Chapter 64: The Most Valuable Lesson of All
MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 64:
“Haaaaaaahhhh…” Soarin sat down on the floor of the west elite gymnasium. He had sweat dripping down his face, slipping down over the metal headband of the false horn, and leaving little droplet stains on the ground below.
“Is it really that tiring?” Fleetfoot asked as she floated down and landed beside him, folding her wings and looking him over. Soarin looked up as he lightly panted and nodded.
“It’s a lot different than physical activity,” he explained. “There’s so much mental focus involved, it’s exhausting after a while.”
Fleetfoot listened, but also glanced over at Soarin’s new ‘toy’ he received from Rivet the other day. It looked like a simple contraption on the outside. Three connected gym ball launchers attached to a wide rectangular box. However, on the inside it was a very complex mechanism. When switched on, several gear circuits began turning on a flat metal beam that moved back and forth within the box. The beam had several loose gears on it. Each launcher moved back and forth at a continuous rate with the rest of the mechanism, but the extra gears on the board would interfere or add themselves to the main circuit every couple of seconds to interrupt or speed up the motion of the launcher.
The end result, three gym ball launchers that moved back and forth as they fired balls and the complex gear circuit breaking caused the launchers to move at a random rate that was different every time it was switched on.
Soarin had taken to not asking Rivet exactly how he built such things anymore… because whenever Rivet tried to explain, he lost Soarin in seconds. How Rivet was able to comprehend such complex machinery and put it all together like this was something Soarin would never be able to comprehend.
Soarin had the device pushed up against the back wall of the gym, which was quickly becoming a bit ‘dirty.’ Soarin and Fleetfoot cringed slightly as they looked the wall over. It was covered with blackened spots and cracks from small magical explosions.
“This is awesome and all,” Fleetfoot chuckled. “But we might want to look into reinforcing the wall before next time.”
“Yeah…” Soarin agreed. “That might be a good idea.”
“Ready for more magic!” Air Mach called from behind the device as he closed the latch on the back. He and Fleet had been helping by reloading the balls every time Soarin finished a round.
Soarin held up a hoof and shook his head as Air Mach eagerly awaited to switch on the ‘crazy-awesome-ball device’ as he had deemed it.
“I’m gonna take a break and work on something else,” Soarin explained. “Thanks for the help, guys.”
“Aw…” Air Mach frowned as he stepped away from the machine.
“C’mon stallion of stallions,” Fleetfoot snickered as stepped over to him and hooked his cape with a hoof. “You can play with it later, we need to get some laps in,” she said as she started dragging him along. Air Mach smirked as he let Fleetfoot pull him.
“I typically prefer to walk on my own, but I’m alright with a sexy mare leading me around!” he stated confidently. Fleetfoot immediately yanked down on his cape, pulling Air Mach to the floor. She turned and wrapped his arms and legs together, tying it off at the end in a big bow.
“This sexy mare expects a stallion to carry his own weight!” she bounced her eyebrows at him before turning around, whipping him in the face with her tail, and walking away while exaggerating the sway of her plot. Air Mach managed to tip himself up and flapped his wings to take off.
“I like ‘em brutal!” he said as he floated after her with his arms and legs still tied.
Soarin chuckled as he watched the duo leave. Fleetfoot still wasn’t the biggest fan of the lead squad’s newest addition, but at least now she seemed to be getting used to him. Or in this case, knew how to handle him.
As he rested, Soarin took a look around the rest of the gym. Squads three, seven, and eighteen were also present. Squad eighteen was on the other end of the gym. Soarin couldn’t quite make out what they were doing, but that was mainly because squad three and seven were in the middle doing some joint practicing.
Soarin smiled as he saw Fire Streak, Misty Fly, and Point Dex walking Storm Front through some advanced formation shifting. They were hovering about five feet off the ground, lined up in a row. Fire and Storm were in the middle with Misty and Dex on the edges. Fire was busily explaining maneuvers to Storm.
