Chapter 121: It's Personal
MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 121: It’s Personal
“Silver, this is incredibly irresponsible of you,” Bliss scolded as she used her magic to work one bandage around his leg and use her hooves to wrap another around his chest. A bottle of Silver’s heart medication sat on the table beside her among several rolls of bandages, medical tools, disinfectant, and a container of cotton swabs. A trash bin sat beside her with numerous bloodstained swabs piling up in it.
“Hmph…” Silver gruffly grunted in reply as he laid flat on the table, his arms hanging off the front edge and his chin resting on the mattress. He was being covered in bandages just short of looking like a mummy, a grumpy look on his face that he kept constant despite the amount of pain he was in.
“Don’t you harrumph-harrumph me, mister. This is very serious!” Bliss reminded him as both Mahogany and Witching Hour moved around to the other side of Silver, cleaning up any blood from Silver’s wounds. He was mostly bruised, but some of Sin’s incredibly strong blows had drawn blood.
“Hmph…” Silver grunted again as he continued to look directly forward between his arms. His face only scrunching very slightly every time he felt a cotton swab against his body, or the bandages were being pulled tight.
“Any and all medications are to be reported to me for the sake of keeping a complete medical history record. This is something I make very clear, yet you keep dodging the rules… and don’t think I haven’t noticed some of my own reports missing from my files, I know you’ve been trying to evade my system.” Bliss continued, not letting up at all as she worked.
“Rgh…” Silver grunted again, releasing a low, exasperated growl.
“This isn’t safe Silver.” She paused while glancing at his pills on the table. “You’re trying to keep up being a Wonderbolt while leaning on pain medication, not to mention you’re putting so much strain on your heart to the point of needing heart medication as well. This is too much, even for you.”
“Mmmmmmmrrrggghhhh…” Silver groaned in reply, ending it with a loud huff of air from his nostrils.
Bliss used her magic to cut off the edge of the bandage and sealed it down with a strip of medical tape. She glanced towards Silver’s head and exhaled sharply. She stepped around and placed herself right in front of him, tipping her head down to look him directly in the eyes. He immediately shifted his eyes away to avoid eye contact.
“Silver, listen to me,” she spoke in a serious tone. “It’s MY JOB to make sure you’re all healthy and well. My purpose as the Wonderbolt’s trainer and head of the medical facilities is to make sure you all stay alive, okay? It’s my RESPONSIBILITY. If something bad should happen to you, despite it being your own actions, it will ultimately fall on me as well. Please consider that?”
“Rrrrgph,” Silver grunted in response. Bliss flattened her brow, slowly becoming fed up with his refusal to answer.
“I swear this is the fifth time I’ve had a conversation like this with you, so I don’t even know why I’m bothering,” Bliss admitted while sighing. She looked at Silver carefully as she fished for reasons to make him see the seriousness of the situation. She refocused on him after finding a good one. “What about your family? Seriously, do you even consider them when you do this to yourself?”
Silver finally looked at her, but still remained silent. Their eyes locked in a battle of harsh stares, but try as he might, Silver couldn’t overpower Bliss’ stern glare. He was quick to avert his eyes again.
“You have a wife, a son, and a daughter, right? How would they feel if they knew how much danger you put yourself through? Worse, should something terrible happen, what would Spitfire and I say to them? That we didn’t know?” Bliss asked him, doing her best to make it perfectly clear that his actions could possibly yield more than just physical consequences for him… but Silver wasn’t having it.
“Hmph…” Silver simply grunted again. Bliss scowled at him briefly before shaking her head and sighing sharply.
“You know what? Fine. Keep being a stubborn, old, selfish grump,” she said harshly as she continued to patch him up. “Maybe you’ll listen to your body this time? You’re lucky you escaped without any broken bones. I don’t have the equipment to know for sure, but I’m more than certain you might have some minor bone fractures, if not that, some serious nerve contusions. Maybe you’ll finally learn to understand your limits if your body revolts. Nothing I say seems to stick…”
Bliss continued to ramble and ramble in frustration as the subject of a lot of career heart attacks kept sulking and grunting in return.
Dash kept her eyes on Silver as she listened to the brief exchange, holding an ice pack against her swollen cheek. Bliss’ words to him had completely stolen her attention, despite Soarin laying on the bed right beside Silver. She was equally worried about both of them to be perfectly honest.
Dash winced as a unicorn applied a bandage around a cut on her arm, glancing at her own body for a moment as she was tended to. She was still slightly dizzy. She had no doubt that Sin’s blow to her head was going to keep her out of action for a few days, maybe a week. But after the way they just worked the Shadowbolts, she was sure it would be a little while before they had to worry about them again.
Dash perked up as Bliss turned away from Silver, leaving him in the care of Witching and Mahogany and moving towards her. Bliss looked incredibly frustrated, and Dash felt she had every right to be. Dash knew full well that Silver actively dodged medical exams, hid his problems, and even sought outside help, paying off doctors to keep it quiet. As Bliss said, it’s her job to keep them healthy and well. Silver’s actions were effectively undermining her responsibilities.
However, Dash disagreed with Bliss on one thing, the fact that she called Silver ‘selfish.’
From Bliss’ point of view, Dash could understand how she’d think that way. Silver was putting himself in danger time and time again, unknown to a family that loved him, and for what only seemed to be so he could remain a Wonderbolt longer than he should be.
Dash knew that wasn’t the case. Silver wasn’t an unreasonable stallion. In fact, it was exactly the opposite. What Bliss hadn’t seen, was the devotion Silver had to his fellow Wonderbolts. It was something that could only be seen from a Wonderbolt’s point of view. Especially Dash, who had gotten the rare opportunity to learn about Silver on a personal level.
Silver had two families, his wife and his children, and the Wonderbolts. Dash had heard straight from Silver how much his family back in Canterlot meant to him, but he had spoken of his fellow Wonderbolts with just as much love and care. Silver refused to lie down and let his comrades fly into battle without him as long as he still had an ounce of strength left in his body. Dash had also experienced, first-hoof, how far Silver was willing to go for those he cared about. He had done that just now, protecting her from Sin even though his body was falling apart.
But in the end, Bliss had a job to do, and Silver was making that job very difficult. Her frustration was very justified.
“Rainbow Dash,” Bliss called her name, keeping her tone professional and holding back any annoyance in her voice.
“Yes?” Dash asked as the unicorn assistant finished wrapping up Dash’s arm and moved on.
“How is your head feeling?” she asked. Dash blinked, removing the ice from her cheek and turning her head back and forth. She blinked, tipping slightly as her slight dizziness affected her balance.
“Still a little woozy,” Dash admitted, having already mentioned the blow to the face she took earlier.
“Turn and face me,” Bliss waved a hoof. Dash did as she was told, Shifting on her stool to sit squared to Bliss. “Put down the ice pack for a moment,” she added. Again, Dash obeyed. “Now, turn your head so only your right eye can see me and focus on my hoof,” Bliss ordered ash she held one of her hooves up in the air. Dash turned her head and locked her eye on Bliss’ hoof. “Now follow it with your eye as closely as you can.”
Dash gave a subtle nod, keeping her eye locked on the hoof as Bliss began to move it back and forth. Dash followed it as she was asked, but whenever Bliss changed directions, it took Dash a very brief second to refocus on it. Otherwise, she was able to follow Bliss without much trouble.
“Hm…” Bliss hummed before twirling her hoof. “Other side.”
Dash turned and focused her left eye on Bliss’ hoof. Bliss repeated the motion and Dash found she had the same results. Able to follow the motions, but it took her a moment to refocus every time bliss switched directions.
“Yep, you definitely have a concussion, but luckily, it’s not a bad one. Very minor,” Bliss explained, causing Dash to tense up and relax all in one sentence. “You had no trouble remaining focused when I was moving, but every time I changed direction, your eyes jittered a little before refocusing. Your ability to keep basic focus proves it’s not too bad. The shifting of direction is the harder part of the test. If you weren’t able to do either, we’d have much more to worry about,” she explained as Dash simply nodded. “It’s a good thing you took that heavy hit to the cheek instead of higher up. You would have likely been hit into next week.”
