//------------------------------//
// Chapter 131: Quiet Rage 
// Story: Piercing the Heavens 
// by Calm Wind 
//------------------------------//

All eyes were pointed upward…

The air was filled with the screams of a single name…

And then all at once… 

The eyes all shut tight… 

And the yelling ceased…

As Nightshade closed the gap between her and Silver…

And came down with a full speed, thundering impact.

A loud crash roared out, echoing throughout the canyons and bouncing off the cliff walls… slowly dying down until the loud echo became a quiet whimper in the distance.

…

Rainbow Dash and everypony else slowly opened their eyes, each one of them forcing themselves to do so as the fear of what their eyes would land upon clawed at their very beings.

A large cloud of dust hung over the impact zone, one that lingered for a few seconds. But those seconds felt like years, Dash’s whole body shuddering and it wasn’t because of the crystal magic surrounding her. She fell back onto her plot, reaching her hooves up and covering her mouth to muffle the several small gasps and sharp breaths she began taking, her eyes stuck open wide as tears flowed down them.

She knew what she was going to see when the dust cleared… she didn’t want to see it, none of them wanted to see it, but none of them could look away.

This wasn’t a bad dream… Nightshade had made it clear everything happening was real… So they all knew that this nightmare was as real as can be…

And Silver… 

Silver was…

Dash wasn’t the kind of pony who cried often or easily… But right now, it all let loose, sniffles and muffled wails escaping from between her hooves as she held them over her mouth and started lightly shaking her head.

And then…

The dust finally cleared…

And everypony gasped.





Nightshade stood over Silver’s body. Her eyes were wide, she was breathing hard, and her body shivered. 

She stared down… right at Silver…

And then suddenly exhaled really loud as if she had been punched in the gut.

But nothing had hit her… it was what she was looking at.

…

































































She…





























































MISSED?!





MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 131: Quiet Rage





Nightshade began breathing quickly and heavily, hyperventilating as she stared down at her hooves. They were in a divot of heavily cracked and splintered stone… but they had not hit Silver… She hit a couple inches to the left of his head. Nightshade’s jaw hung open, quivering as she tried to say something or make any sort of noise, but all that came out was a crackly, sputtering assortment of sounds as her eyes darted back and forth between her hooves and Silver, who still had the faint white glow surrounding him.

“Rgghhh…” Silver weakly opened his good eye.  He fixed it on Nightshade as she stood over him, shaking and shuddering. She looked baffled, confused, in complete and utter disbelief but with no idea why.

Silver couldn’t believe it either… but his surprise only lasted a few seconds as the white glow surrounding him suddenly faded… and he was left alone. As soon as Blizzard was gone… Silver was hit with a deep realization.

Nightshade couldn’t do it… in her defeat, she couldn’t bring herself to kill him in retaliation…

Just as Discord couldn’t bring himself to simply kill Blizzard back in the Griffon Drake War.

“What…?” Nightshade finally spoke up, still constantly looking back and forth between her hooves and Silver as if completely dumbfounded at what she had just done. “Why…? What did…? Why didn’t…?” she failed to finish every attempt at questioning her own actions. She was right on target, she had aimed herself directly at him, she was pumping her wings as hard as she could and the only thought in her head was smashing Silver’s head into a fine liquid… but something… something caused her to miss. There was no outside influence. She felt nothing as she was diving. She could see where Silver was lying and he had not moved from the moment he had rolled over on his back.

The only way she could have possibly missed… was through her own action.

“WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!” Nightshade yelled without moving. She kept still, staring endlessly at her hooves trying to understand what had happened… Did her own body overpower her mind? Did she unconsciously prevent herself from going through with it? Did Silver’s reversal of her own tactics influence her? Did his breakdown of her actions and harsh critique of her lack of purpose make her question herself at the last moment? She wanted to believe it was Silver’s doing, but he was down and unable to move… meaning it was all her doing?! Why, why, why, why, WHY?! SHE WANTED TO KNOW WHY!!!!

“Heh…” Silver chuckled as he thought it all through. Quiet whispers lingered in his head. The light was gone. He could no longer feel Blizzard’s presence. The whispers were quite, barely audible… but he could hear just enough.

”Nicely done, kid…” the whispers said over and over again before completely fading. "I’m VERY proud of you…"

“WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME?!” Nightshade yelled as she finally removed her hooves from the ground, stumbled backwards and fell onto her plot, reaching up and grabbing her head as she continued to take heavy, heaving breaths. “I’VE… I’VE… I’VE NEVER HESITATED TO KILL… EVER! AND I SWEAR I WASN’T HESITATING HERE EITHER!!!!” she yelled in a crazed tone, phrasing her words as if she was trying to explain herself and defend her credibility to an invisible peer. “I… WHAT… HOW… WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!” she turned her focus to Silver, trying to blame him for what was clearly her own blunder.

Silver continued to chuckle as he lied on his back, erupting into intense coughing fits and moving his broken arm over his chest as he struggled to find any strength to respond. It would have probably been a good idea to simply save the little strength he had left… but he wasn’t going to pass this up… he wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to really rub it in.

“I did… absolutely… nothing…” he sputtered with a broken, raspy voice. “You’ve done it… all… to… yourself… AAAAARRRGGHHHHH GRRRHHHHH!!!!!!” Silver cringed and coughed some more as his body shook and involuntarily contorted. Despite his body breaking down, he forced his eye open and forced his lips into a grin as he looked towards Nightshade. “You’ve… lost… How does it… feel…?”

Nightshade remained in place, body shaking vigorously as her eyes hardened into a furious glare… but she didn’t move from her spot. Just like her body couldn’t kill Silver when her mind told it to, her body refused to move and attack him when she willed it to do so now.

Silver had beaten her at her own game… and it was destroying her. Simply killing him meant absolutely nothing… She’d get no satisfaction… no joy out of it. It wouldn’t change the fact that she had been beaten. She’d have to live with that now for the rest of her life.

“YOU!” she yelled, but again made no moves. “AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!! YOOUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!” she roared, her chest heaving as the breaths she took grew harder and harder, her aura erupting around her as her crystals shined brightly. It all looked like a reaction to her emotions, like a temper tantrum amplified through her magic. “DAMN YOOOUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!” she yelled out as she ripped her hooves free from her head, looked down at the ground, and slammed her hooves against it several times…

But the moment she looked back up…

There was suddenly a yellow hoof inches from her face.



	

As if the hoof-biting realization that Nightshade had missed her death-blow was already almost more of an emotional swing than the Wonderbolts could take… a very strong blast of wind rushed against them as a blue, yellow, and orange streak had just shot through the air from the opposite direction, surging towards Nightshade.

Nightshade barely reacted in time, turning herself slightly upon realizing she was about to be attacked, but all it did was save her a second punch to the face as the new arrival rammed into her. Nightshade was pushed right off the ground, but her attacker quickly threw their wings out, putting on the brakes as Nightshade was sent flying.

“AUGH!!!!!” Nightshade yelled out, flailing as she careened through the air less than a yard off the ground. She zipped right over the Wonderbolts, shooting right between Soarin and Rainbow Dash and right towards a cliff wall nearby, a faint glow surrounding her body right before she hit. The impact was fierce, causing the wall the crack and crumble, burying her beneath a pile of debris.

The sudden development broke Dash from her conflicted, confused daze. Two massive waves of relief hitting her at once like a tidal wave to the face. 

Nightshade had somehow missed Silver… and a new arrival had gotten her away from Silver.

At first glance, Dash thought it was Blaze from the colors, after all, Blaze had not been gone for very long, not even half the time it had taken them to get out this far into the canyons… but there was no way… Blaze was not capable of that speed, and she had never shown strength like that.

As the attacker finally came into view… Dash not only saw the noticeably larger size and musculature, but also the extra color tones in the mane. 

It was Spitfire.

“SILVER!” Blaze’s voice came down from above, further confirming that the Wonderbolts and Dash were not imagining things. As Blaze shot down and landed near Silver and Spitfire approached as well, a temporary wave of relief rushed over Dash. She looked over to Soarin… but Soarin was looking up into the sky. Dash blinked and did the same but saw nothing.

Then it hit her… Soarin was looking to see who else was with Spitfire… but she was alone? Not only that, but Dash quickly felt the stinging sensations of the crystal magic around her again, confirming that they still had a problem… because if they were still being affected, then Nightshade’s crystals were still focused.

As everything was trying to sink in all at once with many questions lingering overhead, Dash looked over towards Silver.





“SILVER! SILVER!” Blaze yelled as she immediately crouched down, pulled her goggles off, and reached for Silver’s arm. Silver cried out in pain as she tried to grab his arm, causing her to immediately drop it, but not before she felt how… uneven the arm felt. She looked him over frantically, gasping when she saw his left wing utterly crushed as well. “Oh my god!!!” she yelled as she held her hooves to her mouth and shuddered, not looking or sounding anything like the Blaze they all knew. She always butted heads with Silver and got into shouting matches with him, but the connection they had as squadmates showed through as she looked upon the horrifying mess before her.

Spitfire quickly trotted over, pulling all of her focus away from Nightshade soon after she hit her. She did not get down on the ground like Blaze, but still pushed up her goggles and looked Silver over with a face of pure shock and horror. It didn’t take long for her eyes to land on Silver’s utterly mangled wing that lay completely lifeless beside his twitching body. She remained silent, but her face was covered with concern as Silver finally managed to open his good eye and weakly look back and forth.

He saw Blaze first, quickly noticing the completely backwards image of her looking incredibly concerned for him. He then moved his eye to the left to see Spitfire standing over him, looking down with worry. Silver kept his eye trained on her for several moments before releasing a raspy, annoyed grunt.

“The hell… took you so long…?” he said with a sarcastic tone to acknowledge she had gotten there quicker than he expected, but it was followed by several coughs and a new trickle of blood running down from his lip. He cringed, but started glancing around again as if looking for something or somepony as Spitfire continued to just look on in silence, no words coming to her as she also glanced around at the scene accompanying the terrible sight of Silver.

Blaze caught on as she watched him look around with difficulty. She shook her head.

“I… ran into her halfway back. She was flying alone…” Blaze explained as Silver refocused his eye on Spitfire.

She wasn’t looking at him anymore, but Silver noticed something. Finding some focus among the incredible amount of pain and internal suffering he was experiencing. He noticed that Spitfire’s demeanor, the way she was holding herself, her posture… everything seemed different, calmer and nothing like the Spitfire sharply confronting everypony before they left.

“HRG!” Silver grunted as his heart began thumping painfully hard. He cringed, his neck arching back as he shook and helplessly tried reaching an arm towards his chest.

“SILVER!!!!” Blaze quickly began fretting over him again, tears building up in her eyes as the sight began overwhelming her. Spitfire also looked back down at him quickly, stepping forward and holding a hoof out. Silver hooked the function part of his right arm around hers and clamped down on it hard. Spitfire said nothing, just remained there… offering her presence. Silver took several labored, painful breaths before his heart calmed down a little and he again lay flat, twitching in pain. Silver looked right back up at Spitfire.

He said absolutely nothing as he moved his eye over. He was barely able to see the rest of the Wonderbolts nearby, but he could make out all the pink glows of crystal magic still surrounding them. He slowly released Spitfire’s arm and gave her a very weak, subtle nod. A nod that Spitfire returned before looking up at the rest of the Wonderbolts… as if she knew exactly what Silver wanted her to do. It was a request from an old, loyal Wonderbolt… to his captain.

“Blaze…” Spitfire finally spoke, her half-sister perking up and looking towards her. “Stay with him,” she said simply as she turned and started walking towards the Wonderbolts. Blaze opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. She did as she was told, staying beside Silver and immediately trying to figure out if there was anything she could do to help, constantly in fear that Silver would die or was dying of his injuries… somewhat surprised that he hadn’t already based on how brutally and fatally destroyed his body looked.

