Chapter 184: What Did You Expect?
MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 184: What Did You Expect?
“Hrmmmmm…” Dash hummed as she stared into the empty room, her hoof pressed to the open door to her right. No one was there, but she was early. She was well aware of it too, she left well before her squad was ready because she just didn’t feel like sitting still.
She was at the gym near the palace that Spitfire had rented out for them all for the next… well, Dash didn’t know for how long, but they had basically bought out the place and screwed over any members belonging to the facility for their special training. They were told to meet in this room down a back hall, which looked like it was normally a yoga room with a wooden floor and a wall mirror. Though a few tables had been set up along one of the walls, stacks of chairs were sitting near them, and on the other side were two large whiteboards that looked hastily mounted to the wall. No doubt this was going to be some sort of meeting room for them, it was about the same size as the meeting rooms in the compound.
Dash blinked.
The compound… huh? The Nimbus. She had been so focused on Soarin this whole time that it had been a while since she had even thought about it. They effectively left the giant airship behind upon arriving at the Crystal Empire. She knew that Spitfire had had a long meeting with Rivet about it at one point, but she never got the details. Every now and again she had gotten a glimpse of the ship sitting out in the open on one of the palace lawns. There were a lot of ponies moving back and forth between it, but aside from that she had no clue what was going on. She had no idea what was waiting for them in the near future. Would they even need it? They seemed pretty planted in the Crystal Empire, at least for the time being.
Time…
Dash glanced at the clock above the white board and huffed. She was twenty minutes early. She was willing to bet nopony else was going to show up for at least—
“Rainbow Dash?”
Dash blinked and turned to the door. Spitfire was walking through, carrying several papers and a few clipboards.
“You’re early,” she added as she went over to the tables and set everything down. “Where’s the rest of your squad?”
“They’ll be here,” Dash exhaled. “I just… got tired of waiting.”
“Hm…” Spitfire hummed in response, shuffling the papers around. But she picked up on the lack of enthusiasm in Dash’s tone. Or at least that’s what it sounded like. Spitfire slowly stopped organizing the papers and glanced over her shoulder. Dash looked preoccupied with her thoughts. “So…” she spoke up. “How is… Soarin doing?”
Dash’s ears twitched as Spitfire’s question caught her off-guard. It was like she read her mind. She had told them all about Soarin waking up shortly after he awoke. The hardest part was convincing them that it probably wasn’t a good idea to visit him at this time. She hated it because she felt like that was agreeing with Discord and Luna, but she wasn’t blind to the current situation Soarin was in.
“The sleep spell is definitely working as Luna said,” Dash began as she turned to face Spitfire. “Though the past few days his state of comfort has been… varied, I guess is the way to put it. They’ve been able to wake him up as easily as they put him back to sleep, but… sometimes he’s been well rested, other times he looks exhausted and tired.”
“Hrmmmm…” Spitfire’s ears flopped down. “Has he talked to you about that?”
“Yeah,” Dash nodded. “It’s the voices. He says sometimes he sleeps like a foal and wakes up like he just had a good rest, but sometimes the voices and negative emotions come at him and he wakes up feeling like he hasn’t slept at all.”
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around that… hearing voices of others and all that stuff. I wish I could hear it right from him, maybe it would make more sense? I dunno.” Spitfire looked away and huffed.
“I’m still trying to really frame it myself,” Dash agreed. “It’s supposedly something Celestia just… deals with. But the way Soarin talks about it, it sounds like it happened randomly. One moment he’ll feel like his head is clear and he can focus, the next he’ll start twitching and hunch over a little, even when I’m there it can hit him… sounds like it isn’t something our connection can stop. As much as I want to strangle Celestia, she has been quick to come forward and talk him through it every time. But I get the feeling this isn’t something he’s getting rid of, so long as he’s like this.”
“Hearing terrified voices… feeling the negative emotions from all ponies in Equestria… what the hell, I hate this…” Spitfire said, repeating similar thoughts she had the first time Dash talked to her about it. “He’s… doing better though?”
“We’ve only had a few days, but he does seem to be getting a little more stable,” Dash shrugged. “So I guess?”
“That’s better than nothing,” Spitfire tipped her head, her voice clearly frustrated. “I take it… there still isn’t a clear idea about when I… WE can visit him?”
“If it were my choice I’d take ALL of you to see him right now,” said Dash. “It would be the best thing for his mental state, but…”
“I know,” Spitfire sighed. “It’s complicated. I want to scream for these words coming out of my mouth, but I can’t blame Luna for purposely going around me when she came to get you for him. The last thing any of us need is me or anypony else getting seriously injured right before starting our new training routine. If he really blasted chunks of crystal right off the palace walls, it was probably a good thing we weren’t there.” Spitfire looked Dash in the eye. “Has he… tried doing anything magic wise?”
“He’s… well…” Dash rubbed the back of her head. “I can’t say for sure. We haven’t tried pushing the boundaries again yet. I plan on suggesting that in the next few days, even if Discord says no. I want him to start getting a grip on this so you can visit him. I promise, as soon as we have a better idea where he stands, I’m bringing you all there whether Discord likes it or not.”
“Just… don’t push him too hard,” Spitfire scrunched her lips and pouted. “I appreciate you thinking of us, but—”
“Don’t bullshit me, Captain,” Dash cut her off. “You want to see him badly.”
Spitfire’s eyes widened as Dash gave her a stern look. She turned away and sighed.
“I can’t fool you, can I?” she said while shaking her head.
“Yeah, you’re a terrible liar.”
