//------------------------------// // Chapter 125: Emotions Run High // Story: Piercing the Heavens // by Calm Wind //------------------------------// MLP: FiM Piercing the Heavens By: Calm Wind Chapter 125: Emotions Run High The doors leading into the recruit barracks hallways flew apart as Fleetfoot and Bliss forced them open and held them aside. “EVERYPONY OUT OF THE WAY! OUT OF THE WAY!” Spitfire yelled as she approached the doors, clearing a path through the busy lobby as Soarin ran behind her with Wave Chill on his back. Heads turned, and gasps sounded throughout the lobby as several Wonderbolts took in the sight of Wave Chill, groaning and wailing on Soarin’s back with crystals jutting out of his body. Spitfire stepped inside the barracks hallway and beckoned Soarin as he thundered through behind her, galloping as fast as he could towards where the Shadowbolt captives were being held, knowing that Princess Luna was already there. Fleetfoot and Bliss released the doors and followed behind them, but the doors quickly swung back open as a few other ponies began following behind. Spitfire pulled ahead of Soarin, shouting at the Earth Pony security guards standing in front of the tenth recruit barracks door to open the doors and let them through. They immediately obeyed despite being just as shocked to see Wave Chill, pulling the doors open. “LUNA!” Spitfire yelled as she rushed in, the princess immediately turning to face her from the middle of the room, faint blue auras from her magic surrounding all the afflicted Shadowbolts in the beds. Princess Luna blinked as she examined Spitfire rushing into the room, but she went from confused to shocked faster than she could form a thought as Soarin came in behind Spitfire. “Good heavens!” Luna gasped as she rushed forward and looked over Wave. “What… what happened?!” “We don’t know!” Spitfire yelled right into her face. “Just help him!” she demanded harshly while glaring right into Luna’s eyes. “Here!” Bliss yelled as she and Fleetfoot followed in behind. Her magic came to life, removing a large leather band that was holding several extra bed frames against the wall beside the door. The frame screeched against the floor she dragged it over, Fleetfoot gliding to the other side of the door to grab one of the spare mattresses that were secured in a similar manner. She pulled it over and hoisted it up onto the bed as Bliss put the frame in place. Soarin lowered himself beside the bed as Spitfire hovered up into the air and pulled Wave gently off Soarin’s back, placing him on the bed. “AAAAHHH!!! Ahhhhh…” Wave cried out in pain despite how gentle Spitfire was with him. “Luna!” Spitfire yelled out again as Luna’s magic came to life. “Stand aside!” Luna ordered as Soarin reached up and pulled Spitfire off the bed. Luna’s horn glowed brighter, the soft blue light shining upon Wave as a faint aura, similar to the ones surrounding the Shadowbolts, surrounded him. Bliss stepped up beside Luna, her magic glowing upon her horn as well, as she added her medical, soothing magic to Luna’s efforts. “Ahhh…” Wave’s groans began to die down, sounding less pained. “Ahhhhhhhh…” His body finally relaxed, despite the horrific state. He was still breathing heavily, but it was clear Luna’s and Bliss’ efforts were easing the pain as they had done with the others. Luna and Bliss both exhaled as they released their magic, allowing the lingering aura to work its effects. They both looked at each other, and then back at Spitfire, who was still behind, held back by Soarin as Fleetfoot stood beside them, still in shock. Luna looked back to Wave, tipping her head down near him as her horn and eyes began to glow softly. She hovered her horn above him, moving it back and forth until nodding. “That should do it,” she said as she lifted her head back up and turned around, looking at the Shadowbolts. “We applied the same spell mix we did to the others. That should slow the spread and keep him stable…” While that was good news, the situation was hardly good news at all. Spitfire, Soarin, and Fleetfoot were still wearing varying looks of dread as their eyes locked on Wave. With the spell in place, Luna shifted back to the first question on her mind. “How?” she asked as she looked back over to the lead squad. “How did this happen to Commander Wave?” Fleetfoot, Bliss, and Spitfire all remained silent as Soarin finally released Spitfire. Spitfire rushed right up to the new bed and placed her hooves on the mattress, pulling herself as far forward possible. There was less than an inch between the tip of her nose and Wave’s face as she looked him over with extreme worry. Luna kept her eyes fixed on Spitfire, awaiting a response, but Soarin quickly realized that Spitfire was definitely not listening to Luna. He exhaled as he walked up beside Luna. “We don’t know… but we—” “What the hell is going on in here?!” Descent’s voice boomed from the door, cutting off Soarin as he barged in, he rushed towards them with a sense of urgency, possibly alarmed that there was a sudden commotion moving directly towards where the Shadowbolts were being kept. “Why are you…” his eyes went wide as they landed on Spitfire, quickly shifting to Wave. “W… what?” he blinked, moving past Soarin and Luna to examine Wave, glancing between him and his afflicted Shadowbolts. “But… how?” “HEY!” Blaze’s voice filled the room as she barged in and hovered into the air, High Winds right behind her. “I know I saw you guys carrying Wave! What the hell is…?!” She went completely silent, High Winds opening her usually tired-looking eyes fully when she too, saw where Blaze was looking. The two belligerent mares didn’t say another word. They rushed towards their squadmate, looks of shock and confusion wrought upon their faces. The door opened again, but this time with no shouting, Soarin glanced over to see Starry Skies poking her head into the room, slowly making her way in, but saying nothing as she made her way over. She stopped short of moving up beside Descent as she visibly reacted. No gasp or look of shock, but it was clear the sight was unexpected. “Commander Soarin…” Luna spoke up, patiently waiting for the shock of the moment to move aside so she could get the answers she desired. Soarin looked up at her as they sat side by side, but he shook his head. “We don’t know,” he finally answered her question. “I… may have a theory or two… but nothing definitive.” “Tell us,” Luna pleaded. Her tone of voice just as worried as it was urgent. Soarin opened his mouth to speak, but paused when he heard a long sigh come from the bed’s direction. He glanced over to see Spitfire slowly let her nose fall down to the mattress, poking against it gently as her forehead pressed lightly to Wave’s cheek. Soarin watched her for a moment before looking back up at Luna. “Sorry, Princess, give me a moment…” he said as he stood up. Luna gave no objection as he watched him move past Descent and Starry, placing himself beside Spitfire, between her and Blaze and High Winds, still both silenced and in shock. Soarin lifted a hoof and rested it on Spitfire’s back, rubbing it up and down gently. Soarin glanced over her for a moment as Fleetfoot finally made her way over and put herself on Spitfire’s other side. Fleetfoot looked very sad, ears flopped to the sides of her head and almost on the verge of tears. Was it because of Wave’s sudden affliction? No, Soarin knew exactly what had Fleetfoot so stricken. It was Spitfire and Wave Chill in general. How much more did the two of them have to go through before enough was enough? Wave was captured, Spitfire’s feelings were deceived, Wave was tortured, Spitfire put a lot on the line to get him back… they succeeded, and now this? Not to mention the two of them already dealt with a lot before the conflict with the Shadowbolts even began. It was hard for both Soarin and Fleetfoot to watch one of their best friends be constantly put through an emotional wringer. But Soarin noticed something as he held his hoof on Spitfire’s back. She was not shaking or shivering. Her body wasn’t tense. She wasn’t sniffling, there were no signs of tears. Soarin leaned down to see her eyes were open as she rested her forehead against Wave’s cheek. There was clear distraught in them, but that wasn’t the only thing… there was strength in them as well. She wasn’t breaking. That fact alone made Soarin proud of her… after all, he heard all about Spitfire’s motivational speech before the operation to save Wave. She was done bending, and refused to break, but how much more could that strength be tested? Soarin blinked as he continued to rub her back regardless of what he saw in her eyes, his hoof coming to a halt as Spitfire reached over her shoulder and grabbed it when he came within range of her reach. She gave it a really hard squeeze, making Soarin flinch. “Ow…” Soarin grunted quietly as she released his hoof and picked her head up from the mattress. Spitfire took a deep breath as most of the eyes in the room went to her. “This… is…” Spitfire began, but struggled to get the words out. She tipped her head down and shut her eyes, but remained relaxed. “Spitty…” Fleetfoot leaned towards her, brushing her shoulder against Spitfire’s arm as she looked up at her with concern. “Are you…?” She pulled back as Spitfire turned around, and sat down on the floor, leaning her back against the edge of Wave’s bed. “No,” she answered before Fleetfoot could continue. “I’m not okay.” She opened her eyes, keeping them angled down as a glare formed within them. “So don’t ask,” she finished sharply. Fleetfoot’s eyes widened and she looked up at Soarin. Soarin quickly made eye contact with Fleetfoot and shook his head while holding up a hoof. They both flinched as Spitfire suddenly stood up quickly. “This changes things,” she said with a commanding tone in her voice. “We’re leaving right now,” she declared, causing everypony to blink in surprise. “We’re adjusting our flight path too. We’ll go through them if need be,” she continued as she began walking towards the door. “Captain Spitfire,” Luna spoke up. “Just a moment…” But her words didn’t reach Spitfire, she was on a warpath. “Let’s go to the bridge,” Spitfire ignored Luna. “And re-map our—” “HEY! Hold it!” Descent brought out his own commanding voice to break the reluctance of the others to respond. Starry Skies moved aside quickly as Descent broke into a gallop and skidded to a halt in front of Spitfire, barring her from moving any further. “Get a hold of yourse—” “Descent, move,” Spitfire ordered, her face scrunching into a harsh glare up at him. He growled, returning her glare with one of his own. “Put your head back on your shoulders and think! We have a plan in place and we should—” “MOVE!” Spitfire yelled in his face. Descent bared his teeth and snarled. “NOW!” She yelled louder. “NO!” Descent yelled right back as he began to grind his teeth together. Everypony had turned to look at them, most of them wide eyed with