Spitfire slowly made her way over to the Wonderbolts, her eyes fixed on Soarin and Rainbow Dash for most of her walk, but she approached the other Wonderbolts first. She stopped in front of the group sprawled out on the ground around her, but every single one of them was looking up at her. Still surrounded in the crystal auras, their breaths were sharp and labored. But they held in an audible sounds of pain, perhaps inspired by the show of will and toughness from their oldest veteran.

Spitfire looked around at all the eyes on her. They were strong, but pleading eyes that told her everything she needed to know. They didn’t need to say anything for her to know that they were looking to her, their captain, for help.

Spitfire crouched down by Fire Streak and reached out to touch him, confused as Fire’s eyes widened and he shifted away from her. She scooted forward so she could touch him, but quickly pulled away as a shock of sudden, sharp pain ran up her arm. A faint glow surrounded her arm for a moment before it trickled off and dissipated. She stared at it, her eyes wide as her arm continued to tingle, the pain subsiding. She looked back down and around at the Wonderbolts, not just realizing why Fire tried to move away from her, but also exactly what her Wonderbolts were being put through. The pain in her arm just now was brief and enough to make her pull away after only a brief second or two… but they had it surrounding their bodies… and stabbing at them constantly.

Spitfire’s look of slight shock slowly turned into a harsh glare, gritting her teeth as a quiet growl escaped the back of her throat.

She turned away from the Wonderbolts, half of her couldn’t bear to look at them in such pain, the other half didn’t want them to see the anger that was slowly and quietly building up. Spitfire took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment as she exhaled. When she opened them, they remained in a glare, but she was no longer growling, keeping herself in check. She perked up, now facing Soarin and Rainbow Dash just a little ways away. She could see Soarin looking towards her, still trapped in the crystal prison with Nightshade’s additional crystals holding him in place… but Rainbow Dash on the other hoof…

Spitfire blinked, keeping her eyes on Dash as she started walking towards the two of them. Rainbow Dash was the only Wonderbolt not looking at her… and was the only Wonderbolt trying to stand. As Spitfire approached, Dash kept falling down, but every time started over, trying to push herself up. At times she got a single step in towards Silver before falling again. Spitfire observed both curiously and with admiration. 

Spitfire stopped by Soarin first. The two of them locked eyes, Soarin still suspended slightly in the air, but neither of them spoke. In fact, Soarin looked away from her, keeping his mouth closed but gritting his teeth on the inside. He was fully aware that he had disobeyed orders, and was expecting to get chewed out… again, but he blinked in surprise as Spitfire looked down at his prison and instead tried reaching into it. Her hoof was repelled lightly each time she tried, small crackles and pops coming from the energy surrounding Soarin. 

“Hmmm…” Spitfire hummed to herself… showing little else of a reaction as she returned her focus to Dash.

“Rgh…” Dash grunted as she struggled to stand. “Grh… graaahhh….” She gasped as she took a step and fell down. Her eyes were stuck open wide and aimed at Silver with damp traces on the fur and suit mask beneath them. Spitfire watched as Dash showcased incredible resilience and perseverance, completely ignoring the pain surging through her that was keeping even the elite Wonderbolts down. She only cared about Silver, and was trying to get to his side.

Spitfire glanced down at her own arm again, remembering the quick jolt she just experienced and tried to fathom what Dash was fighting against. It was impossible to ignore how impressive Dash’s efforts were. 

Spitfire opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again before any words could be spoken.

Now wasn’t the time. And Dash wasn’t the only one she wanted to speak to. She had to address the situation at hoof before anything else… and based on what she was looking at between Dash, Soarin, and the rest of the Wonderbolts… she was far from being in a position to relax.

She turned away from Dash and scanned everypony, the gears turning in her head as she sized up the current scenario.

Priority number one: Silver. 

Silver was in horrible shape… which was putting it lightly. Based on the state of his body, the way he was shaking involuntarily, and what she knew about his health already, it was a wonder that he was still alive… but she refused to be relieved. He could still die from his injuries… so if there was any hope of him surviving, she needed to get him help fast… but there were two problems. The first being that she couldn’t do it alone. With Blaze’s help, she’d be able to take Silver back, but then she would be leaving the rest of the Wonderbolts behind, something that was obviously not an option. The only Wonderbolts present capable of carrying Silver on their own were all down or unable to act. The second problem was exactly that… the help she would need to rush Silver back was currently still under the effects of Nightshade’s magic…

From her experience against the Shadowbolts, she had learned that their magic would dissipate if they completely lost focus, or if they were knocked out…

Meaning… there was still somepony she had to deal with before she could do anything else.

Right on cue… the pile of rocks nearby that had fallen on Nightshade began to stir.

Spitfire perked up as Dash grunted and fell again, immediately trying to push herself back up, but Spitfire finally spoke up to her.

“Dash…” she said. Dash stopped struggling, exhaled, and looked up at Spitfire. She followed Spitfire’s eyes towards the rumbling rock pile as she panted and gasped in pain. “We’ll help Silver as soon as everypony is safe,” Spitfire continued. “Believe me, it’s what he wants.”

Dash blinked, watching Spitfire as she turned, stepped over in front of her and Soarin, and set her hooves. She pulled her goggles back down onto her face and locked her eyes on the rocks as they began tumbling off the pile, a pink light started shining through the cracks.

“RRRRGGHHHHH!!!!!!” Nightshade roared out as a rock on the top of the pile launched off and Nightshade stood up. She was unscathed, the pink glow of a protective aura shining brightly around her as she shook her head out and angrily looked around. Her head snapped towards Spitfire, her eyes narrowing to thin slits behind her goggles as she bared her teeth. She roughly stepped out of the pile, several rocks being batted aside by her movements and her crystals knocking them away. 

Once she was free and stomped a few paces out towards Spitfire, she stopped.

Spitfire and Nightshade stood in silence, glaring at one another with only twenty yards in between them. The rest of the Wonderbolts looked on as the captain of the Wonderbolts and the captain of the Shadowbolts faced each other down, the silence only lasting briefly as Nightshade’s growling grew louder. Though while she showed visual anger, Spitfire remained calm, letting her glare voice her feelings about the current situation without allowing her anger to boil over.

Nightshade continued to growl for several moments, occasionally glancing over at Silver as Blaze fretted over him and tried to tend to his wounds, ripping pieces of her own suit off to tie over the bleeding. Spitfire took note of Nightshade’s behavior, remembering how she was sitting… and screaming in front of Silver’s broken body as she flew in to hit her initially. Nightshade was not acting the way Spitfire was familiar with. She seemed angry, bothered by something. She had no idea what happened between her and Silver… but it was clear, before he went down, Silver had some sort of effect on her. Nightshade’s usual smooth, sly, sadistic demeanor was nowhere to be found.

“Well…” Nightshade suddenly spoke while whipping her head back forward and glaring at Spitfire. “Isn’t this just PERFECT!” she said in a sarcastic, pissed off manner. Spitfire said nothing, keeping herself still, calm, and composed as Nightshade continued to act irregularly. “You know I was looking forward to seeing you… Looking forward to bending you to my will… But guess what?!” Nightshade ranted as if letting off steam. “Then your rusty old bucket-fuck over here decided to push a lot of buttons he shouldn't have!”

Spitfire lifted an eyebrow as Nightshade continued to shout and bark… it was like watching an angry child.

“Well, tough shit… I’m done with him… Fuck it, he’s going to die anyway,” she shook her head, her speech pattern giving off the air that she was avoiding a subject or trying to get away from it. “I need to let off some steam… and since you so kindly showed up and tried to punch me in the face, I’ll start with YOU!” she yelled, her words seemingly devoid of direction or reason.

Spitfire could see and hear all of it. She was almost wondering if who she was looking at was really Nightshade. But in the end, the details didn’t mean a thing. Spitfire had seen everything she needed to see.

The Wonderbolts all grounded and tortured by magic…

Her best friend imprisoned within a cage formed by crystals…

And the most cherished member of the current Wonderbolt force… beaten within an inch of his life with no guarantee of his survival.

And that… was enough to awaken a quiet rage in her heart. One that she knew she had to be careful with considering her opponent, but it would drive her none-the-less.

“Nightshade…”

“OH, SO YOU CAN TALK?!” Nightshade blurted out the moment Spitfire spoke. “About damn time! Now shut up and—!” 

Spitfire suddenly turned away as Nightshade contradicted herself.

“HEY! LOOK AT ME!” Nightshade demanded, but Spitfire shook her head.

“It’s about time you came out of hiding,” Spitfire suddenly pointed out, causing Nightshade to blink and open her eyes very wide. “What were you doing? Afraid of something?” Spitfire asked, keeping her cool.

“Oh ho ho no…” Nightshade growled. “Now is not the time to fuck with me you flame broiled bitch! I’m not in the mood! I—!”

Nightshade froze as Spitfire pushed her goggles up, snapped her eyes back to Nightshade and glared at her with the hardest gaze she could muster.

“That… makes…. two of us,” Spitfire said slowly with a very harsh tone as she narrowed her eyes further and exhaled sharply. “I come out here, find you, and all of the ponies I cherish like family beaten down and lying at your hooves. One of them…” She glanced towards Silver. “Taken to the brink of death…” She looked back at Nightshade, her pupils steadily shaking as if she couldn’t completely hide the anger burning within her chest. “If anyone is not in the mood right now. IT’S ME.”

Nightshade remained quiet for a moment, but snarled, grinding her hooves against the ground.

“SO COME AT ME THEN! I’M DYING TO KILL SOMEPONY!” she yelled, saliva flinging from her mouth as she raged. Spitfire pushed her goggles down and snorted.

“You’re talking as if I’m not going to put up a fight,” she pointed out while tipping her neck back and forth to crack it, opening and closing her wings as well to loosen them up.

“YOU’RE talking like you haven’t gotten your ass thoroughly kicked the last two times we’ve crossed paths! OH WAIT! THAT’S RIGHT! YOU DID!” Nightshade yelled almost incoherently as she pointed.

Spitfire shook her head very slowly as she set her hooves in the ground, glancing back and forth over her shoulders at Dash and Soarin behind her. Seeing the two of them there and having Nightshade in front of her brought back some painful memories for Spitfire. After all… both Soarin and Rainbow Dash were present to witness her embarrassing, shameful defeats both times they had faced the Shadowbolts in the past. 

Spitfire had been hoping to get a chance to do this… a chance to set the record straight and erase the past blunders.

“Nightshade…” Spitfire began as she refocused on her foe. “The first time we met, you took me by surprise. I didn’t know what we were dealing with and you took advantage of the situation, beating me soundly before I could muster any counter attack. The second time?” Spitfire growled quietly. “A recruit of yours attacked me with a form of magic I had never experienced before… and effectively removed me from the equation before you even showed up… or before I could even throw a punch. But this time?!” Spitfire took a firm step forward, slamming her hoof to the ground hard. “I know who and what I’m dealing with! So if you underestimate me… especially with all the motivation you’ve provided…” she glanced over at Silver, the Wonderbolts, then back at Soarin and Dash. “I guarantee… you’re going to regret it!”

“PFFFFFF!!! HAHAHA!” Nightshade suddenly bent down and stomped the ground heartily. “Now THAT is rich! I didn’t even use the crystals against you the first time we fought! And now you think you’ll be able to take me on? Don’t make me laugh… Besides… you’re basically putty in my hooves. If your emotions are so far out of whack that an amateur like Lightning Dust was able to bend you completely… oh, I can’t wait to see how far I can break you!” she glared as her crystals began to glow. “In fact… WHY WAIT?! If you’re so ‘motivated’ by what I’m doing to your pathetic Wonderbolts, then how about I shove the exact same thing down your throat?!”