“So when in doubt, get punched in the mouth instead of the forehead?” Dash chuckled as she replaced the ice pack on her cheek. Bliss let a single laugh go before shaking her head.
“I’d recommend not getting punched in the head, period,” she said with a small smirk.
“So what should I do?” Dash asked. Bliss hovered a clipboard over to her and took down a few notes.
“Like I said, it’s a minor concussion. Typically you’ll be fine in a few days without short term repercussions, but I’d like to at least keep an eye on you. No matter how bad a concussion is, that’s always the smart thing to do. Just drop in here every few hours for the next couple of days so I can check on you, okay? And take it very easy. Rest, rest, rest.”
“Okay, thanks Bliss,” Dash nodded with a smile beneath her ice pack.
“Mmhmm,” Bliss hummed in response as she moved on to the next pony who needed attention.
Dash watched as Bliss walked away, and when she turned back, she immediately caught a pair of familiar eyes staring towards her. Soarin was looking right at her from his bed beside Silver’s. Unlike Silver, he was lying upright, but he wore an expression of concern. Figuring he had just witnessed the concussion test, Dash quickly hopped down from the seat and hobbled towards Soarin, making sure to smile to preemptively reassure him that she was alright. She stepped up right in between Soarin and Silver’s beds, reaching up and resting her arms on the mattress, still holding the icepack to her face. Soarin kept his eyes locked on her and followed her through her entire movement, tipping his head slightly as he looked her over.
“How are you doing?” he asked, his voice wrought with as much concern he was showcasing visually. Dash reached forward and gently touched her hoof to his arm.
“I’m fine,” she reassured him with another smile, but he didn’t look too convinced. “Bliss was just testing me for a concussion… and apparently I have one, but it isn’t that bad at all, very minor,” she explained quickly so he wouldn’t have time to be alarmed. “It’s nowhere near as bad as the one I got against Nightshade during the Ponyville tornado.”
She finished explaining, but Soarin didn’t respond. It didn’t seem like her words made him feel any better. He was still looking at her with worry. Dash’s ears flopped down as she took a page from his book and looked him over.
Soarin wasn’t as beat up as Silver, but one didn’t simply have a mountain fall on them and walk away unscathed. In fact, While Silver had taken more of a bashing, Soarin’s injuries were different. He was riddled with cuts and gashes alongside the bruising. Several of his bandages showing faint red strains that were likely to grow larger as he wore them. While he was lying upright, which was a strong, heavy contrast to the way Silver was sprawled out over his bed, it was still hard for Dash to look at.
“I’m the one that should be asking you,” Dash said as she looked back up and locked eyes with Soarin. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, before Soarin’s ears turned back up and he smirked.
“You’ve already asked me that several times,” he said with a weak chuckle. Dash narrowed her eyes and pouted at him.
“And I’m gonna keep asking you. Seriously, you get yourself hurt more often than Lightning Streak does hitting on mares!” she said with a straight face, but Soarin couldn’t hold it in.
“HAH! Gah, ow! Ow, ow…” he cringed and grunted as he laughed.
“Ah!” Dash pulled herself up a little closer to him. “Sorry!” She winced as Soarin quickly shook his head while smiling and gritting his teeth.
“No… no, I’m fine. It was worth the laugh, heh…” He smirked as he glanced past her at Silver. “That was totally something I’d expect from Silver, he’s definitely rubbing off on you.”
The two glanced briefly at Silver as he released a quiet grumble. He didn’t look at either of them. He just kept glaring forward from in between the bandages wrapped around his head and face.
They both blinked and looked up past Silver as Descent suddenly walked through the door into the infirmary. He extended his neck upward, looking over everypony else for somepony specific. Soarin turned his head to look as well, his eyes stopping two beds down from his.
Starry Skies was lying on the bed, curled up and clutching the pillow from her bed tightly. She still wore her uniform, but her goggles and bandanna were removed, sitting on the table beside her next to a half-full bottle of water. Bliss stopped beside the bed for a moment as she was passing by, placing a hoof on the mattress.
“Anything I can do for you, hon?” she asked as she frowned. Starry simply shook her head silently. Bliss nodded quietly before continuing on to continue her duties.
Starry wasn’t hurt externally at all. There wasn’t a bruise or scratch on her, not to mention her uniform was spotless, but she had exposed herself to the crystal core of the Falcon to help Air Mach take control. Neither Dash, nor Soarin knew how it felt to use the crystals, but Starry, unlike Descent had used them in the past. Due to their addictive nature, it was easy to assume Starry once fought that addiction to be rid of them. Suddenly using them again probably caused some kind of relapse.
Soarin looked back just in time to see Descent walk by. He only briefly glanced at Soarin and Dash, but otherwise remained focused on his path, walking with a pace just below a canter up to Starry Skies. Both Soarin and Rainbow Dash had been in the infirmary for almost an hour since the brief lobby celebration ended. Descent had expressed worry over Starry, but they had yet to see him stop into the infirmary, probably due to checking on all the Renegades.
The two watched as Descent finally got the chance, no doubt concerned at the state of one of his most trusted wingmates.
Descent turned and walked up beside Starry’s bed on the side she was facing. His expression remained stoic, but he carefully looked her over, taking in the very weak position, the way she shuddered lightly every few seconds and clutched the pillow with all of her limbs. She wasn’t whimpering, groaning, moaning, or making any noise whatsoever, but she looked uncomfortable, and clearly in pain, beads of sweat running down her face as she panted lightly.
“How are you feeling?” Descent asked suddenly, his voice calm and controlled. Starry’s eyes fluttered open, but remained narrowed as if she was unable to open them fully. She took a few light breaths before responding.
Fan Art by nightalein
“I’m… fine…” she replied, her voice hoarse. She reached towards the water bottle on her side table, but it appeared to be just out of her reach as she lightly swiped her hoof at it. Descent lifted a hoof, grabbed the bottle, and gave it to her. She took a few heavy gulps, before roughly putting the bottle back down, nearly tipping it over as it plopped back on the table. “I just… need… rest,” she continued as she closed her eyes again and clutched the pillow tightly.
Descent remained still, simply looking at her for a few moments before moving his hoof again, but this time he reached it towards her and placed it gently on her shoulder. Starry’s eyes opened again, a little wider as they looked between Descent’s hoof and his eyes.
“Take as much time as you need,” he said, his tone remaining constant. Starry stopped looking back and forth, locking her eyes with his. She stared curiously for a moment before looking away.
“I won’t be long,” Starry assured him, but she flinched as she felt Descent’s grip tighten on her shoulder.
“Starry… Take as much time as you need… okay?” he repeated with more emphasis. Starry looked back at him, narrowing her eyes. It wasn’t a glare, it was more confusion. Descent had been showing a side of himself lately that she never knew existed. It started coming out when he was reunited with Storm Front. It wasn’t putting her off. She just wasn’t used to the stoic, tough, strong, merciless mercenary juggernaut showing emotion… or care. He showed it even more once the Shadowbolt captives became afflicted with the crystal formations.
She didn’t say anything in response, she just kept staring. Descent’s expression finally shifted, folding his ears back and flattening his brow a little.
“Just do it for me, okay?” he asked, his tone shifting a little as well. Starry sighed as she let her head back down onto the mattress.
“Fine…” she complied reluctantly, rubbing her face against the pillow to wipe some of the sweat building up. She decided to leave it at that, closing her eyes again as she tightened her grip around the pillow. After a few more moments, she realized that Descent’s hoof was still on her shoulder. Her eyes squeaked back open as she glanced up at him again. “What?” she asked while furrowing her brow. Descent blinked, his eyes widening a little and his ears flopping to the sides of his head. He removed his hoof from her shoulder and turned away, releasing a heavy sigh as he shook his head.
