, he had a feeling at least the children would be scared of him. However, from what he observed, this town seemed to be built on mutual trust and a willingness to be neighborly or helpful. Perhaps… he could ask these fillies if they knew what the princess was up to. News about princesses traveled fast after all.
“Excuse me…” Descent tried to make his tone of voice as soft as possible, hoping it would make him come across as friendly, but it didn’t work. The moment he spoke, the orange pegasus filly yelped and scooted herself backwards until she ran into her friend. The orange filly crouched to the ground, the unicorn hiding behind her, peeking over the orange filly’s back in fear.
Descent tipped his head to the side slightly, scrunching his mouth as he tried as hard as he could to adjust his demeanor to fit the situation. It wasn’t something he could really do, but he needed to at least try.
“I have an important letter for the Princess… do you know where I can find her?” Descent asked, trying to soften his tone further. Alas, the two fillies remained completely silent. Perhaps they needed more persuasion. While Ponyville had proven to be ridiculously friendly, this at least proved to Descent that it wasn’t simply blind or misguided. The fact that these two fillies exhibited a careful approach to a scary looking stranger proved this.
Descent looked down for a brief moment, realizing that he was probably glaring a little. It was something he did naturally, but his natural state was not going to help him here. He didn’t try to force it, but he tried to soften his eyes a little as well before adding more to his request.
“It’s about the Wonderbolts, I must…” Descent trailed off as the orange filly’s eyes suddenly reverted to normal and she stood right up, leaving her unicorn friend alone on the ground.
“The Wonderbolts?!” the orange filly flapped her wings excitedly. “Do you know Rainbow Dash?!”
Descent blinked upon hearing the name. Perhaps this was the key to finding the princess. He reached into his mail bag and shuffled through the letters until he found the one written by Rainbow Dash. He dropped it into his hoof and held it out towards the orange filly, whose eyes widened upon seeing the letter addressed to Twilight and four others, along with Rainbow Dash’s name in the top corner.
“As a matter of fact,” Descent felt so silly, incredibly glad that Starry wasn’t around to see him acting so ‘friendly’. “The letter was written by Rainbow Dash.” Sure there was a letter from Luna and Spitfire as well, but this filly clearly was an acquaintance of Dash’s.
“Oh my gosh! Is… Is she okay?!” the orange filly suddenly hopped up and hovered directly in front of Descent, putting her little hooves on his chest. “What happened to the Wonderbolts?!”
How brave the little filly had become through concern for a friend. Any and all fear was gone the moment Descent mentioned Rainbow Dash. She disregarded how scary he looked in order to find out more. Based on her reaction, it seemed clear that news about the explosion in Canterlot and the disappearance of the Wonderbolts had reached other locations.
While it seemed life went on as usual, there was no doubt concern from those who were acquainted. Descent wondered if things would have gone differently with the crazy pink mare if he had mentioned Rainbow Dash. It seemed like everypony knew everypony here after all.
“She is alive and well, as are the rest of the Wonderbolts,” Descent reassured the filly, returning a bit of serious tone to his voice in order to sound firm in his words. “That’s why I need to find Princess Twilight and deliver this letter, it’s urgent.”
“We were about to go see her! Come on! Follow us!” the orange filly frantically ordered while pulling away from Descent and pointing down the path.
“Scootaloo!” the unicorn filly shouted at her while she kept staring at Descent. “You’re just gonna trust him? What if he’s lying?” she asked with clear, extreme worry. Descent didn’t blame her for obvious reasons. In general she didn’t seem quite as brave as her friend, but…
“Oh don’t worry, Big Macintosh is gonna be there! If he tries anything funny, he’ll regret it!” the orange filly turned to Descent. “You got that, buster?” she shook her hoof at him. Descent blinked pulling his neck back slightly in surprise at the sudden burst of sassiness. This filly showed signs of being good friends with Rainbow Dash for sure.
