Chapter 159: Wonderbolts Never Die (Arc 3 Finale Part 1)
MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 159: Wonderbolts Never Die (Arc 3 Finale Part 1)
“Good, good,” Spitfire nodded to the small gaggle of captains from the low tier elites reporting to her. “Ready up and await further orders. Keep the reserves focused, we’re launching in twenty minutes,” she explained, earning nods and salutes from the captains before they turned and dispersed.
Spitfire exhaled quietly as they turned away, looking down and taking a few breaths as she shook her head out. It had been a long time since she had to manage a force this large. It wasn’t hindering her at all, but the extreme increase in numbers to command with the addition of the reserves felt slightly overwhelming.
She looked up and around at the hundreds of Wonderbolts all gathered with her right inside the eastern gate of the Empire. They were mingling, stretching, and warming up their wings. Some were still arriving, cutting it very close, but she didn’t have time to go around and scold all of them. She just hoped they would be up to the task. The reserves were meant to be used in emergencies that required larger numbers… she hated to admit it, but she really only had immediate confidence in the abilities of her eighty elites and recruit squads that she regularly kept tabs on.
She tried to clear her mind, looking up into the sky… or at least into the shield projected overhead. It was late afternoon… the sun was beginning to set, but had a ways to go before it got dark. She wanted to get started sooner rather than later… since the later it got, the more effective the Thestrals would be if they were found out and Luna took action.
It was also a little foggy or misty inside, or at least a little ways above them. There was a light flurry of snow falling outside the shield, the flakes that passed through it quickly melting into a thin mist due to the controlled climate within.
“Spitfire.”
“Hm?” Spitfire blinked, her attention drawn back down to earth as she turned to see Descent walking towards her. “Ah, Descent.” She turned to face him as he stopped before her. “Are you all set?” she asked.
“In terms of being organized… yes,” Descent answered. Spitfire lifted an eyebrow.
“What does that mean?” she voiced her curiosity, preferring a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. But Descent just grunted in frustration, furrowing his brow. “Well?” Spitfire pressed, narrowing her eyes slightly. “Are you still bellyaching over how I talked to Discord and Luna? Cause if you are, cut that crap out already,” she said sharply. Descent scowled harshly at her.
“Pardon me for not having the time to fully explain how stupid you’ve been acting over the past few hours.” He shot back in a grumbling tone. Spitfire rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“Okay, okay, enough… we’re not doing this now. Just answer the question,” she quickly redirected. Descent blew a long, hissing breath through his nostrils as he looked away.
“We’re ready to go, but…”
“But?” Spitfire pushed as he trailed off. Descent sighed in frustration.
“I have no idea where Starry Skies is.”
Spitfire blinked, her eyes widening slightly.
“Wait, she’s still missing?” she asked in disbelief.
“I think it’s safe to assume she is no longer in the Empire,” Descent went on, clearly not thrilled to talk about it. “Not even she is capable of eluding our best scouts and I’ve had them comb the whole place up and down more than once in the past two hours.”
“So… she deserted?” Spitfire’s ears flopped down slightly. “That’s…”
“Something she would NEVER do,” Descent strongly cut her off abruptly, but it was undeniable that he felt that way too as he looked away and shook his head again. Spitfire tipped her head as she thought about it carefully.
“It’s got to be something with her… unique crystal form, right?” Spitfire pondered aloud.
“That much is obvious,” Descent quickly agreed. “But for it to affect her this harshly? And to think she never once said a word about it before we arrived here…? But she KNEW we were going in this direction…” Descent suddenly slammed his eyes shut and grunted loudly. “Enough… we don’t have time to wonder about her. She is not here, so we’ll just have to do this without her.”
“Alright…” Spitfire nodded reluctantly, curious herself. “Just keep an eye out for when we break away from the rest of the group an—”
“Follow with our detached group,” Descent cut her off. “I remember.”
“And…” Spitfire trailed off as Descent abruptly turned her back on her and trotted off. She left it there and just watched him leave, huffing in frustration as Descent somewhat snubbed her. But she could tell it was about Starry and not her. She trusted him to do his part, but hoped he would stay focused and not think about Starry too much. Then of course… there was the possibility of Nightshade appearing as well… she hoped Descent would keep his head on straight.
She was about to look back towards the rest of the Wonderbolts, but something caught her eye as Descent neared the corner.
Rainbow Dash and her squad plus Thunderlane turned from it and nearly ran right into Descent. They both stopped and stepped aside from one another, but Dash and Descent locked eyes, watching the other briefly as they passed.
But Spitfire paid little attention to the random stare down, instead furrowing her brow because of Dash’s… timing.
After passing Descent, Dash kept her eyes on the corner he disappeared around for a moment, wondering why she got the long look, but pushed the thought aside as she continued on with her squad in tow. She was holding a serious expression as she moved, and didn’t even flinch as her eyes caught the somewhat harsh glare from Spitfire.
“Cutting it a little close, are we Dash?” Spitfire asked sarcastically as Dash approached. Everypony behind her seemed to stiffen a little, but Dash didn’t even blink.
“Sorry, ma’am. Had something important to take care of,” she said in a dead serious tone, never breaking eye contact.
Spitfire immediately noticed the look in her eyes, she could see the strength in her gaze. So she found no reason to question it, but then she looked beyond Dash back and forth at her squad.
“Where’s Twister?” she asked, prompting Dash to immediately flatten her brow. “Is he still not around?” she asked, her tone much different than when talking to Descent about Starry. Much more annoyed.
“Oh, I’m sure he’s around somewhere,” Dash answered sarcastically.
“And that means?” Spitfire asked.
“Don’t bother asking,” Dash shook her head. “Even if I explained, it wouldn’t make any sense.”
“Can it be explained in a minute?” Spitfire asked while tipping her head slightly.
“No.”
“Then forget about it,” Spitfire said with a snort. “Ready up, we’re leaving soon…” She paused and glanced over at the rest. “And keep your ears open, I’ll have more specific instructions for you specifically while we’re out there and moving about.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Dash replied, but Spitfire was already turning and walking away. Spitfire seemed to be understanding Twister a little more like the rest of them did. It didn’t really matter that he wasn’t here at this very moment because for all she knew he would just appear out of nowhere at some point once everything got started.
Though she still had no idea why he was dragging this particular disappearing act for so long. He made his one surprise appearance only to her in the library, but not including that, he had been gone for quite a while. His little stints tended to last a few hours at most or maybe a day. This wasn’t normal.
Well… not that anything about Twister was normal to begin with. Still, there had to be a reason, but what?
As much as it was eating at Dash, now wasn’t the time. Twister was clearly doing this for a reason, and whatever the reason may be… she had no doubt it was for their benefit. His shenanigans were a pain… but they had a funny way of helping them out more often than not. She had much more important things to focus on. In particular…
Dash scanned the crowd of Wonderbolts as her squad and Thunderlane made their way in. It didn’t take her long to find who she was looking for… because squad seven was nearly front and center. Storm Front was sitting with his back turned to her, but his head was turned to the side just far enough for Dash to notice how uncomfortable he looked. Fortunately, Lead Runner, and Point Dex didn’t seem to take any notice… and of course Macho Savage didn’t either due to being more interested in flexing his muscles.
She had done enough worrying about Storm to give her at least three heart attacks, but they were too locked in now and too close to launch for him to have the balls to try anything… or at least she hoped. She spoke with him not too long ago… after she met with Silver and he wasn’t combative at all. It seemed a little strange, but her boosted confidence WAS having a bit of an effect, she didn’t give him a chance to give her any crap.
“Oh, I need to group up with the reserves,” Thunderlane suddenly spoke up, drawing Dash’s attention away from Storm. She gave him a quick, but firm nod.
“Get going,” she said simply, but Thunderlane hesitated.
“Sorry that…” he paused and glanced back and forth, quieting his tone. “I might not be much help. I’m going to be stuck here when you guys move.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Dash gave him a light pat on the shoulder and a subtle smile. “Play along, I know you’ll have our back when shit hits the fan.”
Thunderlane just stared at Dash for a moment, then returned the smile. He gave them all one more glance, followed by a simple nod before he turned and made his way over.
“Hope we see him out there,” Star suddenly spoke up as Dash turned around. “It’s been so long since we’ve had him around. It sucks that we have to be separated right before it all goes down.”
“Agreed,” Matteo said simply with a nod. Squall didn’t seem to pay any mind.
“We’ll see him out there,” Dash quickly reassured them. “I’m not letting anything stop us from following through… and when we do, he’ll be there. He may stumble a bit, but he’s reliable.
“Yeah, like how he shat himself over a fake dragon?” Squall grumbled from the side.
“Like you weren’t,” Dash didn’t even hesitate to shoot back.
“I didn’t run away,” Squall huffed. Dash just shrugged.