“Nothing…” he said with a tone Starry had rarely heard from him. Regret? He started walking.
“Huh? Descent, wait…” Starry called after him. Descent stopped, but remained facing away. “What’s gotten… into you?” she asked as she weakly shifted herself to get a better angle. Descent remained still, looking towards the entrance of the infirmary as Spitfire suddenly entered. She conversed with Bliss for a brief moment before moving towards the private monitoring room where Wave was being treated. He took note of the confidence in Spitfire’s strides, and the overall look of pure satisfaction on her face. The high of their victory and success would surely stick to her for a while. He kept watching her until she disappeared through the door to join Wave Chill.
“Have I made the right choices, Starry?” he asked without looking at her.
“What?” Starry blinked, tipping her head. Descent shook his.
“When things went wrong… I left and dragged you with me. We left several of our comrades behind, including a pony we had known and trusted since we were young. I told myself Nightshade was lost and didn’t look back, I accepted it as the ‘reality’ of the situation but…” he dipped his head down. “Yet here, the Wonderbolts lost one of their own… and despite my warnings and urging them to accept fate, they charged headlong into the danger, ultimately succeeding against the odds and getting their cherished wingmate back. I don’t care if the situation is different with Nightshade… I didn’t even try. Perhaps I’ve been too quick to judge the Wonderbolts. Maybe I need to look in a mirror and ask who’s really at fault.”
Starry no longer wore a look of confusion. She simply stared with her mouth slightly agape.
“Forget it…” Descent suddenly grunted. “Rest.”
Starry tried to speak, but she ended up remaining silent as Descent walked away.
Soarin and Rainbow Dash kept their eyes trained on Descent as he walked back through the infirmary. He walked right past them again, but this time didn’t look. Soarin shook his head slowly as Descent slowly made his way out of the infirmary.
“Poor guy is going through a lot, huh?” he said, having just been within earshot of the exchange between him and Starry Skies. Dash tried very hard to hold in a snicker, but she let it go anyway, drawing Soarin’s eyes down to her.
“That’s hilarious coming from you…” she said, giggling as she looked over his injuries and the horn. However, Soarin didn’t seem too amused.
“I’m serious,” he added. “Forget what I’ve gone through for a moment, he’s dealt with a whole different level of issues.”
“No, I know,” Dash said with a sigh, quickly sensing Soarin’s tone as she slowly looked around the infirmary. The room was nowhere near close to being full. In fact, only ten others were present aside from the medical staff. It was great to see them emerge from their operation mostly unscathed. Very few of them even had to come to the infirmary for the light injuries they received. But Dash knew it wasn’t time to relax. “I’m gonna enjoy this victory, and a lot of things turned out well, but we’re still far from being out of danger. And some of us…” she paused as she looked towards Silver, who was still just looking forward while sulking. “Some of us might be down for a little while...” she trailed off as she looked down the aisle past Starry Skies.
She perked up when she saw a familiar color combination of bright yellow and magenta. She leaned over to get a better look and identified it as Little Star… who was lying curled up similar to Starry, but asleep, resting after being tended to. Her yellow fur on the side of impact was darkened, giving it a bit of a ‘cooked’ look that probably didn’t feel too good. Somepony was sitting on the floor beside her bed, barely visible with only his chin resting on the mattress from the other side… somepony that Dash didn’t even see come in, unless he had been there the whole time.
It was Squall.
“Have you checked on her yet?” Soarin suddenly asked. Dash blinked and looked up at him.
“Star?” she asked. He nodded to confirm. “No… I haven’t yet.”
“Go on,” Soarin nudged her. “Trust me, I’m not going anywhere without you right now, I’ll be right here.”
Dash flashed him a weak smile, reaching her head towards his chin and giving him a light nuzzle before shifting her arms off his mattress and slowly walking towards Squall and Little Star.
She felt a little ashamed. She had been meaning to check on Star, having been incredibly worried after she deliberately took such a powerful blast of the crystal magic to save Squall. Dash had even learned from Matteo himself that Star saw what was happening as they approached the battle and asked Matteo to throw her in the way of the attack. That explained how she shot into the path so fast.
Dash was more surprised that Squall didn’t say anything when Matteo told them about it, instead, during Matteo’s speech about ‘Star’s honorable sacrifice’ Squall simply turned and left. Now she knew where he had gone.
As she drew closer, she finally got a better look at Squall sitting on the other side of the bed. He was hunched over, his chin resting on the mattress close to Star’s head. He simply stared at her with a sad expression mixed with worry and a little confusion. He was so focused on Little Star, that he didn’t see Dash approach, not once tearing his eyes away from Star.
“Squall,” Dash said his name as she reached the bed.
The moment she said his name, Squall’s ears twitched. He blinked, his eyes widening as he pulled his head off the mattress and ducked down below the table.
Dash froze, and tipped her head while lifting an eyebrow as she watched him try to hide.
“Squall, I can still see you,” she informed him as he released a heavy sigh.
He poked his head back up, barely peeking over the edge at Dash for a moment before rising back up to his previous level and replacing his chin on the cushy surface of the bed. He stared at Star again, not once looking at Dash as she walked around and sat down beside Squall.
“Nghhhh…” he grunted quietly as Dash sat down, but she ignored it, feeling he was being silly in trying to hide his concern. She frowned as she looked over Little Star, taking in the sight of her bruised side and slightly singed fur.
“How is she doing?” Dash asked, knowing Squall had been sitting with her for quite a while. He didn’t respond for a few moments, but Dash was confident she’d get an answer.
“I don’t know,” Squall replied quietly, a somber pitch in his voice. “She’s been out since I came in.”
Dash simply nodded in response, the two of them remaining hushed to let Star rest. She seemed pretty knocked out from fatigue and the pain, but Dash didn’t want to take any chances at disturbing her.
“Why?” Squall suddenly spoke up while shaking his head. “Why did she do that? Why did she put herself in danger like that to protect me?” he lightly furrowed his brow. “It’s pointless. I probably would have been fine.”
Dash locked her eyes on Squall and looked him over carefully, somewhat unsure of what to say. Squall was looking at Star’s actions completely the wrong way. But was it the wrong way? Or just the only way he knew?
“If the situation was reversed, would you have jumped in to take a hit for her?” Dash asked. Squall turned and looked at her quickly.
“Yes, but…” he glanced back at Star. “I mean… that’s different. I’m built stronger than her, it wouldn’t have knocked me out and…”
“Squall, stop trying to dance around it,” Dash cut in. “You would have done it because you care. That’s exactly why she did it too.”
“Again, why?” Squall reiterated. Dash exhaled through her nostrils as she looked flatly at him for a moment. She knew who she was talking to, but his refusal to acknowledge what was right in front of him got a little frustrating at times.
“Maybe you should ask her yourself when she comes to,” she suggested, looking away as Squall turned to look at her. “I don’t know why this is so surprising to you Squall and don’t you think for a second that others wouldn’t have done the same. Both Storm and I tried to get to you before Star did, but we were too far away. Matteo, and hell, maybe even Twister would have tried to assist you as well.”
Squall looked back at Little Star, his expression flat as if in thought. Dash also looked at Little Star, again examining the extent of her injuries.
“Though, I’m not so sure we would go as far as taking the hit like she did,” Dash added. Squall blinked and glanced at Dash while furrowing his brow.
“You’re confusing me… would you protect me or not?” Squall asked in befuddlement. Dash chuckled quietly, shaking her head.
“That’s not what I mean, Squall,” Dash looked him in the eye. “I just told you we would have done what we could because we care about our teammates. What Star did… takes that a step further. Storm and I were not remotely close enough to help you, but if we were, our goal would have been to move you out of the way. Throwing ourselves into the path would have been ill advised based on how things were going, so we would have pulled up. Why? As a rational choice, if we were knocked down, that would have been one or both of us grounded along with you. I don’t think our chances of survival would be very high in that scenario. We would have pulled up and taken the fight to the enemy to protect you after you were knocked down, self-preservation to ensure that we’d be able to get you to safety later.”