“I’m just so tired of this, tired of what going on with him,” Spitfire began as she sat down and tipped her head back, staring at the ceiling. “Watching my best friend get his face dragged through the mud harder and harder over and over again is really starting to get to me. Eh, who am I kidding, it’s gotten to me pretty hard. I can’t even begin to fathom going through what he’s gone through.” She blew a long breath through her nostrils and looked down at the floor. “It’s a good thing he’s the toughest son of a bitch in Equestria… because I’d have lost my mind by now if it were me, hell long before this point… How is he hanging in there? How is he still sane? It’s absurd and it kills me to watch it all happen.”
Dash didn’t know what to say, she wasn’t expecting Spitfire to start pouring her heart out like this.
“I envy you, Dash, I really do.” She suddenly said, looking Dash in the eyes. “I wish I could help him like you can… the whole magic connection thing or whatever the hell it is. Whenever he’s in danger, you’re the one he needs. Whenever he loses control, you’re the one that can stop it. Whenever he is fighting hard, only YOU can help him. You’re pretty much the only reason he’s still alive. What the hell can I even do for him? Nothing by comparison, absolutely nothing. I have to sit and watch…”
She trailed off and pouted for a moment.
“Do you remember…?” she continued. “When we had to work together? To bring him back.”
“Oh…” Dash blinked. “After the tornado?”
“Yeah, that…” Spitfire nodded. “Celestia needed both of us. I didn’t have a damn clue what we were getting ourselves into at the time, but… the two of us together, we pulled Soarin out of certain death. I… don’t think we’ve ever really talked about that have we? I never really expressed how that felt, what it meant for me. I’ve flown hundreds of missions and fought an equal amount of battles, but… no success or victory in my life ever felt as good or as meaningful to me as being part of the reason my best friend would live another day. I didn’t get any medals for it, and nopony saw it except for you and whoever else was there, but it’s the most important achievement of my life.”
Spitfire sighed heavily and sat down.
“But since then I’ve done jack shit. He’s been living in his own personal hell since, but only you can help him now. It makes me so mad that we have to rely on you for that, it makes me feel useless.”
“That’s not true,” Dash immediately said as she finished. Spitfire looked up quickly and tipped her head. “Spitfire, this is going to sound cheesy as all hell, but don’t think for a second you haven’t done anything for him. You’re his goddamn best friend. I may be needed for the magic crap, but I can’t replace you… or Fleetfoot. You think he’d suck it up as hard as he has if he didn’t have you to think about too? You know how damn stubborn he can be.” Dash pointed to the wall. “I bet he’d come crashing through the wall right now if someone told him you were in trouble. He’d jump in front of you to block a gust of wind if he thought it would hurt you.”
Spitfire snorted and covered her mouth as she chuckled and cracked a smile.
“Yes… yes, that’s accurate,” she said with another snicker. “He’s always been such a knight in shining armor even when he doesn’t have to be. I guess you’re right…” Spitfire looked away. “Maybe I’m just jealous of you. I wouldn’t rub my body all over his flank the way you do, but I wouldn’t mind it if I could jab him in the shoulder now and then to keep his magic under control.”
“Hey, who am I, Fleetfoot?” Dash asked, chuckling along with her.
“If every stallion in Equestria was Soarin, you probably would be,” Spitfire jabbed back with a sneer.
“Okay, that’s fair,” Dash crossed her arms and nodded in agreement. “Heh… listen, I’ll do what I can. Seeing any of you would be a big help for him, we just need to get him to a safe point first.”
Both of them perked up as the door suddenly opened, Squad Three appearing as Misty came in first with the others behind her.
“Bro, I’m just sayin’.” Lightning Streak was talking to Fire as they entered. “You gotta really grip it and squeeze HARD. If it doesn’t feel tight, you’re doing it wrong.”
“Alright, alright. If you say so,” Fire shrugged and rolled his eyes. They all came to a halt and looked to see both Dash and Spitfire staring at them with blank, wide eyed expressions. Fire huffed and flattened his brow.
“We’re discussing weight lifting…” he said flatly as Surprise burst into a fit of giggles behind them.
“With your brother, I never know,” Spitfire chuckled.
“I MEAN…” Lightning slung his arm over Fire and motioned towards Misty. “We COULD’VE been talkin’ about—” He was cut off as Fire slung his own arm around and placed a hoof on Lightning’s head.
“NO.” Fire grunted as he shoved Lightning down to the floor, still guffawing to himself.
“Who the fuck is squeezing who?” Blaze’s voice came from the door as she walked in with Wave and High Winds behind her. “I heard Lightning’s voice, that’s already a bad sign.”
“Squeeze DEEZ NU—”
Fire pushed down harder on Lightning.
“WEIGHT. LIFTING.”
“Who are you squeezing while weight lifting?” High Winds asked sleepily.
Before Fire could say anything, a loud crashing and the sound of scuffling came from right outside the door. They all turned just in time to see Fleetfoot and Air Mach come flying through the doorway, Fleetfoot had him in a headlock and flipped him under her before they hit the ground, dragging Air Mach’s side along until they stopped.
“Oh yeah?! How does your damn stallionly shit like that? Guess what pal, I’m stronger now so when you give me your crap it’ll hurt even more when I slap your shit!” Fleetfoot barked at him as he just kept a silly grin on his face.
“Joke’s on you, I’m into that!” he said with a sputtering chuckle.
“Oh, for the love of…” Fleetfoot let go of him, grabbed him by the shoulders and heaved him along the floor. He laughed heartily as he slid along the ground and crashed into the stacks of chairs, several of them toppling and crashing down on him.
Spitfire winced, reaching a hoof up as she watched the chairs continue to topple and fall on Air Mach. She gave Fleetfoot a flat look.