“Now, you may recall one of our more basic maneuvers in this formation, Edge Shift?” Fire asked Storm. Storm nodded.
“When the inside flyers switch with the outside?” he answered.
“Correct,” Fire continued. “We have a similar, more advanced maneuver that will be good to know on the wings of this formation. It’s called Edge Exchange.” He nodded to Dex and turned to Misty while making a twisting motion with both of his hooves. On that cue, Dex ducked below and shifted beneath them as Misty suddenly whipped upward into a barrel roll over the top. Storm flinched in surprise but looked up in awe as Misty skillfully executed a very difficult maneuver that was usually only possible while flying at high speeds. She did so while floating in place.
Dex lifted into the spot beside Fire and Misty and dropped down beside Storm, giving him a smile and a wink as he continued staring in awe. Fire cleared his throat to re-catch Storm’s attention.
“This move can be done at the same time as our two pony inline twist maneuver with the inside ponies. In fact, it’s one of our most popular show maneuvers because of the effect it generates with the smoke trails. On my mark, inline twist,” he ordered Storm before making the same motions to Dex and Misty again. “Now!” The two on the outside switched in the same manner as Fire and Storm twisted around each other twice.
“Whoa!” Storm hesitated as Misty passed over him again, causing him to bump into Fire. They remained afloat, but Fire had to grab onto Storm to keep steady as the maneuver ended. “Ah! Sorry, sir!” he quickly apologized. Fire shook his head and patted Storm on the back.
“Don’t worry about it, this is new to you. Now this is also an important move to know in combat situations because it can be used to confuse a target as we approach. If you can get this maneuver down…”
As he kept going, Misty smiled as she watched Fire teach Storm. She enjoyed watching Fire help out the rookies because he always got right down to business and very into it. Fire always ‘spoke’ to her about how much he admired Silver Lining. It was only natural that he went the extra mile when it came to passing on veteran knowledge.
However, something had been bothering her as of late. Ever since Fire’s little outburst at Storm… he had barely conversed to her. Well, he had, but it was never anything personal. Simple exchanges, hellos, orders, and the like seemed to be all she got from him. To most, this would just appear as keeping a professional air, but not to Misty Fly. She and Fire Streak had too strong a friendship for this to go on without her being skeptical. He always confided in her… ALWAYS. Fire apologized to her for his behavior and here he was even helping out Storm, but his eyes, his facial expressions, the way he moved and carried himself, they all lacked the usual strength. If he was trying to hide something, he was picked the wrong pony to try and hide it from, because without hearing, Misty relied on those things to read moods and feelings.
Fire was hiding something from her, and she didn’t like it. Their schedule was packed and their opportunities for some time to sit down and converse alone were few and far between. She had a chance the day before, but all the fun ‘activities’ going on during the large day off distracted her. Next chance she got, she was going to pull him aside and demand he tell her what was bothering him, even if he had to be a little… ‘persuaded.’
Fire finished explaining the maneuvers to Storm and turned his eyes towards Misty. He flinched when he saw her looking at him with a confused and distraught expression. Fire tipped his head to the side as he tried to read her face, but—
“Sir?” Dex spoke up. Fire blinked and looked over to Dex. “The next formation?”
“Ah, right, yes, of course,” Fire nervously stammered. Misty scrunched her face and glared. Something was definitely wrong.
Soarin shook his head out to whip the sweat from his brow and mane before slowly getting up and cracking his neck and other tight joints. Soarin was glad Storm had good teachers helping him out, bringing him up to the elite level as quickly and efficiently as they could without skipping over the important aspects.
Half of squad three and seven were taking part in that informative lesson… What were the rest doing?
“WHEEEEEE!!!” Surprise’s happy squeals reached Soarin’s ears. He turned his head to see Macho Savage, Lightning Streak, and Autumn Rain playing catch with Surprise.
“I’m open!” Lightning yelled as he flew away from Autumn.
“GO LONG, BROTHER!” Macho Savage yelled as he wound up, spun around, and launched Surprise through the air.