Dash paused before pointing at Star.
“Self-preservation doesn’t mean we don’t care, it just means thinking ahead based on the situation. Star, on the other hoof, completely disregarded self-preservation. She willingly risked her life and her body to save you. That takes more. It takes a whole different level of devotion that runs deeper than just camaraderie or friendship. It means you mean something to her, and no I’m not implying any romantic interest here, it’s much more meaningful than that. She saw you in danger and in a split second decided to shield you completely, preventing you from being in the spot she is right here. She set aside a fear or injury for you. That’s not an easy thing to do and it’s rare to find somepony you would willingly do it for. Trust me… I’ve done it myself…” Dash trailed off while glancing back across the room at Soarin.
Squall remained still, his expression remaining constant throughout Dash’s explanation. Dash looked between him and Little Star, grinning. She said that there was nothing romantic about it, but that was just part of her greater point. She wouldn’t be surprised if Star felt something more for Squall. But even if she didn’t, Squall never had anypony that was willing to go such lengths for him before. Either way, Star was having an incredible impact on him.
“I still don’t get it…” Squall finally said, which Dash was expecting.
“I think you do,” she said while nudging him. “You just don’t want to believe someone cares that much about you.”
“That’s because nopony ever has…” Squall huffed while leaning away from Dash, but keeping his eyes on Star.
“Guess what Squall,” Dash lifted an eyebrow at him while making a subtle head motion towards Star. “You’re looking at a pony who does.”
Squall’s eyes opened slightly wider, but they didn’t stray from Star.
“Think about that,” Dash said with a smile as she stood up, turning and leaving them alone before Squall could say anything else. But he didn’t anyway.
Dash said what she wanted to say, and she hoped Squall would consider her words. After all, these concepts were foreign to him. It wasn’t her job to push him in any direction, but she could at least shed some light on it for him.
As she returned to Soarin, he wasn’t looking in her direction. He was looking towards Fleetfoot, who had just entered the infirmary. She waved at Soarin, but turned away as the door to the back room opened and Spitfire slowly stepped out, keeping her eyes looking inside as she slowly closed the door. Fleetfoot cooed at her jokingly as she shifted up and leaned against her. Spitfire was startled for a moment, but just rolled her eyes at Fleetfoot. The two conversed for a moment before pointing down the aisle right as Dash made it back over to Soarin.
“Uh oh,” Dash spoke up as she put her hooves back up on Soarin’s bed. “Are you about to get punched in the face again?” she joked, earning a chuckle from Soarin.
“I don’t think I am…” he made a head motion towards the approaching mares. “But Silver might be.”
Dash leaned over to see that while Fleetfoot was smiling at the two of them, Spitfire had her eyes on Silver who… was still staring forward and sulking. He literally hadn’t moved from his spot, changed his grumpy expression, or looked in any other direction aside from when Bliss brought up his family.
As Spitfire and Fleetfoot grew closer, Fleetfoot realized Spitfire’s intentions, also focusing on Silver.
Spitfire opened her mouth to speak, but she never had the chance.
Everypony flinched as the sudden noise of something hitting a door very hard echoed from the entrance of the infirmary. Spitfire and Fleetfoot both turned around to see what the commotion was.
“COMMANDER SOARIN?! WHERE IS COMMANDER SOARIN?!” Princess Luna’s voice boomed as she looked around. Everypony around her near the entranced flinched and backed away as the Royal Canterlot Voice filled the room. Except for Bliss, who stood right in front of Luna, not budging an inch or even wincing as Luna’s powerful voice blasted her in the face and blew her mane back.
“Luna, inside voice please,” Bliss requested calmly as Luna stopped looking around frantically and focused on Bliss.
“But…”
“He’s over there,” Bliss pointed.
Without a moment of hesitation, Luna stepped around Bliss and cantered towards the small gathering around Soarin, which got her there fairly quickly due to her longer strides.
“Princess Lu—” Spitfire was about to address her, but was cut off as Luna’s magic came to life. Her blue aura surrounded Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Rainbow Dash and gently pushed them all aside as she stepped right up to Soarin. Soarin blinked in surprise, but greeted Luna with a smile.
“Hey there,” Soarin said casually, but paused as Luna’s eyes fixed on his forehead, going wide with shock and horror. “Oh, right,” Soarin glanced up at the horn. “I had a few—ACK!” Soarin yelped as Luna’s magic surrounded his head and forced his chin down onto the mattress, holding him down as she leaned forward and frantically looked the horn over.
“Whoa, whoa!” Fleetfoot stepped forward, stopping just short of touching Luna.
“Princess, easy there…” Spitfire echoed her concern. Dash quickly shifted over to Luna could see her beside Soarin.
“Princess, he’s hurt!” she said in a demanding tone, hoping that was all she had to say. Luna gritted her teeth and released her magic from around Soarin, shaking her head.
“Sorry, we…” she paused and took a deep breath, calming down. “We are simply concerned… when we heard of Soarin’s return and the state of the horn we…” she trailed off, swallowing and taking a closer look again without forcing Soarin’s neck down.
“This happened when I crashed into the mountain,” Soarin explained, now free of his restraint. Luna pulled back slightly and listened carefully. “Then it got hit again while I was trying to—”
“Move,” a new, male voice suddenly spoke over Soarin, Discord appearing out of thin air directly behind Luna.
“Gah!” Dash, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot all jumped and backed away in surprise as Discord pushed Luna aside and stepped up to Soarin. Luna tried to resist, but Discord had none of it, not allowing her near as he eyed the horn.
“Discord?!” Luna growled as she glared at him. “What are you—?!”
“QUIET!” Discord suddenly snapped at her, shooting her an intense scowl. Dash, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot all slowly backed up a little more as the two omnipotent beings snarled at each other. Discord turned back, disregarding any threatening gaze Luna was sending him as he bent down and looked over the horn. Soarin remained completely still and kept quiet, knowing that if anypony knew what to do or what the state of the horn meant it was Luna or Discord. “Don’t move,” Discord ordered even though Soarin was already frozen stiff.
Discord reached a finger up to the cracked tip of the horn and gently pressed it to the sharp end. He closed his eyes the distorted, purple aura of his chaos magic began to swirl around his arm. Soarin gulped as he watched the aura reach forward and start encircling his horn as well. Discord’s eyes remained closed, his face scrunched several times in different ways, but none of which gave a really good indication of what he was thinking, or how bad the news was going to be when he was done.
Eventually Discord gritted his teeth and began to growl, shaking his head as he opened his eyes and his magic retracted back into his arm.
“I bet that smarmy know-it-all feels really good about himself…” he grumbled very quietly.
“What?” Soarin asked as everypony else stepped back up to hear Discord’s assessment, but Discord didn’t address Soarin, he quickly turned around to look at Luna.
“The damage is mostly on the outside. The cracks, while bad, do not cut deep enough to be a problem. However, the artifact’s effectiveness has been weakened considerably,” he glanced back at Soarin. “We’re lucky that Soarin has proven to be resilient… it could have been much worse.”
“What dost thou mean?” Luna asked while furrowing her brow and tipping her head. Discord rolled his eyes and waved an arm while turning sideways to her.
“Let him give his side of the story first,” he suggested while taking a few steps away and turning to face Soarin. “So I don’t have to repeat myself.” He crossed his arms as Soarin was given the attention. He blinked and glanced to his left at the bed right beside him. Silver had turned his eyes up towards him and was glaring daggers at him. Discord narrowed his eyes at Silver. “And what the hell are YOU staring at?” he asked. Silver’s glare sharpened further. Discord stuck his snake tongue out at Silver and let it whip up and down several times before turning back to Soarin. “Go on,” he encouraged as he reached up his tail and stuck the fluffy white tuft on the end of it right into Silver’s face. Silver began wincing and shifting back and forth to trying to free himself from it.