“What? He tried to squeeze my—”
“GOOD MORNING CAPTAIN!” Wave Chill stepped in front with a big awkward smile as he saw Spitfire’s eyes twitch.
“We haven’t even started and we’re already breaking stuff…” Spitfire sighed and shook her head, but she perked up as Dash nudged her in the side.
“See this?” Dash winked at her. “This is what we need to get back to Soarin. One minute with these jokers would put the biggest smile on his face and you know it.”
“Heh,” Spitfire smiled at her. “Yeah, I know it…” she took a deep breath and let out a long breath. “This is going to be some interesting training…” she said to herself as she scanned the room and saw Dash’s squad walk in. Squall was in front with Little Star perched on his back. Thunderlane was nervously shuffling in behind him, his eyes immediately darting to all the casually bantering superior officers he was suddenly surrounded by. “And look who’s here,” Spitfire made a head motion.
“Oh, they made it,” Dash nodded as Matteo came through the door with an orange lightly clasped in the end of his beak. Dash shifted her neck back and forth. “Where’s—”
Dash’s question was answered before she asked it as Twister leapt past Matteo and grabbed the orange out of his beak with his own mouth.
“What the—HEY!” Matteo yelled as he began rumbling after Twister.
“There he is,” Dash nodded casually as the other Wonderbolts began hastily moving out of Matteo’s way as he chased Twister… who was wiggling through the air as he stayed afloat… instead of using his wings… somehow.
“I said this before, but,” Spitfire spoke up, tapping Dash on the shoulder. “Keep them focused. I know your squad can be a little—”
Spitfire was cut off, leaning back as Twister suddenly popped up in front of her, holding a jug of orange juice next to his head. The jug had the words “fresh SQUEEZED" on it written in black marker. Spitfire flinched again as Matteo’s arm shot out in front of her and he grabbed Twister by the neck. Two brass bugles popped out of Twister ears, but made a sound akin to a clown horn and the words on the jug changed to “ow” before Matteo yanked him away.
“—Weird.” Spitfire finished.
“I’ll do my best but I won’t make any promises,” Dash sighed as the sound of Matteo punching Twister rang out behind them. She knew that’s what was happening because of the very random sound effects blurting out.
“Good, because I’ll have my hooves full with my own band of idiots,” she chuckled as she turned her attention back to the elites, quickly spotting Air Mach chasing a swearing Blaze around with a chair on his head.. “But, eh, who am I kidding, I was expecting this. They aren’t recruits… they’ve all moved far beyond the green and wide eyed phase, but… I planned ahead,” she said with a wink to Dash.
“Planned… ahead?” Dash tipped her head curiously.
“You’ll find out in a minute,” Spitfire gave her a nod as she scanned the room again, doing a silent headcount. “It’s not time yet, but looks like… hmmmm… we’re still missing—”
“I’m here! I’M HERE!” Storm Front suddenly burst into the room, briefly drawing all eyes to him as the door slowly creaked shut behind him. “Sorry I’m late! I’m… uh…” he frantically looked at the clock. “Oh, wait…”
Dash stared wide eyed for a moment before furrowing her brow. Spitfire quickly stepped in front of her.
“Far from it, Storm. You’re the last one, but everypony’s early,” she informed him as he sighed in relief.
“Oh, good…” he exhaled as he walked in. He glanced at Dash’s squad, but quickly looked away as he met a look from Squall that was even harsher than the one Dash was giving. He looked unsure of what to do with himself, being the only one present from his Squad and not on the best terms with his fellow cadet class.
Spitfire quickly turned and firmly pressed a hoof to Dash’s nose, wrinkling it up a little.
“None of that,” she said sternly. Dash grunted and rolled her eyes. “I mean it, Dash. Handle your personal disputes elsewhere. When we get started with this training we are GOING and we are NOT stopping to deal with any squabbles. I need everypony razor focused… YOU especially. I’m not wasting the extra potential hiding in there being connected to Soarin and all,” she explained while moving the hoof down to Dash’s chest and tapping it.
“Yes, Ma’am…” Dash replied with clear reluctance, but Spitfire let it go.
“Good,” Spitfire nodded and turned to the rest. “Okay, okay, OKAAAAAAAAY!” she yelled while stepping forward and throwing her wings out. “Everypony settle down!” she kept yelling until the shenanigans finally ceased and they all looked at her. “Since everypony is here, we might as well get started. Now line up! Over here! Let’s go!” she motioned to them while pointing to a spot on the floor in the center of the room. “Across here, facing the whiteboards!” she added as they all casually sauntered over and lined up, only Dash’s squad and Thunderlane showing some quickness in their step. The rest took their time and shifted together in a mostly unorganized order.
Spitfire waited patiently until they were in place before scanning the line back and forth and nodding.
“Alright everypony, listen up. You’ve all heard this already, but let’s go over the plan again,” she began as she started pacing back and forth. “Today we are beginning a high intensity, high volume training routine that will make use of the Crystal Empire’s unique therapeutic Crystal Dew and its recovery properties. Fleetfoot, Wave Chill and I, after some experimentation, found that the stuff does indeed work for muscle recovery the same way it does for its primary purpose of healing minor injuries… so we, as the top elites of the Wonderbolts, are going to make use of it. I’ve had my fill of the Shadowbolts punting us around with all their enhanced abilities and false magic… and I’m sure you all feel the same. So… the goal of this training will be to push ourselves past our limits… so we can punch them right in the mouth the next time they think they can just walk in on us and push us around.”
She stopped in place and turned to look at Wave and Fleetfoot.
