Chapter 181: Hidden Beauty
MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 181: Hidden Beauty
CLANG
Fleetfoot nearly threw the barbell backwards into the rack, her arms slumping down at her sides. She gasped and wheezed for air as her wings unfolded and hung past her back, pressed to the padded bench press.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…” she wailed as she tried to catch her breath.
“Alright, that’ll do it for this workout,” Spitfire lifted a clipboard in her hoof and looked it over, stopping briefly to wipe sweat from her forehead with a towel after a few droplets dripped onto the paper.
“Rggghh…” Wave grunted, sitting on the floor nearby, reaching an arm up to grab his opposite shoulder and move his head around. “Damn…” He twitched, his towel slipping of his shoulders and falling to the floor.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…” Fleetfoot whined again as she slowly turned over on the bench.
“Good… good…” Spitfire checked off boxes on the clipboard. “Hit that mark, mmhmm…” she nodded as she spoke to herself.
She looked up at both Wave and Fleetfoot, paying little attention to how tired they looked as she nodded with a satisfied smile.
It was the third week since the three of them started this training regimen. She was certain by now the owners of the ritzy health club near the Crystal Palace were beginning to worry about just how often the three of them were there per day. But they were the closest gym to the palace and… they had no idea exactly what they were doing.
“I can’t feel my chest… or my neck…” Wave sputtered as he tried to catch his breath.
“You’ll be fine after we hit the dew baths,” Spitfire casually replied as she continued to read over the clipboard.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…” Fleetfoot wailed again, now lying flat on her stomach with her arms and legs hanging off the sides of the bench.
“Sure, for a few hours,” Wave tried to stand up, but twitched and sat back down. “Then we’ll work out again and I’ll lose feeling again in a different spot. At this rate I might just break something.”
“It’s been three weeks, Wave. Have you come close to breaking something yet?” Spitfire looked up at him and smirked. “That’s why we’re using the baths.”
“It’s been three weeks and you still don’t look like this is taxing you at all,” Wave gave her a look. “It’s like you’re not even trying.”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…” Fleetfoot cried, still on the bench.
“Hey, I’ve been trying!” Spitfire gave him a slight pout. “Where do you think this sweat came from? I didn’t dunk water all over myself. Don’t forget you were out for a while, I’m in better shape and… well…” she looked off and chuckled awkwardly.
“And you’re Spitfire, heh… ow…” Wave grabbed his neck again and moved his head around.
“Yes, there’s that,” Spitfire stuck her tongue out a little, pinching her arms to her body and giving her shoulders a small shrug.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…”
“Fleet, stop that.” Spitfire finally turned to her and gave her a flat look.
“I’m gonna diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…” she wailed.
“I’ve lost track of how many times you’ve said that,” Spitfire pointed out.
“I mean it this tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!” Fleetfoot rolled to her side and fell off the bench, landing with a soft THUMP on the rubber gym floor at Spitfire’s hooves. She rolled onto her back and let her limbs and wings lie flat. “See? I’m dead.”
“Oh, suck it up,” Spitfire rolled her eyes as she tucked the clipboard under her wing and turned towards a nearby gym bag.
“Why are you trying to kill meeeeeeeeeeeeee, what did I do to deserve this torture and why am I going along with it because you’re my frieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeend?!” Fleetfoot kicked her legs into the air dramatically.
“Because I promised you it will be worth it… at least I hope,” Spitfire said the second part as quietly as she could. “We’re more than halfway done, just two more weeks to go so focus on that,” Spitfire suggested as she dug into the bag.
“I get what we’re trying to do,” Wave chimed in and sighed. “But are the dew baths enough? All this stress on our bodies can’t be good… can it?”
“Just hang in there for a little while longer, you’re both doing great,” Spitfire complimented them both, glancing over her shoulder at Fleetfoot. “Despite the whining.”
“Blow meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…” Fleetfoot’s voice weakened as she exhaled all the air out of her lungs.
“You’ll have to consult my half-sister for that,” Spitfire said casually as she heaved a large plastic bag filled with powder and three shaker cups all filled with water out of the bag.
Fleetfoot’s eyes stuck open wide. She slowly tipped her head to look at Spitfire as she scooped the powder into the water cups and shook them up.
“Oh gawd… Hold on, I have to pre-gag,” Fleetfoot groaned as she looked at the ceiling and stuck her tongue out.
“Again… suck it up,” Spitfire made her way back over to them, jamming one of the cups towards Fleetfoot. “And drink up.”
“Neh…” Fleetfoot grabbed the cup, but stayed on the floor as Spitfire hoofed the other one over to Wave.
“Ugh… fine…” Wave complained as well, cringing as he looked at the greyish brown contents.
“NEEEEHHHHHHHH…” Fleetfoot puffed her cheeks up and kept her tongue out as she sat up. “I hate this crap, it tastes like a loofa!”
Wave and Spitfire both stopped mid tipping the cups to their lips and blinked.
“How do you know what a loofa tastes like?” Wave asked, lifting an eyebrow.
“I was really drunk, okay?” Fleetfoot huffed, finally gripping the cup and slamming some of the contents down quickly, but she barely got halfway through it. “BLARGH! For real Spitty, how hard would it be to add just a tiny bit of sugar to this or something?!”
“Not very hard, but that’s not what your body needs right now. If you want this to be worth it, you’ll…” Spitfire looked down at the cup in her hand, swallowing and scrunching up her mouth. “Ugh… deal with it.” She took a deep breath before taking a big swig of her own, the insanely bland, grainy taste hitting her throat. She shuddered as she took a few gulps before lightly biting her tongue and shaking her head out. It wasn’t like she disagreed with Fleetfoot, but… this was part of it. A quick drink filled with powdered calories, carbs, and protein dumped into their systems the moment their bodies went into recovery mode post-intense training, then jumping into the dew tubs to accelerate the muscle recovery and repair process WHILE the body was in that mode WITH the quick portion of nutrients. It really sucked, there wasn’t anything fun about it… but she had to know if this worked. She wasn’t going to let a possible boon like this go untested.
She slammed down the rest while bearing the nasty taste the best she could, tossed the cup back into the bag, and turned to Fleetfoot and Wave. She nodded firmly while doing her best to not wince at the aftertaste and hoping the two couldn’t hear the angry grumbling noises coming from her stomach.
“Alright, on the double,” she tapped a hoof on the floor. “Finish those shakes, we need to hit the baths before our bodies have a chance to relax.”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaah…” Fleetfoot whined before throwing back what was left in her cup. “BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!” she fell over onto her back, dropping the cup next to her as she rocked back and forth.
“Come on Wave,” Spitfire made ahead motion at him as she slung the gym bag over her shoulder and moved towards Fleetfoot. “Help me peel miss drama queen off the floor.”
“Right, right…” Wave shuddered as he stood up and shook himself out, moving gingerly over to the two of them as his body twitched.
With some effort, they got Fleetfoot up and slowly made their way out of the gym, Spitfire resorting to hooking one of Fleetfoot’s arms with the strap of the gym bag to drag her along. But regardless, she continued to moan as they started the short walk down the street back to the Crystal Palace.
“Please just kill me…” Fleetfoot wheezed as she let her head hang back.
“Oh just stop it already, Fleet,” Spitfire huffed as she dragged her along, moving at a slowed pace for both her and Wave lagging slightly behind. “You’ve never whined about working out before.”
“I USUALLY have time to REST!” Fleetfoot smushed her head into Spitfire’s shoulder.
“You’re resting right now,” Spitfire nudged her head out of her fur. “Ten minutes in the tubs, then we eat, then ten more minutes in—”
“In the tubs,” Wave cut her off. “Then a two hour break, and then we hit the weights again.”
“Actually we’re doing flight sprint suicides after this, but at least somepony is paying attention,” Spitfire chuckled as Wave groaned at the thought.
“EAT?! Aaaaaaauuuuughhhh… I forgot about that…” Fleetfoot wailed.
“How could you forget that part?” Wave asked as he tried to keep pace. “That’s the part I dread the most every time.”
“I’m not even hungry!” Fleetfoot whined. “At this rate I’m gonna get FAT!”
“Given how much energy we’re burning every workout, I doubt it,” Spitfire clarified. “Three weeks in and none of us have packed on a single smidge of pudge from it, so either you eat for the energy or the workouts will be even harder. Think of it as a tradeoff.”
“My liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiife…” Fleetfoot’s voice cracked and faded out as they reached the Crystal palace.
Spitfire quickly dragged them both along, making their way through the palace halls to the cleric infirmary where the three dew baths were ready and waiting. The moment they came into view, Fleetfoot suddenly found the energy to move, reaching out towards her bath.
“Neh, Neh, NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH!!!!!” she made odd noises as she dragged herself towards her bath and pulled herself up, over, and in with a gentle splash into the faintly glowing blue crystal dew. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh… Ooooooooooooh…” Fleetfoot let herself sink in all the way up to her chin. Spitfire chuckling as the bath was all it took for Fleetfoot to stop complaining. “Feels so good…” Fleetfoot sighed. “At least this part is nice…”
“And after the second dip…” Spitfire slid into her tub, doing her best not to splash since the clerics were real stiff about wasting even a single drop. “You’ll feel good as new and you’ll wonder why you whined so much.”