“And because of that, you’re in a recruit squad and he is a reserve,” she cocked an eyebrow. “Doesn’t stop me from trusting him like I have over the recent years, so come on, Squall… and don’t act like you didn’t miss him. Because I know you did too.”
“Whatever…” Squall mumbled as he averted his eyes. Which basically meant Dash was right.
Dash took a deep breath, clearing her thoughts as she glanced up and towards the crystal palace at the center of the Empire. She blinked as her eyes were quickly drawn to a speck of color that didn’t quite fit with the shimmering light blue surface.
Purple? It was on the balcony. Was it Twilight?
Whoever it was, they left quickly. But the thought alone made Dash think back to just before they arrived. She had met very briefly with Twilight to make sure everything was set. And it was, at least what they could control. The trickiest part of all this was going to be the timing… because they basically had to do this part blind. They had agreed on forty-five minutes. Twilight would wait that long after the Wonderbolts launched to ‘break the news’ to Luna and start everything into motion. They decided on that because Dash was assuming that Spitfire would wait no longer than about half an hour to have their group break off to find Sombra. Time was a factor to Spitfire as well, the later it got, the worse visibility would get, and Dash was sure Spitfire had thought about the Thestrals and how they became near unstoppable at night.
There was no way for Dash and Twilight to communicate exact timing, so they would just have to believe in Spitfire’s efficiency and planning for this one.
She turned back to her squad for a moment, but noticed that they looked… nervous? At least Star and Squall did. Matteo just had his usual stoic glare plastered to his face. Squall was trying to hide it, but he looked uneasy. Star was like an open book. This wouldn’t do.
“Well guys,” Dash spoke up quietly. “It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for.” She paused for a moment and shook her head. “But before we go, I just want to… thank you.”
“What for?” Squall asked flatly, trying to conceal his nerves, but Dash didn’t falter.
“For sticking with me through all of this,” she replied while keeping her eyes on Squall. Squall blinked, not expecting her sincerity with the tone he took. “You didn’t have to do this for me,” she continued while scanning her eyes past Star and Matteo as well. “You didn’t have to put your careers on the line or risk your own well-being for me, but you are. You have no idea how much that means to me, I appreciate it.”
Matteo’s expression didn’t budge but Star’s ears flopped down and her pupils grew as a warm smile fluttered onto her face.
“Aw, Dash… why wouldn’t we? What are friends for?” she said in a very genuine tone. “I wouldn’t even be here without you… so I’d never think twice about helping you through anything. I don’t care about my career if it means abandoning you.”
“You are my captain,” Matteo spoke up dutifully. “I would not accept you as such if I did not trust you… nor felt obligated to assist you in your troubles if you were not a friend.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever… fine… I guess…” Squall mumbled in a manner that was impossible to fully read, but his expression did the talking for him, his cheeks slightly puffed and a tinge of embarrassed redness on his face. Dash just smirked at him, his attempts to hide his own appreciation amusing her. She looked between them all again and sighed in frustration.
“Now if only our last squad member wasn’t being an absolute butt and would actually show up,” she grumbled out loud.
“Knowing him,” Star chimed in as she floated up beside Dash and shrugged. “He’s probably waiting for the right moment or something to make one of his famed ‘entrances’ right?”
“Less talk about that moron, please…” Squall spoke up harshly.
“I concur,” Matteo quickly agreed. Dash flattened her brow as she looked at them both and rolled her eyes.
“I love how you two suddenly become best buds whenever it’s about bashing Twister…” she said with a chuckle she couldn’t hold down.
She decided to leave it there, feeling good about the approach her squad was taking to this. The last thing she wanted them to feel was like they were being forced into this situation, but from the start they never pushed back, showing extreme loyalty to her. And she knew a thing or two about loyalty… even though… well… this scenario was an exception.
She perked up as she saw Spitfire emerge from the crowd, looking about at all the Wonderbolts. Dash turned her full attention towards her as the rest of the top tier elites emerged, some with her, some from other parts of the crowd. They all huddled together.
She didn’t want to look like she was eavesdropping, but Dash turned her ears to see if she could make out what was being said.
Spitfire was holding a hard, serious expression as the eyes of the top tier elites focused on her. Air Mach seemed to be missing, but she could hear him chanting somewhere in the crowd so she just left it be. She gave each one of them a brief look, trying to gauge their readiness. But she found it difficult to really pinpoint it. Nothing was getting in the way of her view, just like everypony else around, they had their suit hoods pulled down and their goggles hanging around their neck. Aside from small differences between the owners of each face, they were all neutral, doing their best to hold a professional air. Even Lightning Streak and Surprise were being serious. But she knew they were nervous… hell, she was nervous.
“Well, this is it,” she nodded, keeping firm despite the uncertainty in hopes of inspiring them. “Are you all ready?” she asked.
Spitfire waited, and blinked…
She got no response. The top tiers all looked back and forth at one another, but eventually all looked back at her, their faces hardly changing.
Then Fleetfoot suddenly took a step towards her, lifting a hoof in the air and giving her a worried look complete with very concerned eyes.
“Are you?”
Spitfire felt her face go numb and tingly for a moment as the words left Fleetfoot’s lips and smacked her right in the forehead. She was not expecting that. Her stoic demeanor melted in an instant as her eyes slowly grew wider.
“You have your patented serious face on, but…” Fleetfoot’s ears flopped down and she frowned. “Are you really doing okay?”
“I…” Spitfire stuttered, biting her lower lip. “Um…”
“How have you been holding up?” Fire Streak spoke up as he stepped up beside Fleetfoot, he wore a similar look of concern, just without the absurdly cute frown. “What you’ve been put through is no mystery to us. And per usual, you’ve been shouldering so much. This whole plan, Commander Wave, and of course Commander Soarin.”
Spitfire kept her eyes on him as he laid out, perfectly, everything that was weighing on her. She sighed heavily and let her head hang.
“Guess I can’t really hide it, can I?” she said in a weak tone as she looked back up and glanced between the two of them slowly. “As if I could ever fool you guys, I should know better.”
“Hey, at least we’re all in the same boat, y’know?” Lightning Streak came forward. “I mean, shit, I’m not talking about Wave or anything like that, but everything else? I sure as hell don’t know how any of this is gonna go. You don’t have to act like you do, lady captain.”
Misty Fly suddenly pushed passed him after Surprise finished translating everything being said to her. She walked right up to Spitfire and placed both her hooves on her shoulders, showing great concern. Spitfire smiled at Misty’s typical quick concern for her, placing a hoof on one of her arms and nodding.
“Sis…” Blaze’s voice sounded out from behind Fleetfoot and the Twins, slightly muffled with her face pressed against High Wind’s side. “Do you really think this is going to work? I mean… do we even know what the fuck we’re doing?” she asked.
Spitfire looked around at all of them as she pondered Blaze’s questions. And… her questions were much more relevant than Spitfire wanted to admit. All she could do was shake her head.
“Would any of you even believe me if I said so?”
There was a slight stir among them. Spitfire was usually the motivation machine so it was odd to see her like this. But at the same time, the stir was for no other reason beside that. Seeing Spitfire in such an uncertain state wasn’t a morale back-breaker, because they all understood. She was only being honest about the current situation. The lack of confidence was from uncertainty, not in their ability to execute.
“No,” High Winds broke the silence, answering Spitfire bluntly. Spitfire didn’t budge, but the rest turned and glared at her. “What?” she asked as she yawned.
“You’re not helping!” Surprise fumed at Winds, pouting so hard that her face released a noise that sounded like a low pitch SQUEEEEEEE. High Winds blinked once very slowly, her left eyebrow lifting slightly higher.
“Isn’t that what she was implying?” she added, yawning again.
“Winds is right,” Spitfire spoke up, bringing all of their attention back to her. “And… there really isn’t any reason for us to dance around it. But… I’m pretty sure this isn’t really a surprise to any of you. I know you’re not brainless idiots.”
“Well, most of us aren’t,” Fire said quietly to himself, but was within earshot of his target.
“Why ya gotta be that way?” Lightning said back casually as Spitfire went on.
“This plan,” Spitfire exhaled and rubbed a hoof against her head. “It’s got no endgame in mind. I can say we want to save Soarin all we want, but how the hell are we going to do that? Don’t look at me, because I haven’t a damn clue.” She threw a hoof out. “But you know what? Forget it. Soarin is the most important part of this, but he’s not the only part.” She tapped a hoof on the ground. “This is about the TRUTH.”
She paused, her serious expression returning as she let it sink in.
“We all need to figure out what’s going on here, that is very much one of the reasons I went through with this. And… if we can figure that out first, maybe then we’ll have some sort of idea of how to proceed regarding Soarin. I simply don’t trust a single word from Luna or Discord anymore. I’m tired of flying with my eyes half shut… we need answers, real answers, and the real story…”
“None of us would argue with you there,” Fire added with a nod.
Spitfire didn’t say anymore for a few moments, but nopony else spoke after Fire as she looked to be thinking. Then she looked towards Fleetfoot.