Spitfire flinched in surprise as a surge of pink light shot out from Nightshade’s crystals and flew towards her.

But… even though Spitfire had more than enough time to react, she held her ground.

“HNNNRRGGG!!!!” Spitfire grunted as the light engulfed her and completely covered her body, surrounding her with the same aura that was around everypony else. She immediately felt the sharp stabbing and stinging pains that the rest of them were experiencing. 

“Wow, nice!” Nightshade laughed. “You really showed me! You just stood there and took it!”

But as Nightshade taunted, Spitfire kept her hooves firm on the ground. She didn’t cry out and she didn’t fall. She took a deep breath and crouched down slightly, clearing her thoughts… steeling her emotions. She didn’t think about any of the pain… she didn’t think about any of the Wonderbolts… she simply focused on relaxing and the importance of controlling her emotions.

“Uh…” Nightshade blinked as Spitfire suddenly stopped shaking and stood up straight. She opened her eyes and stared calmly towards Nightshade as if the aura was suddenly having no effect.

“HM!” Spitfire suddenly arched her neck while throwing her wings out. Nightshade’s eyes widened as the aura surrounding Spitfire suddenly burst, the energy shooting out from around her before dissipating. 

Spitfire took one long breath and exhaled before looking back towards Nightshade.

“Okay…” Nightshade tipped her head. “How the hell did you do that?” she asked as she looked towards Silver. Spitfire clearly had some negative emotion within her, it was confirmed by the magic having an effect on her… then how did she manage to fight back?

“You really think I wouldn’t learn?” Spitfire spoke up. “Lack of control over my emotions was my downfall last time we fought… I may not been doing a very good job of keeping them in check thus far, but that doesn’t mean I forgot what brought me down last time. You picked a bad time to show up… I just got a much needed reminder from an old captain of mine. A reminder of what I need to be for my family. It made me think about a lot of things, and how I was forgetting some of the most important functions within my role as captain today. It was a real eye opening experience… and a much needed one. After all the effort I put into figuring things out before the Shadowbolts crossed our path again… I was still losing control.” Spitfire took a firm step forward. “But now I can see clearly what I’ve been doing wrong. So I hate to break it to you… but you won’t be able to manipulate me.”

Nightshade kept blinking and looking at Spitfire as if she had no idea what she was talking about. Then Spitfire smiled.

“Rule number five of combat…” Spitfire continued as she glanced at Silver. “Learn from defeat,” she looked back at Nightshade to see her eyes suddenly twitching underneath her goggles. “You don’t experience defeat the first time you lose to a specific opponent… You are defeated if you lose to them again. You must analyze and adapt to your enemies. You have to figure out and exploit their weaknesses.” Spitfire paused for a moment as Nightshade began to shake. “In short, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on m—.”

“STOP IT!” Nightshade suddenly yelled, startling Spitfire. She grabbed her head and roared while arching her neck back, looking over at Silver while breathing heavily. “NO! DAMMIT NO! DON’T YOU START TALKING TO ME LIKE HIM!” She sharply turned her eyes back to Spitfire as she looked on, unaware of Nightshade’s experience with Silver. Nightshade’s body began to glow, her body twitching as the power began to pour forth, her crystal energy flaring up, crackling and popping. “You know what?! NO! I made the mistake of letting him get in my head! So guess what?! I’ll follow your stupid fifth rule of combat! I won’t give you the chance!” 

Before Spitfire could respond, Nightshade had spread her wings and launched herself into the air. Her crystals spun around her quickly as pink energy spewed forth from them, swirling around her as she gathered it together, preemptively forming several of the techniques used by her commanders.

Spitfire watched calmly as Nightshade rose into the sky and hovered in place, the magical build up around her growing larger and larger. Spitfire didn’t think about or question anything. There was a lot of context she was not caught up on, but again… it didn’t matter. She had to bring Nightshade down, and for what Nightshade did to her fellow Wonderbolts? She would show no mercy.





Dash growled, once again straining herself as she dragged her body sideways and looked up. She saw Spitfire standing before her, but her focus was drawn to Nightshade and the magic cacophony surrounding her.

Dash’s body hurt, a lot. She was not beaten up nearly as much as Silver, but the constant stabbing of the magic surrounding her was unbearable, and it seemed the more she tried to move the more it hurt.

She gasped as she tried to move again. She hated being powerless, she hated being left on the sidelines… but after what she saw Spitfire just do, it made her feel even worse.

There was a way to shake the magic? If only she had known.

“RRRRAAAAHHH!!!!” Dash roared, putting forth effort even though she didn’t know why. She forced herself right up, painfully holding her legs steady and drawing the attention of Spitfire. 

Dash immediately tried opening and closing her wings, copying the motions that Spitfire had done, but she failed to make anything happen and fell right back down.

“Dash, save your strength,” she suggested calmly even though Nightshade was right overhead. “This isn’t something you’re going to copy on a whim… it’s more than just the motions. It took me a very long time to figure out…” she turned and looked back up at Nightshade. “I just wish I had made more of an effort to control myself up till now…” she said mostly to herself as Dash gasped and panted on the ground, still forcing her neck up to look towards Nightshade. “Besides…” Spitfire looked over her other shoulder at Soarin, who was still looking at her and still remaining silent. Soarin blinked as Spitfire… frowned and looked away. She hardened her eye and turned back to Nightshade again. “This is something I really want to do by myself…” she stated as she moved her hooves around, cracking her joints.

At that moment, Dash stopped struggling. The tone in Spitfire’s voice spoke for itself. Though she seemed very in control, it was clear she wanted to rip Nightshade in two. Dash moved her head slightly to glance towards Soarin, who looked down at her briefly before the two refocused on Spitfire.

“You know Dash…” Spitfire suddenly spoke up as she took several deep breaths. “There’s a reason I’ve enjoyed watching you so much… watching you train and grow…”

Dash blinked and tipped her head curiously as she noticed Spitfire’s body tense up.

“You remind me a lot of myself.”

Just as Dash finished processing the exact words Spitfire had just said, her eyes went wide and she gasped as Spitfire set her hooves, spread her wings, and leaned back while reaching her wings forward.

It was the starting position for the Sonic Blast-off.

Dash’s jaw dropped, but what happened next was not what she was expecting.

Spitfire, while remaining in the leaned back position, took two forward trots, both of them strong enough to get her moving forwards. After the second trot, she reached all four hooves forwards, slammed the ground and then executed the movements for the Sonic Blast-off!

Dash flinched and winced as a loud POW rang out, Spitfire firing from her spot, breaking through an air cone instantly as she executed Soarin’s move, shooting along the ground at an incredible speed.

What was that?! 

Dash abruptly forgot all the pain she was feeling as she tried to fathom what she had just seen. It was Soarin’s move, but… she executed it differently?

Dash’s pupils shrank as it didn’t end there. Spitfire suddenly twisted hard and pounded her wings downward. The twist allowed her to turn up against the wind resistance and the wing thrust caused a burst of wind that shifted her momentum upwards.

Those were… Twister and Matteo’s moves!  But the twist was more controlled and the wing thrust seemed strong enough to equal the strength of Matteo’s massive wings… but how? Her wings were cupped? Just like how High Winds angled her wings before using her powerful wind techniques! 

Dash kept watching as Spitfire shot into the air. Nightshade seemed unaffected as she kept her eyes locked on Spitfire’s path and began launching volleys of random magic attacks at her. Eyebeams, spheres, globes, needles, and anything else she had at her disposal flung towards Spitfire.

Spitfire suddenly made one hard, irregular shift and changed her path from up to sideways, immediately sticking her wings out and holding them steady in a high speed glide, moving away from the Wonderbolts to get them out of the line of fire. The mixture of Comet and Steady Wing’s moves kept her several yards ahead of the attacks as they rained down, at least for the moment. Nightshade shifted, aiming her attacks further ahead.

Spitfire was forced to angle down towards the ground, but the moment she reached it, she flipped and tapped down with a one-two kick, using Storm Front’s Surface Tap, but adding a third kick that doubled her speed after the bounce, shooting her right into the incoming cloud of magic attacks hurling at her.

“QUIT MOVING!” Nightshade yelled down at her as Spitfire shot towards her. She put her wings back into the glide position, but began fluttering them like Little Star, making small, quick shifts out of the way of each attack… but she was doing so with her eyes closed, using Misty’s enhanced awareness techniques to sense and dodge each one instead of relying on her eyes while using the same method to swing her hooves out and deflect the few magic attacks that reached her. “AH!” Nightshade yelped as she realized Spitfire was making it all the way through her barrage unhindered.

Spitfire opened her eyes as she approached, locking them on Nightshade as she tried to turn and move. She cupped her wings and pounded them upwards, using High Winds’ wind blast to stop her momentum dead, then shifted and pounded them down like Matteo to push herself along with Nightshade, using the synchronization of the Streak twins and the Renegade sisters to stay right with Nightshade.

She closed the small gap between her and Nightshade, executing a hard twist like Twister again, but using it to wind up… Silver’s Full Motion Strike.

Nightshade didn’t back down, she wound up as well and met Spitfire head on, their arms crossing and the two of them punching each other right in the cheek. Spitfire was thrown backwards, but Nightshade was sent spiraling, a familiar technique transferring an absurd amount of momentum into her. She grunted as she fought to regain her hover, Spitfire having a much easier time and coming around first.

When Nightshade finally evened out, Spitfire stopped. The two hovered and stared at each other as Nightshade tried to fathom everything that just happened.

But she was not nearly as surprised or in as much awe as Rainbow Dash.

Dash couldn’t believe it. 

Spitfire was using the techniques of others!

Spitfire… was the third pony that could mimic?! It was her all along?!

But at the same time, something was different… She was using other moves, but they didn’t look exactly like the same moves… on top of that, she was also combining moves to execute other moves… It was almost as if…

Spitfire was putting her own personal touch on every move to effectively make them her own… changing them to make up for a certain skill or prerequisite she lacked in order to make them possible for her! She was even using some of the moves… she was combining together to create entirely new techniques!

Dash was brought back to reality as Spitfire combined High Winds, Matteo, and Comet’s techniques to go from a dead stop to nearly full speed in midair. Like a half Sonic Blast-off without the need for ground beneath her hooves.

Instead of using magic, Nightshade gritted her teeth and met the attack head on, the two slamming their hooves together. Spitfire pushed her back several yards, but with a few very strong wing beats, Nightshade slowed them all the way down, forcing both of them into a mid air power struggle. They pumped their wings and pressed their hooves hard, glaring at one another.

“Okay… fine…” Nightshade grunted. “You’ve got some skill…” she said as both of them refused to give an inch, their muscles taut and wings beating hard, powerful blasts of wind rushing behind them as neither gained an inch. Spitfire didn’t reply, she just kept pushing while glaring right into Nightshade’s eyes.

The two continued to push and push to no avail… until Nightshade decided to shake things up, she suddenly hooked her hooves over Spitfire’s and angled herself down, pumping her wings.

“Ah!” Spitfire yelped as the two suddenly plunged towards the ground below. She was caught in an awkward position with her wings flailing above her and Nightshade completely controlling their trajectory. But Spitfire wasn’t going to let it last. She ripped one of her hooves free and swung her arm around, smacking it against the center of Nightshade’s back. 

Nightshade yelped in pain, releasing Spitfire and trying to angle herself up, but failed to do so in time, crashing on her side and bouncing to a stop. Spitfire twisted and put her hooves down, but hit the ground too hard, only her left hooves holding up as the right slipped and caused her to hit hard as well, tipping and rolling to a stop.