“Can’t hear you, too busy turning to mush…” Fleetfoot cooed as her head sank into the dew, only her nose and mouth above the surface.
“Strange definition of ‘good as new’…” Wave said as he slid into his tub and leaned back.
“Oh, don’t you start with me now too,” Spitfire glanced over at him and pouted.
“Just being honest,” Wave shrugged as he sank in. “It makes the soreness and stiffness go away but… I can still feel it, you know what I mean? Built up fatigue, you can’t fix that with this medical magic.”
“Yeah, stress, I know. I’ve been paying attention.” Spitfire nodded. “That’s why we take a whole day off every three days.” She paused as a satisfying tingling feeling caressed her sore body. “Hmmm… just relax. This will all be worth it in the end.”
“If you say so,” Wave sighed and sank in a little.
“I hope,” Spitfire said very quietly to herself as she leaned back and slowly got lost in thought.
She couldn’t deny the complaints or the mild frustration of the other two. She was feeling it too, maybe a little less than them due to her natural physical ability, but she was sore… tight… tired… you name it. She was doing her best to just suck it up in a way to help motivate Wave and Fleet. They knew why they were doing it… well, at least Wave did. She had let him in on her reasons for the experiment before they started. Fleetfoot? She really wanted to surprise her with the possible results so she didn’t say anything besides, ‘we’re going to try something new’. Either way, they both had reason to complain, she didn’t exactly communicate how hard the training was going to be. Way harder than anything they had ever done before and likely against all known recommendations on how not to hurt oneself when working out. But one thing had already been proven. The dew baths were doing something because none of them had sustained any unintentional injuries yet. And given how hard she had them hitting the weights and doing all sorts of flight drills, Fleetfoot probably would’ve gotten hurt by now. She wasn’t built for the kind of punishment she was being put through, yet she was holding together. Spitfire was very wary of the risks, and after hoofing the line didn’t end poorly, she took steps further and it still didn’t end poorly. It was a good sign… but if it ended up all not working for one of them, or the results were minimal, this would be frustrating for all of them.
Spitfire shuddered lightly as the tingling caressed her body, the dew working its effects on her and feeling pretty damn good. It seemed like things were going right, the dew baths were definitely repairing ‘minor damage’ to the body like they were supposed to in the way it cleared their bodies of soreness, repaired muscle fibers, and had them ready to go again quickly. Hopefully... the other effect Spitfire was looking for would work just as well. If they could achieve fast hypertrophy, greatly strengthening their bodies in a relatively short time, then it would be a ticket to being very much prepared for the next time they were forced into combat.
But there was definitely a downside, no matter what result they got. The dew was repairing muscle and relieving soreness, but… there was no magic or medical medicine answer to stress. Wave was absolutely right to bring it up. Hard workouts four times a day was an incredibly reckless amount of stress to put on the body. The day off every three days was quickly implemented after they started, and that fourth day of each cycle was pretty much spent sleeping and eating. She wanted to power them up, but not at the expense of sanity.
Spitfire exhaled and slid a little deeper into the dew, relaxing while still pondering further.
The results… the results were what mattered. In particular for Wave and Fleetfoot. Wave was behind. It wasn’t by his choice, but it was frustrating to him regardless. She really wanted this to work for him. For Fleetfoot? Well… Spitfire hadn’t forgotten what happened between her and Nightshade and what she learned afterward. Fleetfoot had a personal desire to be more than she was, something she kept bottled up tight. If this worked for her and she gained some of that strength she felt like she needed to be a better leader, then it would do wonders for her confidence. Well… confidence in herself at least. If there was one thing Fleetfoot didn't lack, it was confidence in the broadest definition of the term.
As for herself?
Spitfire sat up a little, lifting up an arm. She examined it back and forth, reaching her other hoof over and running it up and down, over her shoulder and down her chest. She smirked and nodded as she tensed and relaxed her arm a few times.
This was why she was more concerned about the others, because for her... there had already been some noticeable change. But she wasn’t surprised because that’s just how her body was. She had taken measurements of all three of them at the start, earning several ‘you missed a spot’ jokes from Fleet when she did it to Wave. The reason being that she needed to have records and references to see if this method worked. Growth, even just a little bit, was generally a month’s long process. If they could produce measurable increases in the arms, shoulders, chest, legs, etc, even of small variety, then it would be a monumental success.
She had taken the liberty of keeping a close eye on herself. She hadn’t had the time or patience to premeasure herself, but she knew her body well and she could see a difference, even if it was small. Now she just had to wait and see if they benefitted, since they lacked her genetics. They were three weeks in, and she couldn’t quite tell if it was working for them, but she also wasn’t holding a magnifying glass to them. Though she was excited for the other half of the stretch. There was always an adjustment period when taking on a new training routine, and they were on the cusp of that general mark. They were either going to be hit by shocking sudden strength gains, or they were going to fall flat… somehow Spitfire believed there wouldn’t be an in between.
They had either found a new secret recipe for success… or they were wasting their time.
But assuming this worked in their favor and all three of them came out the other side with a trio of impressive physiques and abilities to show off, she’d sell the idea to the rest of the force and get as many of them as possible onto the same routine. The gains in strength mixed with high intensity combat training and this super recovery program would ensure that the next time they crossed paths with the Shadowbolts, they would never know what hit them. Of course that also depended on them having time to train… and she had yet to take note of the potential drawbacks related to how long it would take for full recovery and rest once the program is complete. Then there was the possibility of the Shadowbolts showing up while they were training, which wouldn’t be good.
But why worry about that right now? The thought of punching her hoof deep into Nightshade’s face with even more force than she could before was too satisfying to worry about the finer details.
But that being said… she had a feeling she wouldn’t need to worry about a sudden or incoming attack any time soon.
Why? Well…
“Spitfire.”
“Hm?” Spitfire’s ears twitched. She opened her eyes and turned in the tub to see Descent walking towards her with Lightning Dust waiting by the doorway. He was in uniform with his red goggles pulled down around his neck. “Oh, Descent. Long time no see.”
“I saw you two days ago,” Descent furrowed his brow.
“Two days…?” Spitfire blinked. “Oh, right, right…” she sighed and rested her arms on the side of the tub. “This routine’s been messing with my head. Whatever, what’s up?
“Before that…” Descent lifted an eyebrow. “Would you mind telling me exactly what you’re up to now?”
“What’s it to you?” Spitfire asked while slowly turning her head to rest her cheek on her arms.
“I can’t help but notice that two of your wingmates appear to be dead,” Descent said with a snort as he made a slight head motion past her. Spitfire flattened her ears and pouted.
“They’re not dead, they’re…” she glanced behind her.
Wave was up to his chin and looked like he was asleep with his mouth slightly agape.
Fleetfoot had her head tilted all the way back, her mouth was stuck open wide and she was making continuous, high-pitched squeaking noises.
Spitfire’s face went blank for a moment.
“They’re fine.” She quickly turned back around. “I’m just conducting a training experiment.”
“Pushing yourself and these two past the point of exhaustion seems counter-intuitive,” Descent commented.
“Hey,” Spitfire reached a hoof out of the tub. “Hey.” She reached it towards Descent. He reclined as she tried to tap his nose. “Hey… you asked me what I was doing, but I don’t recall asking for your opinion,” she said flatly.
Descent opened his mouth, said nothing, and closed his mouth before shrugging.
“Fair enough.”
“Look, it’s simple,” she paused and glanced at Wave and Fleetfoot. Both of them looked completely out, but she lowered her voice anyway. “The short version is… I have a hunch that this stuff,” she tapped the tub. “Might allow us to cut a few corners in training for a real fast increase in ability,” she whispered. “With sped up recovery time and intense nutrient packing I’m wondering if it can really speed up the process. I’m testing the theory now and in a week I’ll know if it works in general.”
Descent stared at her for several moments as she leaned back into the tub.
“That sounds like a reach…” he finally said, tipping his head and switching to his other eyebrow. “Did you say… in general?”
Spitfire smirked and sat up a little in her tub, pointing to her shoulder and arm.
“It’s worked a little bit for me in just three weeks, but I need to know if it works for those not so physically blessed,” she explained while making a head motion to the other two.
“Uh… what am I looking at?” Descent asked while staring at her arm. Her smirk flattened out in an instant.
“I’ve made some progress in just three weeks, didn’t you hear me? Can’t you tell?” she pointed to her arm and shoulder again.
“You look the same to me.”
“Oh fine, Mr. Slab-of-Beef Stallion. Just trust me, I did,” she sat back into her tub with a snort. “I’m not going to break out a tape measure right now to prove it to you.”
“If you say so,” Descent rolled his eyes. “Sounds like too much risk for potentially little reward if you ask me.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Spitfire lifted a hoof from the dew and rotated it. “Now what did you really come in here to talk about?”
“Right,” Descent nodded, getting right down to business. “We just finished our third wide range scouting sweep of the week.”
“And…?” she paused and blinked when Descent didn’t immediately keep going. “Am I safe to assume the answer is the same again?”
“You’d be right,” Descent nodded with a quiet, frustrated snort. “Still absolutely no sign of the Shadowbolts.”
“And that’s after doubling the scouting radius, right?” Spitfire asked.