“So am I ready? No. I’m not. No one is, and no one will be. From the moment I hatched this plan I never once believed that we can just walk right up to Sombra and ask him nicely to give Soarin back. But… where else can we go? Nothing here, where we stand, is being given to us straight. It’s gotten so backwards and messed up that I seriously believe the most reasonable course of action is to go meet with Sombra face to face and talk things out before anything else. And if you had told me those exact words just came out of my mouth a few weeks ago I would have thought I’d officially gone insane. But… I think you all would agree with me when I say I’m fed up and want to know what’s really going on.
She examined the looks being thrown her way. There were varying emotions, but they all looked to agree wholeheartedly.
“I mean…” Spitfire relaxed her face slightly and tipped her head back a little. “Seriously. We went through all that crazy, mindless fighting… butting heads with the Shadowbolts around every corner… and then suddenly it turns out the Gods have better things to worry about? Everything we did before has barely been mentioned since we arrived! What happened? What about the Shadowbolts?! What about Kayn Ost, or whatever his name was again?! Nightshade?! Moon?! That FUCK-face who hurt Wave Chill?! It’s all just gone? Suddenly Sombra is the one we need to worry about according to Luna and Discord? They barely even bring up Soarin! It’s all Sombra, Sombra, Sombra! Whenever I mention Soarin they tell me to forget about him or unsubtly imply I should!”
Spitfire growled and clenched a hoof.
“No, NO! It’s just wrong and insulting that they think we should just go along without question! It’s as if they used our fight, OUR conflict to forward an agenda of their own. And I’m not okay with that!” she paused, visibly shaking with a mixture of emotions and breathing heavily. Then her ears flopped down. “And… ponies have died… We nearly lost Silver… Wave is barely alive… and my best friend…” she visibly faltered.
Fleetfoot wasted no time in coming forward and giving her a tight hug. Spitfire quickly reached out and hugged her back instinctively.
“We’re all in this together,” Fleetfoot reassured her quietly. Rubbing the back of Spitfire’s neck affectionately as she kept up the tight embrace.
“Sorry for that little rant…” Spitfire apologized, sniffling once and ONLY once, determined not to let herself lose it. “I just…”
“Hell, Captain,” Lightning cut her off, shaking his head. “You think we disagree with any of that?” he said with a light hearted snort a Spitfire looked towards him. “Everything shifted gears in like… an instant. It wasn’t smooth at all. Shit was blatant.”
“Yeah!” Surprise popped up in front of Lightning. “Fight the Shadowbolts!” she said as she punched the air with her hooves. Then she turned and faced Spitfire, placed her hooves on her forehead and made a goofy POOF noise with her mouth as she slowly moved her hooves away from her head. “OOPS! There goes Soarin’s forehead willy!” She scooted up to Spitfire and leaned against her and Fleetfoot. “Wait, who are the Shadowbolts again?” She turned and pressed her face against Spitfire’s shoulder. “DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT! SOMBRA BAD!” She slowly slid down Spitfire’s shoulder while blowing air through her vibrating lips as she comically ended up on the ground like a deflated balloon. She rolled over onto her back and stuck all of her hooves into the air. “COME ON! I’ve seen seafood joints that are less fishy than that!” she exclaimed as she flipped over onto her stomach and groaned loudly. Fire moved over to her and gently pressed a hoof on her head, Surprise squeaking quietly as the gentle pressure stopped her groaning.
“Believe me, Captain,” Fire shrugged. “If any of us had a problem with the direction you’re taking this, we would’ve spoken up by now.” He looked over at Misty as Lightning translated for her. He made his way over to her and slung a wing over her as she kept her eyes on Lightning’s hoof and wing motions. “You know Misty would have spoken up by now if it didn’t feel right,” he said with a wink.
Misty waited for Lightning to finish the signs, and the moment she had everything, including what Fire just said, she instantly looked at Spitfire and started nodding vigorously.
Spitfire looked at all of them again, taking in their words and thinking about each one of them. It could only make her smile.
“Thanks guys,” she said with a nod. “It’s… really good to hear that we’re all on the same wavelength. I was worried I was overstepping a little bit.” She paused, fully acknowledging how good it felt… and fully acknowledging how important it was to hear it from them. All the ponies she trusted more than anything, those she led. Her friends. Her family. She looked down at Fleetfoot, whom she was still embracing. Fleetfoot looked at her curiously as Spitfire’s eyes seemed to be filled with concern.
Then Spitfire suddenly strengthened her hug, squeezing Fleetfoot very tightly.
“MEEP!” Fleetfoot squeaked as her face got smushed against Spitfire’s chest.
“Now… I want all of you to promise me,” Spitfire began, looking up as she unwittingly crushed Fleetfoot against her. “That you will all take care of yourselves. We’re walking right into the unknown. It’s our job but…”
“Spitty… can’t… breathe…” Fleetfoot sputtered, but Spitfire was too focused.
“Your safety and well-being is just as important to me as Soarin. So watch your backs. It’s already hard enough that we have to take this on without Soarin, Silver, or Wave flying with us. No one else is allowed to go missing from our tight-knit group, got it?” she said adamantly as Fleetfoot continued to struggle in her grip.
“Yes, but…” Fire lifted an eyebrow and released a single chuckle. “Perhaps we should start by not squeezing Commander Fleetfoot to death?”
“Huh?” Spitfire looked down. Fleetfoot’s eyes were opened wide and her cheeks were puffed up large. Her face was turning bluer. “Oh!” she immediately let go.
“GAH! HAAAAAAAAAAH!” Fleetfoot nearly crumpled to the ground and stumbled backwards slightly, taking deep breaths as she patted a hoof against her throat and chest. “JEEZ!” she pouted at Spitfire as she continued to wheeze. “I love you too, but watch your strength there, Miss Muscles!”
“Heh… sorry,” Spitfire sheepishly scrunched up her mouth. She rubbed the back of her head and stuck her tongue out playfully. “Guess I’m practicing for when I wring Soarin’s neck later. That doofus has really outdone himself this time, worrying us.”
Fleetfoot eventually stood up straight, taking a few more breaths. But she smiled at Spitfire’s mention of Soarin. So they weren’t sure if they could really save him… but it didn’t hurt to still believe it was possible.
“So… we gonna go get that loser back, or what?” she asked with a grin. Spitfire smirked right back at her.
“Yeah… let’s get a move on,” she said as she looked at all of them one more time. “Soarin is waiting for us.”
Dash quickly turned her head back towards her squad mates as Spitfire and the rest dispersed.
She heard the whole exchange… and again felt slightly conflicted. It sucked that she had to do things this way, she was only a recruit, but each one of the top tier Wonderbolts had done so much for her. It hurt to deceive them, but she was doing what she had to do.
“Everypony get lined up!” Spitfire’s voice suddenly rang out. Dash looked over, as did everypony else as Spitfire floated into the air and yelled out. “We’re launching in five! Let’s go! Get into your groups so we can get the drills started the moment we get out there!”
The words were misleading, grandstanding for any other ears other than Wonderbolts. But they all knew what was happening.
Dash quickly turned back to her squad. Squall, Star, and Matteo all focused on her.
She said nothing, simply giving them a quick nod. They all nodded back before Dash turned and led them towards the rest.
It felt the same as usual… but at the same time, a little different.
By now, the Wonderbolt launch sequence had become routine for Rainbow Dash and her squad. It was such a tense experience the first time it was sprung on them during Silver’s hoodwink ‘Test’ that ultimately landed them their status as recruits, but now it felt natural. The chant, the responses to Spitfire’s commands, the motions, the takeoff… all in a day’s work.
So why did it feel so different this time?
Numbers.
Holy hell there were a lot of Wonderbolts flying with them as they all lifted off and rose into the sky. Dash was in awe at flying with so many pegasi at once. She was also used to being in the tail end of the formation, flying behind the elites. Now she was smack in the middle with the reserves organized and flying in a large square formation behind them. It was hard enough for her to comprehend that she technically ranked above all of the ponies flying behind her, the fact that she could look in any direction and not see where the formation ended just added to it.
The same, yet different… it was almost a perfect bookend to the already tense emotions she was experiencing with her plan quietly in motion.
She stayed focused, and kept her eyes forward as they all flew through the slightly odd mist conditions presented by the snow falling through the shield and melting. Her goggles were a little fogged up from the moisture, but she didn’t let it phase her, playing along as Spitfire led them all out to a wide open field close to the edge of the Empire shield’s reach.
“Wonderbolts, all stop! Hover!” Spitfire yelled out.
Dash immediately stopped on cue, as did all the elites in front of her. But then several loud yelps of surprise came from behind her, and before she could look, she was shoved in the back by a reserve running directly into her. She managed to stay afloat, but there was a comically clumsy accordion effect happening behind her as the reserves proved they weren’t used to quick commands.