“HEHEHEHAHA!!!” she giggled cheerfully as she careened through the air. Lightning pushed off of Autumn and lifted up higher to catch Surprise in his hooves.
“Whoa!” he yelped as her momentum carried the two of them out of control towards the ground, lightly crashing in a pile on the floor.
“AGAIN!” Surprise was instantly up, smiling incredibly wide with her tough sticking between her teeth, and bopping her hooves against Lightning’s shoulders as he wobbled up to his hooves.
“Gimme a sec, girl… I think you landed on my kidneys…” he groaned.
Soarin chuckled and shook his head. The difference between the two groups was hilarious, except for one who could have been with either. Soarin sighed as he looked towards Autumn Rain. He found out recently about her and Calm Wind breaking up and still didn’t know how to feel about it. The big guy seemed to be getting himself back on track, but there was clearly a lack of spring in his step now. It was an unfortunate reminder to Soarin what the dangers of a workplace relationship were. Calm and Autumn went their separate ways, but they still were both employed by the Wonderbolts and still saw each other every day. That had to be brutal. It was all the more reason for Soarin to hang onto Rainbow Dash. He was more than certain he had nothing to worry about, but after the brief week they had where things were shaky between them, he couldn’t imagine how bad it would be for that to be indefinite.
He already talked to Calm once about it, but he felt like checking up on the giant again the next time the opportunity presented itself.
Soarin took a deep breath and exhaled as he turned back to Rivet’s device. He felt like he had done enough magic shooting for the time being. Besides, he was wrecking the wall and he didn’t want Spitfire to get even angrier than she was already going to be.
He still had some time left before they had to clear out for other squads though, so Soarin decided to put a little more practice into the shield spell he learned the other night.
It was great getting a chance to work with Shining Armor and Soarin picked up how to use the spell incredibly fast, but as usual, it couldn’t be that simple. As Shining praised Soarin for, he was able to generate the most powerful form of the shield spell despite never attempting it before. It was due to Soarin’s strength, willpower, and resolve to protect something important to him. However, there was one major issue they ran into right after.
Soarin couldn’t seem to keep the shield up for more than a couple of seconds before it completely dissipated. His physical and gritty attributes made him easily activate the spell, but his still mostly novice level of mental control over it all made it difficult to sustain. They eventually sent him off for the night with instructions and a promise that it would get easier with practice.
He was feeling a little mentally fatigued, but maybe having used the magic a bunch already would help him focus. He also had to shift his mindset. The offensive magic required use of anger and negative, destructive emotions, while the shield required positive, protective emotions. How unicorns could control such things so quickly, easily, and often was impressive.
“Rainbow Dash…” Soarin whispered to himself as he squinted and tensed him muscles. The false horn emitted a soft glow followed by a couple of sparks bursting from the tip. An aura encased the horn before expanding and surrounding Soarin with the shield dome again. “URGH!” Soarin suddenly grunted, and the shield collapsed immediately. “Ah!” his eyes widened and he dropped down to the ground while panting. Maybe he was just too tired to do it.
He sat back up and looked around the gym again as something else came to mind. Spitfire’s sudden breakdown was a surprise, but what he found himself thinking about more were some of the things she mentioned.
Being kept out of the loop, the possibility of Shadowbolts gathering, but most of all, Luna constantly turning them away. Since the encounter in Manehatten, Spitfire had sent out daily patrols to majors cities, hoping some sort of evidence would turn up about the pseudo-Shadowbolt, but the weeks had gone by without a single speck of info arising. Either the Shadowbolt was working alone or they were doing an incredible thorough job of remaining out of sight.
Soarin was afraid something was going on behind the scenes. Something was lurking in the shadows and they knew nothing about it. Their last battle against the Shadowbolts far from ended the dangers. So many questions went unanswered and Nightshade was never found. Assuming her own power didn’t blow her to smithereens, she could very well still be out there, and knowing her violent and vengeful nature, she wouldn’t stay down forever.