“We tripled it this time and still found nothing. And they can’t just hide something as large as the Flying Fortress behind a curtain. Wherever they are, it’s nowhere even remotely close to the Empire.”
“Hrm…” Spitfire furrowed her brow. “I don’t know how to feel about that.”
“Me neither,” Descent shook his head. “There is no scenario where I’d consider that they’ve suddenly just given up. We also know they can move and teleport both themselves and the ship, but… we have no idea if there’s a range on that and they can’t make it through the shield anyway. They can mask the presence of the fortress with cloaking magic, but a distortion in the air that large is easily spotted with a good set of eyes at close to mid-range. Regardless, they are either somehow hiding the fortress extremely well… or they are causing trouble elsewhere.”
“Elsewhere… but where would they?” Spitfire rubbed her chin. “Maybe we should dispatch some scouts to other cities and towns?”
“Already have,” Descent gave a firm nod. “But I have also been keeping tabs of Equestria wide news reports and papers and there’s nothing out of the ordinary…” he paused and exhaled. “That is… at least near the back pages of the paper. The first six pages every day are either talking about the recent incident in the empire involving a large alicorn that Princess Cadence claims was simply a massive magic experiment gone haywire… and breathless reports of wondering what exactly happened weeks ago and then I have to wade through Canterlot news reports about ‘where did the Wonderbolts go or what exactly blew a massive hole in the ground where their compound used to be.”
“Pfff…” Spitfire snickered and shrugged. “Eh, not surprised. It’s been nice to get away from the media for a while. We’re used to being bothered by them.”
“It confounds me that you could ever stand such publicity,” Descent winced and shuddered.
“It comes with the job. We’re famous entertainers alongside being a fighting force, not dark shady mercenaries like you…” she trailed off, tipping to the left to look past him. She saw Lightning Dust, but after a glance to her left and right, she lifted an eyebrow.
Descent looked over his shoulder to see what she was looking at, but when he saw, he grunted and looked away, drawing Spitfire’s eye back to him.
“Where’s Starry?” she asked. Receiving only a louder grunt in response. “Huh? I thought you said she showed up again finally?” She waited, but Descent didn’t answer. “Shouldn’t have asked, huh?”
Descent released a long sigh, turning his side to her as he folded his ears back.
“She did, but… I only see her outside the Empire. She’ll show up when we’re outside the boundaries and join us in our sweeps, but she’ll refuse to talk to me or even look at me. Then she’ll up and vanish again as soon as we turn back.”
Spitfire blinked several times and tipped her head.
“Why the hell is she doing that?”
“Does it LOOK like I know?!” Descent suddenly snapped, harshly turning his eyes back to her. But Spitfire barely flinched, her eyes only widening slightly.
“Whoa there, buddy. Cool it,” she said flatly with a snort. Descent grunted and looked away again. “At least we know where she is now.”
“That doesn’t make it any better,” Descent grumbled.
“It lets you know that she’s stuck around at least.” Spitfire lifted and tipped a hoof towards him. “If for some reason she didn’t give a damn about you or the Renegades anymore, she’d be long gone.”
“Yeah, fine, sure…” Descent mumbled, turning his back to her with little strength in his response.
“Maybe…” Spitfire trailed off as Descent started walking away and didn’t look back. “Okay, bye I guess.” Spitfire rolled her eyes as she turned around and lay back into her tub.
But the moment she did, one of the clerics approached and pointed to a watch.
“That was ten minutes,” he said, pointing to the watch. Spitfire perked up and sat up quickly.
“Alright, wake up you two!” she yelled to Wave and Fleetfoot as she climbed out of the tub without hesitation, shook herself out, and grabbed a towel. “Food time!”
“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH…” Fleetfoot wailed.
Descent murmured and mumbled to himself in frustration all the way to the door. Lightning Dust stepped up as he approached, but froze and held still as she picked up his body language and slightly angry grunting.
“Let’s go,” Descent said sharply, making a single sweeping motion with his head in her general direction. Dust bit her lip, glancing back and forth and swallowing before she simply did as she was told, knowing better than to say anything based on his demeanor.
But as the two of them started down the hallway away from the cleric chamber, Dust’s ears stood up and she stopped, turning her head as she heard familiar voices nearby. After a few more steps, Descent noticed the clip-clop of Dust’s hooves stopped behind him. He paused and glanced over his shoulder, turning his eyes to follow hers.
“Dash!”
Descent’s ears twitched and he stood up straight as he heard a familiar voice. On cue, Rainbow Dash came around the corner, looking uninterested and a little miffed. A moment later, Storm Front appeared from the same hall, quickly trotting behind Dash.
“Come on, Dash!” he called again. “Hold up a second!”
“No.” Dash said sharply without turning around. Storm screeched to a halt. “Get lost.”
Fan art by: Lucky Autumn
Storm flinched hard, holding up a hoof towards her, but he couldn’t find anything to say as Dash continued on her way and turned another corner.
Descent and Dust stared as Storm sat down and stared at the floor, a look of dejection on his face.
“Wow…” Dust said simply with her eyes wide.
“Hrm…” Descent hummed, furrowing his brow. “Sit tight for a second,” he ordered, placing a hoof on Dust’s shoulder.
“Huh?” Dust blinked, turning to see a rekindled, serious look in Descent’s eyes. “Oh, uh… sure,” Dust nodded, sitting down to wait as Descent made his way over to Storm.
Storm didn’t seem to notice him as he drew near, sighing loudly as he stared at the floor and shook his head.
“Not much luck, it seems,” Descent spoke up as he stopped behind Storm. Storm instantly sat up straight and looked over his shoulder. Descent’s eyes twitched briefly as he took in the hopeless look on his son’s face.
“Dad…” Storm said, but immediately trailed off, looking back down at his hooves and sighing again. “I… don’t even know why I’m bothering. I’m guessing you haven’t tried to talk to her yet either?”
“I’ve been too busy,” Descent shook his head as he stepped up beside Storm. “But given how much time has passed, I was of the thought she’d come around by now, if only a little.”
“Well that hasn't happened,” Storm grunted.
“Clearly.”
“I just don’t get it!” Storm rapped a hoof on the floor, raising his voice as frustration bubbled over. “I screwed up! I get it! Why does she keep rubbing it in like I don’t know that?! It’s not like she’s never made mistakes!”
“Calm down,” Descent looked down at Storm, furrowing his brow.
“She put me in such a difficult position!” Storm turned to Descent and threw his arms outward. “What the hell was I supposed to do? Tuck my tail between my legs and act like nothing about it bothered me?!”
“STORM.” Descend grabbed him by the shoulder and pressed down. Storm flinched and froze. “CALM. DOWN.” He repeated in a much harsher tone. “Acting like this isn’t going to get you anywhere.”
Storm gritted his teeth and averted his eyes.
“S…Sorry…” he apologized weakly. “I’m just at the end of my rope. I’ve tried to let her know I want to make up for it, but she won’t even look at me and the rest of her squad is following along without question. They’ve chosen their side, everypony that was beside me when my whole journey started now want nothing to do with me.”
“Storm,” Descent lifted an eyebrow. “Your actions affected them as well, I don’t think ‘sides’ have anything to do with it.”
“I… well… yeah… but, I mean…” Storm struggled, rubbing a hoof on the back of his head as he kept his eyes down.
“Storm, I am not defending the way she is treating you, but… I can’t say I’m surprised by it. Betrayal is not something so easily—”
“BETRAYAL?!” Storm frantically looked up and threw his wings out, shaking his head. “That’s not… No, I didn’t…” his voice lost all its strength very quickly as he looked at the floor again.
“Storm, look at me,” Descent ordered. Storm hesitantly tipped his head up to look him in the eye. “Did you, or did you not go behind their backs to rat them out to Spitfire?”
Storm’s face visibly twitched uncomfortably as Descent described with those particular words.
“Rat them out…? No, that’s not what I did!” he gritted his teeth. “I reported them because I thought what they were doing was wrong!”
Descent narrowed his eyes into a thin glare, strengthening his grip on Storm’s shoulder. Storm gasped as he felt the pressure, his eyes opening wide as Descent stared right through him.
“Listen to yourself, boy,” Descent grunted. “What are you trying to do? Dress up your actions in pretty, professional words to make it sound the way you want?”
“I…” Storm’s voice sputtered.
“Considering what Rainbow Dash was trying to do and the amount of trust she thought she had in you… How do you think she saw it, hm? I’m pretty sure the first word that would come to mind isn’t ‘reported’, I can tell you that much. This isn’t something you can hide from, most certainly not behind your rank or rules, and if that’s really the way you’re seeing this situation then you need to take off the goggles and look with your own eyes.”
He let go of Storm, who scooted backwards, eyes wide and mouth closed. Descent kept his glare fastened to his face as he lifted a hoof and pointed to his eyes.
“What did they see? What did they feel? Did you ever stop for a moment to think about that? Or were you too busy trying to frame it so that you couldn’t possibly be in the wrong? Think, Storm, think!” Descent lowered his hoof and tapped it to his chest. “A friend, whom you hold great trust in, just double crossed you. They broke your trust and you looked them in the eye in shock and disbelief while you were being restrained. How would you feel? Tell me.”