The two were immediately back up and charging at each other again. Nightshade’s crystals glowing brightly and splitting her into three Nightshades, two of them fake, but which ones? Spitfire didn’t even flinch, she picked a target and went for it, spinning around and bucking her back legs into the face of the Nightshade on the left. 

The moment her hooves touched it, it flickered and disappeared. Spitfire, ready for the possibility, slammed her front, left hoof down to turn her body, immediately seeing one of the other two turn towards her and wind up a punch. Spitfire was not in a good position to block, so instead she swung her arm up as hard as she could…

But her arm went through that Nightshade too. 

“Ah?!” Spitfire yelped as the motion of her swing threw her even further off balance. It was a magnificent bluff, the real Nightshade was acting like a mindless clone that kept going as the other clone turned to attack. Nightshade turned out of her fixed path, her three crystals jumping out from behind her and hovering in front. Spitfire gritted her teeth as she saw the crystals glowing brightly, knowing if she didn’t do something… she was about to get a hell of punishment.

Acting on instinct, Spitfire thrust her wings down, which due to her turned over position sent her right to the ground, hitting the rock hard surface back first. It was an uncomfortable impact, but it moved her out of the way just enough. Nightshade fired a Burst Wave that shot right over her, almost skimming her nose. 

“Huh!?” Nightshade blinked, looking down as Spitfire swiped her back legs out, tripping Nightshade and toppling her onto her side.

“HRM!” Spitfire rolled over and quickly leapt on top of Nightshade, putting her in a headlock.

“GAH! HEY!” Nightshade yelled. “LET GO!” she demanded as she began thrashing about, but Spitfire held strong, tensing her body as she refused to let go. She eventually got into a position where she could free one of her arms, and began delivering several jabs into Nightshade’s side. “I SAID… LET GO!” Nightshade yelled again, her three crystals floating up over them and each firing a beam of magic at Spitfire.

“ARGH!” Spitfire grunted as the blasts hit her back and wings. With no other option, Spitfire released Nightshade, rolled out of the way, and sprang back up as Nightshade got back to her hooves as well.

The two stood only a few yards apart, staring each other down for a moment, both panting loudly.

“Not laughing much, are you?” Spitfire finally spoke up, earning a harsh glare from Nightshade. “I’m still waiting for you to kill me.”

“Keep talking and I will!” Nightshade yelled at her, without much to back it up.

“Oh, so you’re not trying yet?” Spitfire added, throwing in more verbal jabs. “Or is it just not going your way?” 

Nightshade’s eyes twitched. She glanced over towards Silver again before growling loudly with her aura shooting up over her.

Spitfire quickly refocused, watching as Nightshade’s crystals danced wildly around her. Several of the Shadowbolt magic moves appeared around her again. She floated up only a yard off the ground. One of her arms brandishing Blade’s sword, the other encased in energy like Sin. Three of Devil’s globes popped out of the ground beside her, a collection of Trance’s spheres began orbiting around her midsection, and several pink sparkles picked up nearby pieces of rock and rubble from the collateral damage with Moon’s telekinetic magic.

Spitfire took a deep breath, shook out her limbs and wings, and prepared to use the altered Sonic Blast-off again.





Rainbow Dash was having a hard time fathoming what she was seeing. She was powerless to act, but even if she was able, would she even hold a candle to Spitfire and Nightshade? It wasn’t likely.

The two captains were going all out… Nightshade was actually trying now and it was frightening. Seeing her use her magic and abilities to their full extent really drove home how much she was just toying with the rest of them earlier. 

But that made Spitfire just that much more impressive. Other details aside, Spitfire was forcing Nightshade to hold nothing back. Spitfire was by no means in full control of the battle. She had to do her share of work as well, but she was trading blows equally with a magic enhanced, strength boosted Nightshade. 

So this was it… Dash had never really realized that she had yet to watch Spitfire in combat. All this time and she never knew or considered that Spitfire would be the elusive third move mimicking pony she was always wondering about. The answer was always right in front of her, she could have found out if she had simply asked another Wonderbolt… because they knew, right?

Dash glanced over her shoulder quickly to see Soarin watching from his prison with admiration… but no shock. She looked over towards the rest of the Wonderbolts. She couldn’t see all of them, but those elites that she could see had similar expressions. It wasn’t a secret at all… wow, she felt a little silly. 

But forget how she felt, she immediately scanned the Wonderbolts and luckily, who she was looking for was in front and not hidden behind her much bigger wingmates. 

Shine Struck was the only pony sitting up, just like she was. She was staring with wide eyes and a nearly unhinged jaw. 

Dash had Shine had discussed their unique abilities on more than one occasion, always bringing up the fact that some copied techniques were harder to execute than others. And no matter what they tried to recreate, it was never close to being perfect.

Dash perked up as Shine glanced down at her, the two locking eyes from their spots for a moment. Dash was certain that Shine was thinking the same thing she was… Were they getting a visual crash course on how to better their own copying technique? 

With that in mind, both of them quickly turned back to keep watching the battle.

After another altered Sonic Blast-off, Spitfire was in Nightshade’s face immediately. Dash slowly tipped her neck up as the two captains rose into the air, locked in intense combat. Nightshade was throwing every single magic move she could muster at her, using all of the techniques of the Shadowbolt commanders and several of her own, mixing in close combat. Spitfire was throwing every attack of both current and retired elite Wonderbolts she could do without assistance at Nightshade. She even mixed in a few Dash had never seen before, which she had to guess were signature moves of other elites or possible some who have been long retired? Spitfire even found time in between attacks to use the Renegade magic deflection motions to knock away some of the incoming moves from Nightshade. Just in general, the way Spitfire was mixing and matching the techniques, using some techniques to make others work… it was beyond incredible.

Watching the captain of the Wonderbolts and captain of the Shadowbolts go at it head to head while using the all of the single moves mastered by those they led was… well… epic.

If the situation wasn’t so dire or life threatening, Dash would probably have been bouncing up and down giddily.

But she was aware of the situation, and despite Spitfire’s arrival, she refused to breathe easy until the battle was actually won… and Spitfire still had her work cut out for her there.

“RGH!” Spitfire suddenly grunted as Nightshade swung around, missing with her sword, but clubbing Spitfire with her arm encased in magic. Dash gasped as Spitfire shot towards the ground, grunting and flailing before barely regaining control in time. She turned and slammed her hooves down, panting very hard as she glared up at Nightshade. 

Nightshade immediately launched a Burst Wave with a volley of spheres shooting in an arc around it.

Spitfire growled, moving her hooves and galloping out of the way of the wave before hopping back and forth to dodge the incoming spheres…

But Dash gasped as she watched the way the spheres behaved. They didn’t aim directly for Spitfire, they followed her and began spreading out. It was the turret magic she had used on them earlier!

“Spitfire!” Dash yelled, but grimaced the moment she tried to move, her body unable to fight against the magic.

“What the—?!” Spitfire winced as small beams of magic began pelting her. She looked back and forth to see six spheres hovering around her that were moving perfectly with her, shooting small beams at her every few seconds. “DAMN!” she growled as she moved only to find out they were fixed to her position and she couldn’t reach any of them.

Spitfire seamlessly moved to use her altered Sonic Blast-off again… but as she began the motions she suddenly flinched and yelped painfully, nearly falling over herself as her legs shook. She quickly spread her wings and took flight normally instead.

That little mishap didn’t go unnoticed by Dash. The heavy breathing was already one indication, but it looked like Spitfire’s prowess did indeed have a drawback. She was putting a heavy amount of strain on her body all at once, especially with the Sonic Blastoff. Dash knew first hoof how hard that move was on the body. Before Soarin’s recovery and endurance were enhanced by his magic, he could only execute it two to three times in one sitting before he was tuckered out, and that was with his larger, more muscular and powerful body. Spitfire was clearly feeling it.

Spitfire moved quickly and carefully as she examined the behavior of the turrets, soon concluding that she had gotten caught in a complicated trap and wouldn’t simply be able to chase them down or shake them off.

The only problem was… she had to worry about Nightshade too.

“HHRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!” Nightshade shot in from the side driving her aura encased hoof forward. Spitfire turned to catch it, but the amplified impact from Sin’s magic immediately propelled her backwards. She shot towards the ground again, this time at an angle towards a cliff wall.

Dash tried to force herself up again, failing as she had every other attempt, but as she watched Spitfire flying helplessly… but after a closer look, Spitfire wasn’t so helpless after all. She was looking towards the sky as she careened through the air… and the moment she reached the wall, she flipped and used Storm Front’s Surface Tap, adding the third tap again to increase her speed and shoot up into the sky while combining Twister’s and Little Star’s techniques to dodge the never ending barrage from the turrets surrounding her.

“GET BACK HERE!” Nightshade called after her as she pumped her wings and gave chase.

Spitfire looked down and up between the approaching clouds and Nightshade, gritting her teeth and wincing as a few of the small turret blasts struck her. She was clearly in a bind…

And from down below Dash’s mind was racing. Things were not looking so good for Spitfire, but before Dash could worry further… a second yellow and blue streak shot up towards Nightshade with a trail of fire in its wake.

“The hell?!” Nightshade reacted, looking down as the incoming fireball approached.

“LAY THE FUCK OFF MY SISTER!!!!!!” Blaze yelled as she shot in like a bat out of hell, her body surrounded by controlled flames with heavy concentrations of fire surrounding her hooves, her flint gloves on and set ablaze. “HRRRRAH!” Blaze roared out as she rammed her shoulder into Nightshade’s stomach, several hot flames bouncing over to Nightshade and sending the two of them away from Spitfire. 

Spitfire gasped as she saw her flame-wielding half-sister engage Nightshade, but it gave her the chance she needed, so she took it. Doing her best to ignore the ensuing grunts of pain as Nightshade instantly turned the tables on Blaze, Spitfire shot higher and higher, all the way up into the clouds above. She moved quickly to avoid the turrets as they kept tethered to her. She stuck her wings out, using Steady Wing’s hard gliding method as she angled out and forged her way through the thick clouds, splitting the feathers of her wings like Wave Chill to gather up the moisture in the clouds until her feathers were wet with dew. The moment she felt she had enough, she turned down, grabbing a large clump of the clouds with her arms and manipulating the moisture, directing it into the cloud to pump it full of water as she dove. Once her wings were free of the moisture, she began pushing them hard, adding speed as she plummeted down towards Nightshade. Her positioning and motions suggested she was attempting to use Fleetfoot’s Silver Arrow Dive, but she altered her motions, giving her wings extra angle like Lightning Dust’s method of voiding wind resistance. She completely tucked her limbs in to make her body as streamlined as possible, clamping her limbs around the darkened cloud, making sure to not let it get away from her as she moved faster and faster, her speed making it impossible for the turrets to hit her even though they were keeping up.

She gritted her teeth and fixed her eyes on Nightshade as the sight of her pummeling Blaze came into view. Blaze was still surrounded in flames, doing her best to engage Nightshade with little success. Every attack she threw, Nightshade moved right out of the way of and easily countered. Blaze even tried launching a few volleys of flames among her attacks, but nothing was working. Nightshade was no longer pulling punches, and Blaze was taking a harsh beating.

“GAH!” Blaze cried out as Nightshade clocked her right across the face and sent her tumbling. Nightshade shifted to follow, but blinked when she saw Blaze pull her arms back while looking into the sky.

“SIS! HERE!” she yelled as she whipped her arms forward. The remaining flames encasing her body shot up above her. Spitfire kept her angle, shifting slightly so that the incoming volley of flames from Blaze would strike the cloud in her grip. Her timing was perfect, the flames slamming into the cloud the instant she passed. The cloud suddenly lit up with electricity, the heat of the fire revving up the moisture… at the same time Spitfire’s speed broke the first air cone. 