shock as the two captains butted heads… again. All except for Soarin, whose right hoof was twitching as he weighed whether or not to get between them. “Descent, I swear to Celestia,” Spitfire hissed at him. “If you don’t get out of my way right now…” “You’ll what? Punch me? Go ahead and give all of your top commanders a professional example of restraint!” His glare sharpened further. “And why the hell are you suddenly so desperate to push ahead the schedule?!” He pointed over her shoulder at the Shadowbolts. “What… now that one of your own, not to mention your lover is afflicted, you’re suddenly going to go rush things along. Uh oh, now it’s a WONDERBOLT, now it’s time to force everypony into action?!” Descent snorted as he pushed his face closer to Spitfire’s. “That’s quite a message you’re sending me here!” “Don’t push me, Descent!” Spitfire snapped right back, his towering size over her meaning nothing against her personal resolve. “Unless you want to end up like Blade, I suggest you step aside!” she yelled while cracking her hooves. “So this is really how you feel about the Shadowbolts, huh?” Descent growled. “We’re convenient to your mission, but you dump all consideration the moment something becomes personal?!” The room collectively gasped as Spitfire didn’t even hesitate, she brought up a hoof and pulled it back. But it was grabbed from behind. “THAT’S ENOUGH!” Soarin yelled as he yanked Spitfire back and forced himself in between them. He threw his wings out, pushing both her and Descent further back. Soarin harshly looked back and forth between them as the two continued to glower and growl at each other. Fleetfoot rushed over beside Spitfire and grabbed her by the shoulder. “Spitty! Stop it!” she pleaded as Spitfire turned and focused her glare at her. Fleetfoot inched her head backwards, but didn’t let go. “Eep!” Fleetfoot squeaked and shut her eyes as Spitfire unexpectedly wound up… and threw a punch in her direction. But it didn’t connect, because Soarin turned and rammed himself into Spitfire forcing her backwards. Blaze and High Winds both yelped, shifting aside as Soarin pushed Spitfire by them and slammed her back against the wall beside Wave’s bed. “OOF!” Spitfire grunted before opening her eyes and immediately matching Soarin’s sharp glare. She instantly tried to push him off, but despite being very capable of challenging Soarin’s great strength, her backward leaning position and Soarin’s height gave her no leverage with him also pressing his weight forward, holding her shoulders to the wall with his hooves. “Spitfire, what the hell has gotten into you?!” Soarin yelled. “LET ME GO!” she demanded. “You’re not even slightly put off by the fact that you almost sucker-punched Fleetfoot?!” he yelled, trying to talk some sense into her. “Soarin, I’m warning you!” she threatened, clearly ignoring any concern or reason being thrown at her. “Good god, what is your deal?! You don’t even realize how irrational you’re being!” Soarin tried to get through to him again. “I’m not being irrational! We have to help Wave, NOW!” she argued. Soarin readied to retort again, but paused, glancing to his right. “Yeah? Well…” Soarin suddenly hushed his tone. “Then how about you calm down for him?” he suggested as he reached a hoof up to Spitfire’s chin and forcefully turned her head, aiming her vision down at Wave on the bed beside them. Spitfire was instantly silenced. Every smidgen of anger disappeared from her face and was replaced with complete dread as she looked down upon Wave lying helplessly on his back. He was looking up at her… and reaching a hoof towards her. He had one eye open, the other shut because of a small crystal formation right beneath it, but that one eye was all she needed to see. It was filled with pain and worry and his eye was fixed on her as he struggled to keep his arm elevated and still breathing heavily. Spitfire began to shake, her resistance against Soarin fading. Soarin let go of her, stepping back quietly as she looked around at everypony else. Descent had turned away with Starry glancing between the two of them, but Fleetfoot, Blaze, and High Winds were all staring at her, visibly terrified. Luna and Bliss both stared blankly. Some of the sick Shadowbolts had also opened their eyes if they could, and turned to look. Spitfire’s back legs buckled, dropping beneath her as her back slid against the wall and she slowly fell down onto her plot, reaching her hooves up and covering her eyes. She didn’t sniffle nor cry, she just remained quiet for several moments, her body shivering as she sat propped up against the wall. Soarin glanced over at Wave to see him still struggling to reach out to her. He was at least two arms lengths out of reach from the middle of his mattress. Soarin stepped up to the bed and grabbed Wave’s hoof while reaching the other towards Wave’s body. As gently as he could, Soarin began inching Wave towards the edge of the mattress. Wave twitched and flinched, gritting his teeth in pain as Soarin moved him, but kept his open eye locked on Spitfire. Soarin knew what he wanted and he was going to help his fellow commander get it. Soarin moved Wave all the way to the edge of the bed, just short of the tipping point. And it was just close enough for his hoof to reach her. But as he tried to reach, his weakness seemed to win as his arm began to fall. Soarin quickly reached down and propped it up, allowing Wave to push the last inch… and rest his hoof on Spitfire’s shoulder. Spitfire didn’t look up from her hooves for a moment, but eventually turned her head, her distraught eyes focusing on Wave’s hoof, before shifting to make eye contact with him. She suddenly turned her body, facing him and inching forward as she clasped both of her hooves around his arm and tipped her head to the side to brush her cheek against his hoof. She pulled herself all the way to his mattress, resting her chin on it and digging her nose into the crook of Waves neck as he rested his arm weakly over her back. Soarin backed away, watching as Spitfire picked her head up and stared down at Wave with a very serious look on her face, bringing Wave’s arm around and holding his hoof against her heart. As Soarin saw the controlled, professional expression return to Spitfire’s face again, he turned away to leave them be as he approached Descent. Starry saw Soarin coming and immediately turned and took interest in a nearby wall as Descent continued to face away from Spitfire and everypony else. “Descent,” Soarin called his name as he stopped behind it. “Hmph,” Descent only grunted in response. “Descent, look at me,” Soarin demanded. Descent released an exasperated sigh and honored Soarin’s request, turning his head and looking over his shoulder. “All the way, please,” Soarin pressed. Descent rolled his eyes and did as he was told, turning and glaring down at Soarin. The two stared harshly at each other for a moment, but Soarin was confident he had control of the situation. There was a degree of respect between the two of them, and Descent was likely to hear him out. “Drop the subject,” Soarin said simply. Descent blinked and lifted an eyebrow. “You know what I’m talking about,” Soarin added. Descent was not amused. “She’s completely disregarding my—” “She wasn’t the one who brought it up,” Soarin quickly cut him off. Descent blinked, his eyes widening slightly. “You’re both acting on impulse and assumption. We have a situation here, and as the two leading captains we can’t afford to have you two fighting amongst yourselves, so DROP IT. We all know what we need to do here, so let’s all calm down and figure this out." The two stared at each other for several moments. Descent eventually glanced past Soarin, looking at Spitfire as she continued to look down at Wave with a serious look on her face. He then glanced to his right, making eye contact with Starry Skies for just a brief moment before she looked away and faced the wall… again. Descent released a long, hard breath from his nostrils as he closed his eyes and shook his head. “Very well,” he said with reluctance in his voice. Soarin wasn’t going to dismiss Spitfire’s impulsive remarks, but Descent’s own impulsive reaction and tying it to Spitfire being biased about who was worth saving was equally unwarranted. Spitfire and Descent were two very powerful figures. They couldn’t let emotional outbursts drive a wedge between them. “Luna,” Soarin finally addressed the princess again. She perked up from her spot beside Bliss. She had remained off to the side, considering intervening at several points, but she remained in place the moment Soarin took action. She stood up and made her way over to Soarin and Descent. “Sorry about all that… Now… about Wave, I’m still not—” “Something smells here,” Descent suddenly spoke up, drawing both of their attention to him. “Pardon?” Soarin asked while tipping his head. “I wholeheartedly agree that time is of the essence,” Descent explained himself while giving a long look at all the Shadowbolts in the room. “But this situation begs several questions, the first being the obvious…” He turned his attention to Wave as Blaze and High Winds both joined Spitfire’s side, Fleetfoot still sitting a little ways back as if still in shock that Spitfire almost hit her. “How did Wave Chill become infected with the crystals?” he asked nopony in particular as he turned back to Soarin and Luna. “He’s not a crystal user.” As Soarin and Luna pondered that very confusing point, the door to the barracks suddenly opened again, revealing a confused and worried Fire Streak and Misty Fly. They both spotted Wave immediately, but Misty broke into a gallop while Fire Streak merely trotted up behind her. Soarin watched as Misty began to silently fret over Wave, Soarin’s eyes landing on Fire as he slowly approached Misty from behind. “Fire Streak!” Soarin called out his name, stopping him before he could drape a wing over Misty. Fire glanced over at Soarin. “Come here,” Soarin beckoned him while waving his hoof. Fire frowned, looking back at Misty for a moment before refolding his wing and turning to Soarin, Descent, and Luna, approaching them slowly. “Sir?” He saluted, keeping his manner despite the weight of the situation. “Describe for me again, in full detail, what you saw when Moon led you to Wave. You said he was being tortured. How?” Soarin ordered. Fire looked over his shoulder back at Wave, easily recognizing that he was now suffering a similar aliment to the Shadowbolt captives. He turned back to Soarin and nodded. “When Moon led us in, Wave was… chained to the back wall,” Fire cringed as he recalled. “There were several crystals hovering around him, each one of them directing a focused beam of magic at his body,” he explained as Fleetfoot came to her senses and turned to join them. “The beams were not moving from their spot, but each one had a clear line drawn upon his body.” Fire finished his explanation as Descent and Soarin both glanced down to