“Since Commander Fleetfoot, Commander Wave, and I have a slight head start on all of you, the first week will be focused on easing the rest of you into this, but once you’re all familiar with it, we are going HARD and STRONG. The cycle will be three days of training, then a whole day off for rest and recovery. After repeating that three times, you will get an additional day off for two full days of rest… before we repeat. With how hard we will be flying drills, lifting weights, and practicing combat… you’ll be glad to have those off days. If I recall, Commander Wave nearly slept for 18 hours straight when we took a break a few weeks back.” She commented with a smirk. Wave nodded to confirm as several eyes went to him.
“I won’t lie to any of you…” Spitfire went on. “The physical toll on your bodies will be unlike anything you’ve ever experienced… but I’ve no doubt that each and every one of you is capable of succeeding. Stick through this like the three of us did and you won’t be disappointed. Any questions?”
The moment she asked, Fire Streak lifted a wing in the air. Spitfire nodded to him.
“Captain, I don’t doubt the possible results, but… what about our readiness to handle an attack? If the Shadowbolts show up while we’re all beaten up and exhausted…” he trailed off, confident his point was clear. Spitfire pointed at him and gave a single nod.
“Excellent question, Fire. Truth is… we are taking a gamble with this, but I made this decision based on the facts of our current situation. If I feared the chance of a Shadowbolt attack was imminent, we wouldn’t be doing this… however…” she turned and began pacing again. “There has been no sign of the Shadowbolts for weeks. Descent has been scouting day and night for the Shadowbolts since the battle over Sombra, but even extending the range of his search by hundreds of miles at a time… they have yet to turn up a single sign of them anywhere near the Empire. Yes, I know they can do that flashy teleporting thing and have even moved their entire Fortress with it before, but one… I doubt they’ve fully repaired it based on the condition we left it in after tea-bagging it with the Nimbus…” she paused as a few snorts came from the line. “And two… we got a good look at how effective the shield is around the Empire during all the fighting. None of them were allowed in and I’m going to assume that goes for their teleporting as well. We can consider the Empire a safe haven, for the time being.”
Dash’s ears twitched. Spitfire was right… for all the Shadowbolts except… one particular individual among them. But… Dash still had no idea what to make of Ruin, especially after the odd nature of her last encounter with him. It was like he wasn’t even a part of them. Dash shuddered as she suddenly felt something… but she wasn’t sure what it was. Out of nowhere… something in her head was telling her to look to her left. She shifted her eyes, glancing to her left. She blinked and her eyes widened slightly as she saw Twister staring at her from the other side of Thunderlane.
Twister bounced his eyebrows twice and grinned.
“Any more questions?” Spitfire asked. Dash snapped back to reality and looked towards Spitfire as she walked by in front of her. As soon as she passed, Dash looked to her left again, but was shocked to see that Twister was no longer there, and Squall was standing next to Thunderlane. Dash quickly glanced to her right to see Twister standing in a goofy pose with his head tilted back, his cheeks puffed up and his chest stuck out like he was standing attention as hard as he could.
“Hrm…” Dash furrowed her brow and hummed to herself as she refocused.
“Alright then!” Spitfire smiled. “Let’s not waste any more time!” she said enthusiastically as she started moving towards the line.
Everypony watched curiously as Spitfire made her way over to Fleetfoot and Wave Chill and waved her hoof.
“Gimme some room here,” she asked. The two shifted, allowing Spitfire to turn and back her way into line between them. Everypony stared at her as she took a deep breath and exhaled. “ALL YOURS!” she yelled.
Everypony glanced amongst themselves. Dash tipped her head and blinked. What was Spitfire—
KA-BAM
Everypony nearly jumped out of their fur as the door was kicked open so hard it nearly came off the hinges…
…to reveal none other than Silver Lining.
“Rise and SHINE, suckass PUNKS!” he yelled as he hobbled into the room.
Everypony stared wide eyed in disbelief, even Dash. It was Silver alright… but as if he already wasn’t enough of a hardass, he now looked the part ten times more. No longer sporting any bandages, his numerous scars from the fight with Nightshade were on full display, a black eyepatch covered his lost eye, the stub of his missing wing was wrapped, and his crippled arm had a wooden walking cane fastened to it that was braced to his shoulder.
None of them knew he had been released from the hospital and based on Spitfire’s smirk, she kept it from them on purpose… and it quickly set in that Silver… was going to be a part of their new training.
“Silver?!”
“Silver!”
“Oh damn! SILVER!”
Several spoke up, the reaction ecstatic as several of them, Dash included, immediately broke from their line to rush towards him.
Big mistake.
“WHO THE FUCK SAID YOU COULD GET OUT OF LINE?!” Silver belted at the top of his lungs. Everypony froze in place, Dash screeching to a halt and running right into Surprise from behind. The only one who kept moving for a few steps was Misty, who stopped, glanced over her shoulder, and then tipped her head at Silver. Those who had not rushed out glanced at Spitfire to see she too looked caught off-guard.
“Are you the WONDERBOLTS or the goddamn DICKWAD brigade?!” he shouted, making them all flinch again, save for Misty who smirked at him. “LINE UP! IN ORDER BY SQUAD AND RANK!” he yelled, slamming the tip of his cane against the floor. “NOW DAMMIT! Or I’ll show you how my new friend here likes to say hello!” he kept tapping it against the ground hard enough to make their ears twitch. “Trust me, she’s a rough lady! And only a few of you might enjoy it!”
Everypony immediately started moving back to line up without taking any time to ask exactly who he was talking about. It was frantic and a little jumbled as they tried to get into the proper order, causing them to not line up as fast as Silver wanted.
“Better hurry up!” he yelled as he started hobbling towards them, seemingly locking onto Thunderlane who was unfortunate enough to be furthest out. “SHE SEES YOUR ASS BLUNDER!” Silver yelled at Thunderlane, smacking the stick to the floor harder as he got closer. “AND I THINK SHE LIKES IT!”