Storm blinked and looked down, his eyes shifting back and forth slowly.
“I… would be angry… But…” he slammed his eyes shut. “It’s not like I haven’t thought about that!”
“But you weren’t the one who was betrayed, were you?” Descent crossed his arms and lifted his brow. “You were the betrayer. It’s easy to ask for forgiveness when you’re the one who did wrong, but not so easy to give forgiveness when you’re the one who’s been wronged.”
Storm slowly looked up, but averted his eyes. Descent shook his head.
“I’m sure that isn’t something I really have to explain for you, but you clearly aren’t acknowledging it. Claiming that you only ‘reported’ them is dodging the point and cushioning the severity for you. And it isn’t as simple as just saying you broke their trust.” Descent blew a hard breath through his nostrils. “Betrayal is a very strong word. It implies breaking trust for personal gain. You can tell me you didn’t betray them all you want, but you did what you did because you feared for your standing in the Wonderbolts just as much as you feared what they were doing was wrong, am I correct?”
“Y…yes…” Storm admitted fairly quickly, feeling smaller and smaller under the shadow of Descent.
“Then they have every reason to feel the way they do,” Descent snorted and tipped his head a little. “Take it from somepony who HAS been betrayed… on several occasions,” he lifted a hoof and clenched it. “It isn’t something you just forget, nor something you ever let them forget after the fact.”
Storm didn’t know what to say, he sat still and stared, caught completely off guard by the stern, harsh approach taken by Descent after the casual conversation they had about it back at the resort.
“Now… THAT BEING SAID…” Descent suddenly shifted, tipping his head the other way, releasing a long sigh and flattening his brow. Storm perked up, blinking several times. “I’m not about to compare how I’ve lived to where you currently are. The situations are nearly polar opposites. The Wonderbolts do not operate in a dog-eat-dog world like the Shadowbolts do. They are a professional organized team based on trust and reliance on each other to have their backs through thick and thin. In such a world it is far more believable that one can attain forgiveness for mistakes given that every effort is made to reestablish trust. The way I see it… While the way Rainbow Dash and her friends are treating you doesn’t surprise me, however I disagree with the way she is denying you any attempt to make amends, even if it’s just a start. Several weeks have gone by, it’s high time she at least acknowledges you.”
Storm listened carefully, but could only sigh and shrug.
“Then what do I do?” he asked, sounding hopeless. “I’ve tried everything.”
Descent opened his mouth to speak, but his ears twitched and he quickly glanced towards the nearby hallway. He saw something, but it moved too quickly for him to make out what it was. He scrunched his face for a moment before looking back at Storm.
“You might as well do nothing right now,” he suggested, but that was clearly not what Storm was hoping to hear.
“What?” he blinked. “But… were you going to…?”
“I was, but…” Descent snorted. “If they refuse to listen this far out from the fact, then you’d be better off waiting for the proper moment. If words aren’t going to reach them, then only action will.”
“Great…” Strom slumped down, grumbling in frustration.
“You’d best just not bother and go about your life. Use this time to learn and reflect on what you did instead. Perhaps this will lend you wisdom towards thinking freely and not always blindly following rules or orders.”
“Yeah, sure…” Storm grunted, clearly frustrated. Descent furrowed his brow, assuming his last words went in one ear and right out the other. “I… gotta go.”
Storm abruptly stood up and turned down the opposite hallway, leaving very quickly while keeping his head down.
Descent exhaled, shaking his head lightly. Did he want to help his son? Of course. But could he? Likely not and it wasn’t hard to see.
As Lightning Dust stood up and made her way towards him. Descent quickly turned his head to look down the hallway nearby. Again, something pulled back quickly, but this time he saw it long enough.
“That’s twice. Come out.” he ordered with a gruff snort.
“Huh?” Dust blinked and looked towards the hallway.
A grumble of frustration came from around the corner. A second later… Rainbow Dash stepped out, face scrunched up with a flat look.
Descent waited for her to step out into the open before tipping his head and lifting his brow.
“Snooping, are we?” he asked, slightly annoyed as he made his way over and stood before her. Dash looked up at him, narrowing her eyes and holding firm under his gaze. After a moment of tense, less-than-friendly glaring, Dash scoffed and whipped her head to the side.
“I’ve got nothing to say to you about Storm.” She turned around to leave.
“Hold it,” Descent reached out and grabbed her shoulder. Dash flinched, but instantly reached her arm up to throw his hoof off of her as she swiftly turned back to him and growled.
“Stop while you’re ahead!” she angrily yelled in his face. “Storm made his choice and Daddy isn’t going to bail him out!”
“Shut up and listen to me.” Descent hissed, holding tightly to her as she tried to pull away. “Do you actually think I’m going to defend what my son did to you? Why do you think I made the counterplan after he snitched on you to Spitfire?”
Dash stopped trying to yank free, blinking twice.
“Hrmph…” she grunted, folding her ears back and looking away.
“He made a grave mistake and got what he deserved,” Descent narrowed his eyes further. “But stop ignoring his attempts to apologize.”
“Really?” Dash rolled her eyes and pulled her shoulder free from his hoof. “Hell no. I’m never trusting that dickhead again.”
“So I suppose his constant desperate attempts to show humility and acknowledgement of his error mean absolutely nothing to you?” Descent asked. Dash inched her head towards him and scrunched her face up.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” her tone became sarcastic. “I swear I just heard you say something to him about how betrayal isn’t something that can be forgiven so easily… I was SNOOPING remember?”
“I seem to recall Spitfire, for all her stubbornness, found it in herself to forgive you for disobeying her direct orders, did she not?” Descent pointed out. “You didn’t even have to apologize.”
“That’s not even remotely the same thing and you know it,” Dash huffed at him. “Spitfire and I had a mutual disagreement and we both had a reason to meet in the middle after the fact. So nice try, this is completely different.” She pointed a hoof in his face. “Storm didn’t just betray me, he thought his Wonderbolt rank was more important than helping me push back against bad orders. Even worse, if he didn’t want to be a part of it, he could have kept his mouth shut, but he didn’t. He ratted us out for his own sake. I don’t care if everything eventually went our way. It HURT, Descent. It felt like everything the two of us had been through together suddenly didn’t matter to him. I don’t care how much he wants to apologize, I’m not forgetting this just because he feels bad. When you hurt someone on a personal level, you can’t just stick a band aid on it and call it a day.”
Descent let her speak her part and when she finished, he didn’t say a word at first. He narrowed his eyes to show some reaction, but he quietly acknowledged to himself that he couldn’t argue with most of what she said.
“I mean…” Lightning Dust suddenly chimed in, drawing their attention as she rubbed the back of her head and looked down. “I can see where she’s coming from there… Spitfire has yet to forgive me for what I did to her back when we were still Shadowbolts. I can’t say I’ve tried to apologize, but… I really hurt her, I hurt her deep down, a lot. I just know she won’t be willing to hear it,” Lightning Dust froze and blinked as she spotted Spitfire exiting the room nearby with Wave Chill and Fleetfoot in tow and turned towards them.
“That’s not a good comparison,” Descent snorted. “Spitfire is a batshit nutcase,” he said at the exact moment Spitfire was walking right by them.
Spitfire paused, Wave continuing on with a slight chuckle as she stared at Descent with a furrowed brow and a slight pout. Descent glanced towards her, not even flinching as he saw she was right there.
“You heard me,” he reiterated and made a head motion. “Keep walking.”
Spitfire rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration as she continued on after Wave.
“Just think about it,” Descent went on as he turned his attention back to Dash. “There’s plenty of reason for you to be spiteful, but don’t act like he doesn’t exist forever. He can’t begin to earn back your trust if he believes you’re not even watching.”
“For Celestia’s sake,” Dash shook her head and growled. “I’m being lectured by a mercenary, who once tried to kill my lover, about earning trust. The irony in the air is so thick I can rub my ass on it.”
“A mercenary who has seen with his own eyes how much different the life you live is from my own,” Descent firmly clarified while leaning forward a little. “In my world, betrayal is a scar that never heals. In yours, there is always a chance to earn back what is lost. DON’T take that for granted.”
The two traded harsh glares, neither budging under the pressure of the other.
Amidst the intense, and overly-lengthy stare down, Lightning Dust perked up as she saw Fleetfoot dragging herself along the same path as Spitfire and Wave Chill.
“UUuuugghhhhhh…” she groaned. “I feel like I’ve been shat through a sewer pipe while rutted by a freight train.” She slowly glanced towards Dash and Descent, her ears standing straight up and her posture instantly correcting. A giant smile slapped itself to her face as she grabbed the towel off her shoulders, and rolled it up as if prepping a rat tail. But after glancing around, her ears dropped back down and she pouted. “Awwwwwwww, what?” she whined. “Where’s Ms. Grumpy Buns? I heard she came back!”
Dash blinked in surprise as Descent’s glare instantly broke and his entire body visibly twitched. He turned and re-fixed his glare on Fleetfoot, grunting loudly and angrily in her direction. Fleetfoot’s eyes went wide and she leaned backwards as Descent’s glare slammed into her. But before she could say anything, Descent abruptly whipped around and stomped away. He stormed out while grumbling loudly and nearly shoving anypony that got in his way aside. Fleetfoot stared blankly for several moments, then looked to Dash and Dust. Dash looked surprised as well, but Dust avoided eye contact with her.