“What the…” Spitfire floated up to observe the less than graceful display. “HEY! GET ORGANIZED BACK THERE!” Spitfire barked from the front as the reserves scrambled to reposition themselves.
Dash blinked as she watched them all frantically move back into place.
Well… they had earned their title as a Wonderbolt… but it was clear why they were a reserve force. They probably had the ability… but the lack of fine-tuned finesse was easy to see. Dash remembered Silver telling her something about how the reserves were only called in every month or so for a tune up to make sure they were still combat-able, but the elites and recruits were razor sharp from the constant training and daily motions. So it didn’t surprise her that the reserves were a little off cue.
“Everypony listen up!” Spitfire yelled out once the reserves had steadied themselves. “We’re going to warm up with a lap around the Empire while hugging the edge of the shield! Low tier elites up first! One squad at a time! Recruit squads will follow! Reserves, organize yourself into groups of ten! The high tier’s will bring up the rear!” She pointed down at a large willow tree over a pond below them. “Start and end point are right here above this tree! This is not a race, give fifty to seventy-five percent effort to loosen up! I don’t want anypony cramping up or sucking wind before we start flying actual drills! If any of you reserves back there get tired on me right off the bat we’re going to have to re-evaluate your off site training commitments afterward!”
Dash heard a few murmurs and stirs behind her. No-nonsense, not even with the reserves. She’d have to ask Thunderlane about these supposed ‘off-site training routines’ later. He had to be doing them, because he looked like he’d manage to stay in shape since he was sent home.
“GO!” Spitfire yelled out as the high tier elites hovered up a few yards, allowing squad eleven to accelerate and lead the way. Dash focused and patiently awaited her squad’s turn as the high tiers floated overhead to get behind the reserves.
Now she just had to play along and wait… and she hoped Spitfire wouldn’t wait long or else Twilight would jump the gun and it would all be for naught.
“Alright! That’s enough of that!” Spitfire yelled out as they finished their second drill. “Everypony gather in, but STAY WITH YOUR GROUPS!” she called out.
Dash led her squad around, joining the massive crowd as Spitfire hovered up to look them all over. All present members of squad two and three were with her as well.
She had broken a light sweat, but it was just from getting some good movement in. They had only done two formation flight pattern drills since the warm up. She could hear a good number of the reserves panting harder behind her. They looked and sounded like they were trying hard not to show it. They were all taking Spitfire’s threat seriously.
“Okay time for something different!” Spitfire called out as she scanned the crowd. “We’re going to do some low gliding drills! But we’re going to use larger, scrambled rank groups! You never know who you’re going to be flying beside in the heat of combat! So pay attention, elites will come around to group your current squads together randomly!”
Dash perked up as a few high tier elites began moving about the crowd. Mixing it up? Dash had a feeling that something was going to happen here. If she had this right… whoever came around to group her up ‘randomly’ was going to point her right to—
“Yo, COLORS!”
Dash perked up as Air Mach hovered by her sideways and pointed both his hooves at her with his body bent awkwardly. It was a wonder he could stay afloat in such a position.
“Head on over to the boss! Your squad’s with us!” he said as he twisted and pumped a hoof in the air before moving on.
Dash blinked. Talk about perfectly reading the situation.
She turned and made a head motion to Matteo, Star, and Squall, not saying or doing anything more to remain as inconspicuous as possible. She knew they were thinking the same thing as her.
They made their way through the shifting crowd of hovering Wonderbolts, slowly making their way towards the lead squad. She spotted Thunderlane briefly, making eye contact with him as he shuffled around, but was moving in the opposite direction of her. Looks like they were really going to be separated from him, but Dash was expecting that to happen. At least she knew she had ONE pony among the crowd she could count on for emergency backup if anything went wrong going forward.
Eventually, they made it to Spitfire. She only gave Dash a glance before returning her attention to Fleetfoot, discussing something that Dash couldn’t quite hear. Dash led her squad right up to them.
Spitfire turned to her briefly, looked her squad over, and nodded. She said nothing as she looked around for whoever else was joining them.
“Hm… good,” Spitfire said to herself, prompting Dash to turn around and see who else would be involved.
It wasn’t long before the rest of their group had gathered… and it wasn’t a very subtle group.
The lead squad, as complete as it was going to be once Air Mach returned. Then… squad two, squad three… four, seven, eight, and… zero? Dash stared for a few moments as squad Zero arrived. Shine Struck, Calm Wind, Playbitz, and Swift Justice… she had not seen much of them lately and furthermore was surprised that Spitfire was bringing them along for this mission. She wasn’t knocking their ability… they were pretty awesome in that manner, but their lack of true experience seemed like a no go for this. Hell, she didn’t even know they were out here doing drills.
But squad zero aside, Dash wondered about the composition of the group. All three top tier squads were just going to up and leave? She knew the entire force was in on the plan, but that seemed like an easy discrepancy to spot. She didn’t know any of the Wonderbolts from squad four or eight very well… but seven… Storm was being brought along. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She would have to keep an eye on him. If he was left behind she wouldn’t have to worry about him snitching, but now she could keep an eye on him… whatever good that would do if he blabbed.
So there was twenty nine of them total including twenty one elites since Wave, Silver, and Soarin were missing. That seemed like a lot for a detachment flying a covert mission, but there were still fifty-nine elites left behind among a cloud of recruits and reserves. If anypony was spying on them, it was going to be hard to notice anypony had left… unless they noticed Spitfire was no longer the one giving orders.
“Hey, everypony huddle up real quick,” Spitfire spoke up, drawing Dash’s thoughts back to the task at hoof. She did as she was told, as did the others. All twenty-nine of them packed in as tight as they could as the rest of the force continued to shuffle about around them, several elites shouting orders to recruits and reserves.
Spitfire looked each one of them in the eye briefly as if silently communicating to them that it was all about to get started. Once she had exchanged the looks, she turned to Fire Streak.
“Report,” she said simply.
“It would appear we are in the clear,” Fire answered quickly as the rest listened. “I’ve had a different Wonderbolt scout the area during each drill and there is nopony around within believable eyesight to notice a small decrease in our numbers.”
“Is there anypony around at all?” Spitfire pressed.
“Other than guard patrols spotted quite far off, none,” Fire clarified. “And their patrol routes are no different than those we observed over the past few days.”
“Perfect,” Spitfire nodded quickly before looking at the rest of them again. “Alright, listen up everypony. This is the group. I’ve hoof-picked each one of you because I’m confident you’re the best for the job… or you work best with those I want on the job,” she began, confirming that this was, indeed, the start of the plan.
Or her plan at least. Dash was glad she was getting things started because this would solve the timing worry.
“We’re going to casually take part in these low flying glide drills. The drills are going to be two large groups at a time, so around sixty. On our third turn through the drill, we are not going to pull up at the end when the rest do, we’re going to stay low… and I mean LOW… as we break towards the east and exit the shield. I mean it, if any of you are flying more than five yards above the ground I’m going to break your neck,” she threatened. A few of those present swallowed, some twitched. Spitfire wasn’t messing around. “Once we’re outside the shield, form up tight and follow behind Fleetfoot and I. We have a specific route we’ll be following, east far enough to away from the shield, then north. While we turn north, we will be meeting up with the Renegade detachment. Once they are with us and we’re past the northern edge of the shield, we will be easing to the west until we hit the forest. Everypony got it?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Dash said instinctively as the rest said it at nearly the exact same time as her… except for squad zero, who fumbled and all said it a good two seconds after everypony else.
Spitfire narrowed her eyes and looked at the four members of the experimental squad.
“Get it together, you four,” she said sharply, all of them flinching. “Don’t make me regret bringing you along.”
“Y…yes, ma’am…” Shine Struck was the only one to reply, appearing to shake slightly. Dash couldn’t tell if it was fear of Spitfire or nerves. Probably a little bit of both.
“Alright,” Spitfire said with a strong burst of air from her nostrils. “I’m going to start the drill now. I’m not going to say a word to initiate the break, so don’t forget… our THIRD TURN! GOT IT?!”
Everypony nodded, some very vigorously.
“Good…” Spitfire backed away from the huddle. “Let’s do this.”
“Next up! Next up! Let’s go!” The captain of squad five yelled from up front, directing the two groups in front of Dash’s to begin their third run. Everypony in the groups tipped down and tucked their wings in, free falling to start their run through the low altitude glide drill.
Dash swallowed as she moved up behind Spitfire and the rest of their group. They had at least half a minute delay until they were signaled to begin. This was it… their third run. They were lined up with the same large squad they ran the first two passes with… this time they would be breaking off as the other pulled up. Dash focused, trying her best to clear her head and remain calm. She was a little nervous, but it was a natural kind of nervous, not the dreaded showtime nerves haunting her. This was the culmination of all her preparation, she’d be surprised if she wasn’t a little anxious.