A loud BOOM echoed throughout the canyon as Nightshade looked up and gasped. She immediately surrounded herself with a spherical magic shield as Spitfire broke a second air cone… the second boom accompanied with her crushing the cloud in her grip. The cloud burst and electricity exploded out of it, Spitfire quickly reining it in and collecting it around her as she stuck her hooves forward. She wasn’t going to reach a third air cone, she didn’t have the pure speed like Fleetfoot to do so, but this would be more than enough.

Spitfire, with electrical energy surging around her, slammed her front hooves hard into Nightshade’s shield. The shield immediately buckled from the force, shattering as her hooves punctured its surface and slammed directly into Nightshade’s face, smashing her goggles to pieces as she was sent flying downward.

Nightshade cried out as she tumbled down, her crystals coming to life and encasing her in a thin veil of light as she crashed hard and bounced along the ground below with traces of electricity following in her wake.

Spitfire pulled up, a lot of her momentum already released from the impact. She flexed her muscles and tensed her body, keeping her limbs extended outward to prevent the electrical energy flowing through her from gathering too much at one point. Her mane spiked up, looking wild and split as the volts coursed through every inch of her body. 

She briefly looked down to make sure Blaze was okay. She was down on the ground, hurt, but not severely. She had a hard fall, but she quickly waved at Spitfire, motioning for her not to worry.

With that, Spitfire quickly turned her focus to the turrets still following her. With lightning now at her disposal, she made use of it, turning and reaching a hoof out towards every sphere, arcs of electricity jumping from her hooves with every thrust, splitting and destroying the magic turrets one by one.

Once she was finally free from the annoying barrage, she turned just in time to see several small spheres hurling towards her from the ground. She swiped her hooves out, batting aside each one with ribbons of electricity flailing in the wake of each swipe, but right as she swatted the last sphere away, her eyes widened as a pair of eyebeams zipped towards her in the wake of the spheres, moving much faster. She had no time to move, the beams hitting her right in the face and exploding. Spitfire lurched backwards, her head whipping around as the explosion destroyed her goggles, sending them off her face in several pieces while also tearing up most of her suit mask. But she held her wings out and stopped after only edging back a yard or two, still holding onto the electricity as she slowly turned her head back forward and shook the pink smoke free from around her face. Her goggles and mask were gone and a light trail of blood dripped from her nose and mouth. 

Nightshade rose back up into the air. Her goggles gone as well, but her mask still intact and her eyes alight with a pink light that rose from both of them like small flames. Spitfire grunted and spat out a wad of blood before focusing a harsh glare on Nightshade to counter hers.

Without a word, they both rushed forward, Spitfire’s body sparking and surging with lightning and Nightshade’s alight with her pink magic. The two clashed head on, their hooves locked while butting heads, growling, snarling, and roaring into each other’s faces as they began a power struggle, the lightning and magic surrounding both of them as they came together. Their hooves slipped off one another, bringing the two closer as they began hooking and grappling to try and gain an advantage. The magic burned against Spitfire and the lightning clawed at Nightshade, but the two refused to give in, both of them beyond determined to take the other down.









Dash and Soarin watched from below as Spitfire and Nightshade grappled above, the two began shifting through the air, moving sideways in several directions, neither able to get the motion going in their favor.

“Ah!” Soarin yelped as a wayward volt of electricity fell down and struck the ground right beside his prison. 

“Yikes!” Dash winced as another hit near her as well. But she immediately looked back up as the two captains continued to try and get an upper hoof, the magic and lightning crackling and popping around them fiercely. 

It was absolutely unreal… the ability of the two mares. But something that impressed her even more was the fact that Spitfire was fighting within her own power and abilities. Nightshade was fierce even without the magic, but the fact that Spitfire was keeping up with her with the magic boosting her was a testament to her prowess…

Spitfire was putting on full display why she was the captain of the Wonderbolts.

Spitfire and Nightshade suddenly pushed apart and both swung at the same time, their hooves crashing together, causing a flash of pink magic and a burst of lightning, they both followed up with a second punch with the other hoof, that crossed, the two punching each other simultaneously again. They both flipped and tumbled backwards, Spitfire quickly throwing her wings out, which caused several volts of electricity to jettison outward from her wing tips. With Nightshade still trying to regain her balance, Spitfire shot forward, a loud CRACK like a lightning strike echoing throughout the canyon as the electricity exploded behind her. Spitfire closed the gap quickly, grabbing Nightshade by the neck and swinging her around before throwing her down towards the ground. Nightshade cried out as her back hit the solid rocky ground, but Spitfire didn’t let up. She brought her limbs inward, letting the electricity gather up near the center of her body. But before the energy intensity could overwhelm her, she thrust her hooves out towards Nightshade, the buildup of electricity shooting down the length of her arms, giant ribbons of lightning dancing between them like a power surge between two pylons before erupting from the ends of her hooves. The electricity was so densely packed that it resembled an actual lightning bolt in both size and ferocity as it shot down and struck Nightshade. 

The impact caused a shockwave that pulsed outward, followed by a loud rumble of thunder that shook the surrounding environment.

With all the electricity spent, Spitfire pulled back, gasping and panting for air as she tried to catch her breath, trails of steam rising from her arms in the aftermath of the electrical burst.

But as she looked down, something wasn’t right. 

Nightshade was… flickering?!

Nightshade’s body suddenly disappeared below in a bright pink flash of light. 

It was a clone?! When did she switch out?! It had to be the brief moment Spitfire was tumbling and lost sight of her… but where—?”

“SPITFIRE! ABOVE!” Soarin yelled out from below.  Spitfire’s eyes widened, looking up to see Nightshade plunging towards her with her hooves extended and surrounded in Sin’s magic. Spitfire grunted, forcing her body backwards as she reached up and caught the hooves, only to have her arms immediately pressed to her chest by the amplified attack.

“GRH!” Spitfire gasped as she was whiplashed, her whole body forced downward by the pressure as Nightshade continued to pump her wings and drive her down. Spitfire glared right into her eyes and cupped her wings convexly and pumping them upwards towards the ground as it approached. Several loud POOFS and BANGS rung out as she combined High Winds and Matteo’s techniques, reversing the motions to work opposite and shooting powerful bursts of air below her. The maneuver cushioned the fall, drastically reducing the speed at which Nightshade was pushing her, the massive blasts of wind rushing in every direction and crashing against everypony watching from the sidelines. It effectively brought them to a stop just before they hit the ground.

But then Nightshade released, letting Spitfire fall painlessly to the ground as she launched back upwards… and revealed a large volley of spheres that was hiding behind her.

“AH!” Spitfire yelped as she shielded herself, the first two hitting her before she put her hooves up and deflected the next four. Between the sixth and seventh, she rolled over, willingly taking the seventh to the back as she broke into a gallop, running as the last three slammed to the ground, kicking up debris behind her.

Spitfire picked up speed for a few more steps to create distance before she slammed her front, left hoof down and skidded along on it, anchoring the hoof down and swinging herself around to face Nightshade.

But as she set her hooves and turned her focus back to Nightshade above her, her back legs suddenly buckled.

“Ow!” Spitfire yelped as she fell and tipped over onto her side, immediately flailing to stand back up, but it looked like a struggle for her to do so.





“SPITFIRE!” Soarin yelled as he and Dash watched with worry. 

It had to be as Dash suspected earlier. Spitfire was using so many moves that required incredible physical ability, and doing so over an extended period had to be exhausting. Her physical endurance spoke for itself, but it looked like the fatigue was finally catching up to her.

And that… was a problem. Because Nightshade had risen further up into the air and was gathering her magic.

“SHIT!” Soarin yelled as he began thrashing in his prison again. “SPITFIRE!!!!” he yelled again as Dash looked on, glancing between the two of them. Spitfire was not finding any success in getting back up. It was almost as if her back legs had completely given out. She tried to spread her wings, but one of them twitched painfully and pulled itself back in, showing signs of cramping.

Dash’s eyes widened as a bright pink light came from above. She looked up to see Nightshade gathering magic into another massive globe, much like the one she threw at Silver… but unlike Silver, Spitfire was in a compromised position… not to mention Dash wasn’t going to try and understand how Silver managed to go right through one of these globes unscathed.

Dash looked back at Soarin again, watching as he desperately thrashed within the prison again, his eyes glowing blue and the horn’s cracks blinking steadily… then a loud POP came from it.

“AH!” Soarin yelped as a bright flash came from his eyes and a small sliver of light burst from the middle of the horn. A very small chip of the horn popped off and landed beside Dash, a trail of blue steam rising from the tiny fracture as Soarin began to groan in pain and stop thrashing. But he still looked up at Spitfire with a degree of desperation.

Dash gasped as she looked at the horn, feeling a jolt and jump in her heart as Soarin cried out and his magic reacted… he was trying so hard… and she could almost feel his thoughts, his desperation to save Spitfire.

Dash quickly turned her head around, searching for Blaze, but when she found her, Blaze was still down, her wings looked unhurt, but her beaten body was keeping her down.

Dash turned back to Spitfire, her pupils shrinking as Nightshade threw her hooves down… and the giant globe shot towards the ground.

Dash’s jaw dropped as she lay still, her mind racing.

She…

She couldn’t let this happen…

Spitfire was their last chance, if she went down… not only would Soarin be taken, but Silver would die for sure… and everypony else would be killed!

She had to do something!

Without any real idea of what she could possibly do in mind, Dash forced herself up, screaming out in pain as her body and limbs burned madly, the pink glow surrounding her becoming a little brighter as if reacting to the extra effort she pushed forward.

As the globe fell towards Spitfire, Dash’s mind raced, quickly falling on the only thing she could possibly think of.

It was possible to remove the magic from around her. She saw Spitfire do it… that meant she could too! But she had already tried! What was missing?! 

She pushed her wings out again and again, each attempt hurting more than the last. WHAT WASN’T SHE DOING RIGHT?!

Everything seemed to slow down for Dash as she rapidly thought through everything Spitfire did… and said to Nightshade after.

And one thing stood out more than anything else… 

When Spitfire mentioned her past downfall… was the lack of control over her emotions.

With only seconds remaining before their last hopes were thwarted, Dash looked directly at Spitfire… and thought of nothing else. 

She pushed out worry about Soarin, she pushed aside anxiety about Nightshade, and she pushed out despair about Silver…

She willed her thoughts to clear, the Wonderbolts were in danger, but the more she fretted and was overcome by any kind of fear… the more the magic around her would tighten its grip.

All that mattered right now… was what lay right before her!

AND SHE WOULD ACT!

“GRRRRAAAAAAH!!!!!” Dash yelled, throwing her wings out as her eyes remained fixed on Spitfire.

Soarin blinked and looked towards Dash, his eyes widening as the magic surrounding her suddenly crackled and exploded, shooting out and completely freeing her body.

Without a single thought towards her success and all of her focus on what had to be done, Dash immediately set her hooves and leaned back with her wings forward. She had not time to figure out Spitfire’s altered Sonic Blast-off… but she didn’t need to. She knew how to do the real one!

She quickly pulled her goggles up, putting them in place to protect her eyes and then went through the motions, forcing her body to remain relaxed and smooth despite it being beaten and bruised. She executed each motion seamlessly, and launched from her spot, creating an immediate sonic boom that drew every set of eyes away from Spitfire to her.

But Dash immediately gritted her teeth and winced. She made it work and felt the blasts of wind against her, but it was very sloppy, very shaky after the launch. She barely managed to stay in a straight line as she shot along the ground. She had the strength to execute it, but her injuries were making themselves known, keeping her from achieving the perfect technique all the way through, but she was determined, fighting back every time her body threatened to lose control… closing the gap between her and Spitfire and making just in time. 