But who was this Big Machintosh? This was the second time this pony was mentioned. Apparently he was somepony who’d give him what for if he was lying. He wasn’t lying but he’d have to see this pony to believe it. Descent pushed the thought aside as he followed close behind the two fillies.
“Where exactly are we going?” Descent asked curiously as the fillies led him down a path that went away from Ponyville and onto a large expanse of farmland… that looked to be growing nothing but apple trees. The orange filly pointed towards the barn.
“This is Sweet Apple Acres! Princess Twilight and her friends are always hanging out here, one of my friends lives here too!” she explained as they suddenly came to a halt. Descent stopped as well, looking at them both. “Just head up the path to the barn, she should be in there. We have to stop at our clubhouse!”
“Wait a second—” Descent tried to stop them, but the two fillies ran off into the apple orchard, quickly disappearing. Descent snorted and sighed. This had all become much more complicated than he wanted it to be.
Prepared to continuously expect the unexpected going forward, Descent walked the rest of the pathway himself, past what looked like some sort of refrigeration building and a few sheds on the way. He stopped in front of the barn door, hearing voices on the inside.
“So no word on what happened in Canterlot yet?” a voice with a thick country twang asked.
“None, and I still don’t know why. I’ve sent multiple letters to Princess Luna through Spike, but each one came right back!” a worried voice replied. “I’d visit myself, but every letter that was returned included something about staying put until further notice… and it had Celestia's watermark on them, not Luna’s! I’m so confused.”
“Don’t worry darling,” a voice with a much more proper tone spoke up. “I’m sure we’ll know more soon, at least I hope.”
“What about you, Thunderlane?” the country voice spoke up again. “No word from them at all about needin’ the reserves or somethin’ like that?”
“Nothing at all,” a male voice spoke up. “Believe me, I’d be in my suit and heading out now if I had heard.”
“Hey! I bet they’re ALLLLLLL just fine and kicking some serious plot with the help of formal rivals or something! Wouldn’t that be awesome?!”
Descent cringed as he heard the voice of the pink mare he encountered earlier. So she did know the princess, it looks like she could have saved him a trip if he had explained his intentions to deliver the letters personally.
Despite the slight reluctance that came from knowing the crazy pink mare was back, Descent was looking forward to delivering this letter, getting the information to Princess Twilight, and then moving on. So he reached up and knocked on the barn door without hesitation.
“Hey! That must be Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle!” a younger, country voice spoke up.
Somepony spoke after that, but it was incredibly quiet. It sounded something like ‘I’ll let them in,’ but it was so hushed Descent could barely make out what was said.
He looked straight at the door as it began to rattle and swing open.
“Hello Scoo—”
Descent blinked as the incredibly quiet voice met his ears. He was expecting to look down at whoever answered the door, but not that far down. A yellow pegasus mare with a very long pink mane had answered the door, but she was tiny! Not quite as small as the fillies he was just following, but definitely close. Much like the fillies, however, the mare’s eyes went wide and she stared up at Descent with an expression of pure terror.
“EEEEEEEEEEEEE!” the mare shrieked before slamming the door shut.
Descent flattened his brow. He knew he was intimidating, but was he really that much of a fright?
“Fluttershy? What’s wrong?” the country voice spoke up. She got no response. Descent was ready to confront whoever decided to open the door next, figuring he would be met with suspicion after how the small mare reacted.
“T-t-t-t-there’s…” the small mare’s voice was finally heard. “A sc-sc-scary pony at the door!”
“A scary…” the country voice spoke up again, but stopped. “Ya got it, Mac?”
“Eeyup,” a new voice, male, also with the country tone. Descent waited patiently for the door to open again… but the hoofsteps heading towards the door sounded incredibly heavy.
The door opened again. Descent was ready to speak immediately… but he froze in place and looked UP with wide eyes in disbelief.
Descent stared up into the casual gaze of an ENORMOUS, bright red earth stallion that was easily almost as large as Bomber. While he may not have been the size of Bomber, he definitely looked just as powerful and muscular. He had a short, orange mane and a string of wheat sticking out of his mouth. The small yellow mare was standing beneath him, peeking her head out from behind his left arm as the earth stallion looked down at Descent with no visible reaction.