“Yes, please tell us,” Luna pleaded as Dash, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot all gathered around to listen closely.
“Well,” Soarin took a deep breath. “I can’t really give the full explanation without also somewhat explaining what happened after I crashed.” He glanced at Discord as Silver was still trying to shake off his tail.
“Whatever, just start talking,” Discord prompted.
Dash in particular was curious about what she saw happen to Soarin. Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Luna needed the full break down, but she was incredibly anxious to hear it all from Soarin’s point of view. What had happened to him? What was that white light and the pony inside of it? Discord seemed to know something, but at this point that wouldn’t surprise her anymore, nor would she expect him to ever explain. However, Dash had only seen the end of it, she was just as curious to know about what led to Soarin finding her, Silver, and Lightning Dust as she was about the strange light.
“I’ll save the details on Rapidfire for later,” Soarin began. “But we survived the crash and found ourselves in a cave, both badly hurt. The horn was damaged and my vision had a green tint to it due to a blue aura rising from one eye and a yellow rising from the other. Every time I tried to create light, sparks flew from the edges of the horn, and it caused a massive headache, but it was the only source of light we had. Rapidfire was half buried in collapsed cave debris. I was getting nowhere alone, so I dug him out and asked for his help. He was reluctant, obviously, but the situation called for it. I couldn’t focus much due to producing light, and his back legs were in too much pain to walk, so we had to combine our efforts.”
“You got him to work with you?” Fleetfoot asked while cocking an eyebrow skeptically.
“I know it sounds like a stretch, but even he understood we would die if we didn’t help each other out,” Soarin confirmed with a nod. “It wasn’t graceful, and, as you might expect, we had our fair share of quarrels along the way. Those quickly took a back seat when the cave itself started having issues. Our crash definitely rocked the structure and at several points we were forced to move quickly to avoid being buried in falling rocks and collapsing floors.”
He paused and focused on Luna and Discord.
“I didn’t get so lucky at one point… While trying to navigate down a steep slope, we slipped and fell right into a deep pit. I ended up landing right on the horn,” he explained as everypony cringed heavily. “The horn went haywire, becoming even more damaged from the heavy blow. My magic spewed in all directions, shooting beams everywhere and blowing the cavern apart. In my head, the power was trying to completely rip itself free from the horn’s control, now having very little resistance, but—” he glanced over at Dash and smiled— “Thanks to Dash, I was able to fend off the magic and get it back under control.” He took a moment to wait for a reaction, but was surprised when nopony even flinched at the mention of Dash.
“I told them about the connection,” Dash quickly explained with a smile.
“Oh,” Soarin blinked while glancing at Spitfire and Fleetfoot as they nodded.
“Yeah, I mean, they thought you were dead,” Dash continued. “Since I was alive I knew that wasn’t the case. Knowing you were alive let us focus on our other mission.”
“I see,” Soarin flashed her a smile. “An image of Dash appeared to me in my mind and helped me drive back the magic, she offered a few words of encouragement to get my ass in gear as well.”
“That must have been when you started yelling to yourself on the floor,” Fleetfoot reminded Dash while winking and giving her a nudge.
“What?” Soarin tipped his head as Dash blushed lightly.
“I, uh… was having heart aches every time your magic was disruptive, and at one point I started yelling out while sprawled out on the floor,” Dash explained herself.
“Alright, alright, come on, the connection is old news,” Discord cut in. Soarin glanced at Discord while lifting an eyebrow.
“You seem a little miffed, you know that?” Soarin pointed out, drawing everypony’s attention to Discord. Discord grunted and flipped his tail, whipping Silver in the face again.
“Maybe because I am a little miffed, now shut up and keep talking,” he said, earning a blank stare from everypony. Discord quickly realized what he said and reached up, smacking his face against his palm and rubbing his eyes while grumbling. “You know what I mean, just go on…”
“After I managed to hold down the magic,” Soarin continued, still smirking at Discord’s slip-up with Fleetfoot quietly giggling as well. “We barely escaped being crushed by a cave-in and finally took a moment to rest,” he paused and looked specifically at Spitfire and Fleetfoot. “During our respite… I learned some rather interesting personal information about Rapidfire straight from him.”
“Oh?” Spitfire lifted her brow in curiosity, but Soarin quickly shook his head.
“Nothing helpful towards defeating the Shadowbolts, but it helped put some color towards his choice of actions. I’ll tell you about it later,” he assured them as he continued. “As we continued on, something caused a massive earthquake. It was very brief, but the cave shook and knocked us both down… and of course, it was followed by another massive cave in. However, as we ran we spotted a source of light. It was an exit leading up out of the underground. We made a break for it, but… call it a spontaneous instinct, but I pushed him forward when it looked like we might not make it. I was hit and knocked out. When I woke up, I was lying on the ground, just beyond the collapsed debris. Rapidfire was gone, but there was little I could do about it. I was injured and in pain. I could barely walk or see straight. I made it out of the cave, but then collapsed and passed out in the snow.”
“Come on, get to the important part already,” Discord spoke up again in the annoyed tone he had sustained throughout. All eyes went to him again, but this time they were also filled with skepticism. He huffed as he looked away from them. “Before any of you accuse me of knowing what happened, yes, I was there, I saw it all happen, okay? I thought that was already pretty clear.”
“Hrrgghhh…” Silver suddenly growled loudly behind him. Discord looked over his shoulder and glared at Silver.
“Quiet you.” Discord snapped his fingers and two extra bandages appeared, wrapping themselves around Silver’s nose, holding his mouth shut. He looked back to see Soarin was giving him a glare similar to Silver’s.
“So you’re telling me you know what the light was?” Soarin asked, just as fed up with Discord’s secrets as the rest of them were.
“Yes, I know what the light was, but because it’s not supposed to be possible, I don't want to talk about it,” Discord hissed.
“What?” Dash spoke up, floating up towards Discord while crossing her arms. “Somepony else besides you starts doing things that are normally impossible and suddenly it’s a bad thing?” she asked while giving him a flat look. Discord lifted up a finger, surrounding Dash with his chaos magic. “HEY!” she yelled as he forced her away and back to the floor where she was standing.
“Yes, as a matter of fact there is a problem with that,” he said sharply. “And I don't want to talk about it!” he repeated before looking back at Soarin again and crossing his arms. “Now hurry up and tell me how everything happened, because believe it or not, that’s actually something I don’t know… making it the only part that really matters.”
Soarin kept his eyes trained on Discord for a moment, taking in the God of Chaos’ demeanor. He had never seen Discord look so peeved before. Apparently this white light was something beyond his control… and by the looks of things, Discord was not a happy camper when he couldn’t control things.
“I was down,” Soarin continued, refocusing on the rest. “Slipping in and out of consciousness. Curiously, my magic wasn’t acting up anymore, despite how damaged the horn was, but my body was battered, beaten, and barely able to move.” He paused and looked down, still trying to grip the meaning of the events himself. “Then something happened. The blizzard seemed to grow stronger and a bright, white light approached me. The snow swirled around the light as it began to shift and take a shape, turning into what looked like a pegasus.”
He looked towards Discord, flattening his brow as he snorted.
“Then Discord appeared and even though the pegasus didn’t utter a single sound, Discord had an argument with it, which from my angle he lost.”
“Feh!” Discord looked away as every pony glanced at him.
“After a brief exchange, Discord got fed up and left,” Soarin continued, but Dash leaned forward towards Discord.
“Whoa, hold on a second! You FOUND Soarin and you didn’t help him?!” she growled at Discord.