She looked towards the captain of squad five, Captain Sunfire, as she awaited his signal for them to start. Spitfire had hoofed over direction duty to him… and Dash quickly realized why. He was a stallion, but he had visually similar colors to Spitfire. Yellow fur, and a red mane. The logic was easy to deduce. If they were being watched from afar, it would be difficult to tell him apart from Spitfire at a distance among the entire force.
“Next up! Ready!” Sunfire yelled.
That was faster than Dash expected, but she didn’t let it phase her. She steeled her nerves and shifted up with the rest, knowing Squall, Star, and Matteo were right behind her. A few seconds of silence passed… just enough time for her to briefly glance through the group… at Storm Front.
“GO!”
Instincts took over. Dash froze her thoughts as she tipped down with the rest, pulled her wings in, and began the freefall. Gravity worked its magic, the two groups falling fast towards the ground. They fell faster and faster and faster, the wind rushing against them, blasting against Dash’s face and goggles.
“GLIDE!” Spitfire yelled out.
All of them extended their wings, all positioned perfectly to be at wing’s length even compensating for those with larger wingspans like Matteo. They pulled up hard to even out, Dash feeling the g-forces push at her neck as they became parallel to the ground and shot along less than five yards above it.
“Shift!”
There was one… Dash stayed in formation and kept her eyes forward as the group swerved right.
“Shift!”
Two. Dash swerved left.
“Shift!”
Three… it was almost time…
“AND PULL UP!”
Without a single doubt that she would mess something up, Dash took a hard right, the other twenty-eight members of her group doing the exact same thing, perfectly remaining in formation as the other half of their drill group pulled up and made their way back normally.
Not a single word was spoken. It was all executed exactly the way Spitfire had asked them. Even squad zero didn’t falter as they kept up and brought up the rear. They zipped along, not moving an inch to the left or right as they continued to hold the glide and use the built up momentum from their initial freefall. The edge of the shield was approaching fast, they would pass through it in a matter of seconds.
“Once we’re outside the shield, steady wing beat! Keep the pace at our current speed!” Spitfire yelled. They all had mere seconds to acknowledge it as they reached the edge of the shield… and shot right through it.
In an instant, the drop in temperature hit all of them, the comfortable climate from within the empire’s magical bounds replaced by a blast of icy wind.
Several bright flashes of light shone from within the group. The Streak twins, High Winds, Squall, and Shine Struck as well as everypony else sporting a crystalized appearance all reverted to their normal look.
Dash’s goggles fogged up instantly as the built up heat turned to a chilly cold. She wiped them down with her arm quickly and set her gaze forward, the grassy plains zipping by below them now covered in snow, and a light flurry of snowflakes bouncing off the surface of her goggles.
She began to beat her wings as ordered, everypony else doing the same as they stayed low and kept up their pace. They reached the edge of the plains and began flying along the base edges of the eastern mountain ranges. The rocky terrain rife with rocks and boulders forced their path to wind, but they did not pull up, shifting and turning as a group as they continued on their path.
Eventually, they took a hard left, turning north just as Spitfire described in her details before the drill. It was only a matter of time before they hit the forest now… and Dash felt a fire light in her heart.
This was it… it was happening… and she was ready. There was no going back. There was plenty of cushion for Twilight’s timing of the next phase as well. Her confidence was high, just the way she wanted it.
“To our left,” Fleetfoot suddenly spoke up calmly, prompting Spitfire and several others to look, including Dash.
“Perfect timing,” Spitfire said with a nod as Dash spotted a small group approaching. Purple suits and red headbands. The Renegades had caught up with them, flying low altitude as well as they slowly veered towards the Wonderbolts and formed up with them. Descent was in front with Lightning Dust and three other former Shadowbolts behind him. Blazetail, Flashwind, and the other leading Wonderbolt veterans were in tow, keeping up behind. Even Bomber was moving pretty swiftly… though eventually Dash noticed that Valkyrie and Steady Wing were pushing him from behind.
There were fifteen of them, bringing their total numbers up to forty four.
The Wonderbolts didn’t lose a step, continuing on course as the Renegades matched their pace. Descent made his way forward and formed up beside Spitfire.
“Any speed bumps on your way out?” Spitfire asked him while keeping her eyes forward.
“No. We slipped out unnoticed,” Descent replied with a nod, keeping his eyes forward as well.
“Good. Astral’s waiting for us, right?”
“I dispatched him and his squad back to the forest right after we met with Luna,” Descent explained. “It was close, they were almost on their way back out, but we caught them in time. They’ll be there and will have an update for us when we arrive.”
“Excellent,” Spitfire said with a quick smirk.
From a little ways back into the group, Dash had her ears turned to listen in. Nothing said was of much interest, but it didn’t hurt to be sure. But as the two up front finished speaking, a sharp movement beside her caught her attention. Dash glanced to her left to see Matteo looking over his shoulder.
“Huh? Matty?” Dash spoke up in confusion.
“NO CHATTER, DASH!” Spitfire barked from up front. “EYES FORWARD!”
“Captain!” Matteo suddenly yelled out despite the order. “We are being followed!”
“What?!” Spitfire looked over her shoulder as did everypony else as they kept moving.
There was something… or somepony approaching at high speed. And before any of them could get a good read on who it was, the pursuer shot up right passed all of them before slowing their pace and slowly backing up towards them.
It was a Renegade… and once they were close enough it only took Descent a second to notice who it was.
Purple fur… Lavender streaks in the mane…
“St…Starry Skies?!” Descent exclaimed in surprise as Starry formed up beside him and joined the formation. She was in her normal form, just as the others with crystal pony genes were. She kept her eyes forward, a slightly scrunched look on her face as she seemed to try and ignore Descent.
“Where the hell have you been?!” Descent demanded, his voice a mixture of anger and worry. He got no response. Descent waited a few seconds, but flattened his brow as she remained silent. “Answer me.”
“No.” she finally spoke.
“Starry…” Descent growled quietly.
“Save your damn breath!” she snapped at him sharply as she finally glanced at him. “I’m not here to talk about anything. And I know what our mission is, so shut up!”
Descent blinked, one of his glaring eyelids twitching as he held back the urge to retort, it just didn’t seem worth it. He stared at her for another moment before turning his head to glance at Spitfire.
“What are you looking at me for?” Spitfire asked while lifting an eyebrow.
“Hmph…” Descent harrumphed as he turned his head back to Starry. “Fine…” he grumbled before leaving it be and refocusing.
Forty-five now with Starry… Dash was curious where she had been too, but now wasn’t the time to think about it. It wasn’t like her presence changed any of her own plans so it was nothing more than an addition to the force she was trying to sneak under.
“Shift west!” Spitfire yelled out, catching Dash’s attention.
The forest was in view. They reached the edge of it quickly and slowly turned to fly parallel with it at least forty yards out.
The crystal forest… Dash finally got to see it up close. Cadence wasn’t kidding, it really was quite a sight. All of the trees looked like, well, crystal. Both branches and leaves had this aesthetic, but it was hard to see much of the branches due to the incredibly thick foliage and brush. The trees themselves, from what she could tell, looked to be all unique, all varying in shape and resemblance to trees from around Equestria from one to the next. It extended for miles, so far that Dash could not see the other end of it as she looked across its expanse, the only indication that it ended at all were the mountains in the distance. The reach of the brush rose as it went further in, the trees becoming larger and almost giving it the appearance of a dome, it made her wonder just how large some of the trees were at the center.
But one thing was for sure, Shining Armor was spot on about it being a nightmare for a scout. Dash was good at picking out fine details of things as she flew over them, but she could not, for the life of her, see any opening or safe passage into the forest from above. If the branches were as sharp and dangerous as Shining claimed, trying to dive in from above was a one way ticket to be shredded to pieces. If they were going to go in, they would be grounded, or at least forced to fly very low. And if the trees had the reflective magical properties Cadence claimed… then this really was a smart move by Sombra. Everything about it was to his advantage over them.
“There’s Astral,” Descent spoke up as they shot along the outer edge of the forest, pointing ahead. Dash faced forward, quickly reacting as Spitfire directed them towards Astral. The whole group slowed down and touched down as they came within twenty yards, skidding through the snow to a halt.
Astral waved to them as they approached quickly on hoof. His odd, blue, dragon winged changeling squad mate was standing with him, the rest of the squad a few paces into the forest and keeping watch within.
“Anything to report?” Descent asked, wasting no time as the group stopped before Astral.
“He’s still in there,” Astral replied simply.
“Location?” Descent went on.
“He’s been in the center of the forest since we reported last time. Hasn’t moved from the general spot. Search me as to why, he looks like he’s there to stay,” Astral pointed up. “I’m sure you noticed the forest reaches further upward near the center?”
“Yes,” Descent nodded, exchanging a glance with Spitfire.
“The further you go in, the more the forest opens up and the larger the trees become. There’s a very large clearing in the dead center. I can’t give an exact number, but the forest overhang is at least forty to fifty yards high. There’s a small lake, or pond, whatever you’d call it there too. That’s where he is.” Astral gave the full details.