ponder. “He was gone for… how long?” Descent asked while looking up at the rest of them. Soarin glanced towards Fleetfoot and Fire Streak since his knowledge of the exact timetable of the operation was foggy. Fleetfoot shifted up in between Fire and Luna. “He was gone for at least a day, assuming he was taken right back after Rapidfire replaced him the night before,” Fleetfoot explained. All five of them looked back towards Wave as, specifically at the wounds beneath the crystals and the wounds that had yet to sprout crystals. “I’ve taken more than my share of hits from the crystal magic,” Soarin spoke up while shaking his head. “But I’ve never received wounds like that.” “Me neither,” Descent added as they all looked back into their huddle. “They tend to have a harsh impact, but never leave more than small burns or singes on the fur, nothing as clear as that. It changes depending on the magic usage too. Blade’s swords tend to leave deep cuts or gashes and Angel’s flying blades… well…” “Let’s not talk about what those can do…” Fleetfoot chimed in while shivering and glancing down at the healing scar on her arm. “I think that the beams had moved along, but very slowly,” Fire built on his explanation. “It’s probably safe to assume the marks were caused by prolonged, intense exposure.” “That could explain this,” Descent took over. “Wave had not been previously exposed or had used them over time, but perhaps Ruin had the crystals focused on him for so long with such intensity that…” he paused and grunted. “Which brings me to my second question.” Soarin perked up and glanced at Descent. “Now that I think about it… I think I know what you’re about to say,” Soarin gritted his teeth. “Hm?” Descent lifted an eyebrow. “This seems…” Soarin paused and rubbed his chin. “Intentional. All of it.” “Exactly,” Descent nodded, but sounded a little hesitant. “Wait, how so?” Fleetfoot asked as Fire and Luna also showed curiosity. “I know I suggested we trust Moon while he was here, but think about it…” Soarin explained. “Moon gives us back Wave… Wave is passed off during the escape, but is the only group not followed… Then Moon tells us the search for the compound had been called off and instead they are waiting for us to move… then this happens, suddenly pushing Spitfire to call for immediate departure.” As he paused, they all glanced back and forth at each other. Soarin shook his head. “Could they have given us Wave on purpose?” he suggested. “Could Moon’s ‘help’ all be an elaborate ruse between both him and Ruin to force us into action?” “But,” Fleetfoot spoke up. “He warned us about Ruin, right?” “But Ruin was the one who did this to Wave,” Soarin supported his suggestion while pointing back at Wave. “He could be in on it.” “It is entirely possible,” Descent said as his head began to tip down. “But…” the hesitant tone returned. “But?” Soarin pressed him while looking Descent’s posture over. “But Moon… and…” Descent struggled to speak before looking away and snorting. Soarin sighed and shook his head. “Descent, I know he’s one of your former comrades, but—” “Enough,” Descent cut him off. “My personal feelings are not important. Everything you have pointed out could easily be possible.” “Wait, wait…” Fire Streak stepped up to both of them. “But what about Discord? Did he not confirm that Moon was telling the truth? Well, in his own way at least…” Descent and Soarin both blinked and glanced at each other, but Soarin released a hushed growl as he looked back at Fire. “I forgot about that. And as much as I’m unwilling to acknowledge Discord, he was acting very strange that night. I’ve never seen him so serious or peeved before.” They all went quiet as thoughts swirled and possibilities loomed before them. Fire blinked and flinched suddenly, glancing towards his right wing as something pushed its way beneath it. Eventually Misty’s head popped out from between his wing and his body, a sad, distraught look on her face as she nestled her body into his. Fire quickly pressed his wing inward to squeeze her gently. Soarin watched Misty seek comfort from Fire. Misty didn’t need words or even sign language to express her worry for Wave. But as he looked towards them, Soarin perked up as he saw another approaching them. Spitfire. She walked towards the group with her posture upheld and her eyes forward. Fleetfoot shied away as she approached, apparently still a little affected by Spitfire nearly attacking her. But Spitfire didn’t even look at her. She continued to wear her professional expression while focusing her gaze directly on Descent. Descent noticed immediately, fixing his eyes on her as well. The two said nothing as Spitfire stopped a yard from him, Soarin and the others looking on, wondering what would happen between the two after their little episode just moments ago. “Descent,” Spitfire spoke up, her voice just as strong as her posture. “I apologize. I was acting out of impulse and let my emotions get the better of me. Let’s put it behind us, and start considering our options.” As she paused to let it sink in, Soarin released a quiet, but long sigh of relief. He didn’t have to push Spitfire to make conscious decisions often, but when he did, it was rough. It was great to see she quickly recognized that she had made an error. Now hopefully Descent would drop the subject and do the same. “Hmph, I was a tad impulsive as well. Your concern was for a loved one, and not for a lack of consideration towards the Shadowbolts,” Descent sounded a little uncomfortable apologizing, and Starry was looking at him with her face scrunched, but Soarin was glad Descent went through with it. Both Spitfire and Descent were aware of the situation, and both recognized that there was no time to butt heads over misunderstandings. Though Soarin was sure both of them were secretly grinding their teeth together at the thought of have to ‘cave’ in some way to the other, even if it was for a good reason. “Let’s focus on the here and now,” Descent added as he looked over to Wave and the Shadowbolts. “It looks like we both have great reason to act now… if only it weren’t on such thin hopes of finding a solution.” “Stop,” Spitfire immediately retorted, causing Descent to blink and look back at her. “Wha—MMPH!” Descent flinched, his eyes going wide as Spitfire reached up and jammed her hoof over his mouth to silence him. “Don’t let me hear you say that again,” she said sternly while giving him a glare that was less of anger and more of determination. “We chose the Crystal Empire because of the possibility of finding a solution there. Motivation to save our friends here is going to be crucial towards our success in reaching the Empire.” She removed her hoof from his mouth as Descent gave her a look of dissatisfaction at her physically silencing him, but he did not argue with her. With her hoof still extended, she pointed sharply at him. “I don’t want to hear another ‘I hope so’ or ‘we don’t know for sure’.” She took a step towards him and almost jammed her face into his. “We are going to find a way to save them. I refuse to even think it’s impossible.” She paused, pulling back and looking around at everypony. “Let’s stick to our travel plans, I still feel like our best chances lie in avoiding confrontation if possible. But…” She nodded. “We’re moving up our departure time. We’re leaving right now. There’s no more time to waste sitting around in these damn mountains.” She turned and looked at Descent. “We have ponies to save.” While the sudden decision to take off immediately took everypony by surprise, it was accepted without objection. Soarin could see it in everypony there, they all wanted to do something and they wanted to do it now. Spitfire turned away from Descent and moved towards the door, taking three steps before turning and facing them all. “Soarin, Fleetfoot… round up the squads in the lobby,” she ordered as Blaze and High Winds were already on their way out. “Then…” Spitfire trailed off as she noticed Fleetfoot was looking at her with uncertainty and unease. Spitfire frowned and sighed. “Look, Fleet, I’m sorry…” “You almost hit me without even a thought, what the hell?” Fleetfoot voiced her discontent. “I know, and again, I’m sorry,” Spitfire apologized again. “You know I’d never intentionally hurt you, I was… not thinking straight at all,” she explained herself, but Fleetfoot still didn’t look happy about it. Soarin stepped up beside Fleetfoot and pressed a hoof gently against the crown of her head. “Fleet, just let it go for now, we’ll worry about this little incident later,” he suggested. “Let’s focus. We have ponies that need our help.” “Okay,” Fleetfoot sighed as she gave in. Spitfire looked away shamefully as she took a deep breath and brought herself back on task. “Fire Streak, inform Rivet that we are bumping our takeoff plans up by a few hours and make sure he’s all set to go,” Spitfire ordered as she turned to him. “Yes, ma’am!” Fire saluted before nudging Misty Fly along and signaling to her what was happening as they left. “Descent—” “I’ll make sure the Renegades are aware of the change,” he cut her off. “Assuming our plan is still what we discussed.” “It is,” Spitfire confirmed with a nod. “Good. Starry!” Descent gave a head motion to Starry, who followed him out, remaining silent as she had the entire time. “Bliss, Luna,” Spitfire turned to them. “Make any final checks you need and make sure Wave is secure,” Spitfire addressed them, receiving nods. “Alright let’s move!” Spitfire shouted towards Soarin and Fleetfoot as all three of them started moving towards the exit, but Spitfire stopped halfway, turning and looking over her shoulder. Soarin noticed Spitfire wasn’t with them the moment he and Fleetfoot were in the doorway. Soarin suddenly came to a halt while reaching out and grabbing Fleetfoot’s shoulder. “YEEEEEP!” Fleetfoot yelped as her momentum swiped her hooves right out from beneath her, causing her to fall over on her side due to Soarin’s grip on her. “Uh… sorry,” Soarin gritted his teeth and shot her a weak smile as Fleetfoot rolled over and angrily pouted at him. “What was that for?!” she demanded, but Soarin was already looking over his shoulder, paying attention to Spitfire instead. Fleetfoot shifted and looked past Soarin, her expression quickly softening. “Oh.” Soarin and Fleetfoot waited and watched… as Spitfire walked back over to Wave. With everypony dispersed and finally a moment alone, Spitfire leaned onto the mattress and looked Wave over closely. Wave’s open eye was fixed on her, having not once left her since he had reached for her moments ago. He couldn’t find the strength to reach for her again, but he didn’t need to. Spitfire slid her hooves over the mattress, clasping them around his right hoof and holding it tightly as their eyes remained locked. She held his hoof as strongly as she could as if silently reassuring him that she would never give up on him. She had already fought so hard to get him back after he