“Shush,” Discord replied casually as bandages wrapped around her nose as well, silencing her. Discord blinked as he saw Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Luna all looking at him sternly as well. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, stop that. By now you should all understand that I’m not here to do exactly what you want me to. Continue please,” he beckoned, rotating his hand towards Soarin.
“After Discord left, the image of the pegasus bent down and… merged with me, I guess I’ll say. Its light was now surrounding me and the snow swirled around me as well. Then I started hearing a voice in my head, a voice I have never heard before. It told me to rise up and defend my friends… telling me specifically that Rainbow Dash and Silver Lining were in danger.” He looked back and forth between Dash and Silver behind Discord. Both had been silenced, but they were looking at him curiously. Even Silver, who up until now had only been grumbling and glaring.
Dash and Silver stole a glance at each other as well, equally perplexed. Whatever this thing was, it knew both of them? Why them specifically?
“What happened next, I really can’t explain,” Soarin continued. “As the light continued to surround me and the voice spoke several words of encouragement and pushed me to help my friends, I suddenly found the strength to push myself up and start moving. I didn’t feel any different, I didn’t have any new power, I wasn’t stronger or enhanced… the strength was my own, every step was laced with the same sharp stinging pain that was keeping me down in the first place, but I fought it and pushed myself through it. The light was urging, pleading me to get up, and encouraging me to do what I knew I had to do, even if the pain was too much to bear. It was as if it was channeling confidence, amplifying my already strong feelings about defending and protecting those I care about. It hurt so much, everything hurt, but I was determined to take control of my battered body and move with some unknown force gently holding my hoof and telling me I could do it.”
Soarin finished and looked around at all the looks of fascination and bewilderment. Even Princess Luna’s jaw hung agape as if she had never heard of anything like it in her timeless existence. Then he looked towards Discord, and was met with a completely blank, unsure expression.
“You felt… nothing?” Discord asked while blinking.
“Nothing.” Soarin nodded. “Not once while the light surrounded me did I feel like anything had changed. The only thing it actually did was point me in the direction of Dash and Silver.”
Discord’s mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out, he simply kept looking at Soarin as if trying to put together a puzzle with only half the pieces.
“It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” Soarin added. “And it went further than just encouragement. I was filled unwavering determination. I refused to let anything stop me, I knew what I had to do and I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way. NOTHING. When I faced Angel and Shadow, I forced my magic to comply. Both the yellow and blue auras bent to my will… and even worked in tandem when I dominated them! I called upon the magic as I have several times in the past, but my focus and drive were so strong that it submitted to me without a single issue… even with the horn fractured the way it is.”
Discord just kept staring in disbelief. Something none of the others had ever really seen before.
“I felt in control, driven completely by what matters most to me. And nothing was going to stop me.” Soarin finished with a nod.
“Grrr…” Discord suddenly sharpened his expression into a hard glare, grinding his teeth as his eyes remained locked on Soarin. Everypony looked towards the God of Chaos as he continued to look very, very angry.
“Discord…” Luna stepped up to him, her ears flopped down with a look of confusion and worry on her face. “Please, what dost thou know that we do not?” she asked, desperate to understand. Discord looked down and took a deep breath, looking back up with his expression calmed and flat. He released a snort as he looked away.
“Nothing,” he replied simply, but Luna was not willing to accept the answer.
“Discord—”
“I SAID NOTHING!” Discord suddenly yelled out, lifting up a leg and stomping the ground once, really hard. The whole room rattled as several little sparks of chaos magic began to flicker around his limbs. Everypony backed away a step, including Luna. Discord’s eyes were wide with anger, his teeth were grinding together and hard breaths hissed through his nose. The emotional outburst only lasted a second before Discord shook his head out, quickly covered his face with his hands and stood back up straight, he slowly rubbed his hands down his face while releasing a long groan. “Sorry…” he apologized while turning his back to all of them. “Look, Lulu, let’s talk later, alright? About the horn I mean, not about this. I need…” he trailed off and looked to his right down at Silver. With his arm remaining down at his side, Discord snapped his fingers, removing the bandages around Silver’s and Dash’s mouths. “I need a moment to think about some things.”
Discord rose up into the air and began to glow.
“Discord! Wait!” Luna tried to stop him, but in an instant, he was gone.
Soarin and Dash glanced at each other briefly before refocusing on Luna as Discord disappeared.
Discord had just… lost his cool. Not only that, but he looked distraught, and even APOLOGIZED? It didn’t look or feel anything like the Discord they had come to know… and somewhat dislike. He had kept things from them before, but in the past he claimed it was for their own good. Here it felt personal. What could possibly bother Discord in such a way? Was it the white light? It seemed like it was more than that, but the white light was part of it for sure.
“Luna,” Spitfire stepped up. “Let him go, we should reconvene in my office and debrief our infiltration team,” she suggested. “Fleetfoot,” Spitfire made a head motion for her to come over. Fleetfoot perked up and approached, the three conversing further.
Dash turned back to Soarin and looked him up and down. Soarin’s eyes were locked on the princess and his two squadmates, but after a few moments he blinked and turned his head, realizing he was being eyed.
“What?” Soarin grinned as he saw Dash continuously run her eyes up and down his body and towards his face. She lifted her brow and smirked.
“Oh… nothing,” she said as she walked in between Soarin and Silver’s table and leaned forward on Soarin’s mattress again. She let her eyelids sink a little into a look Soarin knew all too well.
“Bullshit, I know what those eyes mean,” he said while shooting her a mischievous face. “What did I say this time?”
“I dunno…” Dash cooed at him as she turned her head slightly, but kept her eyes on him. “Something about knowing I was in danger… pushing yourself to move despite being in pain… and letting nothing stand in your way on your path to save me…”
“Hmmmm?” Soarin lifted an eyebrow as his smile grew wider. Dash bit her lower lip, a light blush appearing on her face as she began to sway her plot back and forth.
“You know that’s something about you that really gets me,” she reminded him as her plot began to sway a little more. Her tail began to swish back and forth behind her… and unbeknownst to her, the end strands were lightly brushing against Silver’s head behind her. Silver winced and scrunched his face as her tried to edge away, but he was stuck in place. Soarin noticed, but quickly stifled a snort, focusing back on Dash.
“Hey, it’s just what I do,” Soarin replied while changing his tone to match hers. “Believe me, once I heard you were involved, I would have walked there even if my limbs had been lopped off.”
Dash stopped swaying and just stared up at Soarin for a moment. She released a sigh that sounded half relieved and half enamored.
“Well, I’m glad you came through for me… as always,” she leaned towards him. “And I’m glad we’re back together,” she added as she, pressing the crown of her head into the crook of his neck and beneath his chin, nuzzling him very affectionately. Soarin immediately returned the gesture.
“Oh for the love of…” Silver suddenly spoke up for the first time, causing Soarin and Dash to flinch. “I didn’t ask for front row seats to a bruised and bandaged slap and tickle session.”
Soarin and Dash both turned to see Silver glaring at them, both of them snickering the moment they realized they were getting a little hot and heavy right in front of him.
“If you’re as horny as your head looks,” Silver continued, focusing on Soarin. “Feel free to storm the cotton gin when your mare’s plot isn't directly in my face,” Silver finished, continuously grumbling under his breath as Soarin and Dash both burst into a fit of giggles. Soarin smirked towards Silver and tipped his head.
“I think you’re just jealous that my lady is here and yours is back home,” Soarin joked, earning a harsh, grumpy glare from Silver.
“I oughtta slap your shit so hard—”
“Rainbow Dash,” Spitfire cut off Silver as she moved towards them. “We’re going to gather up everypony from the infiltration team for a full report and debrief in my office. Are you well enough to join?”
Dash reached up and rubbed her head.
“I’m just a little dizzy really, but yeah I’ll come. I don’t want to miss it after everything weird that happened in there,” she replied with a nod. Fleetfoot giggled.
“A master of suspense!” she joked as she took her place beside Spitfire.