“Hmm…” Descent nodded again. “We’ll keep that in mind. Good work.”
“Also, don’t bet on being able to sneak up on him,” Astral suddenly added and snorted. “He caught us.”
“Wh…what?!” Descent shook his head out and his eyes widened. His quick, shocked reaction catching Dash’s attention. The rest of the Renegades present looked shocked as well. Spitfire lifted an eyebrow at Descent’s reaction, wondering what the fuss was about. “He… spotted you? With cover like this?” Descent motioned to the forest.
Astral rolled his eyes and grunted angrily, as if the fact hurt his pride a little. He said nothing though, instead looking to his squad mate beside him.
“You tell him, Talon,” Astral grumbled. “I’m still pissed about it.”
“Uh…” Talon looked back and forth, all eyes landing on the changeling. “Well, he… definitely has unnatural senses,” he began in his peculiar echoing tone of voice. “We were using our standard covert methods to keep an eye on him, and he saw right through it even though he appeared to not be paying attention to his surroundings. During our last check, I was disguised as a rock on the edge of the lake while the others took up positions at least ten yards into the forest from the clearing. Less than five minutes after I got into position he looked directly at me and told me to stop sneaking around… adding that went for ‘the rest of my friends’ too. I was out of there as fast as I could move… and the rest made tracks right behind me. He didn’t follow us, but I think it’s safe to say our cover is blown… if we really ever had any to begin with.”
“I’m…” Descent blinked. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” he commented, turning to Astral. “I’m not so sure you should be writing this up as a blemish on your record, Astral. What we’re dealing with here isn’t normal in any sense.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it…” Astral sighed as he kept his eyes averted. “Anyway,” he waved a hoof while he remained faced away. “That was about an hour ago. If he hasn’t moved, he’ll still be in the heart of the forest.”
Descent chuckled briefly at Astral’s disdain for even the slightest slip up, but quickly got serious.
“Report back to the others,” he ordered. “Let them know we have entered the forest and to be ready to move at any sign of trouble or movement by the Empire’s forces.”
Astral didn’t say anything or even look at Descent.
“Round up! We’re heading out!” he yelled out, the other members of his scout team emerging and joining him as they broke into a canter, spread their wings, and lifted off, heading back to the Empire.
Dash watched them leave… and swallowed as she slowly turned to face the rest. But none of them were looking at her. Everypony was staring into the forest.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Spitfire said casually as she started walking. “Let’s get a move on,” she added as her pace slowly picked up to a fast trot. One by one, the Wonderbolts followed behind her. The Renegades took a few steps, but stopped when Descent didn’t move. Dash paused, her Squad stopping with her as she looked over her shoulder at them.
“So are you going to tell me where you were?” Descent was facing Starry. She scrunched her face up.
“Are you deaf or something? I said NO!” she spat at him as she started moving past him. But then she was halted in place as he reached back and grabbed her shoulder.
“Why?” he asked, keeping his tone controlled. Starry tipped her head down and started shaking, a low growl escaping her throat. But instead of exploding, she took a deep breath and exhaled.
“None of your business…” she said in a hushed tone as she shook her shoulder free and began moving after the Wonderbolts. Dash watched as she approached and started passing by, but she paused and shot a glare at Dash. “The fuck are you looking at?”
Dash blinked and furrowed her brow as Starry moved on, the Renegades and Descent eventually moving as well.
“Sheesh, she’s got her ass cheeks clenched harder than usual…” Dash commented as she made a head motion to her squad. “C’mon…” she said casually as she broke into a canter, hoping to catch up with the Wonderbolts instead of being stuck behind with the Renegades.
But it took longer than expected to catch up. Not because they were moving too quickly though. Dash was having a hard time not staring in absolute awe at her surroundings as she moved into the Crystal Forest.
She already recalled Cadance’s words once. But inside the forest? ‘Most beautiful sight in Equestria’ seemed like an understatement.
It was so… awesome.
Everything was made of shimmering blue crystal. EVERYTHING. The trees, the leaves, even the grass. There wasn’t much room for the light flurry of snow to get through the thick canopy. Only a few flakes managed to slip through at a time so there was barely any sign of snow. Not that it would be noticeable with all the crystal surfaces shimmering everywhere. Though it was strange, walking through the crystallized grass felt no different than walking through normal grass, its blue appearance was only cosmetic? It looked as hard as a rock. Dash wondered if the leaves were the same, crystal in appearance but like ordinary leaves to the touch. Though one thing was for certain. The trees were definitely rock hard. She even tapped a hoof on one as she passed out of curiosity. Her hoof made a loud CLACK sound as it rapped against the surface. That wasn’t the sound of wood. It was solid, and probably just as dense. That doubly reinforced the reason they couldn’t fly in from above. The branches of the trees were thickly packed and tangled together overhead, and they looked razor sharp. Just like from outside, where the trees appeared to resemble those from all over, it was even more apparent within the forest. All the trunks were hard crystal, but all were shaped different ways.
More spectacular than anything else though was the elegant shimmer that surrounded them as any small sliver of light that touched the surfaces of the trees and leaves bounced in every direction. It caused a beautiful sparkling effect that never ceased. The luminosity of every surface rendered the thick overhang moot, like the forest itself made its own light that kept the forest floor bright even once the sun went down.
Dash almost didn’t notice when she finally caught up to the Wonderbolts, she was too enthralled with what she was seeing. She clearly wasn’t the only one either. The rest of the Wonderbolts were taking in the sight as well as they moved and weaved, stepping over crystal roots and watching as a freshly loosed crystal leaves fluttered to the ground.
“Everypony focus please,” Spitfire spoke up as they kept moving, the density of the trees appearing to gradually open as they kept on. “I know it’s a sight, but if you want to gawk you can come back and do it later,” Spitfire ordered, but kept her tone serious.
Dash swallowed and did as she was told, noticing the slow expanse of the available space around them. It was just as Astral said, the further they moved in, the more open it became. They were still in a ‘cramped’ part of the forest at least by movement standards, but it was noticeable… they definitely still had a ways to go before they reached anything resembling the ‘open air’ Astral had described. She wondered how much farther they—
“Ah!” Dash suddenly gasped and came to a halt, placing a hoof over her chest as she felt a jolt run through her body.
Everypony came to a halt, Spitfire abruptly turning before anypony else could even glance over their shoulder. Though there wasn’t an immediate look of an incoming hush and orders to keep moving. Because the moment Spitfire saw Dash’s hoof on her chest, she stepped through the group so quickly that she almost knocked over Fleetfoot and Blaze.
“Dash?” she said as the rest moved out of her way to let her through. “What is it?” she asked as she forced her way right into Dash’s personal space and grabbed her by the shoulder. “Is it Soarin? What’s wrong?”
“Hey, whoa!” Dash leaned back and put a hoof up. “No, nothing is wrong, I just…” she looked down and blinked.
“Just what?” Spitfire pressed.
“I just haven’t felt this for a few days is all…” Dash explained as she rubbed her hoof against her chest. “This is usually normal, a simple warmth. But it’s been gone since… Soarin lost control and left us.”
Spitfire’s eyes widened slightly.
“So that means…?” Spitfire tipped her head.
“It means he’s close,” Dash nodded. “He’s definitely here.”
“Feel anything else?” Spitfire asked again, even though Dash already made it clear, but Dash thought about it for a moment.
“No, but… now that you mention it, there has barely been any problems with the connection as of late.”
“What do you mean?” Spitfire asked, Dash catching her attention.
“Remember when we lost him briefly? When he crashed into the mountains and damaged his horn?” Dash explained as Descent and the Renegades caught up.
“What’s the hold u—,”
“Go on,” Spitfire spoke over Descent.
“I was in pain very often, his pain from the damaged horn and his magic going haywire shooting through me too,” Dash shook her head. “Despite where he is right now? I haven’t felt any pain… not one bit.”
“Huh?” Spitfire perked up, several of the Wonderbolts behind her catching on as well. “What does that mean?” Spitfire asked… again. Dash held her tongue at how hard Spitfire was poking at her. She knew why, but… she was the one who just told them to focus and she wasn’t really practicing what she preached.
“Hell if I know,” Dash shrugged. “But…” she stared at her chest and gently stroked over the center of it. “Assuming our connection is still the same… it means he is at ease, and not in pain.” She looked up at Spitfire. “That’s… really all I can say.”
Spitfire just stared for a few moments before looking to the side.
“Well… if anything that lends itself to the very reason we’re going out of our way to do this. If he isn’t killing Soarin, or if Soarin is strong enough to still be in there.” She turned and faced the rest. “More importantly… You feeling this means he’s still here. Let’s move,” she ordered, not bothering to wait for any response as she moved right to the front of the group and kept on, the rest slowly picking up to follow.