With less than five yards between the globe and its target, Dash exploded into the scene and rammed her body into Spitfire’s side, latching on and holding tight as Spitfire grunted in surprise. Dash’s force and momentum picked Spitfire right up off the ground and sent the two of them away from the impact zone… but they only flew a few yards before they hit the ground and began tumbling.

The globe exploded in a spectacular fashion the moment it touched down, both Spitfire and Dash were sent flying from the nearby impact, Dash hanging onto Spitfire for dear life as the two continued to tumble, pushed further by the shockwave of the explosion’s aftermath. They stayed down as they finally came to a stop, keeping their heads down as bits and pieces of splintered rocks rained down, the larger chunks luckily falling around them instead of on top of them.

As soon as the debris settled and the dust began clearing, Spitfire grunted, pushing herself up and forcing her back legs to cooperate, it was a shaky rise, but she made it work. She continued to gasp and pant for air, her lungs working overtime to help her catch her breath, but she immediately looked down to her right as Dash stirred, groaned, and turned over to stand up as well.

Spitfire watched Dash curiously, trying to figure out what had happened, but then her eyes widened as realization hit her. Dash wasn’t covered in the pink light anymore… and she had rescued her from a very unpleasant experience… which meant…

“Rainbow Dash…” Spitfire spoke up as Dash stood up, her legs wobbling and her body cringing in pain, but in between the heavy breaths, she looked up, tilting her head to get a chunk of her rainbow mane out of the way so she could make eye contact. “Did you… seriously just…” Spitfire looked back towards Soarin, glancing between him and Dash for a few moments before an impressed grin appeared on her face. “Sheesh, Dash… You never listen to me, do you?” she said with a lighthearted sarcastic tone, her expression telling Dash everything she needed to know. 

This was the first time Dash had spoken to Spitfire since… everything that happened back at the Nimbus. Seeing Spitfire act the way she used to was refreshing… and seeing her impressed made her pride swell up. But before she could reply at all, Spitfire suddenly looked up, refocusing as the sound of hooves slamming to the ground came from nearby.

Dash looked up as well to see Nightshade standing firm about ten yards away. Spitfire stood ready, but as Dash turned to do the same, she noticed Spitfire’s legs were still shaking. Not to mention Dash’s own body wasn’t feeling too great.

This wasn’t good. Even with both of them together, it wouldn’t mean anything if they were worn down and Nightshade was showing no signs of letting up.

“Dash… I hate to admit it, but I need some back up after all… can you fight?” she asked. Dash blinked and glanced up at Spitfire…

She was smiling. It wasn’t a very confident smile, but it was there. Dash was completely honest.

“I can, but… I doubt very well…” she admitted, earning a grunt from Spitfire. 

“Well. Then we better give it the best we’ve got!” Spitfire proclaimed as she forced her wings open. Dash cringed, doing the same and keeping an eye on Spitfire, ready to use the Streak twins’ synchronization methods… 

This was it, their last chance, they had to give it all they—

“AH!” Nightshade suddenly yelped as she flinched and her muscles visibly tensed up. She stood up from her ready stance, tipping backwards and stumbling a few steps as her crystals began to shake and her aura flickered.

Dash and Spitfire both blinked, staying at the ready, but watching curiously.

“GRH! GRAH! ARGH!” Nightshade began shaking, quickly placing a hoof over her chest as her body shuddered. “OW! FRRGGHHH!!!!!” she groaned as she began pounding her chest several times.

Suddenly a loud hiss like a rushing wind began to sound from her body. Her aura completely faded, the crystals struggled to stay afloat, and her body and muscles lost their boosted appearance, reverting to normal. Pink streams of smoke began to rise from her body, seeping from several spots as if her body was literally leaking magic.

“Ahh!!! AH!!!!!!” she cried out, holding her hoof to her chest as the crystals clattered to the ground around her. “N… NO! DAMMIT!” she cursed as the magic started giving out on her.

“What’s… going on?” Spitfire asked as she kept her eyes glued to Nightshade.

“I think…” Dash began but stopped, still not sure how the crystals worked, but based on previous events, it seemed like there were some consequences for using the crystals too much, for too long, or overusing them… was that happening to Nightshade? Was this an opportunity for them?

“NIGHTSHADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

A familiar voice suddenly boomed down from high above. All eyes went up. Spitfire, Rainbow Dash, Soarin, and everypony else…

They all knew that voice… but nopony…

NOPONY…

Was apparently as surprised or shocked to hear the voice as Nightshade.

She looked up into the sky, her ears flopping down, her eyes widening, her pupils shrinking, and a pathetic, weak gasp escaping her throat.

Up in the sky, coming in for a landing, was Descent, Starry Skies, Lightning Dust, and a small group of Renegades, all who appeared to be former Shadowbolts. 

As they flew down, Descent pointed towards the fallen Wonderbolts. The Renegades behind the three in the lead all broke off and landed nearby to help, one breaking away to help Blaze as she dragged herself back over to Silver and another moving towards Soarin.

But Descent, Starry Skies, and Lightning Dust all came in for a landing… and touched down in front of Spitfire and Dash, placing themselves in between them and Nightshade. Lightning Dust immediately backed up to check on Dash, but Descent and Starry just stared forwards, a very long, painful silence extending as they looked upon their former captain.

The only noise that could be heard within the calm was the sound of Nightshade taking short, quiet, gasping breaths, still holding her hoof over her heart, but clearly in some sort of odd shock as she stared towards the two of them. 

“Nightshade…?” Descent spoke up, drawing Starry’s attention to him as he slowly reached up and took off his goggles. “Is it… really you?” he asked. Starry took off her goggles as well and slowly began glancing back and forth between Descent and Nightshade, her face wrought with an expression of anxiety and hesitance that she nearly never showcased. 

Nightshade didn’t respond, she just kept staring at them as if she was absolutely terrified, overwhelmed and stricken by fear. Descent gritted his teeth, a look of regret on his face as he slowly took a step forward… 

Nightshade suddenly shrieked, causing Descent to freeze and his eyes to go wide as he watched her react. 

“NO!” she yelled, her voice cracking. She stumbled backwards, her hooves slipping and causing her to fall onto her plot. She frantically stood back up and froze, her legs and body completely still with her head low, like a frightened cat arching its back. Only, Nightshade looked far from dangerous, she looked as though she had just woken up from the worst nightmare imaginable and couldn’t tell if she was awake or not.

“Nightshade!” Descent took two more steps. 





“It’s me! It’s us!” Descent pleaded to her as Starry looked on hesitantly from behind him. But Nightshade just kept shaking. “Please! You have to—”

“NO! STOP!” Nightshade yelled back at the top of her lungs. Descent stopped talking but started moving towards her again, rejecting her demand. Starry still remained in place, looking like she wanted to go to Nightshade as well, but didn’t know what she would say or do if she attempted it. “STAY BACK!” Nightshade yelled as Descent kept walking slowly towards her. She threw an arm up over her eyes and turned her head away, hiding her face from him. Her crystals all huddled together and hurried around behind her, reacting to her emotions as if afraid of Descent or emulating her emotional reaction. “STAY AWAY FROM ME!”

“Nightshade!” Descent called her name again as his pace picked up, his body language and movements suggesting he desperately wanted to reach out to her. “PLEASE!” he yelled, his voice starting to break up a little. “LOOK AT ME!”

But Nightshade refused, shimmying herself backwards, but unable to keep herself away as Descent came within range to touch her.

But right before he could a sudden burst of energy ejected from her body.

“AH!!!!!” Nightshade yelled out as Descent grunted, shielding himself as he skidded back away from her a little.

Descent looked up in confusion and horror as Nightshade began to scream and wail, reaching up and grabbing her head while thrashing around and more pink bursts ejected from her.

Rainbow Dash recognized it immediately, the absorbed magic had run its course again and was about to jettison out from her! Nightshade screamed as she forced the magic from her body, the cloud of pink light pulsating and growing brighter.

“LOOK OUT!!!!!!!!!” she yelled towards Descent.

Everypony hit the deck, Descent throwing his hooves up and covering his face as a massive explosion erupted from the magic surrounding Nightshade. Despite guarding himself, Descent was thrown backwards, falling right on top of Starry Skies and Lightning Dust as everypony braced themselves against the shockwave and incredible forces that propelled outward like a typhoon. 

Everypony stayed down until the rushing force finally subsided, the surrounding area remaining silent for only a moment afterward as awful, painful, excruciating sounds of agony came from the direction of Nightshade.

“HHHNNGNGGGGGG!!! HRRRGGGRRRRR!!!!” she grunted raspily as everypony looked up. 

She was not in the same spot. It seemed that unlike the first magic release, she did not have the power, nor the focus to wrap herself in a protective shield before the explosion. She and her crystals had gotten caught in it and she was rolling back and forth on the ground twenty yards away while making all sorts of noises that didn’t sound normal at all.

But along with Nightshade’s abnormal vocalizations, several sighs and cries of relief rang out from around them all. Dash looked up from her spot beside Spitfire to see several faint pink lights rising up into the air. She followed their trail back down to see that the torturing auras surrounding all of the Wonderbolts dissipating, lifting up from their victims and dissipating into the air.

Dash quickly turned her neck around to look towards Soarin, but her hopes were quickly suppressed. Soarin was still encased in the magical prison as if the crystals surrounding him were acting as a separate entity.

She turned back around as Spitfire forced herself to her hooves. Dash did the same with some difficulty, never taking her eyes off of Nightshade. Descent rolled off a groaning Starry Skies and Lightning Dust, the two taking a moment to recover and get their bearings after a pony more than twice their size landed right on top of them.

Descent, however, did not even ask if they were alright. It seemed odd that he wouldn’t but the entirety of his attention was fixed on Nightshade. He got to his hooves and readied to move towards her again, but he hesitated when he saw Nightshade’s crystals floating above her in a circle.

But something wasn’t right. 

Dash noticed it immediately as she watched from behind Descent… Nightshade’s crystals were flickering, shuddering, and making odd screeching noises that almost sounded like screams of pain.

“AH!” Nightshade suddenly yelped, ceasing her flailing and lying still on her side, her disturbing grunting noises finally stopping as well. Her head shot up off the ground, her neck arching and straining as she looked at her shivering crystals, the screeching noises becoming louder and louder as they began to slowly lower to the ground and lose any sort of glow.

Then one of the crystals cracked.

Descent’s eyes grew wide and he gasped as his eyes fixed on the crystals. The other two began to crack with loud popping noises sounding from them. 

“GAH!” Nightshade screamed in pain as her body shook. “OW! ARGH!” she yelped as the crystals began to chip and pop, sparks shooting from them as they shook.

“NO! NOOOO!!!” Descent yelled as he broke into a gallop back towards Nightshade. But he only got a few steps forward before all three of Nightshade’s crystals…

Shattered to pieces.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!” Nightshade wailed, her eyes remaining wide and fixed on the crystals as they broke into tiny pieces that sprinkled to the ground before disappearing completely.

Descent stopped right in his tracks, his jaw nearly unhinged as he stared in shock.

Dash was in the same state… knowing exactly what was going to happen, but she could scarcely believe it…

Without the crystals to sustain her… just like the others who lost their crystals… was Nightshade going to die?

Nightshade began to scream and writhe on the ground, holding onto herself as her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. Crackling noises started coming from her body, everypony else watching in horror as small traces of crystals began appearing on her. Nightshade quickly reached for her chest, pressing a hoof over it as hard as she could as she continued to grunt, gasp, and cry out. 

“NIGHTSHADE!” Descent called out, but he didn’t move toward her. 

He began to collapse. 

Everypony watched as Descent’s legs slowly gave way, first the back, and then the front until his stomach was on the ground.