was captured, and she wanted to him to know that she was going to fight just as hard now to find a cure for his ailment. After a few moments, despite being in pain, a small, weak smile curled onto Wave’s lips. Spitfire returned the smile with a caring one of her own, gazing upon him as the soothing aura continued to faintly swirl around him. Her smile didn’t last very long, turning to a frown for a brief moment before she shut her eyes tight and tipped her head down, bumping her nose against his hoof and holding it there. “Stay strong, Wave…” Spitfire broke the silence, slowly opening her eyes. “I’m going to save you… I promise…” “I…” Wave suddenly sputtered, his voice incredibly weak and raspy. “Know… you… will…” he barely managed to express his confidence in her. His effort to speak to her nearly made her cry, not out of sadness, but because his sheer determination to make the effort, despite being in incredible pain, warmed her heart. She leaned forward and planted a long, soft kiss on his forehead. “I love you,” she whispered to him, following it up with a gentle nuzzle as she felt his hoof squeeze hers. Wave released a few weak gasps that sounded like a failure to form any other words, but Spitfire knew he was trying to say it back. She gave him a nod to assure him that she knew before touching his shoulder and slowly sliding it along his arm as she began to pull away. She kept her hoof on him until she was out of reach, before turning and moving towards the door, Wave keeping his eye on her the whole way. Spitfire immediately saw Soarin and Fleetfoot watching from the door, but she kept on her path, stopping right in front of both of them. Soarin and Fleetfoot made no comments about Spitfire’s affection towards Wave. Soarin knew the power of drawing strength from love, and Fleetfoot, who would usually take the chance to be snarky, understood the gravity of the situation. “Soarin, Fleetfoot…” Spitfire said their names as she walked right between them and into the lobby. “I hear the Crystal Empire is beautiful this time of year.” Soarin and Fleetfoot both grinned confidently, putting the small confrontation behind them for the time being as the three broke into a canter down the barracks hallway towards the lobby. “Everypony to the lobby! Let’s go!” Fleetfoot suddenly zipped overhead as Dash and her friends neared the lobby from the west hallway. “Huh?” Dash blinked, looking behind at the rest as several Wonderbolts began rushing overhead behind Fleetfoot. They had given chase after she saw Soarin and the lead squad rush out of the infirmary, but they never did find where they went. They ended up combing the whole east and west hallways trying to find them, but aside from some commotion in the halls, they had no idea what the sudden rush was, or why they had bolted from the back of the infirmary where Wave was being kept. Dash was beyond confused, and was so desperate to find out what was happening that she actually pulled herself away from fretting over Silver… and now something else was happening, Fleetfoot buzzing back and forth through the hall and telling everypony to get to the lobby. Fed up with being confused, Dash broke into a gallop, quickly covering the short distance left between her and the lobby where everypony seemed to be gathering. “Whoa! Hey! Wait up!” Storm called after her as he, Squall, Twister, and Matteo with Little Star on his back all followed right behind. They all came to a screeching halt, and continued slowly as they reached the building crowd. It felt like every single Wonderbolt was present along with any Renegades that weren’t out managing the blizzard. Dash hopped up, spreading her wings and hovering a few yards into the air as she scanned the crowd, looking for a certain somepony that she was sure would be out helping Fleet get everypony organized. It was hard to miss him due to his size… and obviously the horn as well. She spotted Soarin instantly near the main propeller pillar sticking through the central stairwell, yelling out orders and directing Wonderbolts around. Leaving her friends behind for a moment, she pumped her wings and glided over, landing next to Soarin just as he finished speaking to two other squad captains. “Soarin!” she called his name right as she landed. Soarin’s ears instantly stood up and he turned to face her. “What’s going on?” she asked. “We—” “Why did you guys rush out?” she cut him off, stepping closer. “There—” “And was that Wave on your back?” she cut him off again while taking another step, almost putting them chest to chest. “DASH!” Soarin reached a hoof up and pressed it down gently over her head. “Hey!” she protested, but as soon as she pulled her head back, she flinched and stiffened as Soarin gave her a serious look. “I don’t have time to explain we—” “Commander Soarin?” another squad captain called to him while landing on his other side. “Fleetfoot said to report to you.” They saluted. Soarin turned to him. “Is your squad all here?” he asked. “Yes sir!” “Stay in the lobby, don’t worry about lining up or anything. Await further orders from Captain Spitfire,” Soarin explained. “Yes sir!” the stallion repeated before turning and waving to his squad. Soarin looked back to see Dash still waiting. “Why is everypony coming to the lobby?” she asked. “Is your squad here?” Soarin dodged the question. “Yes, but Soarin—” “Good, just stay put and wait for Spitfire,” he ordered. “What? But—” “Dash, do as I say. Spitfire’s orders,” he said sternly. Dash bit her lip, but if Soarin was being this frank with her, it was definitely for a reason. They were a couple, but he was also a superior officer. She couldn’t let one designation interfere with the other. “Yes sir!” she saluted, albeit a bit reluctantly as she hopped up and glided back towards her squad. As she approached them, she noticed that Storm had separated, probably to join up with Squad Seven. Dash’s own squad all looked up to her as she approach, their eyes all telling her that they were just as curious as she was. She landed in front of them and shook her head. “I know what you’re all thinking, but I don’t know,” she said as she turned and looked around. “Apparently Spitfire is making an announcement shortly…” She trailed off, blinking as everypony began to go quiet the moment she mentioned Spitfire. Indeed, she was up above the crowd, over where Soarin was standing with Fleetfoot hovering next to her. Eventually, Soarin lifted off and hovered near her, saying a few words before Spitfire nodded. Dash blinked and looked up as Descent, Starry Skies, Blazetail, and Flashwind all glided overhead, slowing to a stop in front of Spitfire. They exchanged a few words, Spitfire nodding at them as well before the Renegades turned and moved aside to let Spitfire shift forward. “Everypony listen up!” Spitfire yelled out as she garnered everypony’s attention. Dash focused, ready and eager to hear what was going on. “There has been a slight change of plans,” Spitfire began as she scanned the crowd. “I’m going to be completely transparent with everypony here. A new development has pushed me to make a shift in our schedule going forward. I don’t have time to go into the details, but for those of you who were not present a little earlier… Commander Wave Chill has been infected with the same crystal ailment that our captive Shadowbolts are battling.” Dash’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped as several gasps and murmurs of surprise began spreading throughout the crowd, Wonderbolt and Renegade alike. Despite her questions being answered so quickly, Dash barely focused on it them. Sure, she now knew what the sudden rush was about and why Soarin was carrying Wave but… Dash fixed her eyes on Spitfire, who was holding herself strong as she addressed them all. They had just gotten Wave back… only for this to happen. Dash couldn’t even begin to imagine how heavily this was weighing on Spitfire. How much more had to go wrong for her? At this rate Spitfire was closing in on Soarin in terms of the level of sympathy Dash felt for unfortunate circumstances. If there was any reaction, it had clearly already happened and been done with. Dash admired Spitfire’s resolve in the face of continuous emotionally challenging scenarios. Despite the alarming development, Spitfire was taking action instead of curling up and shivering, just as she had before they made the leap of faith to rescue Wave. “Due to this new development,” Spitfire spoke up again, raising her voice as if trying to get everypony to refocus. “After talking it over, we have decided we are shifting our plans forward… we are going to start our journey to the Crystal Empire RIGHT NOW!” Every Wonderbolt and Renegade were instantly re-focused and listening, not expecting it, but also not questioning it. Everypony stood attention after shaking off the brief surprise, paying attention and awaiting the explanation of the full plan as well as their orders. “First things first,” Spitfire began. “As soon as we hear from Rivet, the first step is going to be getting this big tub up into the air. Assuming that it all works… here is the rest of the plan. As I’ve discussed with several of you already, we are not taking a direct route to the Crystal Empire. We are going to take a wide, curved route, first heading southwest deep into the grasslands until we hit the badlands canyons and turning west. We are hoping to meet up with the Lunar guard there, before turning northwest, pushing our way back north through the grasslands and heading into the snowy plains until we hit the Crystal Empire. We will engage the Shadowbolts if we must, but only if we can’t avoid them. However, if we must fight them… we are going THROUGH them, got it?!” Spitfire paused to look over the crowd, nopony objected or showed any signs of doubt or confusion, so she continued. “Good, but remember, the top priority is to avoid them, I don’t want anypony thinking they’re a hardass. Only directly engage if I give the order… now then…” she nodded. “As for assignments…” she turned and looked towards Descent, giving him a tip of the head to come forward. Descent hovered up in front of her, focusing on the Renegades present. “The first task of the Renegades will be to create a clear, smooth path through the blizzard for the compound to reach the grasslands,” Descent explained. “Once we are clear of the northern mountains, the Renegades will pull back and land on the deck out in front of the lobby doors. Their main task as we fly is to be the first response to the Shadowbolts or their Falcons should they come after us. Do NOT engage the flying fortress unless we give the order to shift tactics. All engagement with the Shadowbolts or the Falcons are to be with the intent to slow them down or hinder them, allowing the compound a better chance at shaking them. We have to get the Wonderbolts to the Crystal Empire at any cost!” Dash bit her lip as she listened to Descent’s orders for the