Whatever was going on, Soarin hoped nothing happened before Dash made it to the end of her training. For once, he wanted her to go through something important without a massive speed bump getting in the way.
Speaking of Dash, today was a ‘free’ day for the recruits, he wondered if Dash was training with Silver.
“Steady… keep your breathing even,” Silver gave directions as he hovered in front of Dash with his arms folded over his chest.
“Rgh…” Dash hovered before him, eyes closed, hooves outstretched, and a small bundle of electricity in each hoof.
“Control the flow of the electrical currents, don’t let them have their way,” Silver continued as he slowly hovered in a circle around her. “Keep them as far apart as possible. The currents can feel each other nearby and want to come together. Don’t let them, but at the same time don’t push them away. Keep them equally spaced.”
“Ah!” Dash’s right arm suddenly twitched. The electricity on that side suddenly jumped and began running up her arm.
“Control it! Hold it! HOLD IT!” Silver shouted as Dash began to lean to one side. The volts on her left began pushing away from her hoof.
Dash grunted and forced her body back upright. The electricity pushed out of her arm and back to her right hoof, but the left fired away from her and dissipated.
“Damn!” Dash cursed as she pulled her left hoof in.
“That’s good enough,” Silver nodded to her. Dash quickly shook her right arm, flinging the electricity away and quickly hugging herself, shivering for a moment before taking a long, deep breath and facing Silver as the two descended to the ground. “Well done,” Silver complimented her. “You didn’t lock up that time and pushed it back out before it could shock you.”
“Uh huh…” Dash replied quietly, her heart beating slightly faster than normal. She had made progress, but she was still very much afraid of lightning. It was hard and definitely something she dreaded every time she came in for personal training. She wondered how long it took Silver to get over his fear of fire. Seeing as how damaged his body was by it, it probably took him quite a while. “Well done?” she suddenly picked up on what Silver said. “I lost a whole hooffull of it, hardly well done if you asked me,” she said with frustration.
“Excuse me?” Silver lifted an eyebrow. It wasn’t often he got praise shoved back in his face. How bold of Dash.
“Um!” Dash perked up when she realized she talked back. “S-sorry, sir!” she quickly tried to save. Silver didn’t show any of it in his expression. But he found it really amusing. Dash was really getting into it despite her fears. That was a good sign.
“That’s it for lightning, combat now,” Silver suddenly shifted gears as he walked over to the wall, picked up, and tossed Dash a bundled together set of training armor. Dash quickly went for it without saying or doing anything else, feeling like she got off easy for her small bit of sass, when in reality Silver had gotten a small kick out of it.
Dash looked around the private gym as she fastened the armor pieces to her body. Still no sign of the rest of squad two. It had been just her and Silver the whole time. Part of her was curious as to why they were alone, but for all she knew they could be busy with something else. She assumed that they were all on a free day the same time she was, but they could easily be carrying out some orders by Silver or helping out with another practice or something. Whatever the reason was, this was the first time she and Silver trained alone… and so far it had been interesting.
It was fine with the others around, but without them it felt much more personal. Like the two of them weren’t just training, but they were also bonding on a deeper master and apprentice level. Maybe that’s why she let slip the frustration just now. She didn’t feel quite so tense.
She eyed Silver dragging a pop-up punching dummy to the center of the gym as she put on and fastened her head-guard. She found herself wondering about the end of the training cycles coming up in a week. So far this cycle, they were currently gone had really sped by. She didn’t know if she was just getting used to things, or if it was in anticipation of something Silver was going to spring on them suddenly. She felt like she was ready for anything, but who knew what kind of crazy courses or tests Silver could have hidden for them?
“Come over here,” Silver ordered as he tapped his hoof against the floor. Dash had just finished adjusting the straps on the armor before trotting up quickly. Speaking of hidden tests, Dash wondered what Silver had for her here. He had never used other equipment before during their combat sessions. What was with the pop-up dummy in the middle of the gym? Silver waited for her to reach him before backing up and putting a hoof up on the dummy.