“AAAAH!” Thunderlane yelped as he leapt right over the top of Surprise and tumbled to the floor next to Dash before standing upright as fast as he possibly could.
Dash snorted quietly to herself as she watched him struggle, but was quickly distracted by Storm Front frantically moving to the other spot beside her. Right… Squad 7, the lowest rank present before her. He didn’t look at her… and was likely more scared of Silver than he was of her at the moment. At first Dash was curious why he looked so scared, but then she remembered… Storm had never had Silver as an instructor.
“That’s more LIKE IT!” Silver belted as he glared hard right at Thunderlane. He slowly shifted his eyes back and forth before turning and hobbling down the line. He made eye contact with each and every one of them, taking in extremely varied expressions he was getting in return. Some still looked surprised, some looked confused, a few of them, including Dash, looked excited, and a select few looked terrified. “You all know who I am!” he shouted before stopping, turning quickly, and getting right into Lightning Streak’s face. “BUT LET ME TELL YOU ANYWAY UNLESS SOME OF YOU BIG TALKING WET NOODLES FORGOT!”
Lightning’s ears slapped down to the sides of his head as he winced and narrowed his eyes to avoid getting Silver’s spittle in them. But he didn’t say a word.
“I am Senior Flight Instructor Silver Lining!” Silver went on as he began pacing up and down the line again. “Apparently the Captain thinks she has some magical new training method that’ll give you all big muscles!” he said as he passed by Wave and Fleetfoot, eyeing them both for the entire time they were in his peripheral vision. “But I’m here to tell you that’ll amount to JACK SQUAT. If anything it’ll only give you BIG HEADS! We don’t need any bigger heads around here! If Fleetfoot’s head gets any bigger, it might actually be half the size of her sex drive!”
“Hey!” Fleetfoot shouted.
Silver turned around so fast half his joints crackled. He rushed over to her as fast as he could hobble and got right into her face.
“YOU GOT A GODDAMN PROBLEM WITH ME, PLAP-HAPPY McTHUMPING BUNS?!” he shouted so hard that her mane got blown back as her eyes grew wide and she leaned backwards. “YOU MAY HYPNOTISE STALLIONS BY WALKING DOWN THE HALLWAYS WITH A THAT HORNY DUCK WADDLE ASS-SWAY IN YOUR LEGS, BUT IF YOU SPEAK OUT OF TURN AGAIN I’LL SHOW YOU A REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAL HEAVY DUTY PENDULUM THAT YOU CAN BET HANGS REAL LOW AND CAN BE USED AS A WEAPON!”
Fleetfoot released a tiny high pitched squeak as her pupils became small dots within her wide eyes.
“Silver…” Spitfire spoke up from beside Fleetfoot, sounding frustrated. All eyes immediately went to her, except for Silver’s as he slowly and menacingly turned his head to glare at her with his one eye almost completely open. He slowly moved until he was standing in front of her as she kept giving him a flat look. “When I said I wanted you to oversee the program, I didn’t mean go full drill serg—”
She came to an abrupt halt as Silver thrusted his head towards hers so fast that it was a wonder that he managed to stop less than an inch from head-butting her.
“DON’T you blow your SASSAFRASS up my ASS!” he shouted into her face, Spitfire stiffening and her eyes widening. “YOU don’t get a free PASS to HARASS me with your SASS!” he moved forward, causing Spitfire to instinctively inch backwards, her ears flopping down as Silver’s voice boomed past her head. “If you want to AMASS first-CLASS results, you’ll get in line with the rest!”
Everypony watched in awe as Silver backed her all the way up to the wall and the moment she could go no further, Spitfire began lowering herself down as Silver kept moving forward until he was literally looming over her and looking straight down at her.
“Now be a good LASS and shut the fuck up or I’ll put your head through some GLASS and plant your ASS in the GRASS!”
Silver instantly spun around and started walking back towards the line, leaving a frozen and completely shouted down Spitfire still crouched to the ground against the wall. Everypony stared, but didn’t dare say a word as Silver made his way in front of all them again.
“Hey wait a second…” Blaze spoke up as he passed by. “You said ass twice.”
THWACK
“OW! FUCK! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGHHHHH!!!!!”
Everypony sharply turned their attention from Spitfire to Blaze as she began rolling on the ground while grabbing her head. Silver casually lowered his walking stick back to the ground.
“DAMMIT! SON OF A BITCH! SHIT! FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF…!”
“So… did everypony have a good vacation?” Silver asked in a more casual tone.
“FUGIN FRGBLBRH SHHHHHFFFFUCKGRGHBL!” Blaze kept rocking back and forth.
“Anyone…?” he asked again in the same tone as Spitfire suddenly shuffled into line and stood at attention beside Fleetfoot, who had her eyes locked on Silver’s cane arm. That seemed to be the case for most of them.
Silver stopped in front of Misty Fly. The moment he locked his eye with hers she glared and put on a goofy looking grin. Silver lifted an eyebrow and leaned forward, turning his head to look her right in the eye, the silence between them filled with the background noise of Blaze’s muffled swearing. Beside her, Fire Streak’s eyes were darting between Silver’s head and his cane, but Misty didn’t budge. After a few seconds, Misty winked at Silver and stuck her tongue out at him. Silver snorted and quickly held back a chuckle. He couldn’t intimidate her if he tried, she had known him for too long.
“Must’ve been a shitty vacation if nopony has anything to say!” Silver chanted as he kept moving down the line. But those who weren’t currently terrified knew better. He was trying to get them to speak out of turn.