There was no mistaking it. This had to be ‘Big Macintosh’.
“What in tarnation is going on over there?” the female country voice called out from behind them, before a large, orange earth mare, wearing a brown, wide-brimmed hat pushed her way past the red stallion. Well… she was large in regards to the usual proportions of a pony, easily twice the size of the cowering pegasus mare. Her expression switched from curiosity to suspicion the moment her eyes landed on Descent. “Uh… can I help you?” she asked, while eyeing him carefully.
Descent, glanced between her and the big red stallion a few times, still in awe. He never expected to find another pony as large, or close to being as large as Bomber. Descent cleared his throat, pushing aside any other thoughts while focusing on the task at hoof.
“I…” he glanced at the stallion once more. “I have a few letters for Princess Twilight Sparkle,” he paused for only a brief moment before adding to it. “The letters are from Spitfire, Princess Luna, and Rainbow Dash… about the Wonderbolts.”
All three of the ponies instantly reacted, or at least the two mares did. The only expression he got out of the giant stallion was his eyes opening a tad wider.
“Did somepony just say—” the other male voice sounded out from inside, but he was cut off as a magenta aura suddenly surrounded the three ponies standing in Descent’s way. The two mares yelped, but the giant stallion remained expressionless as the aura shoved them out of the way, allowing Descent to see further into the barn. There were several other ponies present, three more mares, a filly, and two stallions.
It didn’t take long for Descent to spot the odd one out. The differently shaped wings and a unicorn horn to go along with them really gave her away.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle?” Descent spoke from the doorway.
Twilight hovered into the air and over the table they were all sitting at, touching down on the other side.
“Please, come in!” she beckoned him with a sense of urgency. Descent hesitated, not quite sure if he wanted to surround himself with unknown ponies, but again, Ponyville had more than proven itself as an innocent town. Plus, he was certain a princess wouldn’t surround herself with ponies she didn’t trust.
“HEYYYYYYYYY!!!!” the pink mare leapt up and landed directly in front of him before he got two steps into the barn. Descent gritted his teeth and cringed as he leaned away. “You’re the scary pony I saw on the edge of town!”
“Pinkie…” Twilight quickly cut her off, surrounding her with an aura and floating her back over to the table. “Not now, please, I need to hear what he has to say,” Twilight walked out to meet Descent halfway as he too moved towards her.
“I’m afraid I’m only the messenger,” Descent spoke up as he and Twilight met in the center and started reaching for his mailbag. “I can’t say much about the situation, but hopefully these letters will—” Descent abruptly stopped as he turned back around with the letters in hoof. His eyes halted directly on the black pegasus stallion with the silver mohawk mane that sat at the table behind Twilight. The white unicorn mare and the bright yellow stallion sitting beside him both glanced at him, and then back at Descent.
“Uh… what?” The black stallion blinked, looking a little uncomfortable at the sudden stop and how attention had somehow shifted to him. Descent blinked and shook his head out.
“I apologize…” Descent grunted as he refocused on Twilight. “I am mistaking you for somepony else.”
Descent lied through his teeth. He didn’t know the name of the pegasus stallion, but he definitely recognized him. He was on the weather team that tried to counter the artificial tornado. Specifically he was the first one that they took down. Descent remembered diving through their counter tornado and driving his hooves directly into the stallion’s back. Meeting victims of his past missions was something nopony, no matter how hardened, would ever get used to. He didn’t show it, but it was hard for him to look upon Matteo after learning he was Massimo’s son. Soarin was a special case, due to considering him to be a worthy rival. Such uncomfortable thoughts never used to cross his mind, his victims merely being part of his work, but many things had changed for Descent lately. Again, it was something he blamed on meeting Soarin.