“No…” he said in a quieter tone, his voice broken as he watched the crystals spread on Nightshade’s body.

But then Nightshade began pounding a hoof against her chest.

“HHHHRRNNNGGG!!!!!” she suddenly released a loud growl, slamming her eyes shut as a faint pink glow surrounded her.

Everypony watching her perked up, but looked on with confusion as the spreading of the crystals over her body suddenly stopped… But it looked far from relief. Nightshade continued to shout, yell and growl as if she was fighting it? Not only that, but she didn’t have any crystals around her, where was the faint aura coming from?

Whatever she was doing… it didn’t seem to have the desired effect.

“AHHHH!!!!!” Nightshade cried out in pain again, the aura fading and the crystal spread continuing.

Starry Skies suddenly shifted forward, drawing Dash’s attention. But Starry didn’t move any further than a single step. She stopped and moved no further, her eyes darting between Descent and Nightshade, her body continuously leaning forward, but never moving as if she was roped to her spot against her wishes.

“RGH! DAMMIT!” Nightshade suddenly yelled, reaching a hoof out.

Dash blinked as she saw the motion, immediately perking up and turning her head to follow the direction Nightshade was pointing. Her hoof was aimed at Soarin.

“Huh?!” Soarin blinked as the magical pulses surrounding him suddenly flickered and faded. “Whoa!” he yelped as was dropped from the hold and landed roughly on the ground with a loud THUMP.

“Soarin!” Dash yelled towards him, but was immediately distracted by the three crystals hovering above him. They stopped their continuous orbiting motion and launched themselves towards Nightshade. Nightshade’s arm was shaking, the crystals spreading rapidly and close to covering her whole body. They reached up towards her head, covering her neck. She struggled to keep her arm up as the crystals began moving from her shoulder and down her upper arm. Her eyes began to close as if she was weakening and losing consciousness…

But just as her hoof fell and the three crystals began drooping towards the ground… they had gotten just close enough.

One of them bounced and tapped her hoof before it could be covered by crystal growth.

A bright light exploded from it, the other two crystals coming to life as the light rushed over them as well. Everypony shielded their eyes as the crystalline growth covering Nightshade instantly crackled cracked and shattered.

“GAH! HAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…” Nightshade gasped as she was freed, falling flat to the ground and panting as the three crystals hovered in a circle over her, shining a soft warm light down over her body. 

Nopony knew the first thing about what they were seeing. Even Dash found her focus drawn away from Soarin, watching as Nightshade struggled. Dash perked up as Starry suddenly rushed forward, but she didn’t move towards Nightshade, she stopped right at Descent’s side. She crouched down beside him, but stopped just short of reaching out to touch him. She suddenly pulled herself back slightly when she came into view of Descent’s face, a look of disbelief on hers.

Dash couldn’t see what startled her, but soon after Starry pulled back, Descent stood right up and reached up a hoof, rubbing it over his eyes roughly before staring out towards Nightshade again. Starry stared at him for another moment before joining him in looking towards their former captain with great concern.

Nightshade was still on the ground, the three crystals still tending to her as she slowly shifted, placed a hoof on the ground and pushed against it, grunting as she shakily propped herself up.

But then she tipped her head up and opened her eyes. They immediately grew wide as she stared directly into the concerned and confused eyes of Descent and Starry Skies. Nightshade gritted her teeth, her ears folding down against her head as her bottom lip began to quiver. Her body shivered and… tears began to appear in her eyes.

Starry flinched in surprise as Descent suddenly rushed forward without a word of warning, galloping as fast as he could towards Nightshade. Nightshade gasped as he approached, her heavy breathing quickening like she was having a panic attack. She began shaking her head as she pushed her hooves against the ground, scooting herself backwards.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” Nightshade screamed, slamming her eyes shut and holding a hoof out, bright flashes of light shooting out from beneath her closed eyelids, her falling tears glistening with the light as the crystals glowed brightly. 

“GAH!” Descent suddenly grunted as a pink dome surrounded him right before he touched her, appearing out of nowhere and causing him to run face first painfully into its hardened surface. “WHAT?!” he looked around him, but immediately refocused on Nightshade. “NIGHTSHADE!” he yelled at her while pressing his hooves against the inside of the dome. His voice muffled, but still audible.

Nightshade opened her eyes, staring at Descent. They were just a few inches apart, only the thin shield between them as he began slamming his hooves against it and kept yelling her name, calling out to her as loud as he could. Tears poured down Nightshade’s face as she stared into Descent’s eyes, her body shuddering as she faced him with a look of despair and regret, sniffling as the tears dripped from her chin. 

Then she slowly stood up… and started backing away from him. She shook her head slightly, closing her eyes and shaking it harder before she whipped around and spread her wings.

“NO!” Descent slammed his hooves harder against the shield. “NIGHTSHADE, WAIT!!!!!!”

But his words did nothing to stop her. 

Starry Skies had broken into a gallop towards the two of them, finally breaking free from her continuous hesitation.

“NIGHTSHADE!” Starry yelled, echoing the concerned tone of Descent.

But she was too late. 

Nightshade took off, her crystals immediately enhancing her speed. She blasted off, shooting through the air with the pink stream of light in her wake. Within seconds she was long gone from sight.

Descent slammed his hooves against the shield three more times, each strike several times weaker than the last, the third nothing more than a light tap. He put his hooves down on the ground, simply staring in the direction Nightshade disappeared in as the shield flickered and vanished, freeing him.

For several moments, nopony said a word, or even moved for that matter. Every pair of eyes was either looking in the direction Nightshade left, or at Descent. The Wonderbolts, now free from the magic, finally began to rise up, taking their time as lingering pain from the constant torture slowly subsided, leaving them worn out and achy to the bone.

Dash’s body wasn’t feeling the best either, but she remained standing, watching Descent as a soft clip-clop of hooves came from behind her. She blinked as Soarin appeared beside her, stopping at her side. Dash turned and tipped her head up to look at him. He was cringing, rubbing his forehead and gritting his teeth in discomfort as small, faint flashes of light shone from the cracks in the horn. He looked down at Dash as he exhaled and shook his head out, the two locking eyes for a moment before Soarin looked over the top of her at Spitfire. A regretful look made its way onto his face, prompting Dash to turn and glance towards Spitfire as well, expecting to see a glare or some sort of disapproval, but that was hardly the case. She had a look of worry as she stared at Soarin, but no words were exchanged between the two.

“Descent…” 

All three of them looked back towards Descent as Starry Skies spoke up. She was standing beside Descent, one hoof lifted up off the ground as she bit her lower lip and bobbed forward and backward, looking completely unsure of what else to do or say, hesitating yet again. She looked in the direction of Nightshade’s exit for a moment, releasing a heavy sigh, but flinching in surprise as she turned back. Everypony else took note of Descent as well.

He was… shaking? 

He sat down and shook his head as he gritted his teeth and released a frustrated growl.

Dash and Soarin exchanged glances again as they observed Descent, having no doubt towards what he was feeling. Descent had more than proven that he had a heart and cared for those he was close to, whether he showed it often or not. There was no question, based on many discussions they had had with him about the Shadowbolts, that he cared very deeply about Nightshade and was incredibly determined to find out if she was still alive. 

Well, he finally met that objective, but it clearly didn’t go the way he was hoping. It was interesting to see, however, Nightshade’s reaction to him. His presence almost completely broke her, but not in the way Silver had torn her down. Just seeing Descent caused her demeanor to completely change as if she was scared right out of her suit. She tried to hide herself from him, yelled at him as if he was a monster that frightened her, and on top of it all, ran away… even though her superiority to all of them had been proven.

What was going on here?

“ARGH!” Spitfire suddenly grunted painfully, Soarin and Dash both quickly turning to look at her in surprise as she fell to the ground on her haunches, panting and cringing.

“Spitfire!” Soarin quickly stepped around Dash and crouched down, reaching out to her shoulder. Dash stepped back as Soarin looked her over, glad that the situation was taking precedent over quarrels that had happened only a few hours ago. Perhaps Nightshade’s appearance was a wakeup call for them? Dash hoped so, because the way things were going sure didn’t help their chances to face her… not like they stood a chance anyway. 

“I’m… alright…” Spitfire assured Soarin as she sat up and took a few deep breaths. “It’s been a while since I’ve gone all out like that… As is, you know how rough using all your moves is on my body,” she said casually as Soarin gave a single nod. Dash felt so silly… it seemed like Spitfire’s abilities were not a mystery at all. She just never considered asking. 

With everything appearing to calm down, Dash perked up, her focus quickly shifting back to Silver, but before she could move, Descent suddenly stepped right in front of her, approaching Spitfire.

Spitfire and Descent locked eyes, Soarin stepping back as the two captains stared at each other for a moment before Descent finally spoke up.

“Why the hell did you fly off on your own like that?” he asked Spitfire with a grunt of disapproval. He was still visibly stricken, but perhaps trying to get his mind off the subject. “What did Flashwind say to you?”

Spitfire simply shook her head.

“I’ll tell you later, it’s not important right now,” she said as she stood up, immediately lifting a hoof to stop Soarin as he reached for her, assuring him she could stand without help. She started turning. “Right now we need to get help for—”

“Silver? Silver?! SILVER!!!!” 

Dash’s ears stood up as Blaze’s voice suddenly filled the air. 

She wasn’t the only one who glanced around in search of her. Everypony present, Wonderbolt and Renegade alike all looked about until their eyes fell on Blaze…

She was sitting over Silver, her eyes wide with a look of panic and shock on her face.

“SILVER!?!?!?! SILVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” she yelled as she tipped herself lower.

Dash suddenly felt all of the air leave her lungs, her ears flopping down as her jaw dropped. Soarin and Spitfire had both turned their focus towards Silver as well, but before they could even take a step, Dash suddenly surged forward, pushing past both of them and even knocking Descent aside as she broke into a gallop.

She had been aware of Silver’s condition the whole time, but the heat of the battle unfolding before them had distracted her completely from him. 

She wasn’t very far away, but the sprint towards him felt like an eternity, her mind wishing, and hoping over and over again… that tragedy hadn’t struck while they were busy trying to survive.

As Silver slowly came into view, she got a better look…

Blaze was yelling his name and nudging him…

But he wasn’t moving.

The moment Dash reached Silver’s side she reached up both hooves and shoved Blaze aside roughly. Such an action would normally trigger a very crass response, but Blaze was speechless. She fell down on her side, but instead of protesting, she simply sat up and stared with shocked, wide eyes.

Dash stood above Silver…

Her body shaking…

Her legs weak…

Her eyes stuck open…

Her breaths light and few…

Silver… he was… no… he couldn’t be…

“Silver…” Dash immediately knelt down and touched him. 

He didn’t respond. His eyes remained closed and he didn’t move at all.

“Silver… please…” she nudged him. “This… this isn’t funny… please…”

She reached a hoof over to his neck.

Nothing.

Her body went numb as her eyelids began to feel wet. The slow clip clop of hooves began to sound out around her. Soarin and Spitfire approaching first with everypony else around them closing in, everypony wearing a look of disbelief and denial.

Spitfire and Soarin moved around to stand beside Dash, both looking down towards Silver’s body. Spitfire lifted a hoof up and covered her mouth as Soarin just stared, not wanting to believe what he was seeing.

Everypony else gathered around, all packing in close around Silver.

Fleetfoot, Air Mach, High Winds, Fire Streak, Lightning Streak, Misty Fly, Surprise, Calm Wind, Playbitz, Swift Justice, Shine Struck, Storm Front, Squall, and Matteo…

Descent, Starry Skies, and Lightning Dust did not come as close, respectfully giving the Wonderbolts some space with the rest of the Shadowbolt Renegades doing the same.