“Was it something I said?” Fleetfoot asked, catching Dust’s attention. “What am I missing here? Did they hate-bang or something?”
“N…no,” Dust fidgeted awkwardly at Fleetfoot’s casual dirty suggestion. “No.”
“Did she run away from him again?” Fleetfoot asked, pausing for exactly one second. “After having sex?”
“They didn’t have sex!” Lightning Dust blurted out, instantly throwing her hooves over her mouth and blushing as several guards and servants glanced in her direction. Dash couldn’t help but snicker, nearly forgetting about how angry she was at the prior subject.
“What? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?” Fleetfoot threw her arms out. “It’s a legitimate question! She could use it, really.”
“NO.” Dust shifted forward and leaned into Fleetfoot’s face with a huff. “Listen… She has shown up again, but she only appears and joins us while we’re flying scouting routes outside the shield. She disappears the moment we head back.”
Fleetfoot stared at Dust, blinked once, and cocked her eyebrows so far it was a wonder her whole face didn’t turn with them.
“What?!” she said loudly as she looked towards Dash.
“Don’t look at me.” Dash shrugged.
“But why?” Fleetfoot looked back to Dust, grabbed her by the shoulder. “WHYYYYYYYYYY?!” she moaned, shaking Dust lightly.
“Ow, ow, stop that!” Dust pushed her off and held her at arms-length. “Probably the same reason she vanished in the first place.”
“Wait, the crystal thingie?” Fleetfoot furrowed her brow. “Really?”
“That’s what I’m assuming,” Dust nodded. “Why else would she only appear when we’re not within the range of the Empire’s magic?”
“What about that has her head jammed further up her own ass than normal?” Fleetfoot groaned, throwing her arms up.
“Why are you still asking me like I know?!” Dust grabbed her ears and tugged on them.
“What’s her problem with it?! She looked so good!” Fleetfoot started ranting as she turned to Dash. “What in the hell is wrong with that? Her crystal form was really cool… and kinda hot, not gonna lie,” Fleetfoot added in a more casual tone, tipping her cheek to her hoof and nodding.
“Maybe that’s the problem?” Dash thought aloud.
“Hiding from me? Moi? You think I scare her that much?” Fleetfoot giggled.
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Dash snorted with a brief chuckle. “Her crystal form looked very different. Everypony I’ve seen crystalize changed to a slight variation of how they usually look. She practically transformed into another pony. Cadence seemed to take interest in her form, you think there’s something we just don’t know? There’s gotta be a reason she’s acting so personal.”
“Why do you have to go and start sounding so smart about it?” Fleetfoot shifted over and pressed into Dash’s side. “Who gives a damn about all that?! This is wrong, she’s treating everypony she trusts like complete strangers. We can’t let her do that, especially to Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome at the head of the pack!”
“There’s nothing we can do about it, just leave it be,” Dust tried to talk her down, but Fleetfoot rushed up to her and grabbed her by the face, squishing her cheeks together.
“Oh, we’re gonna do something about it alright!” she shouted. “All three of us!”
“What?” Dash flinched. “Me?”
“Yes you!” Fleetfoot giggled while pulling Dust by the face over to Dash. “If you didn’t want to be part of my shenanigans, then you shouldn’t have sat right where I can see you!”
“Sh-shenanigans? Wha…?” Dust struggled to speak with her face still compressed.
“You can call it whatever sounds the most fun!” Fleetfoot patted a hoof into Dust’s mane. “We’re solving this problem right now! Starry would kill me in my sleep if she had the chance, but I like her anyway, so I’m not gonna let her do this forever. If GruntHard Testosterone won’t take the time out of his day to go look for her, then we’re going to do it for him! Now who’s with me?!”
“Uh…” both Dash and Dust slurred at the same time.
“Perfect!” Fleetfoot let go of them both and clapped her hooves together.” Now let’s… oh, wait… right, hmmm…” she hunched down and tapped a hoof to her chin. “I gotta keep on this freaky workout routine…” she mumbled while tugging on her towel.
“Routine?” Dash blinked, her ears perking up.
“TONIGHT THEN!” Fleetfoot stood up straight and threw out her wings. “After I’m done stuffing my face with whatever unappetizing CRAP I have to eat tonight, let’s all meet up and go look for her!”
“Look for…?!” Dust trailed off, groaning. “Will you give it up? Our best scouts haven’t been able to find her the whole time she’s been at this. It’s like she appears out of thin air every time. What makes you think we’ll have any luck?”
“Au contraire, young grasshopper!” Fleetfoot put on a very smarmy look. “The Renegade scouts may be good, but they lack my expert thot detection skills!”
Dash and Dust just stared at her for a moment.
“I…” Dash’s eyebrow twitched. “I don’t think that description really fits Starry Skies.”
“Believe me, Dashie, there’s a thot in there!” Fleetfoot giggled. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to smell her from a mile away! I can tell she ALWAYS wants attention from DarkScar McChunk-of-Hunk. She’d press her ass cheeks to a window to make him notice her if it came to that!”
“Fleet, that’s something you'd do…” Dash pointed out with a flat look. Fleetfoot swiftly placed herself directly in front of Dash, put on a very serious look and leaned so close to her that their noses pressed together.
“Dashie, I want you to look me dead in the eye and tell me that you wouldn’t do that for Soarin.”
“Wha-hey!” Dash’s face turned bright red and her wing feathers furiously fluffed up.
“It’s settled then!” Fleetfoot gleefully cheered as she spun around and smiled. “Operation: “Find Blackberry Studmuffin’s lady-friend will commence tonight!”
“Could you please just call him Descent?” Dust asked with a frustrated groan.
“And not imply what he’s packing? NEVER!” Fleetfoot giggled while sliding the tip of a hoof under Dust’s chin teasingly.
“This is not going to end well, is it…?” Dust asked with a long sigh.
“Meet me at the north gate tonight!” Fleetfoot ordered cheerfully as she turned and started down the hall. “Be there! If you don’t show up, I know exactly where you two sleep! Toodles!” she left, the sound of her giggling echoing down the hall.
Dash and Dust didn’t look at one another, both staring straight ahead for several moments.
“Why is she so excited about this?” Dust asked, breaking the silence.
“Honestly?” Dash huffed. “I think she just wants to cause trouble.”
“No,” Dust shook her head. “This isn’t right, it’s prying into their privacy. I’m absolutely not going to do th—”
“Why did I show up?” Lightning Dust grumbled, rubbing a hoof to her forehead and pacing back and forth beneath the street lamp. “I have no idea why I showed up.”
“Believe me, you probably made the right choice,” Dash exhaled as she leaned up against the frame of the northern gate and stared up at the late-afternoon sky. There was a light drizzle sprinkling down from above, a light flurry of snow from outside the Empire’s shield turning to rain the moment it entered the comfortable climate-controlled interior of the dome. “I showed up because I’ve seen what happens when you push back against Fleet… it isn’t pretty. You should ask Blaze about it sometime.”
“I think I’ll pass…” Dust scrunched up her mouth and shuddered. “I won’t lie, it felt like there was a threat hidden in there somewhere when she talked to us... I’m not sure why, but I felt it.”
“Smart,” Dash nodded. “Better just get it over with than take on whatever she would have done otherwise.”
“Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!”
Both of them perked up, looking down the road to see Fleetfoot trotting towards them with a wide, excited smile on her face.
“You both showed up!” she added with an extra bounce in her step.
“Did we have a choice?” Dash asked sarcastically.
“Nope!” Fleetfoot giggled as she stopped right between both of them and bopped back and forth. “And it’s a good thing you did! Or else I would’ve had to give you both the ol’ wham-bam-thank-ye-ma’am!”
“The… WHAT?” Dust blanked as one of her eyes twitched.
“Alright ladies, huddle up!” Fleetfoot grabbed Dust by the neck and yanked her over to Dash. Dash tried to dodge, but Fleetfoot hooked her as well and brought them all uncomfortably close together facing the wall beside the gate. “This is an operation of the utmost importance,” she began in a comically serious tone. “All those unwilling to do whatever it takes to achieve success, leave now.”
“Kind of hard to leave when you’ve got me around the neck like this,” Dash said casually.
“Makes the choice easy, doesn’t it?” Fleetfoot chortled before turning to Dust and nearly head-butting her. “So lemme tell you what I think! I think your scouts didn’t have the right idea back when they looked for her! They aren’t in her head like I am!”
“And you’re in her head… how?” Dust asked quizzically, flinching as Fleetfoot pressed a hoof over her mouth.
“Speaking out of turn will result in spanking… LOTS of spanking… that you may or may not enjoy,” she failed to keep a straight face as Dust’s eyes widened considerably. “No? Aw, you’re no fun. ANYWAY! She’s not entering the shield, right…? But there’s two things that matter here. One… she’s gotta eat and two… and more importantly… she likes the Big D too much to stray too far from him. So obviously… that means she must be staying as close to the shield as possible, staring in while thinking about him! With drama like this there’s always some sort of longing from afar. Believe me, she’s the kind of grumpy brood-queen that would do something like that!”