“Here,” Descent hoofed over the letters from Spitfire, Luna, and Dash. He expected Twilight to open the letters from Luna or Spitfire first, but to his surprise, she tossed those two over to the table with her magic and frantically looked over the letter from Rainbow Dash. Descent watched curiously as Twilight turned and quickly moved back towards the table, the rest of the present ponies gathering around her. Descent lifted up a hoof in surprise as the two fillies who had led him there suddenly sprinted past him and hopped up to see as well.
Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship… her name rang true, showing more concern about a close friend than official business. Descent hovered around for a moment as Twilight began to read the letter aloud, but with all of them preoccupied, he decided not to overstay his welcome.
While the ponies of Ponyville had been a refreshing community to experience, he felt completely out of place, not to mention the guilt of almost destroying such a peaceful town a year ago was weighing more heavily on him than he ever thought it would… or could.
He turned and quietly showed himself out as the ponies voiced their excitement and relief to each other. He had no more need to stay, and decided to focus on the last two letters. He stepped away from the barn and spread his wings…
“Um… excuse me…”
Descent froze in place as the quiet voice barely made itself heard behind him. He blinked and refolded his wings as he looked over his shoulder.
It was the small, yellow pegasus mare. She was looking up at him with half her face covered with her long mane and there was a clear shiver in her legs.
“Yes?” Descent turned towards her, causing her to squeak and take a step back. If she was so scared of him, why did she follow him?
“Um… are you… Descent?”
Descent’s eyes widened. How did she know?
“I… I am,” Descent answered quickly, not seeing any possible avenue of escape.
“Oh… okay, I was…” the yellow mare’s face seemed to slowly hide itself further behind her mane as she spoke. “I was curious… Rainbow Dash has mentioned you… and you fit the description. I… um…” she got quieter and quieter as she spoke. Descent’s ears were tipping as far forward as they could on his head in attempt to hear her clearly.
He waited for her to say more, but every noise that came from her after that was squeaky gibberish and she slowly began to curl into a yellow and pink ball. Descent’s eyes widened as two enormous red hooves moved in and stood beside her. He looked up quickly to see the giant earth pony beside her. Again, the giant pony gave little in terms of expression, simply looking down at Descent casually as he passed the string of wheat in his mouth from one side to the other.
The stallion glanced down at the small mare and reached one of his hooves over, resting it gently over her shoulder. She uncurled and looked up at the big red stallion, smiling before standing back up. The giant stallion clearly made her feel safer, and he didn’t blame her, he was like a walking mountain. She took a deep breath and looked back at Descent, still hiding her face slightly.
“Um… well, I just wanted to say… um…” she still spoke nervously as the stallion lightly rubbed her shoulder to comfort her. “Thank you, for helping Rainbow Dash. She means a lot to us… and she’s… my best… friend,” the mare struggled to get it all out. Descent cracked a small smile. All that trouble just to thank him? This town really was an interesting place.
“She has mostly been handling herself,” Descent spoke truthfully. “But you are welcome.”
His eyes widened slightly in surprise as the small yellow mare made a very quick, very brief move towards him and hugged one of his arms before zipping back beneath the giant stallion. Descent tipped his head curiously, looking back up at the giant red stallion, who even after all of that, had remained expressionless.
“Mac? Fluttershy? Where’d ya go?” the voice of the orange mare sounded out from the barn.
“I should get going,” Descent spoke up, not wanting to be drawn back into the barn. “I have two more stops to make,” He started to turn.
“Take care,” the red stallion finally spoke up. Descent paused, glancing back up at the giant and smirking before spreading his wings and taking off without looking back.
Ponyville was an interesting place indeed. How different might his life had been, had he grown up in such a place? From what he had seen… drastically.
No matter what happened going forward, Descent had clearly had an odd yet refreshing experience in Ponyville. However, there was one thing left that he felt would be more significant than anything else: Meeting this acquaintance of his son’s.
After awkwardly asking many very friendly, helpful ponies for directions to where Luna’s little friend, Pipsqueak lived. He dropped the letter in his family’s mailbox and turned back to the sky, the final letter in his hoof as he looked over the address.