“I’ll come too,” Soarin spoke up as he started inching himself towards the edge of his bed. Spitfire was shaking her head immediately.
“No, you won’t,” she ordered sternly. “You will stay here and rest.”
“Absolutely not,” Soarin quickly fought back. “This whole situation is as much about me as it is about the Wonderbolts as a whole. I want to know everything that happened.” He and Spitfire locked eyes and battled with intense stares, but Luna interjected.
“He is correct, it would be wise to let him attend,” she suggested, still allowing Spitfire to make the decision. Spitfire sighed and let her ears fold back.
“Fine,” she caved. "Just take it easy on yourself, okay?” she requested as Soarin slowly let himself down from the bed and stumbled slightly when his hooves touched the ground.
“Don’t worry,” Dash smiled at Spitfire as she stepped up to Soarin. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t kill himself on the way,” she joked with a wink.
“At this rate, I don’t trust him to walk to the bathroom without almost dying… or tripping over wet floor signs.” Spitfire rolled her eyes, but returned the smile before looking towards Fleetfoot. “Fleet, go gather up squad three and squad zero. Oh, and Dash,” she looked back at her. “Before you drag the walking bruise up with you, could you round up…” she paused and blinked. “Well, round up Squall at least. If you can find Twister, bring him too, but don’t waste your time if you can’t.”
“Now you’re getting it with him,” Dash snickered, enjoying that she wasn’t the only one that understood her wacky, unpredictable squadmate anymore. Spitfire turned to move along, but paused as she eyed Silver. Silver had returned to staring straight forward and sulking.
“Silver,” she said, causing his eyes to shift to her for a moment, but look away a moment after. Spitfire sighed through her nose while looking at him seriously. She glanced at the table beside his bed at the bottle of heart medication before refocusing on him. “I have a lot of things to address and take care of first over the next few days… but we’re going to sit down and have a little chat about this when I get the chance,” she made clear while pointing at the heart meds.
“Hmph…” Silver replied simply before Spitfire turned away and started towards the exit. Dash kept her eyes trained on Silver for a moment, not quite sure what Spitfire meant, but at the same time, there weren’t many scenarios that came to mind other than the one that she knew Silver dreaded. But she really didn’t want to think about that right now, as Spitfire said, they had important Wonderbolt matters to address.
“I’ll be right back.” Dash tapped Soarin on the shoulder and flashed him a brief smile before stepping away and moving back towards Squall. Again, Squall didn’t give her a single glance as she approached, focusing his full attention on Little Star. “Squall, Spitfire is calling a debriefing meeting for our mission, let’s go.”
“No,” he replied instantly. “I’m staying right here.”
Dash glanced between Squall and Little Star, smiling at Squall’s determination to watch over her, but the meeting wasn’t optional. Well, for him at least, it would probably be much more productive without Twister.
“Squall,” Dash stepped around and stood beside him, placing a hoof on his shoulder. “She’s not going anywhere. You can come right back after the meeting.”
“Hrgn…” Squall groaned in response, his ears straightening back up before folding back against his head.
“Squall, please,” Dash chuckled while trying to push his left ear back up, but it went right back against his head. “You were a large part of the operation, not to mention you took out one of the Shadowbolt commanders. I want you to get the recognition you deserve.”
“Fine…” Squall sighed, slowly dragging his chin off the bed, keeping his eyes on Little Star as he started moving, bumping into the table behind him, and into a bed on the opposite side of the infirmary hall since he wasn’t paying attention.
“Oh, and if you happen to find Twister on the way, tell him to come too, but don’t worry if you can’t,” Dash added.
“Hmm,” Squall hummed in response as he finally managed to tear his eyes away from Star and head towards the exit.
Dash glanced down at Little Star, smiling and giving her a gentle pat on the shoulder. Little Star stirred and curled up a little tighter as she continued to rest. Dash smiled weakly, glad to see Star was getting some much deserved rest. And she was confident, that when she woke up, she wouldn’t find herself alone. Squall was going to be right there, unless he hid the moment she woke up… In fact, that was probably what would happen.
Dash stepped back around and headed back towards Soarin. Soarin greeted her with a smile as she leaned against him to give extra support. The two started moving, but quickly stopped for a moment in front of Silver. Dash looked down at Silver, who was looking at the floor, sulking again. Dash glanced up at Soarin, giving him a soft tap on the arm before shifting over to Silver. She leaned up on his bed and reached forward, giving Silver a very gentle hug around the back. Silver blinked, slowly looking up as she released him and tipped her head down towards his.
“I don’t think I’ve said this yet… but thank you for being there to protect me,” she said. “Please rest, you’ve earned it.”
“You’re damn right I did…” Silver huffed gruffly. Dash giggled and reached a hoof towards Silver’s nose. Silver’s eyes widened and he shifted his neck away as far as his bandages would let him, scrunching his face grumpily as she did, but he couldn’t escape. Dash tapped his nose and winked.
“Get some sleep ya old fart,” she ordered. Silver just grunted and snorted in response.
Silver was probably not in for any good news once Spitfire had her ‘chat’ with him. Dash just wanted him to understand that whatever happened, she was behind him all the way. She would definitely not be anywhere near where she currently was without him… and whether he liked it or not, she would repay him in full.
She returned to Soarin’s side, the two exchanging smiles as they started moving again.
“So I take it this meeting isn’t going to be about the operation as a whole,” Soarin deduced as they neared the exit to the east hallway.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be about why I was wearing a Shadowbolt uniform,” Dash confirmed for him. “A lot of stuff happened in between that and when you crashed.”
“Care to fill me in as we walk?” Soarin asked.
“Sure,” Dash smiled as the two left the infirmary, on their way to Spitfire’s office.
---To Be Continued---
Art in this chapter by: Foxenawolf
Silver didn't have much good fortune in this chapter, did he? 
Squall, admit it, she means something to you.
Descent... looks like he has some thing to think about.
And what's gotten to Discord? Could it just be the white light? or is there more to it? 
And yush... it felt good to write some Soarin and Dashie interaction, i can't believe how long ONE DAY has been over the past... almost ten chapters 
(and chapter 122 is still going to be the same day, er, night at this point)
So yeah, decided to break here in my initial chapter map to allow the readers to absorb what's been addressed so far, more to come next chapter! 
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! 
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Angry Discord. Not good.
Is Dislestia happening
And Discord completely losing his shit over the white light... Oh man...
That was gloriously hilarious! Just... Poor Diet Chaos... All shades of bent-out-of-shape over Ghosty-Pegasus. 
(/mock sympathy)
Yep... I'm officially still super stoked for the next chapter... I sorta hope Twister is there, and floors everyone by actually contributing sensical information... but I also sorta hope he isn't because I am not necessarily his greatest fan...
Hope getting back to the gym helps you write!
Yep... Need more soon. Cannot wait.
Discord
i.imgur.com/BtGKGNe.gif
data.whicdn.com/images/123007528/large.gif
before I gallop through the gates of Tartarus and shove my size 12 in yo ass
* clicks a ship button with starry and descent on it* THE SHIPPING CONTINUES
missing quotation marks before Just.
And yes, Discord being upset is amusing.
Poor Silver, Star... Squall- I don’t think Silver will be ousted, but definitely he's going to have to step back a bit.
Saw this on the front page... I might end up reading the series, it sounds pretty interesting.
I just wanted to pop in and say: this story is twice as long as War and Peace and is over 100,000 more words than the entire Harry Potter series.
Bravo.
sweet
pissed off discord is fun ^^
What is it about the white light Pegasus that Discord is so upset over that he loses his cool? And...apologizes afterwards as well? Like he didn't mean for it to go that far? This just became a whole 'nother level of mystery. I thought it was Blizzard, but I don't think that's something Discord would get that upset about.