“And…” Lightning Dust lifted an eyebrow. “You put all this together how?”
“I have my ways,” Fleetfoot said in a slightly sultry tone while bouncing her eyebrows at Dust and biting her lip. Dust tried and failed to pull back from her, her eyes quickly darting to Dash. Dash held a completely straight face, seemingly unaffected by Fleetfoot’s shenanigans as she lifted a hoof and pointed at her.
“If there are sexual implications of any kind what-so-ever, she’s drawn to it like a magnet,” she said casually.
“She gets it!” Fleetfoot giggled.
“And I thought Rarity was bad…” Dash added under her breath with a sigh.
“COME ON!” Fleetfoot cheered as she released Dust, but tugged Dash around as she stood upright and pointed. “Time’s a wastin!”
“Alright alright!” Dash reached up and pressed a hoof to Fleet’s chest. “Just let go of…”
Dash trailed off, blinking in surprise.
Fleetfoot let go of her and happily trotted out the gate with Dust behind her, but Dash just stared at Fleetfoot. She glanced down at her hoof, then looked Fleetfoot’s body up and down.
“Freak workout routine, huh…?” Dash lifted her brow and tipped her head, recalling what Spitfire had said to her after the two met with Silver several weeks back, and the mention of an experiment. “What has Spitfire been putting her through? That’s some seriously quick…” Dash thought aloud to herself, but trailed off, setting the thought behind her as she quickly trotted behind to catch up.
As soon as she caught up with them, they took flight, Dash and Dust reluctantly following behind Fleetfoot as she claimed to be following her ‘Baedar’, which was apparently short for ‘Babe Radar’. And eventually Dash convinced Dust that she should just stop asking questions and go along with it. There was no convincing Fleetfoot she couldn’t find Starry and there was no making her reconsider the whole thing in general.
The flight was otherwise calm and smooth, the light drizzle of rain providing a slight refreshing feeling as opposed to discomfort or hindrance. Fleetfoot shifted once or twice as they flew across the northern plains and slowly approached the outer edge of the Empire’s shield and began to fly along its reach, about a thirty yards out from where it touched the ground.
But Dash wasn’t sure if Fleetfoot actually had any kind of lead, or if she was making the slight turns to convince them she did. One glance at Dust confirmed that she was thinking the same thing. With a flat, somewhat annoyed and bothered look, she wasn’t convinced Fleetfoot really had any idea what she was doing either.
But her enthusiasm was impossible to deny. And Dash knew better than to deny Fleetfoot something of this kind. It would be best to just let her get it out of her system and then they could get back to—
“Oo! Ooooo!” Fleetfoot came to an abrupt halt, throwing her wings out to air brake and causing both Dash and Dust to run right into her back.
“GAH!”
“OOF!”
The three got awkwardly interlocked and they fell into a three pony pile onto the ground, tumbling a few times before they came to a halt on the slick grass below. Fleetfoot was the first to sit upright as Dash and Dust groaned and rolled over.
“Okay, maybe that was a bit abrupt…” Fleetfoot awkwardly chuckled.
“Ya think?!” Dash sat up and furrowed her brow. “What did you even do that fo—MRPH!” She was cut off as Fleetfoot pressed a hoof over her mouth.
“Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!” shushed Dash. Dash glared at her, but Fleetfoot smiled and wink. “Target spotted!” she said in a hushed, yet excited tone, and pointed. Dash blinked, her eyes growing wide as Fleetfoot pointed into the distance but… she didn’t see anything.
“Wait… Wait…” Dust finally sat up and shook her head out. “Are you kidding me?”
Dash didn’t see anything at first, but… then she squinted, looking carefully at something that looked slightly off well into the distance.
Against the green of the grass, the grey of rocks, and the brown of tree trunks, where the shield met the ground, right outside the shield, on a fairly large rock… was something lavender-colored.
“Is that actually her?!” Dust exclaimed.
“SSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” Fleetfoot full out leapt onto Dust, knocking her onto her back and shoving her hoof over her mouth. “Sheesh! Don’t either of you understand the point of stealth?!”
“Stealth?” Dash snickered. “When did this become a sneaking mission?”
“Always has been,” Fleetfoot turned and threw a smarmy mischievous look towards Dash.
“That’s gotta be a mirage or something caused by the shield,” Lightning Dust said as she sat up again and flattened her brow. “I refuse to believe you just found her like that.”
“Then put on your best skittering hooves because we’re about to approach and confirm the target!” Fleetfoot giggled as she lowered herself to the ground and began shuffling along at a pace one could definitely call ‘skittering.’
Dust glanced at Dash… Dash shrugged.
“You gotta stop looking at me like I have answers for you,” she said with a chuckle before lowering down and following behind Fleet at a more normal stride. Dust scrunched her face and did the same.
Fleetfoot led them on what seemed to be an oddly specific and overly elaborate path through the grass and between the few rocks and trees strewn about. Every time Dust asked what she was even doing, Fleetfoot shushed her and cited her rank in the Wonderbolts despite it having nothing to do with navigation skills.
Dash just went along with it, wondering why Dust was even trying after multiple clear examples of why she shouldn’t question Fleetfoot. She may not be Surprise or Twister, but trying to get reason out of her when she was feeling silly was like trying to get Blaze to stop swearing, it just wasn’t going to work.
But despite the oddness of their path, they did eventually come to a stop behind a large boulder that jutted a good five yards out of the ground. Fleetfoot pressed her back to it while biting her lip as Dash and Dust shimmied along the ground and stopped in front of her.
“We got her!” Fleetfoot whispered very quietly.
Without a word, Dust flattened her brow, standing up and moving to the edge of the rock to peer around it… and her jaw dropped.
The barrier’s edge was just under thirty yards away and a boulder similar to the one they were hiding behind was sitting with half of it inside the barrier and half out. The top surface of the rock was also flatter and longer.
And wouldn’t you know it? Sitting on the portion of the rock that was outside the barrier, with her back turned, was Starry Skies.
Lightning Dust pulled herself back behind their rock and blinked, furrowing her brow considerably before glancing at Fleetfoot.
“You’ve got to be joking,” she said quietly while looking at a very smug Fleetfoot. “How the hell did you find her so damn easily?!”
“The obliteration of your doubt in this moment turns me on. Hold still and lemme rub my flank all over you to solidify my victory anals of history.” Fleetfoot giggled.
“That’s… annals, Fleet,” Dash corrected her.
“I know EXACTLY what I said, Dashie!” Fleetfoot snickered while shaking her butt back and forth. Dust scrunched up her mouth and inched back over to look again. Fleetfoot tried to move with her, hoping to rub it in more, but she squeaked as Dash grabbed her by the tail and pulled her back.
“Fleet, tell me truthfully… did you REALLY know where she was going to be?” Dash asked skeptically.
“Oh no, not at all,” Fleetfoot whispered with a wink, admitting it flat out without hesitation.
“Buh…?” Dash blinked.
“It was a really lucky guess, hee hee!” Fleetfoot stuck her tongue out and wiggled her ears up and down.
“Is it wrong that I believe that LESS?” Dash asked with a grunt.
“What can I say? I’m just mysteriously talented when I want to be!” she turned and pointed. “Now come on Dashie!”
“Hm?” Dash blinked and looked up.
“Let’s get out there and slap some sense into—HEEP!” Fleetfoot yelped as Dash grabbed her and shoved her down.
“Dust! Quick!” Dash frantically said as quietly as she could. “Get down! Get down now!”
“Wha—?” Dust blinked and looked over her shoulder, but before she could do anything, Dash reached forward and yanked her down by the tail. “Ow!”
“Hey! Whoa! Getting eager here!” Fleetfoot yelped while kicking her legs in the air as Dash held her down by the neck.
“Both of you shut up!” Dash hissed at them both. “LOOK!”
Dash pointed into the sky. Both of them looked up.
Dust gasped.
Fleetfoot also gasped, but it was much girlier and accompanied by a slight squeal so high that it was nearly silent.
“STARRY! STARRY SKIES!” a deep voice called down from above.
Descent flew in from overhead, passing right over the three hiding mares while somehow not noticing their colors below. His eyes were locked on Starry as he came in for a landing.
“Starry! There you are!” he yelled one more time as he landed on the flat surface of the boulder on the inside of the barrier.
Starry stirred, then suddenly flinched hard as she frantically looked over her shoulder as if she had just been snapped out of a dream. Her eyes widened considerably when she made eye contact with Descent.
Though neither of them moved for a brief moment. Descent was clearly not there to sit and stare. He advanced towards her, his first step triggering an immediate reaction. Starry stood up quickly, turning and spreading her wings.
Descent quickly broke into a gallop, passing through the barrier. The cold nip of the northern air rushed against him, the droplets of rain splashing to his face replaced by a tiny flurry of snowflakes bouncing off his nose. He slammed his back hooves to the ground, propelling himself forward and extending his arm as Starry pumped her wings down and lifted off.
“AH!” Starry yelped as Descent hooked his hoof around her leg just in the nick of time. His weight halted her rise and he quickly pulled her back down.
“Enough!” he yelled as her hooves slammed down to the rock. “I’m not going to let you—”
Before he could finish, Starry whipped around with a loud growl, wound up a hoof and threw a punch.