Having flown a few circles around the whole town, he was beginning to get a slight idea of the layout and what streets were where, but he was still having an issue with the specific addresses. The last letter, addressed to ‘Derpy Hooves’ from his son, apparently lived on Center Street, which was ironically not through the center of the town, but actually two blocks east of Mane Street, which ran through the center of town. The town was organized in a circular pattern, meaning the further in one went, the longer the streets were. Center Street was pretty close to the center… so it extended pretty far from start to finish.
Descent sighed as he landed at the north edge of Center Street and looked down the expanse. It wasn’t like he was staring down the endless roads of Manehatten or Canterlot, but he had just gotten done looking all over town for one house. Now he had to find another, but at least he knew what street he was on this time. He didn’t want to bother anypony else for directions so he decided he would just walk the length until he found the right address.
“101010…Center Street…” Descent read off the address to himself as he started walking and glancing at the houses. Six numbers seemed like overdoing it in such a small town, but it wasn’t his place to decide it. “101010… 101010… 101010…” he repeated as looked back and forth at the houses.
A strange anxious feeling began to rise up in his chest as he closed in on the right number. He was nearing the motivation for snatching the letters from Comet in the first place. Perhaps this was just another thing he had yet to experience among the many changes and new feelings he had since discovering his son. Storm was important to him, and this Derpy Hooves was somepony he was clearly acquainted with.
Fatherly instincts were kicking in. It was easy to see all the ponies around Storm with the Wonderbolts and despite some of their interesting personalities, Descent had come to understand that the Wonderbolts were good ponies. This was a pony Storm felt the need to write to when the theme of the letters being sent was to friends, family, and loved ones. He didn’t know Storm had any friends outside the Wonderbolts, so… again… he had the urge to investigate.
“100990… 101000… 101010…” Descent stopped as his eyes landed on the house marked with the number. It looked just like every other house, but inside was what he was looking for. His eyes landed on the mailbox sitting at the edge of the short front walk. It was a grey box that had little, brown muffin designs painted on it. He had simply dropped the letter to Luna’s pen pal in his mailbox, but here… he wanted to deliver this letter personally.
As he casually walked towards the front door, he coached himself through the situation. Don’t be harsh, don’t glare, don’t react, don’t be forceful… this was a friend of his son’s that he knew nothing about. He didn’t want to go in feeling like he had to judge them at first glance. He also didn’t want to do anything impulsively… as a matter of fact, he didn’t even want to reveal that he was Storm’s father. He wanted to just observe and possibly see this pony’s reaction to Storm’s letter.
With his thoughts gathered and as much composure built up as he could muster, he reached up and gently knocked on the door.
At first he worried that there may be nopony home, because this was exactly what he wanted to come into town for and it would be a major let down if he didn’t get to fulfill his desire. However, his worry was quickly alleviated by the CLIP-CLOP sound of hooves approaching the door from the inside. There was a peephole in the door, and Descent figured he would be observed, and possibly questioned before let in. After all, he was a large, mean looking pony covered in battle scars. While out and about, the citizens of Ponyville seemed carefree and friendly, but after getting a barn door slammed in his face, he wondered if they were at least a little more careful about—
Descent flinched as the door swung inward and revealed a smiling grey mare with a straight, yellow mane.
“Hello!” the mare said in a carefree tone, opening her eyes and looking at Descent curiously. She was wall-eyed, her eyes not quite lining up and moving separately as she examined him.
A mare.
Descent had considered the possibility… but this changed things slightly. He wasn’t going to jump to conclusions, but how did this mare know his son?
“Excuse my intrusion, but…” he paused before reaching the letter towards her, examining how she simply stood and smiled at him. She was completely unaffected by his appearance. This mare seemed a little out there… but she had a very warm smile. “Are you Derpy Hooves?” Descent asked. The mare blinked twice, her eyes switching which was up and which was down both times. Her smile grew wider and she nodded vigorously.
“Yes I am!” she answered cheerfully. “Who are you?” she asked before Descent could hand the letter to her. He remained still for a moment, unsure how to respond.