Renegades, glancing over at Silver’s former wingmates nearby. At any cost? Were the Renegades simply going to act as a shield for them? She wasn’t so sure she liked that, and she was certain she wasn’t the only Wonderbolt that felt that way. “That being said…” Spitfire hovered forward, surprising Descent as she shifted in front of him. “The Wonderbolts are going to play a role in this too. We are going to have two groups. One stationed in the lobby, and the other spread throughout the hallways on the second and third floors. The Wonderbolts in the lobby will have a purely defensive role, ready to engage any Shadowbolts that gain entry through the lobby doors, the easiest method of entry. Those stationed on the second and third floors will wait by the windows in the hallways and be on alert for intruders, just like those in the lobby, however… If things get dicey for the Renegades, these are the Wonderbolts who will launch upon my order to assist them. The Wonderbolts in the lobby will only launch if things start going really bad and we need the full force, otherwise, they are to remain in place to ensure the defense of the entrance. If you are an even number squad, you are stationed in the lobby! If you’re an odd numbered squad, check in with me on the third floor outside of the bridge and…” she trailed off as she got a few confused looks. “It used to be the rec room,” she clarified, earning lots of nods and ‘ohs’ in response. “Check in with me there before liftoff for positioning and assignments. The recruit squads will also be a part of this set up, even and odd numbers based on the letter of the alphabet accordingly!” Spitfire paused, looking like she was about to wrap it up, but then blinked. “Oh, and one last thing. I only want Wonderbolts who are in top form and able to fight at the ready. If you are still nursing an injury or are not close to being at one hundred percent, remain in the compound and either help out or stay out of the way, understand?!” Dash glanced back at Little Star sitting upon Matteo’s back. She still had her wing wrapped up. Star’s eyes caught Dash’s, Star sighing as she realized that once again, she was going to be in a position where she couldn’t help them. She sighed, pouting as she lied down and nestled herself into Matteo’s fluffy back arrangement of feathers and fur, mumbling incoherently to herself as she avoided eye contact with any of them. Dash instinctively felt bad for Star, but Spitfire’s orders were law. They already ‘bent’ them a little during Wave’s rescue. Dash didn’t want to push their luck. “The plan is structured assuming that we’ll have to confront the Shadowbolts at some point,” Spitfire continued. “Though until we meet up with the Lunar Guard, it is our preferred objective to evade them. Once we have the Lunar Guard on our side, we’re confident we’ll have the numbers and the force to push through them if need be, giving us a straight shot to the Crystal Empire. Once there, we can add the Crystal Guard to our numbers… and we will heavily outnumber the Shadowbolts and can finally start planning how to take them down!” Spitfire added a degree of enthusiasm to her voice. A few hoots and cheers rang out from the crowd, mostly from Wonderbolts. The Renegade Shadowbolts knew what she meant, but that didn’t stop it from being a tiny bit awkward. “Now everypony suit up and get ready! We’re lifting off as soon as Rivet gives the word! I want all top tier squad Wonderbolts with me on the bridge after you suit up! Let’s move everypony!” Spitfire finished. Dash glanced back at her squad as the lobby turned into a cacophony of moving ponies again. “You heard the captain!” Dash nodded to her squad. “Let’s…!” she trailed off as her eyes landed on Little Star. “Er… let’s find Star a safe place first… then we’ll get ready…” Squall and Twister both glanced at Star moping as she sunk herself deeper into Matteo’s fur. Matteo glanced over his shoulder to look at her as well. “Hmph…” Squall grunted as he reached up and patted Star on the back… but didn’t look at her. “Relax, we’ll be fine,” he assured her. “How many times do I have to tell you that? Seriously…” he kept talking without looking at her. Star was peeking out of Matteo’s black fur, staring at Squall as he finally stopped awkwardly patting her back. Twister’s head popped out beside her. “Comfy in here, ISN’T IT?!” he asked right as Dash hovered up and casually stuffed him back into Matteo’s fur. “Come on,” Dash motioned to them as she placed a hoof on Star’s back. “Let’s take her to Silver, at least that way she won’t be by herself.” “Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…” Star hummed with disappointment as they started making their way through the crowd to the east hallway. As the crowd continued to disperse, Soarin was about to turn towards the stairwell to retrieve his suit from his room, but he blinked and stopped when he felt a hoof on his shoulder. “Soarin, hold on a moment,” Spitfire’s voice caught his ears. He turned and faced her, the two of them landing at the base of the stairs with Fleetfoot and Air Mach both stopping and glancing at one another close by. It didn’t take Soarin long to figure out what she wanted. The serious look in her eyes matched the one she wore earlier when she mentioned needing to have a ‘talk’ with him. “What is it?” Soarin asked, his tone preemptively voicing his lack of amusement as Luna came into view, stopping beside Fleetfoot and Air Mach with similar curiosity. Spitfire lifted an eyebrow for a moment, but ultimately ignored Soarin’s tone before she continued. “Should the lead squad be forced into action, you will remain in the compound,” she came right out with it. Soarin’s ears stood up and his eyes went wide, but they almost instantly sharpened into a glare. “WHAT?! Why?!” he questioned. But Spitfire shook her head. “Soarin, what part of ‘it’s not up for debate’ wasn’t clear earlier?” she shot right back, but Soarin didn’t have it. “Oh, no you don’t. Your authority can tell me what you want, but I have every right as a commander ranking right beneath you to demand why!” Soarin cited the Wonderbolt code, earning a flat look from Spitfire. “Really Soarin?” she snorted. “I said it wasn’t up for debate because I thought it would be obvious why I don’t want you out there,” she explained calmly. “What’s that supposed to…” Soarin blinked before looking up at the cracked horn. “Oh, of course…” he looked back down at her and scowled, glancing to his left briefly and pointing at Luna. “I take it this was all the secret whispering you and Luna were having?” he accused. “Discord said the horn was fine! I’m not going to let you two shield me like a frail little foal and keep me from helping all of my friends during a dangerous operation!” Soarin argued back. Luna visibly flinched when Soarin brought up Discord, but Soarin didn’t noticed since he looked away just before she did so. Spitfire, however, didn’t falter one bit. “Luna had nothing to do with this decision!” Spitfire shot back, poking Soarin in the chest. “This is MY decision! I don’t want you compromising the horn that’s keeping you alive any more than you already have. The only thing Luna and I have discussed about the horn, is possibly also finding some way to repair it when we get to the Crystal Empire. The decision to keep you grounded is mine and mine alone. You are to stay out of combat unless forced to defend yourself within the compound, and so help me, if you try to fly out there, I am ordering Wonderbolts to restrain you,” she made herself very clear, countering every harsh look Soarin gave her with one twice as strong. “And if you don’t like it, you should have thought about that before hurling yourself into a mountain! If you weren’t so reckless and prone to hurting yourself all the time, I wouldn’t have to make tough decisions like keeping one of my best on his hooves instead of in the air… so do as you’re told or I’ll lock you in one of our empty recruit barracks!” she threatened. Fleetfoot, Luna, and even Air Mach were left speechless as Spitfire and Soarin continued to glare at one another. But Soarin’s imposing size reaching over her had little effect… and he couldn’t argue with her words, she had a point. He didn’t want to admit or acknowledge it, but she had a very solid point. “TCH!” Soarin scoffed as he broke eye contact with her and looked away. “Fine…” “Good,” Spitfire huffed as she pulled back from him, glancing at Fleetfoot and Air Mach. “Well? Go suit up and meet on the bridge!” she ordered. Both Fleetfoot and Air Mach quickly turned and left. Spitfire lifted an eyebrow as Soarin remained still. “That means you too!” she ordered harshly. Without a word, Soarin followed behind his fellow lead commanders, flying up into the broken stairwell. Spitfire released a long breath the moment the rest of her squad was out of earshot, letting her head hang down and shaking it back and forth. Luna stepped up beside her, patting her on the shoulder. “That was… er…” Luna awkwardly looked away. “Quick thinking on your part…” “Don’t sugarcoat it, Princess,” Spitfire groaned as she tilted her head all the way back. “It was a bold-faced, flat out lie… and I didn’t like doing it.” She brought her head back forward and blinked, staring at the stairs before glancing up at Luna. “But… now he’s convinced I’m being too soft on him, at this point anything is better than him becoming hysterical about his safety and compromising the horn… I guess…” Luna frowned as she watched Spitfire grumble. “But… be warned, anger is one such emotion that may weaken the horn’s remaining integrity,” Luna reminded her. Spitfire reached a hoof up and rubbed her forehead. “I know, but no matter what we tried, he was going to have some negative reaction, trust me… I know him. He doesn’t like it when I order him around like this, but he usually comes around quickly. If he goes the usual route and eventually accepts my reasoning, he’ll be back to normal before we even takeoff. Either way, I’ve made it clear he’s not going to be fighting, even if he tries, so even if he’s angry, he won’t put the horn at risk.” Luna opened her mouth several times, trying to follow up, but she really had nothing to say. She knew what they had to do, but only Spitfire knew how to handle Soarin on this level. Before she could say anything, Spitfire stood up. “Come on. Let’s get ready… the sooner we get to the Empire, the less I have to be stressed over…” Soarin grumbled to himself as he shuffled through the bolted down dresser in his room. “Dammit Spitfire,” he said to himself, venting his anger. “Thinks she knows what’s best for me…” he continued to slide his hooves around among the other outfits and gear he owned, but barely wore. “I don’t care if it makes sense, nothing about all this has made sense…” After getting fed up with trying to hoof his way around the drawer, he stuck his face into it, poking around with his nose as he continued to grumble. “Ponies I care