He started making his way towards Dash as Blaze finally stopped swearing, but before he could focus on her, he saw some movement beside her.
Storm Front was shaking in his hooves while staring directly ahead and maybe even holding his breath.
“Okay, new question!” Silver shouted as he made his way over to Storm. Storm visibly stiffened even more when Silver made eye contact with him. “Anyone feel like they’re about to shit themselves?” Silver asked. Storm swallowed hard, trying his hardest to hold still as Silver started leaning in very slowly. “Anyone feel a little… rush in the buns? HMMMMMMM?” Silver said as he leaned in so close that Storm could feel Silver’s breath on his nose. Storm scrunched up his face, his eyelids narrowing a little as he did everything in his power to hold steady. “Whoa can anypony hear that?” Silver said right into Storm’s face. “That’s either the sound of two wet balloons slowly rubbing together or somepony is clenching their cheeks harder than Fire Streak and THAT takes practice!”
Several snickers and snorts rang out from the line, but they all stopped in an instant as Silver slammed the tip of his cane to the floor.
“WHO’S SNIVVELING IN MY LINE?! WHO, HUH?!” Silver began hobbling up and down the line. “HUH?!” he yelled again as he stopped in front of Matteo and started directly into his chest fur. “SOUNDED LIKE YOU, FAT FLUFF! WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?!”
“Sir, excuse for what sir?!” Matteo shouted, not missing a beat.
“I’m asking the fucking questions around here!” Silver yelled at Matteo’s chest. But then he glanced up at Matteo, smirking briefly as Matteo answered the same way he had during recruit training without even being told to. “Was that you snickering in line?!”
“Sir, no sir!” Matteo answered.
“You better not be lying to me, Tubby!” Silver jammed his good hoof into Matteo’s chest feathers, but nearly stumbled forward when it sank in further than he was expecting. When he pulled out his arm, Twister was gnawing on his hoof. Silver scowled and stuffed Twister back into Matteo’s fur before stepping back and quickly lifted his cane up. “Cause if you are, my friend here won’t like it! If you lie to her, she’ll put it somewhere so hard you’ll have a limp for a month!”
“Sir, I know sir! I’m married, Sir!” Matteo answered.
Silver did an immediate about face, nearly spitting all over his hoof as he shoved it over his mouth and tried to stifle laughter. Everypony held still as Silver burst out laughing, only a few brave souls glancing at Matteo to see he was still standing at attention and not moving a muscle.
“ALRIGHT! LAUGHING TIME IS OVER!” Silver turned back around, causing everypony to stiffen up again.
Silver perked up and glanced towards Rainbow Dash.
She was standing at attention, but she couldn’t hide a grin creeping onto her face. Silver couldn’t help but smirk. She didn’t have to say anything, he could read it.
“OKAY! Everypony turn your attention to the white board!” Silver turned and started moving across the room. Several ponies exhaled and relaxed. “DID I SAY AT EASE?!” Silver snapped around and shouted. Everypony immediately stood upright and froze again. “Now PAY ATTENTION!” Silver yelled as he smacked his cane against one of the white boards so hard that it unhooked from the wall, hit the floor, and fell forward with a loud, clattering crash.
Silver stared at it for several moments as everypony in line held their breath, none dared utter a peep. Silver said nothing, playing it off and moving over to the other one next to it, grabbing a marker off the tray.
“NOW PAY ATTENTION!” he repeated. “I’m going to explain how this routine will work!”
Silver turned to the board, uncapped the marker with his teeth. And wrote:
‘WHATEVER HURTS THE MOST’
—in big letters across the entire board.
He capped the marker, smacked it into the tray, and spun back around.
“Any questions?!”
Nopony moved for a moment. Lightning Streak slowly raised a hoof into the air.
“DIDN’T THINK SO!” Silver yelled as he pointed to the door. “TEN LAPS AROUND THE EMPIRE! We’ll start from the north gate! That sounds like a good warmup to me! And by the way, when I say ten laps I mean the first one is ON HOOF!” he yelled as he made his way down the line again.
Everypony flinched. On hoof? The Empire was… enormous. Even just one lap was…
“Keep your wings pinned to your body like Blaze to High Winds when they’re alone in the locker room!”
“Hey! Fuck y—”
THWACK
“GAAAAAAAAAAHHH FUCK!” Blaze yelled out as she fell to the floor again and Silver lowered his cane back to the floor. Wave and High Winds tipped slightly away as Blaze rolled back and forth bumping into them both.
“When you start your second lap…!” Silver went on as if Blaze wasn’t swearing at full volume on the floor nearby. “THEN you can let those wings loose and get airborne! And for the love of Celestia’s ass stuck in Soarin’s ass, you clowndick chucklefucks are goddamn WONDERBOLTS! So you BETTER give me some up-tempo flight pacing! So help me if I see one of you slacking… I will track you down the next time you go to the bathroom, break down the partitions, tear off your head, and SHIT DOWN YOUR NECK! … AND THEN YOU WILL FLY TWO MORE LAPS! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!”
Nopony said a word as they just stared straight ahead with varying degrees of reactions to the threat.
“SIR! YES, SIR!”
All eyes went to Rainbow Dash. She was standing upright as strongly as she could, she had her chest puffed out, her eyes looked ready for action, and she was grinning. She looked absolutely pumped to get started. Silver smirked, letting out a single quiet chuckle.
“WELL THANK YOU, SKITTLES! At least one pony over here is ready to suck it up and hit it hard! Now what about the rest of you?! SOUND OFF LIKE YOU GIVE A DAMN!!!!!!!!!"
That seemed to do the trick. The Wonderbolts were competitive in nature, and when Dash stepped up to the plate, none of them wanted to be shown up.