But Descent caught it, his hoof grabbing her wrist mere inches before she clocked him right between the eyes. Starry stiffened, grinding her teeth with heavy breaths hissing between them. She held her arm in place and tried to force it forward even though she knew well she couldn’t overpower him.
But then Descent slowly pushed her hoof down. Starry’s eyes widened and her breath left her lungs as her strength faded on its own.
Descent looked… sad. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes, his face, and the look he was giving her all said the same thing:
‘Why?’
Descent let go of her hoof, her arm slowly returning to her side as she inched backwards. Her ears flopped down and her body shuddered for a moment before she turned her back to him and sat down, hunched over.
Descent sat quietly, staring at her back for a while. He saw no reason to be forceful because she wasn’t running anymore. While their former Shadowbolt ways had them always alert for sneak attacks from those trying to get ahead… for some particular reason, this moment where Starry Skies attacked him without provocation? It seemed to hurt more than it would have if she had connected.
“Starry,” Descent finally spoke up. She didn’t move aside from her ears twitching. “Why have you been hiding from us?” he asked.
He got no response. She just sat there.
“Why have you been hiding from me?” he reframed the question, and it seemed to hit a little harder. Starry visibly stirred and shifted a little further away from him, but she still said nothing. Descent sighed with a hint of frustration, exhaling through his nostrils as he furrowed his brow. “If there’s something you’re afraid of, fine… but don’t be afraid of me.” He said a little harshly, Starry visibly reacting again. “Starry, look at me.” He asked.
She didn’t.
“For Celestia’s SAKE, Starry, LOOK AT ME!” he raised his voice as he took a few steps towards her.
“No.” Starry finally spoke, bringing Descent to an abrupt halt one pace away from her. Her voice was weak, but held a defiant tone regardless. “I can’t face anypony right now.”
“Why?” Descent immediately asked, only to get the silent treatment again. But he already got something out of her so he refused to give up. “Is it because of your crystal form?”
“I…” Starry twitched as he brought it up, but frantically shook her head. “No, I just can’t,” she deflected.
“Why not?!” Descent demanded. His eyes grew wide in surprise as Starry suddenly whipped around and got in his face.
“BECAUSE IT’S A LIE!” she yelled, practically screaming, small tear droplets resting on the corners of her glaring eyes. “IT’S ALL A LIE!” she repeated, heavy breaths heaving in her throat.
Descent did not waver, nor lean back at all. He held perfectly firm in place, looking at her as seriously as he could.
“What is?” he asked firmly, staring right into her glare without an ounce of weakness.
“My…” Starry began to shake lightly. “My…” She crumbled, turning her back to him again. “I can’t… I just can’t.”
“I don’t even know what you’re apparently lying about,” Descent said with a loud huff as he flattened his brow.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Starry quickly added.
Descent stared at the back of her head for several moments, flattening his ears out as he tried to wrap his thoughts around what she could possibly be talking about, but no matter what he tried to piece together, nothing came to mind. However… maybe that didn’t matter.
“Then don’t,” Descent said as he turned and started walking back towards the barrier. Starry perked up and quickly looked over her shoulder as Descent moved away from her. “I could care less about whatever it is, so you don’t have to tell me anything. Besides…” he stepped through the shield and continued a few paces before turning to face her. “I went for years without telling you I had a son because I didn’t want to bother any of you with it, so why would I force you to talk about this? That would be hypocritical of me now, wouldn’t it?”
Starry’s eyelids lightly twitched as she turned herself halfway around, the tear droplets still holding on in the corners of her eyes.
“We’ve been in this together from the start and I’ve always leaned on you for support for as long as I can remember. That’s what matters to me,” Descent continued. “Without Nightshade around all we’ve had is each other. While you’ve been out here hiding away I’ve been struggling to handle everything on my own. I can't do this on my own, not without you.” He touched a hoof to his chest. “I need you, Starry. You’re more important to me than a few secrets.”
Starry inhaled sharply, averting her eyes and putting a hoof over her mouth as she continued to shudder.
“So please… stop running from me. I don’t give a damn what you look like or whatever it means.” Descent tapped his hoof to the rock below him. “Now get in here. And I’m not going anywhere until you do.”
Starry stared at him, eyes wide as he sat and waited. If there was one thing she knew about Descent, it was that he never blew smoke. He always said what he meant and he always meant what he said. So all the things he just said about her weren’t just his way of coercing her and… he really would sit right there forever if he had to.
She slammed her eyes shut, the single tears in each one finally squeaking out and running down her face as she gritted her teeth and scrunched her brow. She didn’t want to… but at the same time she couldn’t stop herself.
Without opening her eyes, she stood up and turned towards Descent. With slow, shaking steps, she made her way towards the shield.
Descent perked up, watching intently as Starry forced her way towards him. He said nothing, sitting quietly and letting her do it herself.
She reached the shield and slowly moved through it, Descent squinting slightly as her body shined brightly. Her fur gained its shimmering form, her mane lengthened and flowed down to her sides, sparkling elegantly. The surface of her face softened, twinkling blips of light bouncing from her eyelashes and off the ends of her head.
Descent watched with curiosity and slight awe as the effects of the crystal magic worked all over her, with the end product remaining a softly glinting spectacle as the drizzle of tiny raindrops lit up like dim fireflies as they fell against her.
She stopped right in front of him, her body shaking as she slowly opened her eyes glaring hard at him. It was a harsh contrast to the beauty of her form, but… it was still Starry Skies.
He looked her over as she held the perpetual scowl, but her composure began to falter as a small smirk crept onto his face and he started to chuckle.
“WHAT?” she said in a harsh yet slightly blubbery tone.
“It’s a shame you didn’t attend the Crystal Ball,” Descent said while tipping his head slightly. Starry’s eyes grew wide, her angry glare shattering. “You’d have been the envy of the crowd looking like this.”
Starry’s face turned so red that it almost completely drowned out any sign of her lavender hue. She looked straight down, a mumbling stammer escaping her lips as her body jittered madly.
“Come on,” Descent reached a hoof towards her. “Let’s—OOF!” Descent grunted loudly as Starry Skies punched him REALLY hard right in the gut. He lurched forward as all the air got knocked out of him, his eyes stuck open wide as he twitched, placing a hoof to the ground to stop himself from falling as he tried to regain his breath.
“Y…you… fucking… ASSHOLE!” Starry forced out, her voice broken and shaking as she kept her hoof firmly pressed to his stomach. “You… You… I…”
Descent blinked as Starry suddenly thrust herself against him, wrapping her arms around his body and digging her face into his chest.
“I hate you…” she sputtered, tears falling from her eyes as she shuddered and sniffled.
“Heh…” Descent smirked, keeping himself propped up as he lifted his other hoof and wrapped his arm over her shoulder. “For the right reasons, I hope.”
“Come on, let’s head back.” He slowly held her out at arm’s length and gave her shoulder a squeeze as she kept her eyes down. “Everypony’s been worried about you.”
Descent blinked as she forced herself out of his grip and dove back into his chest.
“In a minute…” she said with a muffled sniffle. “I don’t want to go back crying like a wimp…”
“Fair enough,” Descent chuckled, gently rubbing a hoof against the back of her head.
Meanwhile…
“Dust… help me out here…” Dash whispered to her. But Lightning Dust didn’t pay attention, she was busy staring from behind the rock, a hoof pressed to her lips and warm fuzzy feeling filling her from top to bottom as she watched Descent and Starry. “DUST!” Dash said louder.
“Huh…?” Dust blinked and glanced over her shoulder.
Dash was restraining a bouncing, wide-sparkly-eyed Fleetfoot. She had one hoof pressed over her mouth to muffle a very high pitched continuous squeal that was trying to force its way out.
“We need to get her out of here now before she ruins this for them!” Dash made frantic head motions to Fleetfoot.
“Oh god…” Dust gritted her teeth, stealing one more glance at Descent and Starry before she hopped down and hurried over.
Working together, the two of them restrained and kept Fleetfoot quiet, hoisting her up and flying low to remain out of sight.
Once they were a comfortable distance away, Dash removed her hoof from Fleetfoot’s mouth.
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HEE HEE!!!!!” Fleetfoot squealed right into Dash’s ear as she swung her hooved back and forth in front of her face and giggled. “That was so damn CUTE! Aaaaaaaaaah! The two of them are so into each other I can TASTE it! Why’d we leave? They were probably about to bang!”
“For the love of… cut that out,” Dust huffed, furrowing her brow at Fleetfoot. “Does everything have to end with sex for you? Descent’s reasons for caring are so much more than that.”
“Hey,” Fleetfoot reached a hoof out and pushed it against Dust’s nose. “You. Don’t ruin this for me.” She turned her attention to Dash. “You’re with me on this right? C’mon… you know you wanna go back and watch!”
“No,” Dash said while lightly tapping a hoof to Fleetfoot’s forehead. “Bad Fleet. We’re going to let them have their privacy.”
“Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww…” Fleetfoot moaned dramatically in disappointment as Dash and Dust slowly dragged her back to the Empire.