Dash kept her eyes on Spitfire as she started moving as well with the Renegades in tow. There was no sign at all that Spitfire had any suspicion of her. That whole exchange confirmed it, or at least appeared to. She was laser focused on Soarin, prying at her the moment something related to Soarin came up.
Dash’s eyes drifted to Storm walking a little ways ahead of her with Macho, Lead Runner, and Point Dex. He had no readable expression on his face. The goggles kind of blocked her view of it, and he was turned away from her, but still… it looked neutral. He hadn’t blabbed yet, so she hoped it would stay that way. Unless he was waiting for the right moment. Part of her felt bad that she was doubting him so much, but she created this speed bump in her plan, so she had to own it and keep an eye on it.
“Spitty, have you noticed something?” Fleetfoot spoke up as they kept moving, causing Dash to refocus.
“Hm?” Spitfire hummed, not breaking her forward gaze.
“Where the hell are all the animals?” Fleetfoot asked.
“Animals?” Spitfire lifted an eyebrow, but kept her eyes forward.
“You know, wildlife,” Fleetfoot elaborated. “This is a forest. But I haven’t seen a single wild animal.”
Dash blinked and glanced about. The amount of space they had to move was increasing further, giving them more room to maneuver and making their path around trees less winding. But with the less claustrophobic surroundings, the forest began to feel… empty. Fleetfoot was right, it was a bit eerie that there seemed to be nothing despite the enticing beauty of the scenery.
“Cadence said this is a unique forest,” Spitfire suggested with a shrug. “Maybe it doesn’t have any animals.”
“I saw plenty of birds flying over it while we were gliding in,” Fleetfoot pointed out. “And I’m sure I saw some deer outside the forest—.”
“I don’t know Fleet, it’s not really important,” Spitfire cut her off abruptly and a bit sharply.
“Okay, okay…” Fleetfoot huffed. Spitfire’s ears drooped.
“Sorry,” she apologized. “I just want everypony to stay focused,” she said while finally glancing at Fleetfoot, receiving a slightly pouty look from her as they made eye contact. Dash scrunched her face but held her tongue. Yeah, focused… just like she was a moment ago.
“It is a little odd,” Descent spoke up as he made his way forward. “Perhaps Sombra’s presence here scared them away?” he thought out loud as his eyes shifted about the passing radiant trees.
“Who knows?” Spitfire shook her head. “But enough, let’s please just—”
Her pace suddenly slowed as she looked around. The rest slowed their pace with her, all looking about.
“Huh?” Dash blinked as she found herself doing the same.
The trees… the leaves… everything. They were suddenly glimmering slightly brighter. Some of the trees had a subtle, pulsing glow of white and blue light emanating from them.
“What’s this?” Spitfire said to herself as they all looked around.
Dash’s eyes widened as her hoof went to her chest again. The warmth within her was growing stronger.
“We’re getting close,” she spoke up, everypony glancing back at her. She looked up and nodded. “Soarin is near… I can feel it,” she said as she felt the heat.
“Then this glow…?” Spitfire said as she began walking again, slowing the pace down as she and the rest kept looking around at the odd effects of the light against the trees.
“Do you think it’s reacting to him? His powerful aura?” Descent suggested. Spitfire shook her head.
“Let’s just say yes…” she said with a sigh, shaking her head out. “With all the ridiculous magic and crap we’ve been exposed to recently I think that’s a safe bet,” she said with some slight sarcasm. “But let’s slow down a bit,” she suggested even though they already had. “The density of the forest is widening… Based on Astral’s intel, I’m guessing we’re near.” She turned and looked at everypony. “From this point on… no chatter. Let’s move quietly.”
Everypony nodded in agreement, and all lips shut tight.
They continued on, the clearing growing wider and wider, the trees becoming larger and larger. Soon the trunks of the trees they were passing were enormous… the size of great greenwood trees only found near the Griffon Empire. They were at least five to ten yards in diameter, branches starting high above before becoming the same tangled mess they were around the rest of the forest. They had enough room to fly if they wanted to now, but it still wasn’t ideal.
But despite the more open air of the forest floor this far in, now they were walking around massive crystal tree roots of the trees that jutted out from the ground. Some were so large and lifted so high that they were able to walk underneath them like an arch. The trees had become larger still, now resembling enormous, hulking trees Dash never knew existed. She began to feel so small, as she was sure the rest did as well. The trees had become so large that they felt like they were in a different world, one populated by giants as she felt like an ant next to the monolithic crystal trunks. Not even the greenwoods in the griffon empire were this large… they were up to twenty yards from end to end and the roots reaching out from the base were larger than a house.
And with the size, came a more intense glow, the glare of the light bouncing off the incredibly large surfaces making the surroundings seem even more luminous than it already was. Their eyes had to fight to adjust, the lights glowing from and bouncing off of every crystal surface was causing the illumination of the area to constantly grow bright and dark in uneven, pulsing patterns as if they were in a cave full of glinting gemstones of all the same color.
But they forged on… and as they did, Dash felt the feeling of warmth in her chest grow and grow as they moved.
He was here…
Soarin was here…
And he was very close.
Then Spitfire suddenly came to an abrupt halt and threw out a hoof to her side.
Everypony stopped and froze in place, not moving a muscle. Spitfire leaned to her right, extending her neck as far as it could go as she looked over a root that was about ten yards in front of them.
Everypony else followed her eyes… there was something strange ahead.
Most of the glowing effects that had been battering them as they moved inward were a mixture of blue and white… but ahead, past the tree and large roots that was directly ahead of them, the glow was only white and it wasn’t pulsing. It was rising up into the air and appeared gentler than the shimmering of the crystal surfaces. It was as if something beyond the tree was causing it.
Spitfire looked over her shoulder, her eyes shifting among the group. She put a hoof to her mouth, making a hushing motion that was the silent signal for the Wonderbolts to go full stealth. The Wonderbolt veterans recognized it too, and Descent and the Shadowbolt Renegades caught on quickly.
They moved very slowly. Each step taking two to three seconds to assure their hooves gingerly touched the ground without making a sound against the ground. The ten yards between them and the tree in question felt like it was miles away as they approached it at the slowest and quietest pace they could manage.
Dash felt short on breath, the anticipation killing her. She could feel it… she knew it. He was here… he was so close it felt like she could reach out and touch him.
They finally reached the tree. Spitfire held out a hoof and they all stopped. She turned and pointed at Fleetfoot first then pointed at her side. Fleetfoot nodded and quietly slid up beside her. Spitfire pointed at the rest and made a motion towards her plot, a silent signal for the Wonderbolts to follow right behind her and do exactly as she did.
Spitfire and Fleetfoot stood right up against the tree, pressing their sides to the trunk, Fleetfoot standing no less than a yard behind Spitfire as they shuffled along. The rest of the Wonderbolts followed, pairing up and moving along the trunk.
Dash quickly and subtly pushed herself forward, unintentionally leaving her squad at the back of the group as she ended up with Shine Struck at her side. She was four pairs back from Spitfire and Fleetfoot, slowly moving along.
As Spitfire and Fleetfoot neared a root extending out from the tree that was on the smaller side, but at the perfect height for cover. She made a sideways arcing motion with her hoof, directing Fleetfoot to get in front of her and move further forward towards the smaller end of the root. She pointed to the groups behind them and made a sweeping motion with her arm slightly extended. Air Mach and Fire streak nodded, leading the rest of the pairs as they lowered themselves and slid along, taking up positions three yards from the root and making sure they stayed behind it, leaving Spitfire and Fleetfoot as the only two up against it.
Spitfire waited until five pairs were in position and then held her hoof out, stopping the rest where they were behind the tree. Descent was with Starry at the front of the pairs still behind the tree. He furrowed his brow and made a harsh head motion towards Spitfire, as if signaling her to get on with it already.
Spitfire ignored him, giving a nod to Fleetfoot as the two of them faced the root and placed their hooves on it, slowly lifting themselves up to peer over.
But as Dash sat low with the five pairs behind them… she knew…
Spitfire and Fleetfoot were about to see it too… but she already knew what they were going to see… because she could feel it.
Feel him.
The two slowly peered over the root… and squinted a little as they were met with a gentle white glow.
It was just as Astral said… a body of water, somewhere between the size of a lake and a pond surrounded by the largest trees in the forest.
And in the center of the lake… standing on the surface of the water…
Was Soarin.
---To Be Continued---
Art in this chapter by: Foxenawolf
And so it begins...
Been a while since i've had a chapter this short, but that was the plan. The Arc 3 finale will be coming out in parts to make updates faster and make the word count less of a strain on the readers.
Chapter 160 is already outlined. So i just have to get started on it. I will detail this in a blog later, but i have a whole week off from work for the holidays starting tomorrow and im not sure if I will be very productive during it (gotta let my brain rest). So i likely won[t be starting on chapter 160 for a week. It's probably the smallest snipped from the greater outline for the arc three finale though, so it wont be too detrimental.