Dash didn’t look at any of them, she shook as sniffles began to escape her nose and tears began to drip from her eyes. She slowly, subtly shook her head as she began lowering her head down to Silver’s chest. She rested the side of her head on his chest…

And heard nothing.

His heart wasn’t beating.

“No… NO! NO! NO!” Dash suddenly yelled as she picked her head up and put her hooves to his chest, pressing hard against it, winding up and pounding her hooves a few times on it before putting her head down again.

Still no heartbeat. 

Dash, breathing heavily and unevenly, picked her head back up and sniffled, her tears dripping right into the frames of her goggles.

“Silver…” she said his name again, but was beyond hoping for a response.

It was clear…

He was gone.

Dash slammed her eyes shut. She tried to hold in the tears, to stop them from going any further. Silver would hate to see her crying… She was stronger than that… but…

But why…?

WHY…?!

She reached up and pushed her goggles up, letting the escaped tears run free down her face…

But as she touched her goggles… it made her realize something.

Silver, to the very end… did his duty as a Wonderbolt.

In the end… all Silver ever wanted… was to be a Wonderbolt for as long as he could…

He said it himself.

Some dreams are worth risking everything for, Dash… but I’m sure that’s something you already understand well.

He had not only risked everything for them… but he had protected them all, redeeming himself for his past mistakes. 

Just as he said he would… he defended them all…

Down to his last breath.

Dash sat up, keeping her head tilted down as her goggles rested on top of her head. 

As the tears fell down her face, she slowly reached up and pulled the goggles off of her head.

Silver had saved them all… and gave it all away to do so…

So he more than rightfully earned a send off.

Dash looked forward as she extended her arm out, holding the goggles in them as she prepared to open her wings. But she held it for a moment, staring at the goggles and thinking about everything Silver had taught her…

It destroyed her on the inside that he slipped away during the action…

It killed her that she never got the chance to say goodbye…

But she wasn’t going to sit there and cry her eyes out when she could be honoring him and everything he stood for.

During her pause, Soarin looked up at her, holding in his own tears as he examined Dash’s body language. She was doing the sendoff salute… so he would too. He had no goggles with him, but he held his hoof out as if he had them and readied to open his wings when she did. He quickly glanced around at everypony else, giving them all a firm look. 

Nopony hesitated. 

Every single Wonderbolt around Silver moved at once, removing their goggles if they had them and extending their hoof out, fluffing their wings and reading them for the full salute.

All eyes went to Dash, waiting for her since she started the honorary motions.

Dash closed her eyes. And took a deep, shaky breath.

“So long… Silver…” she said very quietly as she tipped her hooves.

The goggles fell from her hoof, the air around her completely silent as they hit the ground with a very soft clack and rested on the ground beside Silver’s face. Right after, the sound of every other pair of goggles hitting the ground echoed around all of them.

Dash then threw her head back, staring up into the sky as she slowly opened her wings, every Wonderbolt doing the same as they completed the salute… 

In honor of Silver Lining…

Dash did not pull her eyes away from the sky, keeping them fixed on the cloud above as if hoping Silver was already looking down at her.

And it was at that moment, that her eyes gave way and tears poured down her face. She held in the sniffles and whimpering, but she could stop the tears.

Silver was…

He was really gone.

Dash started turning her head back down to look, almost afraid to look upon him again.

But… 

The moment she looked down, she yelped and slammed her eyes shut as a pair of goggles flew at her and struck her right between the eyes.

“OW!” she yelled out as she tipped back, but just managed to not fall over. As her body tilted back forward, she stuck her hooves out to catch herself from falling face first. She blinked as she shook her head out, her nose only a few inches from the ground.

Who the hell, in their right mind, just flicked their goggles at her during such a sad moment for her?!

As Dash blinked, scrunched her face, and felt out the tender spot between her eyes where the goggles hit her… She realized that the goggles thrown at her…

Were the ones she had just dropped? 

Without warning, she felt a very strong pull on her suit, right around the neck accompanied by a loud, raspy grunt from below her… followed by several incredibly loud and startled gasps from the Wonderbolts around her. Dash didn’t look up, she refocused her eyes and stare at her chest…




































At a grey, bloody hoof with a large chunk of her suit awkwardly clenched in it. Before she could react in any way, she was suddenly yanked forward, pulled right off her plot and yelping again as she pushed her hooves down against the ground to steady herself. But when she looked up, her pupils shrank as she stared right into the one eyed glare…
















































Of Silver.

“PICK UP… THOSE FUCKING GOGGLES… AND PUT THEM… BACK ON…!”

Dash’s brain literally stopped.

She wasn’t imagining this… right? She wasn’t dreaming or hallucinating… right? Her brain wasn’t just showing her what she WANTED to see… right?”

“S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S…” her lips quivered as she blinked and stuttered.

Silver was… ALIVE?!

She was so shocked her every move or attempt to move misfired. She wasn’t the only one either, Soarin, right beside her was frozen stiff, Spitfire and the rest as well.

“AH!” she yelped as Silver pulled on her suit harder and forced her body to turn. He grunted loudly in pain, his arm bending awkwardly and making very painful cracking and scraping noises as he pulled her and pointed her eyes towards the goggles that had just been thrown at her. She squeaked as Silver shifted, using the working part of his arm to roughly push her, Dash tumbling forward and bouncing off Soarin as she landed right beside the goggles.

“THOSE!” he yelled as he cringed, throwing his broken arms over his chest, and teetered on his back, looking at all the pairs of dumbstruck, shocked eyes set on him. “THAT GOES… FOR ALL… YOU FUCKING… PANSY-ASSES TOO! ARGH! Silver coughed roughly, cringing and arching his neck back, but never losing the strength in his voice. “WHAT… DID YOU… THINK I DIED… OR SOMETHING?! I’M… Ah… gah… I just… nodded off… for a second…” he gasped for air, exhaling loudly as he stopped yelling. “The shit… I put up… with…”

And just like that, like a tsunami slamming into a coastline, the Wonderbolts were all broken out of their shock.

Silver was alive…  and despite being beaten to a bloody pulp… he was still being his usual self. 

“SILVER!”

“SILVER!”

“Thank Celestia, Silver!”

Cheers and shouts rang out as the reality of Silver surviving sunk in. Celebrating lasted only for a moment as the rush of relief caused several of the Wonderbolts to fall over or sit down, finally resting. They weren’t about to act like all was well, but Silver being alive was more than enough to bring them much needed relief.

Dash’s mouth extended into the widest smile she had ever managed, her face almost hurting as it strained to contain it. 

“SILVER!” she yelled out along with the rest as she immediately lunged forward, pushing aside Soarin again as she slid down on her haunches in front of Silver, taking care to be extremely gentle as she reached down and hugged him, resting her head on his chest again… and this time hearing a heartbeat. It was erratic and uneven, but it was there. It made her so happy she felt like she was going to burst.

“What… is it… my birthday… or something?” Silver barely managed to get out, acting like it was no big deal, but really… it was. Only Silver would treat his heart stopping as ‘nodding off.’ Dash wanted to punch him for it… but he had been punched enough already.

“Shut up… just shut up you old bastard…” Dash said as she began to sob, the prospect of crying no longer an issue because she was so happy it all came out. “Don’t die again… okay…?”

“Hmph…” Silver grunted as he kept his eye away from Dash, glancing around as the rest of the ponies all closed in around him with looks of extreme relief on their faces. “How many… times do I… have to say…” he said slowly, taking several hard breaths in between every few words. “I’m not… clocking out… until I… say so…”

“Silver…” Dash just said his name, completely lost in relief as were the rest. Silver though, of course, continued to act like he was fine. Always one to feel concern for him was unnecessary.

“Oh, for craps… sake… Somepony just… get me to Bliss… or something… I need some… ice…” he said with several loud grunts. “And hurry it up… before I feel like… dying instead…”





Soarin smiled as he watched the brief celebration, keeping his eyes on Dash as she hugged her mentor gently. She really had something special with Silver, something that made him a little jealous. Dash had been given a unique Wonderbolt experience, the opportunity to be personally taken under the wing of one of the most hardened, experienced veterans ever to grace the Wonderbolts with his presence. 

He wasn’t even going to try and compare his mentoring of Storm to it… it was completely different with Silver and Dash, aside from the fact that the roles were reversed. Soarin considered Storm to be a friend and helped him because of that… seeing Dash’s overwhelming joy when she found out Silver was alive? It was like watching a daughter express relief over the wellbeing of her father. The connection was so deep and strong. Not even Dash could hold back the tears of joy.

Soarin turned and looked at Spitfire as he heard her release a long, strong sigh. Spitfire slowly sat down, reached a hoof up, and pressed it against her forehead, rubbing it softly for a moment before looking up at Silver and… frowning?

Soarin glanced between the scene and Spitfire for a moment, but it didn’t take him very long to put two and two together. She was likely thinking about what to do next.

They had two urgent things they had to address now.

The first being Silver. 

Sure, it was great he was alive, but the more realistic angle was that he was alive for now. His injuries were some of the worst Soarin had ever seen, he’d even goes as far as saying Silver’s body was in worse shape than his was after his first battle with Descent. The mere sight of Silver’s painfully bent arms, his right eye was badly hurt, that whole side of his face stained with blood, and then his left wing, completely smashed and crushed… it all made Soarin cringe and shudder. It amazed him to no end that Silver managed to somewhat remain in consciousness despite the state of his body because Soarin was out almost immediately once his battle with Descent was over. He didn’t have that pure, unwavering toughness that Silver had, and it was even more impressive considering Silver was much older and his body was already mostly broken in other ways. It made him wonder, if Silver were to live through this, would he ever be the same? Especially with that wing…

But he would not, by any means, assume Silver’s survival was a given. In fact, Soarin could see it in the eyes of a few other ponies as well. Fire Streak and Misty Fly’s looks of relief were replaced with concern, Blaze and High Winds slowly becoming the same as they all began looking towards Spitfire.

They needed to get Silver help as soon as possible. He was alive now, but the severity of his injuries… and the amount of blood he had lost could easily be the end of him if they didn’t act. Not to mention his heart was probably going crazy on top of it… how he was even still alive for the moment was beyond Soarin.

But there was the other problem… and the problem had multiple layers. 

Soarin wasn’t about to believe that Bliss had the means to completely tend to Silver in their emergency medical room. She might be able to keep him alive, but unless they got him to a hospital, he would likely not last. Silver had held his own against an opponent that had more than enough power to tear him to pieces… but he fought as hard as he could to defend everypony… and on top of it, somehow survived. Now it was their turn to save him, but how? 

Silver was now on the list of those who were in dire need of help from their planned destination, the Crystal Empire… but them getting there relied on help from the Lunar Guard, which put them in quite a predicament.

Silver was the one tasked with convincing the Lunar Guard captain to believe them and was the only one they were confident would do so… but if they took Silver to the meeting spot, they may not get him back in time to receive whatever help Bliss might be able to administer to at least keep him from dying.

Without Silver, and with Luna still recovering back at the Nimbus, how were they going to convince Captain P.L.? The Lunar Guard was waiting for them and weren’t equipped to survive for an extended period… they had to act, but what were they going to do?

Soon all the attention, including Soarin’s, was focused on Spitfire.

She was looking down, her eyes shifting back and forth as she contemplated the situation.

Soarin examined her as she thought. From the moment she arrived, something was different. The demeanor that surrounded her back in the Nimbus was totally non-existent. She looked calm, back in control, and that gave Soarin confidence. He could see one or two personal discussions in the near future regarding certain things said and poor decisions made… but at the moment, when matters were urgent, Spitfire was focusing on the task at hoof.

She looked up, meeting several pairs of eyes that had turned to her, Wonderbolt and Renegade alike.

“Alright everypony… listen up…”

---To Be Continued---