...Now that we put this into consideration, this is the only chapter where Discord is completely and utterly serious, from yelling, actually yelling and not just complaining, at Luna to losing his cool from the questioning. There were other chapters where he was mildly serious, but a joke or prank was still played. This, the most he did was to keep smacking Silver's face with his tail and that was partially from mild annoyance of the glare he received and the frustration of whatever that bothered him about the white light Pegasus.
Then, there's Starry. She seems to be taking the crystal thing really bad if she's in the infirmary and barely able to speak. I can't imagine the pain she must be going through. And what of Descent? What is it that he seems to want to say yet he can't? He's showing that side of kindness again, and the only other time he was like this was with Storm.
Don't forget Squall and Star too. Squall still doesn't seem to get it. And Star...it must taken a lot of care to sacrifice herself for Squall.
Also... What's to happen to Silver now? Everypony knows now, and when, if, things die down, what will happen to the famous Silver Lining, captain of Squad 2, mentor/sort of father of Rainbow Dash, and friend to many of the Wonderbolts?
...Damn. You really made me think on this one, Calm. ...Bravo.
7025374 It is a magnificent story. I'd recommend reading its prequels before getting to this beast, though.
Damn no wonder you split this chapter up gave us a lot of information to review this time around as always excellent chapter I enjoyed it very much
7025374 It's a very excellent romance/adventrue story and one of the best shipfic series on the site in my eyes at least
I would read the first two stories before you tackle this one
7025272 I approve of this ship
Calm I was reading through HTC and found this
# foreshadowing of the ages
Heck that was a great chapter Windy. I hope for more
7025272
with ya there. that would be a great ship
Silver is an example of the older genarations who refuse to quit due to their age and keep living their live the way they want.Risky considaring his exhuasted body considaring what he has been throught but respected at the same for me.But what makes us feel more respected as a character is this. while he is strict and sometimes harsh towards dash and soarin,he in fact cares about them and acts like a dad towards dash.deep in his heart he wishes for both of them to be happy.also when squal will admit his feelings to star?
First period (after "arms") should be a comma; remove the capital from "His."
There needs to be an end to this sentence.
Needs another quotation mark ("Just).
7025272
Yeah, I can definitely see where you're getting that idea...
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7025466 Actually, I'm figuring that it might be Blizzard Strike. If you remember, when the white pegasus first arrived, Discord said something to the extent of, "What? You're not supposed to able to enter the world on the spirit plane!" This shows that it's not some other immortal being that can normally do this; it's either an immortal who cannot enter the real world (unlikely), or it's a mortal in spirit form, and those coming back to the physical plane doesn't happen often but (in fiction at least) is generally accepted as possible. And who do we know who is dead, who annoys Discord with his uncanny knowledge of chaos magic and the laws of reality, who cares about the Wonderbolts, and especially about Silver Lining? Blizzard Strike. (Cue X-Files theme.)
I find angry Discord to be amusing…
…yeeah, I can't come up with anything that has Discord so upset.
#decentskies (hehehe, I'm thinking about Storm if this happens…)
Aww, Squall cares about Star
Dear Spitfire,
PLZ DONT MAKE SILVER RETIRE!!!!
Sincerely,
Midnight Blaze
Holy crap
this chapter is awesome 
... all of the chapters are 
Decent × Stary shippingz
Ok,I just loved that chapter
I don't really have anything to say
BUT,there better be more fluff in the next chapters or else I am gonna explode
Can't wait for the next one!
At work right now, real post when I'm off. Just wanted to let you know Calm, the one singular person in this world that I blame for how tired I am right now... Is you.
This chapter caused a lot of uncontrollable giggling, my parents probably think I'm crazy rn.
oh well. I love filler chapters, and *SQUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEE LITTLESQUALL
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Discord stop acting like a cranky three year old who's mommy said he couldn't have juice. Glad you're feeling better calm! Is it possible to be excited for a chapter about a meeting
7025924
OMG can you imagine Storms face is starry and descent get together????!!!! Omg imagine if everyone else is just like what?!?!?!?!?! When did this happen?!? And storm is all like "will... Will I have to call you... Mom now?"
CONTINUITY!!!!!!45.media.tumblr.com/e99ad9259b9bc377087198d49e5a6dd1/tumblr_myfoymHV1r1rt6cedo1_500.gif CONTINUITY!!!! (Flying Sky High)
This made my day!
You make me proud Calm *wipes fake tear* very proud!
You felt… nothing?” Discord asked while blinking.
“Nothing.” Soarin nodded. “Not once while the light surrounded me did I feel like anything had changed. The only thing it actually did was point me in the direction of Dash and Silver.”
Discord’s mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out, he simply kept looking at Soarin as if trying to put together a puzzle with only half the pieces.
just thought of Jeff Dunham and peanuts
"One of these things just doesn't belong here~"
I'm surprised when Spitfire asked for Twister, Dash didn't reach into Spitfire's mane and pull him out casually but still, so happy for this chapter! all my love to Silver!
7025976 Starry would be like, "yo! Watch it kid! I swear if you start callin' me 'mom' or anything of the sort, I'll belt you across the nose and I don't care what Decent thinks!"
7025915
But would he really go as far as to lose it if that was it? I think something more is bothering him.
So wait, now that I think about it, what Dash said to Squall seems familiar to what Calm did to protect Fleet.
Wow, I love this chapter! Awesome work once again, Calm!!!!
Also the Decent x Starry ship is totally setting sail
What's Discord so ticked about? Who was the entity? Squall clearly cares for Star and Meeting coming up. 2 questions and 2 statements.
grate chapter, all the Pisces are finally coming to gather in my mind.
I must say the art work is exultant. I will say the Little Star Squall drawing is just perfect the look on there faces just AWWW.
Thinking back on it now, a lot sure did happen in the last couple of chapters.
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Kill the Blizzard, eat the gizzard. blame the wizard.
That's what my glowing white horse told me to do. Or was that a dream. Probably both. Oh well.
7026676
All hands on deck!
7025222
Discord has definitely showcased a certain respect for Celestia and her decisions even though he disagree's with a lot of them
7025261
OH IT WILL
7025272
SHIPPING EVERYWHERE
7025274
Ah, thanks for that :)
7025294
We shall see, keeping something like medications secret may not go over so well.
7025374
When i outlined this i thought it was only going to be 200K words, oh boy was i wrong
The ideas all ended up being much much larger than i ever imagined.
If you end up reading the series, i hop you enjoy it!
7025379
And possibly catastrophic
7025466
Good
Thinking is engaging 
7025490
7025500
the wonderbolts sure have their fair share of lovable loonies, eh?
7025570
indeed, the next one will be just as long and likely just as much info, i had to break it up
7025624
That was totally intentional
7025702
Thanks!
7025842
Indeed, thats the main conflict im trying to set up with Silver, we all know he is hurting himself by forcing his body to continue way past it's limits, but at the same time the impact he has on Dash and those around him is irreplaceable.
7025873
Go read the cafeteria conversation between Matteo and Storm in chapter 23 again...
7026957 He is REALLY going to be under fire for that one. (no pun intended.) He already is. I kinda feel sorry for the guy. The sad thing is, they both have a point.
7025915
Ah, thanks for those!
7025924
So many things happening, so little time to speculate
7025943
I'm such a shipper instigator, aren't I?
7025958
Fluff is always spread around
7025972
All the giggles!
7025992
Always gotta keep things constant in some way or another!
7025996
You know something's wrong, when the one character who seems to know everything has no idea how to explain something
7026022
That would have been a hilarious twist
7026029
I'm not a fan of Halo, so if there's something, it was definitely unintentional
7026182
s8.postimg.org/sbymrgbg1/Calmroy_was_here.png
7026351
gotta love it, i was trying to show something else, with that exchange, but now everyone is shipping it instead
7026374
You know something is amiss when the character who seems to know everything is stumped and losing his cool
7026530
Thanks!
7026657
It's been like... 1 day since chapter 113
7026676
That second image...
You son of a bitch
7027054
It's a classic!