And just a reminder... this is NOT the end of PTH we're approaching here. A lot of people have been confused by what i mean when i say 'arc three finale'. I don't mean arc three as in the third story (PTH) i mean the arc of PTH that began at chapter 71. (Jesus this has been a long arc. I stand by my comments that it should have been split in half around chapter 100) There is still one more whole story arc planed after this. So no, PTH is NOT ending, we've got a ways to go still 
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!
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HOLY SHIT (I like to look at the pictures before reading them, I wish I could read this fast) IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!! Now I'm off to actually read it hahah!
GODDAMN this story is long!!! and you have 2 prequels what the hell?
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ahhh noooooooooooo dont do that, the pictures are placed within the text to enhance the reading experience, it will often spoil the story flow if you look at the pictures first
9360599
So it was an accident? 
first was just a bunch of messy random ideas thrown around.It was popular so i wrote a sequel for a contest when the opportunity came up. The second was rushed, but i won the contest and then decided to make a third (this one) and actually put a concentrated effort into it... but as you can see, my planning phase didn't account for how much space the ideas would ultimately take up... resulting in this LOOOOOOOOOOOONG fic
A little unclear about this. Is the second "over his shoulder" supposed to be there?
Now that Estee has finished Triptych this is the oldest incomplete story that I am following that is still updating.
I remember The Good Old Days when you updated every week
NONONONONO THAT CAN'T END THERE WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS LIKE YOU HAVE ME WITH JESUSCHRIST IN THE MOUTH LIKE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(The fuck, Sombra, are you Jesus or what?)
aarrghh! it ended!!! *eyetwitch* and just when i was getting my fix.
damnit, i hate cliffhangers. ok people, binge read. 4th time from the top! chapter one...again...
9360627
, but I can tell you I LOVED THIS CHAPTER!! Can't wait for the next one and I won't look at the pictures first next time 
Learned that the hard way
This will prove to be an interesting conversation. Now its just a matter of when Murphy's Law comes into effect: it will go wrong, and it will go wrong at the worst possible time.
this feels like one of the bigger "I NEED MOAR" cliffhangers you've achieved with this story, also curious that while it's in great detail and emotion, not all too much happens in these near 13000 words. of course that could still be me want MOAR heh heh
Yea the so called gods seem to care more about their own problems then their subjects problems. Like the enemy that the Wonderbolts are facing actually fears Sombra and he could be a useful ally. But Luna clearly is holding onto the past and some farce of a image of herself.
9360756
OMG I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO DID THAT LMAO
Hoo boy. This is a masterpiece!
Glad that we're not approaching the end to Piercing the Heavens. This has got to be my favourite fanfiction of all time.
...WHAT?!?!?!
Dang this is a long Fanfic.
Hello next Tolkien.
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Fun thing, I do just the opposite. In the past I used to read this in public places and i felt uncomfortable looking at pony pictures in public so I always scrolled right through them effectively never looking at the pictures. It got so ingrained that I still rarely look at any of these pictures for more then 1-2 sec.
"speck"
She's right, things are so hopelessly convoluted that being loyal to one party requires betraying another. Could use a comma in between those two bolded words, the sentence kinda feels like a run-on.
comma between bold words.
?
Skittles is a better nickname. I miss Silver.
I wonder if she's a double agent, working for Nightshade or Kayn Ost. Probably crazy but it's pretty suspicious she won't say anything, even for a grumpy and stoic character like Starry.
"awe at her"
Its blue crystalline appearance was only cosmetic, although it looked as hard as a rock.
That sounds so pretty, I bet I could draw that. I wonder what would happen if you took a prism in there. Or one of those rainbow spinning light things.
I read that as Fluttershy.
No need to capitalize.
Why is he bowing down to them?
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Have you been paying attention at all? :) This whole story is Murphy's Law. They have a well-thought out plan, then something unexpectedly goes horribly wrong and everyone gets stuck in deep shit.
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I was thinking that too. . . . When Spitfire talked about THE TRUTH I immediately pictured a bunch of door-to-door missionaries.
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Twilight, while training under Zecora, stood, STOOD on water, WHILE LEVITATING three water orbs...
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I was joking 
Oh yeah, that I know
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Do you plan on rewriting/editing the prequels once you finish writing PTH?
I’ve said it before, but you could totally get this published if you make sure it’s totally error-free. Some of the more famous pony fanfics have been published as actual print books before, like Past Sins. I’m not sure how the copyright works on that (my area of experience is fanart, not fanfiction). There’s a group based in Russia that does printings of Pony books, in English and in Russian. You’d probably have to split PTH into several books but I would totally buy all of them. :)
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2018/07/ministry-of-image-fanfiction-book.html?m=1
Can't wait to see what kind of garbage Sombra is gonna feed them
Hum...until this point in the chapter i didn't have much to say. But this motherfuker decides to say stupid shit for the sake of it. I really couldn't care less about a character in this story, it still baffles me why you even kept him around for so long Wind. I rather sympathize with Luna, Rapidfire and even Discord( if he pulls his head out of his ass) than this dude.
Wind, this story may be more around Rainbow, Soarin, Silver and whatnot. But after nearly two million words I'm confident to say your best character is Spitfire by a far margin.
And...this kinda made me facepalm so hard. Tunnel vision is a curse. Also wtf Spitfire, if Dash is asking something you really should consider that something important is going on. I don't think you fly with your mouth anyways. Keeping 360 cover is a must if you're in a dangerous environment.
Whaaaa? Fuck you. I don't even know if I will be alive after all this crazy stuff ends! I rather gawk now.' Thought some random pony.
Also, Wonderbolts never die? Really? I think the casualty rate is around six Wonderbolts and five renegades if I remember correctly.
So in the end they found Soarin, apparently more like Soarin himself than some freak of nature ancient god-like entity. I'm pretty sure something very meaningful happened before they got there, but since that happened 'off-screen' who knows what was said.
This chapter was alright. Couldn't think of much to say, pieces are set and moving slowly. A ton yet to be discovered. Happy New Year btw. Best wishes.
Sup Calm. I know I'm a little tardy to the party here and there IS a reason why. I have a confession to make...
...
...my family is more important to me than your story.
(pulls bread gun out)
I'M READY FOR YOU TWISTER. HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT YA DAMN LIME GREEN SON OF A BITCH!!!
(great chapter, keep up the good work ya bastard
)
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Oops, thats an error. Thanks.
I used to have a heck of a lot more free time and no job
9360693
I warned the chapters would be shorter and broken up
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I'm just a cliffy troll
9360899
It wouldn't be fun if everything went right
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When i intentionally shorten chapters like this, that will happen. Cut offs will tend to be in the places you want them the least for maximum effect
9361021
High time they got a dose of their own medicine
9362071
Haha thank you
Yeah we still have quite a ways to go. This may seem like a conclusive sequence, but there's still so many pieces to this story that have not been addressed or have lingering questions. 
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9362296
You can call me Le Accidental Longfic Man
9362845
If it is, was unintentional, i've only seen avengers 1 and 2 (And Civil war if that kind of counts)
9363352
NAY KOST
9363730
Thanks for those!
And oops... the HR is what i put in the word document to mark where i will have Horizontal rule lines later. I missed that one when transferring it to the site, apparently.
9365017
He's a treasure
9368422
He prefers to recycle
9367639
It's always a thought but i only have so much time to spend on this stuff as is. As for publishing it, i never really intended to. Though in the future i intend to write my own original fantasy novel using the same character personalities and many of the same concepts as this story, only not as ponies.
Maybe, kinda, sorta?
So this story is is mostly a 'trial run' of ideas, concepts, and characters i hope to use again as a full blown serious attempt at a novel as opposed to a fun past time.
9368559
There was no way that wasn't happening
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The chapter/arc finale title is more a reference to the old Wonderbolt saying both Blizzard and Silver have used than an indication of how things have gone
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If you want a real treat, now that you've gotten past chapter 91, go back and reread the cafeteria conversation between Storm and Matteo in chapter 23...
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You fool! Twister never goes anywhere without his FISH TACO CANNON!
DEAR LORD HE HAS IT LOADED WITH LAST WEEKS LAUNDRY!!!!
WE'RE ALL OUT OF PLYWOOD TO STOP HIM! RUN! OUR ONLY HOPE NOW IS AN UNLIMITED DATA PLAN FROM BED BATH AND BEYOND!!!!!!
(Thanks
)
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9382897
yeah that works
9386166
This chapter is far and away the best piece of writing i've ever managed in my life. Since i've hit this point in the story i haven't been satisfied with anything since, but i don't feel like im suddenly failing, it's just this part worked out so perfectly. It's just going to be hard to top.
Glad you got to this point, the reaction i got from everyone to this chapter was easily my most memorable experience from my time writing here
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Everything with Silver in this chapter was just me being a massive troll
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I havent seen many action movies as of late.