Not to mention… who was going to be training them. Yeah… he scared them shitless, but… training under the great Silver Lining? For many of them… it would be like old times again. Times they really missed.
“SIR, YES SIR!” Yelled everypony else, except for Blaze who was still crouched down and rubbing her head.
They waited for his next instruction. Silver looked back and forth, but… something was different. The hardness of his gaze had vanished. He was smiling.
“Heh…” he glanced down. “It’s good to be back with all of you again.” he said quietly, but loud enough for all of them to hear. A few of them began to relax, finding it hard not to smile or feel good as they heard it.
But then Silver suddenly slammed his cane to the floor again.
“JUST KIDDING, I FUCKING HATE ALL OF YOU! NOW CHOP-CHOP! LET’S GO! ON THE DOUBLE!” he yelled while pointing at the door. “LAST ONE OUT GETS A HELL OF A RED MARK NEXT TO THEIR CUTIE MARK!” He finished as he waved his cane in the air. “NOW, DAMMIT! NOW!”
Within three seconds it suddenly became a mad cluster as everypony made a beeline for the door while all trying to squeeze through it at the same time. The only one who didn’t move immediately with the rest was Blaze, still slightly dazed.
“SHIT!” she yelled as she galloped after them, finding herself stuck at the back of the group as they forced their way through the door one by one.
“Ooooooooh?” Silver hooted as he started moving towards them. “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH?!” Silver started waving the cane at the last stragglers. Fire, Storm, Surprise, Wave, and Blaze were all frantically pushing at the back of Matteo as he fought to wedge himself through the door side by side with Lightning. “Look out! Here she comes! DON’T BE LAST!!!!!” He kept closing in as Lightning finally squeaked past and dislodged Matteo. Storm, Surprise, and Wave shot through the door, but when Blaze tried to cut off Fire, he placed a hoof over her head and pushed her chin down to the floor. He leapt over her and literally dove out the door, crashing to the floor outside and leaving Blaze as the last one in an unfortunately bent over position. “FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!” Silver yelled as he wound up and smacked the cane right into Blaze’s plot.
“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOWWW!!!!! FUCKING HELL!!!!!” Blaze yelped as she bounced and stumbled out the door while seething. “WHOSE FUCKING BRIGHT IDEA WAS IT TO ATTACH A BLUNT OBJECT TO HIM?!” she yelled, her yelling growing more distant until Silver was left alone in silence.
Or so he thought.
He was about to leave and head towards the north gates, but somepony cleared their throat behind him.
“Hm…?” He turned to see that Spitfire was still there, giving him a very flat look. “The hell are YOU staring at?”
“Silver…” Spitfire groaned, rubbing her temples. “Look… I want your help with this but you really don’t need to—”
“To what? Do things MY way?” Silver cut her off and pointed at her. “You asked me to oversee the training, so this is what you’re getting. This is what they're getting. I’m surprised you expected anything less.” He tapped his cane against the floor. “You want the best? You’ve got the best. You want them to get the most out of it?” He hobbled towards her. “They’ll get the most out of it, even if I have to beat it into them. That goes for you too.” He thrust his head forward slightly, causing her to flinch as he got right in her face. “Look at Rainbow Dash,” he narrowed his eyes. “You’ve watched her grow, you see what she’s slowly becoming. How do you think she got there? Hm?” he lifted the eyebrow over his eyepatch. “You think she’s come as far as she has because I went easy on her?”
Spitfire relaxed and blinked as Silver’s words sunk in.
“The answer you’re looking for is no. She’s incredibly talented… and I made sure to squeeze every ounce of that talent out of her by pushing her to her limits, even if it hurt. If you want me to do this… I’m not letting it go to waste. If this so-called crystal crap treatment does what you say it does. I’m kicking all your asses to hell and back until you leave all former generations of Wonderbolts light-years in the dust. You will all be faster, you will all be stronger, and you will all be better than any Wonderbolts who ever came before you… And you know what? Want to know who ELSE really wants to kick the Shadowbolts in the teeth so hard that they shit out their tonsils?” Silver swung his head left, his mane flowing away from his eye patch. He turned to briefly face his lost wing nub towards her, and then rapped his cane on the floor. “ME.”
Spitfire didn’t know what to say. But frankly, she didn’t need to say anything. Silver was as convincing as ever and any disapproval of his preferred methods were instantly gone.
“By the way…” Silver kept tapping his cane on the floor. “You’re the last one out.”
Spitfire flinched and her eyes went wide as Silver’s face hardened into a glare.
“And because your sister took a hit she didn’t deserve, you’re getting two… COME HERE.” He started shifting towards her with his cane waving in the air.
“Oh no… you stay away from me with that!” Spitfire inched backwards and shook her head.
“WHAT’S THAT?!” Silver leaned and started hopping closer to her. “YOU WANT THREE?! AIN’T YOU KINKY, CHIEF!”
“AH! Okay! OKAY!” Spitfire shifted and ran around him, ducking as he swung his cane towards her anyway. “I’m going! I’M GOING!!!!” she yelled as she rushed out the door to catch up with the rest.
Silver followed her all the way to the door before he stopped, leaned against the door frame, and smirked as he watched her sprint down the hall and turn the corner. He stayed there for several moments before turning back into the room.
“Ahhh…” he let out a long sigh. “This is going to be a good time…” he stopped and looked at the white board and his ‘plan’ written on it. “Eh…” he tipped his head. “I’ll come up with something…” he turned around and left the room, making his way down the hall. “Gonna need plenty of drills, maybe some combat exercises, formations… right and the gym, lots of weight lifting… Gotta make sure they keep together too. Maybe throw in some fun stuff to mix it up, team building, a few competitions… they won’t grow if I don’t let them enjoy themselves here and there too…”
He turned the corner as he took his time as he hobbled along… In reality, he only ordered the first lap be on hoof so he had time to get out there before they started flying.