about are going to be at risk and you’re forcing me to stay down and—OW!” he yelped as the horn bumped into the dresser. He pulled his head out of the drawer and stumbled backwards, blinking several times as a sudden pain began to build in his head. “Ahhhh… Guhhh…” Soarin fell back onto his plot and bent over as tiny sparks began to flip from the horns surface for only a moment or two, his eyes shifting between a faint glow of yellow and blue as he blinked and tried to find his balance. After a few seconds, the pain subsided, the sparks ceased, and the glow in his eyes disappeared. Soarin exhaled, glancing up at the horn as little beads of sweat ran down his forehead, but quickly were absorbed into his fur before they could reach his nose. He let his hooves fall to the floor and shook his head as he looked down. “Son of a…” he said quietly as he lightly pounded his left hoof against the ground. “Maybe Spitfire is right, maybe I should play it safe.” He glanced up at the horn again. She was right. He did this to himself. Things were somewhat stable, even after Discord’s makeshift barrier stopped working, but then he had to go and ram himself into a mountainside and now it was almost as bad as when he first put the damn thing on… or more like when Discord nearly jammed it through his skull followed by a hilariously painful reaction that had to be controlled by both him and Luna. Soarin blinked as he reached up and rubbed his forehead beside the horn. He had gotten so used to wearing the stupid thing that he nearly forgot how messed up his whole situation was. The horn was fine according to Discord… but it was clear the damage had some effect on his stability. So… yeah… Spitfire was right, even though he was still miffed at her. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to fly out into combat. She always found a way to be right, but if Soarin saw somepony in danger and he was the one close enough to help… orders be damned, he was going to help them. If it was Rainbow Dash? Double damn the orders. He didn’t care if he had to throw off Wonderbolts trying to restrain him, he’d never let anything stop him from saving Rainbow Dash. But… if it didn’t come to that, he would follow Spitfire’s orders. He just didn’t want to. Soarin looked up as realization hit him. “Uggghhh…” her groaned as he stood up and closed the drawer of his dresser. “What the hell am I doing?” He grunted as he moved towards his sliding closet instead and opened it, grabbing the first Wonderbolt suit on the row of hangars. He was so distracted and miffed that he wasn’t even looking in the right place for his suits, despite having kept them in the closet instead of his dresser for upwards of 5 years. “Focus, Soarin…” he told himself as he shook the suit out and began shimmying his limbs into the sleeves. “Just go with it…” he continued as he slipped the suit over his body and pulled his head through, pulling the mask all the way over his head and securing the rest of it. “Do as Spitfire says as long as the situation warrants, otherwise…” Soarin reached down and pulled the mask up, making sure to slip the horn through the cutout hole without brushing the suit against it too much. “All bets are off…” He turned and looked in the mirror as he grabbed his goggles and hung them around his neck. He stared into his own eyes, completely ignoring the horn as he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Let’s just get the hell out of these mountains...” he said to himself, giving the damaged horn a single glance before turning and heading out of his room. One thing was for certain, it would never be a long walk from his room to the bridge if they kept using the Nimbus in the future. With his room right beside Spitfire’s in the center of the third floor hall, it took Soarin less than half a minute to get to the rec room turned bridge. A left turn from his room, right past Spitfire’s room, past the stairwell around the propeller pillar and… “WHOA!” Soarin’s eyes widened as he stepped through the doors into the bridge. He had… not seen it since they started repairs and… Rivet’s teams had completely transformed the room. The control platform that had burst through the floor, along with all the control panels and levers along the sides of it and large steering lever front and center, were actually the only things he recognized. The rest of the room had been given an extreme makeover. Any piece that was once part of the rec room had been completely removed. All the couches, tables, chairs, games, and even the bar and fridge had been removed, leaving a lot of empty space, but several new holes had been drilled in the floor, many wires running from them towards the control platform. The floor surrounding the platform had been fixed, filling in the spaces that exposed the floors below, and steps had been attached to the rear of the platform base to allow ease of movement on and off. Aside from where the stairs were placed, a railing had been erected all the way around the platform ending near the main steering lever. The broken glass panes of the forward facing window had been replaced and looked to be much sturdier. Soarin looked around in awe as he approached the platform where the rest of his squad was already waiting along with Luna, Blaze, and High Winds. Squad Three had yet to show up, but several of Rivet’s helpers and Lucky were moving about the platform, Rivet’s staff making final check on all of the components while Lucky paced back and forth near the steering lever. “It seems… empty…” Fleetfoot spoke up as Soarin approached them quietly and sat down, still a little miffed at Spitfire, even though he had seen the reason in her judgment. “According to Rivet it’s just a placeholder,” Spitfire explained as she too examined the area. “We’ve only got what was already built into the place, I heard something about looking to completely remodel and improve on everything if we make it to the Crystal Empire…” Spitfire looked towards Lucky as he continued to walk in circles. “Hey, Lucky!” “GAH!” Lucky suddenly shrieked, spread his wings, and launched himself upward, smashing right into the ceiling before falling flat against the floor. All eyes turned to him as he rolled over and stood up quickly, brushing his mane aside and smiling very wide. “Yes? Er, YES MA’AM ahah…” he stumbled over his words with a slightly hysterical tone. “Uh…” Spitfire blinked, lifting an eyebrow. She looked him up and down, but ultimately dismissed his frantic and silly response as she continued. “Has Rivet talked to you about what else he might do with the bridge? I know it all depends on whether or not we reach the empire, but…” she trailed off as Lucky seemed to stiffen as she spoke, his face going blank. “Are you alright?” “WHAT?!” Everypony flinched and turned back towards the door to see squad three entering the bridge, but most of the focus went to Surprise as she dove into the room, and floated over to where the air hockey table used to be. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! WHERE IS IT?!?!?!?!” She wailed as she landed completely flat on her stomach on the floor, flailing her hooves while lightly bopping her nose against the ground. “Surprise…” Spitfire sighed. “We didn’t throw it all away, we just moved—” "WHERE?" Surprise had somehow moved across the entire room and was up in front of Spitfire’s face while clutching the neck of her suit in the blink of an eye. As if it already wasn’t silly enough that Surprise was just a little over half the size of Spitfire, she had her back hooves firmly planted on Spitfire’s chest as she held onto Spitfire’s suit with her front. “We put them into storage in the…” she trailed off and pouted as Surprise, instead of listening to her, was pushing her back hooves hard against Spitfire’s chest while yanking the elastic fabric of Spitfire’s suit as far as she could while growling, grinding her teeth, and tipping her head back. “Surprise, stop that,” Spitfire asked calmly as Fire Streak approached and grabbed Surprise’s head. “Surprise, please respect the Captain’s personal space,” he asked nicely, but she only tipped her head further back and glared at him as she continued to pull on Spitfire’s suit. Fire tried to pull her off, but when the attempts failed miserably, Misty Fly stepped up beside him. She wagged a hoof at him while shaking her head before moving beside Surprise. Misty floated up into the air and reached her front hooves out, aiming them towards the middle of the sides of Surprise’s stomach. She then jammed them down, poking Surprise on both sides, at the same time, right below her ribs. “YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!” Surprise released the highest pitched squeak any of them had ever heard, immediately letting go of Spitfire’s suit and scrunching all of her limbs inward as she launched away from Spitfire. Fire Streak’s eyes widened and he ducked dexterously, but his twin was not so fortunate. “OH SHI—” Lightning Streak’s reaction was too little too late as Surprise crashed right into him. Surprise stopped dead in the air and fell flat to the floor, but Lightning Streak tumbled backwards, crashing into the doors behind him. He rolled over and sat up, shaking his head out just in time for the door to slowly swing back and bop him in the face. Spitfire and Fire Streak, along with the rest, all slowly looked towards Misty Fly with blank stares as she simply smiled brightly at them in response. “I… didn’t know that worked,” Fire admitted while chuckling as Surprise rolled up into a ball and began rolling in circles while clutching her sides saying ‘ooo, ahhh, ooo’ over and over again. With Surprise pacified, Spitfire regained her senses and approached her. “Surprise, we just stored everything down in the basement for now, we didn’t throw any of it out. The air hockey table is down there too,” she flinched as Surprise leapt back up and grabbed her again. “DON’T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!” she demanded as she began to pull on Spitfire’s suit again, but then Misty Fly moved up beside them again and looked at Surprise while poking her hooves together. Surprise’s eyes widened and she instantly let go, lowering herself to the floor while shuffling away and keeping her eyes on Misty as she moved, climbing over and hiding behind Lightning Streak and peeking over the top of him as he tried to get his focus back. “Anyway…” Spitfire rolled her eyes as Fleetfoot, Blaze, and High Winds all giggled behind her. “Fire, report?” “Rivet says ‘about time’,” Fire relayed to Spitfire as he saluted. Spitfire chuckled. “Of course he does…” she shook her head and then looked towards Lucky. “Now then…” As she turned and walked back towards the platform, Soarin kept his eyes on her, sitting against the railing on the edge of the platform. Spitfire suddenly glanced at him, but he looked away, wearing an expression of disinterest. As Spitfire kept moving, Soarin looked back, watching