“My name… is…” Descent awkwardly tipped his head to the left and bit his lower lip as he struggled to come up with a name. He didn’t want to start throwing his name out everywhere, even if one pony had already unexpectedly called him out. “Just call me… Dee,” he said while lightly blushing in embarrassment. It was such a sorry attempt to create a secret identity.
“Nice to meet you Dee!” Derpy replied without hesitation, not even questioning it as she continued the endless display of friendliness. “What can I do for you?” she asked while swaying back and forth.
One thing was for certain, this mare was testing Descent’s inability to find anything ‘cute.’ Her demeanor and way of speaking and doing things was almost too much for him to handle. He finally held up the letter.
“I have a letter for you,” he reached it towards her.
“Oh?” her ears stood up as she put a hoof to her mouth and tipped her head way to the right. She reached her hoof from her mouth, towards the letter and took it. Descent kept his eyes on her face. He had purposely handed her the letter upside down so he would have time to focus and watch her reaction. He still wasn’t sure if he wanted to ask any questions. He hoped her reaction to both seeing and reading the letter would give him a better idea what the relationship between Storm and Derpy was.
It didn’t take long. The moment Derpy turned the letter over and read who it was from, her eyes grew several sizes and she gasped loudly as an incredibly wide, open mouth smile made its way onto her face.
“STORM FRONT!” she exclaimed joyfully as her wings began to flap furiously and lift her slightly into the air. Descent stared at her blankly as Derpy turned her side to him, nearly whacking him with one of her wings as she floated sideways towards a table in the center of her living room and placed the envelope down, using both a hoof and her teeth to open it and pull the letter out.
Again, Descent watched her carefully as she unfolded the letter and began to read. He could only see the side of her face, but he didn’t need to see much more than that. As Derpy read the letter, her smile grew wider and wider, a pink rosy blush crossing over her nose and cheeks. She started giggling partway through the letter, her hooves moving the unfolded piece of paper closer and closer to her face as her eyes scanned the words. Her eyes shot back up to the top after she finished, skimming the contents of the letter again, then again, and again before she reared back on her hooves and clutched the letter to her chest, over her heart, laughing with high pitched, squeaky giggles as her wings flapped and made her hover up into the air.
It was… quite a reaction. Not to mention one that made something almost perfectly clear.
Seeing as how Derpy didn’t seem to mind his presence one bit, Descent took a step into her house.
“You must be good friends with Storm Front,” Descent said simply as his expression remained serious, but not hard. He didn’t get much further because Derpy turned and floated over to him in such a smitten state that she probably didn’t need to use her wings.
“Better than that!” Derpy giggled excitedly as she stopped in front of Descent. “He’s my coltfriend!”
Descent’s eyes grew and his pupils shrunk. He quickly slammed his eyes shut and shook his head out to hide his visible facial reaction. He had definitely suspected it… but hearing it straight from Derpy was something he didn’t expect… or apparently was ready for.
“I was so worried about him after I heard about Canterlot…” Derpy floated away from Descent and twirled in midair. “But he’s okay!”
“Y-yes…” Descent nodded, still feeling strangely affected by accidentally meeting an apparent love interest of his son’s. “They’re all okay and currently very safe and sound,” he added to try and stick with the moment instead of thinking about exactly who he was looking at and talking to.
“Oh, you know him?!” Derpy suddenly turned back to Descent, her eyes so wide that the wall-eyed effect was almost impossible to notice. Descent flinched, realizing that he may have pseudo-spilled the beans on who he was, but he still had room to dodge.
“Er… yes, I do,” he quickly deflected. “I am part of a group helping out the Wonderbolts. He and I have met," she didn't seem the type to ask many questions, so he kept it simple and vague.
“Oh! Can you take something to him for me?!” Derpy suddenly touched down and bounced up and down on her hooves. Descent looked down at her curiously, but simply nodded, eager to shift the subject away from him. “Wait right here!” Derpy said cheerfully as she turned and cantered into her house and up the stairs. They had made an agreement to have no returning mail... but... Descent felt the need to make an exception here. Was he playing favorites? Maybe, but seriously, Storm was his son.