---To Be Continued---
Now wasn't that so violently adorable? Looks like complimenting Starry Skies with flattery will earn you a bruise or two 
But hey... she needed it, especially from the one pony she trusts. There's clearly something about her crystal form she doesnt want anypony to know about, but Descent would rather not hear about it at all than have her hide away when he needs her, and communicating that to her did more than he could realize.
Storm... this is a hard learned lesson you're going through. Dash may be acting a little harsher than needed, but she isn't wrong. Maybe you'll get your chance, but best to listen to your dad for now. You dun goofed real hard and dug yourself a hole, now you gotta lie in it for a while.
And Spitfire, don't kill your wingmates 
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!
Art in this chapter by: Foxena
And in case you couldn't read it or missed the teaser blog... Foxena is a troll:
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Great chapter! This line had me dying and I got the weirdest look from my sister. Only Fleetfoot.. she truly shined in this chapter.
another great chapter, i love fleetfoot in this. also i'm hoping sometime to get to see a scene with Lightning Dust and Spitfire having a chat
aww man more shipping full for my art
such a cute chapter
Okay, Now Foxena NEEDS to make a picture of the Invincible "Think Mark!" meme but with Descent and Storm!
MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Like knows like?
Thank you Calm, for this latest chapter. I've been trying very hard not to hold my breath since I heard it was in the final stages of being edited. Of which I must thank your team of writers as well, thank you very much for fluffy chapter.
A shame Storm and Rainbow aren't getting along, yet. Can't blame Rainbow though. I'm honestly not sure what I would do in her position, certainly not simply forgive and forget.
My guess is that Starry has some royal blood in her and that is what is making her extra sparkly. Anyone else not in the know having the same thoughts?
and now i'm thinking of that meme, and i can entirely imagine Descent actually doing the pose for it
I love Fleetfoot's shenanigans
Have to wonder if there's some royal reason for Starry's extra glitter ...
I don't think I can function anymore... I need help. That was too much 😭😭 AAAAAAAHHH they're so cute
It's not just that Storm betrayed Dash, it's that he betrayed the Element of Loyalty! The one value that Dash holds above all else.
BTW, you have some broken formatting:
“I swear I just heard you say something to him about how betrayal isn’t something that can be forgiven so easily… I was SNOOPING[,/i] remember?”
A misplaced comma in there.
sweet
Fleet is in peak form here heh heh
I woke up to this in my inbox this morning.... and ahhhhhhh oh my goodness... NO STOP THE FLUFF IS TOO MUCH
I'm whole-heartedly with Fleet here...
I'm sad that storm and Dash didn't reconcile, but I'm kind of on dash's side at them moment.... anyway, Fleetfoot never ceases to amaze me
Huh, I seem to recall originally Spitfire wanted to use RD and Storm front for guinea pigs for these roid baths. I like that she changed her mind but it seems a bit sudden.
On the other hand if the crystal dust they use for baths is such a scarce resource I have the perfect idea to use it more effectively:
Эх... Могу ли я винить Флитфут?
Я сама минут десять визжала и прыгала по комнате как сумасшедшая.
Моя чуйка говорит, что идея Спитфайр с ваннами не очень хорошо кончится, но мои мозги буквально орут: "Что тут может пойти не так?"
Хех. Уроки от Спуска. Учимся профессионально оскорблять Спитфайр
А вообще мне нравятся их взаимоотношения.
И я так понимаю в этой главе вы дали нам отсылку к будущему диалогу Спитфайр и Лайтнинг Даст?
Eh... Can I blame Fleetfoot?
I myself screamed for ten minutes and jumped around the room like a madwoman.
My gut tells me that the idea of a Spitfire with baths won't end well, but my brain is literally screaming, "What can go wrong here?"
Heh. Lessons from the Descent. Learning how to professionally Insult a Spitfire
In general, I like their relationship.
And I understand that in this chapter you gave us a reference to the future dialogue between Spitfire and Lightning Dust?
HELP, THIS WAS SO DAMN CUTE OMG
NOW KISS! NOW KISS!
THAT WAS AMAZING!!! I'M SO GLAD THAT FINNALLY WE SEE STARRY! I MISSED HER SO MUCH!!
That was an awesome chapel! I loved the part where Decent talked to Dash as well as the part with Decent and Starry Skies. Awesome job!! Keep up the great work.
Its about time Starry came back. Maybe we'll get details on how she's some lost royal blooded pony or something. But I doubt she'd remain there anyway, she's a merc.
10857953
I think Spitfire is just focusing on the two who needs it the most right now, but she had a plan to include ALL of Foxtrot in on this. If it works like she wants, then she'll hit up the rest too.
rainbow dash's confidence is just *chefs kiss* i love her sm
descent and starry tho
😋😏
THE STARRY AND DESCENT SHIP IS SAILING AND I MIGHT HAVE TO MAKE A NEW ROLE FOR IT ALONGSIDE SQUATTLE AND CALMFOOT IN THE WONDERVERSE SERVER
storm has go to try harder 😭😭 i hope he realizes that dash is the element of loyalty and he completely threw his loyalty for her away
Hey Calm, looks like a typo in a formatting tag here mate.
10858674
I'm so sorry this is random, but I read your comment and saw the ship name "Squattle." I'm assuming this is Squall x Little Star(I'm sorry if it's not).
I've never thought of their ship name before, but that was the best thing I've seen all day.
:)
Your Fleetfoot is a delight in hard times and I thank you for her existence.
Also am I imagining things or did you invoke the Invincible meme in text form?
This was a nice chapter. That being said, I’m just a wee bit sad your artist/commission priorities didn’t go for the low hanging fruit...
>Think, Storm, THINK!
10857365
Now we just need to find out what she was hiding for...
10857376
I really wanted to use Fleetfoot a lot more in this story arc in general, so it's been a lot of fun so far
10857387
Indeed, it's been a long time coming, has it not? Spitfire does seem to give her a stiff look from time to time, perhaps she knows it's coming but the current times are keepign it on the back burner
10857472
All the shipping fuel. we GUZZLE the stuff down around here
10857534
Hahaha i will admit that i added the second 'think' because i felt devilish during the proofing phase. Had i thought of it earlier i might've found a way to work it in with a picture
10857541
She can smell thots from up to 100 miles away
10857579
indeed, Rainbow Dash may be being a TAD harsh, but Storm is also not acknowledging how severe his actions were, its a no win situation at the moment.
And we wonder about Starry, don't we?
10857584
Had i come up with it earlier and not while feeling cheeky during the proofing phase (added the second think while i was) i might have gotten art for it
10857613
Ain't she just a gem
10857648
Certainly is mysterious, eh?
10857714
cutie patootie overload, meltdown imminent!
10857761
yep, it hits her a little deeper considering how naturally attached she is to the concept.
10857764
One cannot simply reign in the thot detector
10857945
It's been fun using Fleet more. I really wanted her to get more involved altogether in this arc
10857953
yeah as Zol said, she's 'testing' the effects first before throwing a larger number (including Foxtrot) at the new training and treatments. Remains to be seen what the results will be and what the plan going forward will be (and by remains to be seen, i mean it will come up again very soon)
10858077
Флитфут сыграл свахи, на самом деле не пытаясь, да? ха-ха. Скоро мы узнаем, каковы результаты эксперимента ... и пойдет ли то, что будет дальше, по плану. Спуск - эксперт в общении со Спитфайром, оба они - листы металла, когда дело доходит до обращения с другими, поэтому их столкновение лицом к лицу всегда заканчивается юмористически, ни один не уступает ни дюйма, ха-ха. возможно, в будущем Spitfire и Dust найдут время, чтобы поговорить, но у них не было такой роскоши. Возможно, в будущем она получит шанс исправить положение по-другому, во многом так же, как Спуск поручил Сторму.
--
Fleetfoot played matchmaker without actually trying to huh? haha. We'll find out soon what the results of the experiment are... and if what comes after will go as planned. Descent is an expert at conversing with Spitfire, both of them are sheets of metal when it comes to handling others so the two of them going head to head always ends humorously with neither giving an inch haha. perhaps in the future Spitfire and Dust will find a time to speak, but they have not had the luxury. Perhaps she will get her chance in the future to make amends a different way, much in the same way Descent instructed Storm.
10858118
SHIP. SHIP. SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP.
10858174
And she's as grumpy as ever
10858429
Thanks! glad you liked it!
10858584
Sure seems as though there's way more to her than she's let on. (I mean... the 'all a lie' line kind of implies that, doesn't it?)
10858673
She hasn't been put through hell and Silver Lining for nothing. She's one hard lady to crack now (unless your name is Soarin.)
10858674
(There's actually a tag for it on derpibooru 
)
I prefer 'Fleetwind' lol
10859135
yeah the formatting got a little jumbled there, 'tis fixed
10859918
I died laughing the first time i heard 'Squattle' too
10860093
) so she needs more spotlight.
It was a goal of mine to get her more involved in this arc and so far it's been a blast. i know the readers love her and she's a favorite of mine too (i mean... we all knew that
And yeah i actually added the second 'think' during the proofreading phase due to feeling devilish. If i had actually planned to use it there i may have worked the text to have Storm try to push his way past him, have Descent push him down, then used the meme so i could've had an exact replica of the pic from Fox.
I've already discussed possibly making a bonus picture with her for it to share later.
(hope all is well with you my friend.)