---To Be Continued---
Art in this chapter by: Foxenawolf
Well! Looks who's back to kick ass and take names? None of them are going to halfass this training with Silver in charge... and it looks like even Spitfire got more than she bargained for.
But lets be real... Silver may be one hell of an intimidator and a hardnose piece of metal, but i doubt any of the Wonderbolts would have it any other way. The Iron Horse is back on his hooves and ready to be a part of the team again.
Sounds like things are slowly advancing for Soarin as well. Here's hoping he can gain some more control soon because it sounds like Spitfire really needs to visit her best friend.
Lastly, this amazing piece of fan art by Lazzari will be going into the previous chapter. I just wanted to make sure everyone saw it here first because WOW!
Thanks for reading hope you enjoyed!
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Just makes me Super glad I'm not one of them right now.
SILVER'S BACK! DAMN DID THAT LAUGH FEEL GOOD.
Oh hell, yes!!!
11075735
Love your profile picture ^^
maaaan i missed silver 🥲
so good as awlays
The return of the king!
I’ve missed this guy so much...
Damn near spit out my water at this. Matteo didn’t miss a beat with that one.
And the ultimate troll strikes again.
Fan-f*ckin’-tastic chapter, Calm Wind. Every time I see a new one I get the biggest grin on my face, because I know the humor is always going to make my day. Can’t wait to see where this goes with Silver at the helm again.
Well, hello Sliver! It's nice to see you again, oh no. Stay away FROM ME! RUNAWAY!
Hmm Silver back in the training saddle? Awesome sauce
And another thought, how long before someone asks Celestia and Sombra how come he never got her pregnant?
🎼 Hello Silver, my old friend, it's nice to see you again ... 🎹
R Lee is looking on with interest (DI to DI) ... 🔊
reminds me of boot in Great Lakes. we asked our RDC's to train us old school just as they started those candyassed stress chits and damned if they didn't. 934 Tripple Threat. band, choir, and drill team routines PLUS everything the rifle divisions did. drill got our asses beat on the blacktop when we fucked up a sequence during a heat wave when the WHOLE base shut down and the rest of the recruits spent the day chillin stripped down to their skivies! no one bothered to come out to the black top to tell US there was an excessive heat warning and base wide shut down of all physical activities! any divisions with windows twards the blacktop got a good laugh, but we STILL kicked ass! went back to barracks looking like we went swimming in our dungarees! the rain dance would have been a nice warm up.
the moment I realized I missed silver and his jokes
i knew i missed silver but damn i really missed silver 😭
Silver hassa stick.
The Wonderbolts are doomed.
Hoo boy, they're about to really earn all that vacation time
stan Silver Lining. That's it, that's the comment
11075745
Lol, I for one would be honoured to be there
11075735
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's back!
(Always a pleasure
)
11075745
The absolute mixtures of 'yay' and 'oh no' must be off the charts
11075746
Expect more, i was waiting so long to get him back in. Gotta keep to the plotline... it sucked keeping my favorite character sidelined for literal years
11075749
11075773
You and me both
11075796
thanks!
11075829
I am THRILLED to finally have him back with the rest of the characters, you have no idea...
11075919
HERE COMES THE BIG STICK
11075978
Cosmic godlike birth control.
nah, i just don't want to explore active characters having children. Unless they were planned to have them from the start like Silver and Matteo.
11075987
I can only hope to do Ermey proud
11076110
The moment i realized how much i enjoyed just having him around with the cast on the regular
11076366
saaaaaaaaaaaaame
11076511
You have no idea how long ago i planned for Blaze to use that 'who attached a blunt object to him?" line... felt good to finally use it
11076635
Used it all up, now they gotta work for more
11076740
funt it
11077512
whoops! thanks for catching that
11077381
Silver may be scary... but it's freaking Silver Lining, it's an honor. a PAINFUL honor... but beggars can't be choosers
11078657
Indeed
11078660
alrighty, would be a bit hard for them to have kids in their state now heh heh
remember when this story averaged 6000 word chapters?
Pink Dragon remembers.
11076511
The Shadowbolts are going to get it worse
11080326
Silver gonna give them 1000 years of death.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN6JqE_mk9M
With THA STICK
11080251
i often look back and feel like arc 3 should have been split in two, either at chapter 100 or when they arrived at the Empire.
11082862
Probably my favorite chapter atm too
Glad you like it! I was waiting on so many of these lines for a while, it was great to finally make use of them
Heh. Way to go, Dash! Way to be a leader!
Heh. Excellent job, Silver! Tell Spitfire the truth.
Was it intentional that the guy who arrives the latest is the only one in the room who was not trained by Silver?
Also if teabagging is an expression does that mean they have videogames in PtH?
11102647
You... you realise tea bagging didnt come from video games... right?
HELL YEAH! SILVER! Seriously has the be one of the most bad ass bad asses in the whole of the MLP fandom.
11103182
No I actually don't. Where does it come from?
11102647
It wasn't actually, his timing was just for the moment Spitfire could tell Dash to cut it out and focus. Though that would make sense now wouldn't it? Considering he nearly shat himself when Silver did his thing.
I know it was a term before gaming, but i can't say I know exactly where it came from. The Wonderverse does follow some basic themes from the show canon and we saw an arcade game at least, so i'd assume they exist.
11103184
It feels good to finally get him involved again.
11122907
Dunno... something called a 'joybuzzer' is probably something she'd like
Especially if she's also a lightning wrangler ...