As he waited, Descent’s eyes shifted to the letter sitting on the table. He stared at it for a few moments, glancing between it and the stairs where Derpy disappeared.
He shouldn’t… he really shouldn’t, but it was too late, he was already reaching for the letter. He gave the stairs one last glance, aware that he was more or less invading privacy, but… he wanted to see the words of his son.
Dear Derpy,
First and foremost, I want you to know that despite any news that may be going around Equestria right now, I am alive and so is everypony else. We had quite a scare recently, but we all managed to escape, compound included. I know, that sounds impossible, but believe me, it’s too hard to explain.
The important thing is that we’re not dead, besides, I refuse to die knowing I can always come back to see your adorable face. It’s been rough, but I’ve been thinking of you every night. All I have to do is envision that bubbly smile of yours and it turns any bad day into a good one.
We have a long road ahead of us, but believe me, after the night we shared together I’m convinced I have the best mare in Equestria, and I will do anything to make it back safe and sound for you. Nothing in my life as ever felt as good as holding you close, your head resting against my chest under the moonlight. I want to feel that again, and I plan to feel that again.
Wait for me Derpy, I promise you I will see you again.
I love you,
Storm Front
“Hmm…” Descent remained expressionless as he read the last paragraph over specifically. Descent wasn’t an expert on romance… but he knew a thing or two about care thanks to Storm. While Storm’s words in the letter did little to move him, the effect they had on Derpy was clear. Both seeing this letter and meeting Derpy was giving Descent the urge to sit down with Storm and simply talk to him.
Not necessarily about having a marefriend, more about getting to know his own son better. Their interactions throughout Storm’s colthood were all very brief. Aside from a pat on the head, a smile, and assurance that he’d be there for him, Descent barely got to see Storm grow up, never had enough time to hear about all the things he experienced in his life, or in general just be a major part of Storm’s life. He had been the father figure, but one that was only around in spurts. Perhaps it was time to change that. Sure, it would be hard with how busy the Renegades were protecting the Wonderbolts, but it needed to happen. He wanted to know more.
Descent quickly put the letter back down as he heard Derpy’s hoofsteps come down the stairs. He stepped away from the table to dispel any suspicion and waited for her to reappear. She touched down to the floor and bouncily trotted up to Descent… holding something in her mouth.
As she grew closer and stopped before him, Descent eventually saw what she was holding. It was a small, hoof-stitched plush of herself.
Assuming she wanted him to take it, Descent reached out a hoof. Derpy dropped the small plushie into his hoof and smiled happily at him.
“Please take this back to him. If I can’t be there with him right now, I want him to still see me every night,” she said while swaying back and forth again. Descent stared at the small plush. It was well crafted, if not a little simple. It shared a clear resemblance to her, the soft grey fabric, the yellow mane that seemed to be made from her own hair, and two yellow buttons for eyes that were purposely made to not line up. He looked back at Derpy and gave her a brief nod before reaching back and putting the plush in his saddlebag. As he did so, he wondered if he could subtly find out a little more.
“You really care about him, huh?” Descent said, trying to crack a natural smile. He was expecting to say more, but Derpy sounded off without further provocation.
“Oh, he’s the best! I love him so much!” she was definitely eager to talk about him. “I’ll never forget when we first met at the Wonderbolt tryouts. He was my bunkmate! I was… nervous and being a little clumsy, but he started helping me without a second thought. He also never said one word about my eyes… that doesn’t happen very often. He helped me keep my space tidy, he supported me in all of the tryout events, and he defended me when other ponies tried to put me down or intimidate me. He was such a sweetheart!” she was blushing and slowly floating up into the air as she spoke.