her for another moment before glancing towards Luna. Luna flinched as Soarin caught her looking, and she glanced away as if she had done nothing. “Hmph…” Soaring grunted to himself, tired of all the restraint and just wanting to get everything going so he could quit focusing on how much he was being held back and refocus on his own problems like he had before all of the crap with the Shadowbolts began. “Lucky…” Spitfire spoke up, drawing Soarin’s attention over to her. “Seriously, are you alright?” Soarin lifted an eyebrow as he examined Lucky’s… strange behavior from further back. He was standing beside the control lever, resting his head against it while sliding his hoof up and down it in a small back and forth motion with his eyes wide. He was also shivering. “Lucky, hello? Equestria to Lucky,” Spitfire spoke again when he didn’t respond. “Huh? What? All good here!” he suddenly said, detaching himself from the lever and sitting down with a very fake smile plastered on his face. “No, you’re not, and don’t tell me you are again,” Spitfire suddenly sharpened her tone, causing Lucky to flinch. “You’re about to fly this thing for us, I would hope nothing is…” Spitfire trailed off, blinking. “Oh, that’s what it is, isn’t it?” “Uh…” Lucky’s ears flopped down. “M…maybe?” he flinched as Spitfire flattened her brow. He sighed and looked down. “Okay, okay, yes. I’m… kind of nervous. Okay I’m very nervous…” he groaned and threw his hooves up in the air. “Dammit, I’m lying to myself now, I’m terrified, okay?!” “Whoa, whoa,” Spitfire stepped towards him and shook her head. “Enough of that. Stop,” she urged him as she put a hoof on his shoulder. She looked him over as he put his hooves down and sighed heavily. “I mean…” he began. “It was all sort of by accident before. The adrenaline was pumping and when I realized the lever was steering the place I just… grabbed it in a desperate attempt at survival. Right now…” he sat down and slumped. “I’m just an employee that works behind the mail counter, and I’m being asked to drive… an ancient airship carrying the most respected force in Equestria while navigating it through dangerous terrain and possibly outrunning a ship equipped with magic cannons and smaller craft that will be buzzing around us? I don’t know if I’m ready for that responsibility… or, you know… something this crazy. Should I really be the one to do this? Crazy is what you guys do, I just organize mail for Celestia’s sake.” Spitfire let him finish, listening to every word he said. She wanted him to let it all out so she could assess him. After all, she didn’t want him flying the Nimbus if he was too nervous, but that would leave her with a dilemma. He was the only pony who had flown the Nimbus and they didn’t have time for anypony else to ‘take their best shot’. However, she didn’t feel she would need to, because while he seemed nervous, it didn’t feel, at least to her, like it was a lack of confidence, more a fear of screwing it up. After all, there was a lot of pressure on him due to what he was flying and who he would be transporting. “Look,” Spitfire spoke up while placing her other hoof on his other shoulder, looking him right in the eyes while facing him directly. “I’m not going to force you to fly the Nimbus. I know you were just a mail counter employee before this, but I want you to understand why we need you. I personally feel you are our best chance to make this all work. Only you have gotten a feel for how this ship controls, so I’m not confident that having somepony learn it as we go will be the best choice, especially with what we might be flying through,” she nodded while sharpening her eyes into a stern gaze. “After how you took control of the compound and effectively became a major factor in our survival… I have confidence in you to help us out once again. We all have confidence in you.” “Still nervous…” Lucky instantly replied with his voice slightly higher, Spitfire’s encouragement having absolutely no effect on him whatsoever. Spitfire blinked, her jaw dropping slightly as her words of encouragement simply bounced off of him. She was more than sure it would work, but apparently… “One side, Captain Serious!” Fleetfoot suddenly spoke from behind Spitfire. Spitfire glanced to her left as Fleetfoot grabbed her by the shoulder and winked at her. “Let me handle this.” “What?” Spitfire furrowed her brow, but stepped back as Fleetfoot pushed her way in front of her and looked Lucky in the eye for a moment before her lips curled into a smile. She shook her head back and forth to whisk her mane around before turning slightly sideways and leaning towards him while giving him a look that could easily be described as ‘bedroom eyes’. “Look here, Mr. Hero Ace Pilot Stallion…” she said while inching towards him and fluttering her eyelashes. Lucky’s eyes widened slightly with every motion she made. “That was pretty awesome when you flew us all to safety…” she added a flirtatious tone to her voice as she leaned her shoulder into his chest. Lucky’s pupils shrank and he edged his neck back slightly as she got really close, his face adopting a very red tint quite quickly. “Somepony with the cahones to fly a big old ship like this on a whim has my attention…” she reached up and began sliding her hoof in a circle on his chest. “And I bet those cahones also pack enough heat to help us take on the Shadowbolts. Let us down? Please, you already blew us away once. You just gotta do it again. You can get us out of here…” She slid her side along his chest and brushed her tail beneath his chin. “It would be even more awesome if you ended up helping us save these sick ponies we have on board… and help us take another step in kicking some Shadowbolt ass…” she said while shaking her plot before turning around and facing him. Lucky’s face was completely red, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her. “Well? You gonna help us you big stallion? I wanna see those hooves make this big flying machine their bitch,” she ended while swiping her hoof lightly out towards him while biting her lower lip and batting her eyelashes at him again. Lucky blinked several times, a look of ridiculous confidence making its way onto his bright red face. “Heh… heheh uh, heh… yeah… oh…” he stuttered as Fleetfoot leaned towards him again while smiling seductively. “I, uh, YEAH! I’ll do it! Haha…” he suddenly stood very upright as he turned and glared at the steering lever, “I’ll fly this big pile of bolts! YEAH! HAHA!” he sounded completely different. Fleetfoot giggled as she turned around and faced… everypony else as they all looked at her with very disturbed expressions. All except for Air Mach, who was already up next to Lucky saying something about being a stallionly stallion, and Soarin and Spitfire who were both shaking their heads while holding a hoof over their eyes. “Dammit, Fleet…” Spitfire said with a loud sigh as Fleetfoot cheerfully trotted back over to them. “What?” She asked as if she didn’t already know. “You know what? Soarin is right. You are completely shameless,” Spitfire said as she pointed towards Lucky and flattened her brow. Fleetfoot glanced over her shoulder to see Lucky was now shouting along with Air Mach and posing with him. “Hey, come on,” she shrugged while giggling, leaning forward and poking Spitfire in the chest. “So I know how to push the right buttons. I got him to stallion up, didn’t I?” She bounced her eyebrows as Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Nice work… I guess,” Spitfire said sarcastically as she turned away from Fleetfoot. “Hey! What’s with the tone?” she pressed, but Spitfire was ignoring her. Soarin chuckled as Spitfire walked by him, drawing her attention for a moment, but he only looked away when she glanced at him. She quickly disregarded his clear avoidance of her as she made her way over to squad three and Luna. “Fire, let’s get this operation started, can you take care of a final check to see if everypony is ready and in place?” she asked. “Yes, ma’am!” Fire saluted before turning to his squad. “Surprise, Lightning, go…” he trailed off and lifted an eyebrow. Misty had Lightning Streak in a headlock and was ruffling his mane to the point where it looked full of static. Surprise was poking his fuzzed up mane and flinching, expecting to get shocked. They all looked up at Fire, Misty instantly dropping Lightning to the floor with a THUMP as Surprise shifted up next to Misty and mimicked Misty’s deceptively innocent smile. Lightning Streak stood up, but his mane was so fluffed out that it almost looked like a perfect sphere, and it was covering his eyes. Fire cleared his throat and repeated himself. “Surprise, brother, I want you two to run a sweep of the lobby and the two upper floors, make sure everypony is set and report back here. “RIGHT-O!” Surprise saluted with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. She turned, pulled a bucket of water out of her mane, and dumped it over Lightning Streak. The deluge completely flattened his mane down. “Success!” Surprise yelled before putting the bucket on her head like a hat and bouncing out of the room. “Ooo… bro…” Lightning cringed as he started awkwardly walking towards the door behind her, dripping wet. “Soggy suit… soggy suit…” Fire, immune to his squad’s shenanigans, turned to Misty, pointed at her, and pointed to the floor while smiling and nodding. She smiled and nodded in response before Fire turned back to Spitfire and saluted, but Spitfire was already turned away and walking. Soarin found himself ‘glaring’ at Spitfire again as she drew near. He was feeling conflicted. On one hoof, he could see the reasoning behind her decision… but that didn’t mean he had to like it, especially with her pushing her authority on him. He hated when she did that, even though she was completely allowed to do so. It was a drawback of Spitfire condoning a more family atmosphere, they were lax so often, that when it was time for authority, it could come across as overly harsh… or maybe that was just how he felt because they had been friends for so long. Whatever… he really just didn’t like that he was being forced to sit out. Soarin blinked as Spitfire stopped, sighed, and sharply turned her head towards him. “Do you have something to say to me, Soarin?” she asked while lifting an eyebrow. Soarin snorted and looked away again. “No,” he said simply. “Yeah, sure,” Spitfire said sarcastically as she walked towards Lucky and Air Mach to calm them down. Soarin shot her a hard glare as she went on her way, but grunted and went back to moping. “Are you two fighting?” Fleetfoot suddenly asked as she slid up beside Soarin. “I think you guys have the wrong mare and stallion, unless a foursome I didn’t know about went wrong or something.” Fleetfoot joked and giggled, trying to lighten the mood. But when she got no response from Soarin, she pouted and huffed. “Gee, sorry I interrupted your brood mood…” Soarin glanced at her as she got