Descent watched as the mere mention of his son sent Derpy into such a blushing giggling mess. Perhaps he had had more of an influence on Storm than he first thought. He had tried hard to be as caring and helpful as possible, to be the parent Storm didn’t have the luxury of having with his mother. From what he was hearing, it looked like some of that had rubbed off on Storm.
“I was so sad when I didn’t make it… but when he told me he wanted to stay in touch, it made me happy all over again! And then there was the night after the Wonderbolt banquet…” she trailed off for a moment as she floated back down to the floor, placing a hoof to her cheek as she blushed. With how much she was gushing, Descent wouldn’t have been surprised if hearts began floating up from her head.
“He left the party early… and he met me in the central park of Canterlot,” she began. Descent’s ears stood up. He had just read something about a ‘special night’ they shared and was admittedly curious. He wanted to know more, sure, but he wasn’t expecting to actually get it. “We spent the whole night there,” Derpy continued. “We found a spot hidden away from the rest of the park, cuddled up together and looked at the stars. I felt so safe with him holding onto me… and then…” She put both of her hooves to her face, squished her cheeks together and lightly squealed. “Then we shared our first kiss! And he told me how much I mean to him, and…” she stopped, her eyes widening and shifting up and down. “Oh… sorry… I got a little carried away, hehehe…” she giggled while turning away from Descent and blushing.
“No, no… it’s alright,” Descent replied with a light, awkward chuckle. “He definitely sounds like a great stallion. I’m happy for you two,” he nodded as Derpy smiled back at him. “I should probably get going,” Descent started to turn, but Derpy quickly hopped over to him.
“Wait, Mr. Dee… could you please tell him something for me too?” She asked, giving Descent crooked puppy dog eyes as if she had to convince him.
“Sure,” Descent agreed as he stopped. Derpy sat back and twiddled her hooves. She looked down, her face still glowing.
“Please tell him… that I love him very much, and I can’t wait to see him again,” she requested. Descent stared at her as she looked up at him with an expression that seemed absolutely desperate for Storm to hear those words from her. While he may feel a little weird saying those things, Descent would do it for his son.
“I will tell him that,” Descent glanced at his saddle bag. “And I’ll be sure he gets your gift,” he reassured her. Derpy’s face lit with a radiant smile and she launched herself at Descent.
“Thank you, thank you Mr. Dee!” she squealed giddily while wrapping her hooves around Descent’s neck and hugging him tightly. Descent blinked and stiffened at the unexpected show of affection. Derpy suddenly froze and quickly removed herself from Descent while blushing in embarrassment and smiling sheepishly. “Eheheh… Sorry…” she apologized while sweeping a hoof back and forth on the floor.
“Think nothing of it,” Descent assured her she was fine. “And…” Descent stopped before stepping out the door. “You’re a good mare,” he added as he left. Derpy stared after him curiously as the door closed, before going right back to the letter and squealing over it once more.
Descent remained outside her door for a moment, hearing her continuously giggle over the letter from Storm. He couldn’t hold it back… a smile, a real smile… a proud smile formed on his lips. He wanted to know more about his son, sure. But this was a hell of a start. Despite the limited guidance he was able to give his son, it seemed that Storm had become a respectable, caring stallion. The kind of stallion that Descent wanted Storm to be, one that could live his life the way he wanted and be free from the harsh life that his father had led. While Storm up and became a Wonderbolt anyway, Descent was glad that Storm had done so while also finding things in life that made him happy.
Storm had found a fine companion. While she was a little ditzy, she was clearly a very happy and cheerful mare, one that cared as much about him as he cared about her…
What a shame it would have been… if the Shadowbolts had succeeded in destroying Ponyville a year ago. Storm would have never met Derpy.
It seemed that Descent owed Soarin more than he realized.
With the letter deliveries taken care of and thoroughly satisfied with the discovery of Derpy, Descent spread his wings and took off back towards the northern mountains. His brief visit in Ponyville was interesting, but definitely an experience he wouldn’t soon forget. He never knew just how peaceful and different the small town was… and couldn’t believe how close he had come to destroying it all in the past.
---To Be Continued---