up and moved away, but had little time to think further. Surprise burst back through the doors. “FIRST!” she proclaimed as Lightning Streak slowly came in behind her. “We were racing?” he asked while scratching the back of his head. “Surprise! Brother! Report!” Fire Streak immediately asked them as he moved towards them. “Lobby is all set!” Surprise tapped her hoof against her head repeatedly in a goofy salute. “Yo, the bros and gals are all ready on the second and third floor,” Lightning Streak replied casually, without saluting. Fire Streak nodded twice before turning around. “Captain Spitfire, we’re—” “Heard them loud and clear, Fire,” Spitfire called as she glided back over to them and looked around. “It’s time…” Soarin perked up as he watched Spitfire walk over to Luna and exchange a few words before turning and moving to the front, where Lucky was eagerly awaiting. His dissatisfaction with Spitfire aside, Soarin suddenly had goosebumps. Even after everything they had been through being stuck in the mountains for nearly a month… there was one part to the whole scenario that he had completely missed out on and was still, frankly, incredulous about… The fact that their compound was actually once a flying stronghold called the Nimbus. He had gotten chances to go outside and look at all the propellers, see the damage and where exactly the whole thing ripped out of their encampment in Canterlot, but it was still such a ridiculous thought despite all the evidence being right in front of him. Now he got to see it… assuming it was going to work. He kept his focus on Spitfire as she looked around the panels on the control platform. “Where is the P.A. system?” she asked. “Oh, here…” Lucky shifted over and pointed to a panel to the right of the main control lever. He led Spitfire over to it and pushed a button on base of the panel, causing a microphone to pop up next to it. “And…” Lucky pointed to two big red buttons beside it. One of them read ‘Engine Room’ the other one read ‘Everything Else’. Both labels were written with scratchy, hard to read letters in black ink. Spitfire lifted an eyebrow as she glanced at Lucky. “Another placeholder, I hope?” Spitfire asked. Lucky just shrugged before sliding back over to the control lever and rubbing his hooves together as he and Air Mach continued to be overly excited for completely different reasons. Spitfire stared at the button labeled ‘Engine Room’ and pressed her hoof down on it. A loud SCREEEEEEECH came from the speaker fixed to the side of the device above the panel itself, as well as a makeshift loudspeaker that was fixed to the ceiling above the center of the control platform, something none of them had really noticed until just now as it came to life. All they could hear as the speakers powered on was something that sounded like clanking metal and humming. “Uh… hello?” Spitfire spoke into microphone. After a brief pause she heard the sounds of a small scuffle among the mechanical noises and then… “HEYA CAPTAIN, HUN! YOUR VOICE SOUNDS LOVELY OVER THE SPEAKER!” Lead Runner’s shrill, flamboyant voice blasted through the speaker that was right in front of Spitfire’s face. Spitfire cringed before glancing around and seeing a dial labeled ‘volume’. It was turned up to eleven. She quickly reached for it and turned it down to six. “Learun? Is Rivet there?” she asked as she let her ears flop up and down, trying to stop them from ringing. “Rivet? Oh, the darling is busy being a cute little genius, can I take a message—HEY!” he was suddenly cut off as a lot of bumping noises came from the speaker, suggesting the microphone on their end was being fought over. “This is Rivet,” Rivet’s voice came through the speaker after the sounds of struggling calmed down. “What’s going on up there?” he asked. Spitfire chuckled, certain she could hear Point Dex yelling at Lead Runner in the background. “Rivet, we’re ready to give this a shot,” she paused. “Are you?” “As ready as I’m going to be,” Rivet replied. “Should I connect the main propeller?” “Let me address the force first,” Spitfire quickly veered off. “But go ahead and ready the main prop, I’ll call you again when it’s time to fly.” “Right,” Rivet answered simply. “Everypony! Time to get moving! Let’s go!” Rivet’s voice trailed off as he began giving orders. Spitfire removed her hoof from the button, the speakers tuning out before she eyed the other one. ‘Everything Else’. She cleared her throat and pressed her hoof down on it. “ATTENTION ALL WONDERBOLTS,” Spitfire’s voice boomed through the loudspeakers of the lobby. Dash looked up with the rest, donning her suit with her goggles hanging around her neck. Her heartbeat began to quicken slightly in anticipation as she awaited orders with the rest. “ALL FINAL CHECKS HAVE BEEN MADE AND WE ARE READY TO TAKE FLIGHT. THIS MIGHT BE A LITTLE BUMPY, SO STAY ALERT. OUR DESTINATION IS THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, AND WE’RE NOT LETTING ANYTHING GET IN OUR WAY. SO READY UP! SPITFIRE OUT!” Dash took a deep breath and swallowed before exhaling. She turned and looked back at Squall, Matteo, and Twister. “Alright guys…” she stepped in towards them, fastened her goggles over her eyes, and stuck her hoof out. “Are we ready?!” she asked with enthusiasm. “Heh, always,” Matteo replied first, putting his goggles in place before reaching his arm up, balling up his talons and placing it in with Dash’s hoof. “Hmph…” Squall grunted, but followed along anyway. He strapped his goggles tight and placed his hoof in the center. Twister suddenly stuck his head into the center, his goggles fastened, but wearing a leather helmet on his head and a red scarf around his neck. “Time to get ahead…” Twister said while bouncing his eyebrows and bopping his head against their arms. “Close enough,” Dash nodded. “Let’s do this!” Spitfire reached back over to the ‘engine room’ button, glancing over at Lucky. He gave her a nod before turning to the control lever. Spitfire pressed the button. “Rivet?” “Rivet, here.” Spitfire looked up from the microphone and glanced around at everypony in the room. They were all looking towards her with anticipation. She closed her eyes for a moment, before opening them and showing an expression of determination. “Let’s fly,” she said simply. “Roger! We’ll start the rotors now!” Rivet exclaimed as the speaker cut out. Soarin finally detached himself from the railing and walked towards Lucky. Fleetfoot followed right behind him, the two of them stepping up beside Spitfire as they anxiously waited. The past few hours had been rough and a few scuffles, overreactions, and disagreements had pitted each of them in an awkward spot in some way or another. But despite all of it, they were all clear on one thing… It was time to get moving, to rise from the shadows of the mountains and the veil of the blizzard, to move forward and blaze a trail to the Crystal Empire. They would pick up help both along the way and once they got there, and then they would finally strike back. If you asked any of them, it was about damn time. They looked about the room as loud, muffled WHOOSH sounded out from below, signaling the steam furnace coming to life in the basement below. A low hum echoed throughout, the walls and the floor rattling as the hum grew louder and became accompanied by loud groans and creaks as the sounds of gears, axles, and belts met their ears, specifically coming from the main propeller pillar that was right outside the bridge doors… Descent watched from behind his misty goggles, the snow bouncing off of his face as the smaller propellers atop the Nimbus slowly started to rotate. He looked towards the main propeller in the center, and the moment it began to slowly inch its way around, Descent turned to face Starry Skies, Lightning Dust, Blazetail, and Flashwind with the entire Renegade force behind them, save for the small detachments still maintaining the blizzard. “LET’S GET THIS UNDERWAY!” Descent yelled as he twirled his hoof in the air. “GO!” he ordered, the Renegades dispersing in every direction as a loud whirring noise filled the air. The smaller propellers of the compound were speeding up and slowly disappearing from sight as they turned faster and faster. The enormous central propeller finally made a full turn and began to pick up speed, the creaks and groans echoing through the mountain range as it went around again and again and again. Soarin blinked as the floor continued to shake beneath him. It felt like an earthquake that just kept getting stronger and stronger. He glanced over at Spitfire, who couldn’t hide the look of doubt in her face. The constant creaking and groaning didn’t sound good. The machinery and contraptions were all old, even if they were patched up by Rivet. Soarin also remembered hearing something about missing the bottom propeller that helped them take off in the first place… But despite the doubt and fears, Soarin and the rest all gasped as they felt the floor shift and wobble. Everypony looked outside… The faint view of the mountains near them began to move down… Only, the mountains were not moving, they were. Soarin’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he took a step forward, putting himself right up near the front window as he braced himself against the rocking back and forth. The compound was ascending… it was actually ascending. The large propeller turned faster and faster, causing a massive draft that pushed against the nearby Renegades as they readied to clear a path for the Nimbus through the blizzard. The uplift managed to force the large bulk of the Nimbus off the ground, ripping it out of the snow covering its base. Large, packed chunks of snow came loose, falling off the bottom and over the top of the platform, falling to the ground as the Nimbus slowly pulled away from it. The small propellers fixed to the bottom of the Nimbus whirred to life, slowly turning and speeding up until they added to the push. The creaks and clanks of the old mechanisms continued to ring out as large puffs of smoke began billowing from the rear smokestacks, the smoke being pushed and thrown about by the extreme whirlwinds and gusts being generated by the central propeller. The roar of the engines below could be heard growing louder and louder as the old mechanisms were pushed by Rivet and his team. Plumes of fire began to shoot up from the smokestack as the main boiler made use of the reinforced strength given to it through the many repairs. The rise was slow… much slower than when they first took off… But despite missing the lower large propeller… The Nimbus was rising. “Well, I’ll be damned…” Descent commented as he watched in awe from a safe distance where he was regulating the efforts to manipulate the blizzard. “That little engineer of theirs actually got it to work… Not bad at all.” After being grounded and exiled in the mountains for almost a month. The Wonderbolt compound… the Nimbus… had taken flight. ---To Be Continued---