“We’re going to do something a little different today,” he began as he glanced at the dummy. “This,” he gave it a solid pat. “Is a fellow comrade of yours. They were careless or overpowered, however you’d like to look at it, and are helpless,” he explained before letting go of the dummy and walking up to Dash. “You have back up arriving in ten minutes, but until then,” he leaned forward into Dash’s face and glared. “You have to protect your fallen wingmate from me.”
“From you?!” Dash blinked.
“Did I stutter?” Silver narrowed his eyes further.
“But… I can’t even land a clean punch on you! Let alone an effective one!” she stated in her surprise. She instantly shut her mouth as Silver’s glare intensified.
“Dash, protect the damn dummy. I took them by surprise, I knocked them out of the sky, and I want to finish the damn job,” he pressed his nose against Dash’s. “So unless you do something to stop me… they’re a dead pony. Understand?”
“Y-yes!” Dash gulped as Silver removed his nose and walked around her. She glanced at the dummy and then back at Silver as he turned around and cracked his neck. She had to stop SILVER LINING from getting to the dummy for TEN MINUTES. That was way easier said than done.
“The timer starts when I move, got it? Ten minutes, fend me off, or they die,” Silver pointed to the dummy again. Dash gulped and nodded in response.
She set her hooves and faced Silver as she tried to play out the approaching scenario in her head. How would he try to get past her? Would he use fake outs, would he try to misdirect her? He had to have a lot of quick juke moves. Whatever he was about to throw at her, she’d try her best to react to it.
She tensed her body as Silver leapt forward…
But he moved directly at her with a hoof reared back!
Dash yelped and threw her hooves up just in time to receive the punch, but it was so strong that it pushed the backs of her hooves directly into her face and caused her to stumble back. Silver continued the assault, ramming her in the chest as she stumbled and sending her flying past the dummy and landing a good five feet away.
That didn’t take long. He already pushed her a significant distance away from the dummy. She skidded to a stop on the ground and slowly propped herself up, expecting to see something like Silver sitting on top of the dummy or the sort.
“WHOA!” she couldn’t have been more wrong. Silver was charging at her, hoof pulled back, and ready to slam it down on her. She rolled out of the way but felt Silver’s hoof graze her back before striking the floor. Dash quickly got to her hooves and continued to back up as Silver turned and launched himself towards her again.
He was coming after her and he was going all out!
Dash put up her hooves again to intercept an incoming punch, but Silver followed up by swinging his other arm around and knocking her back down.
“Rgh!” Dash grunted as she pushed her hooves to the ground and spread her wings. She took to the air for increased mobility, glancing between Silver and the dummy. He had a clear path to it, why was he attacking her? She readied herself as Silver pumped his wings and pursued her.
There was no time to question it, he was going all out so she had to fight back! As Silver approached, she turned her body, twisted, and pounded her wings down to execute the Spiral Turn-Air Burst combo. She instantly switched directions, propelling herself down towards Silver. Silver’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he quickly reacted by throwing his punch earlier with less wind up. Dash suddenly used the Spiral Turn again and slipped right by his punch. Silver suddenly found Dash’s hoof inches from his face.
He lurched his head to the side, Dash’s hoof tapping against his cheek as he swung his elbow out and struck her right in a spot between two of the pads on her armor.
“GAH!!!!” Dash cried out as Silver’s attack found an opening in the armor and connected to her diaphragm. She threw her wings out to stop her fall as she passed, but had little time to do much else. Silver turned around and shot down towards her. “Eee!” Dash yelped as she shifted to dodge the hammer strike from above, but Silver stopped himself mid-dive, putting him directly in front of her. Dash tried to shove away from him, but he grabbed her hooves and pulled her forward, landing a headbutt into her forehead padding. She bounced off the hit, slightly disoriented and tried to rebalance herself, but she had no time.
Silver followed and began unloading a flurry of strong blows. Unlike the attack that landed between the pads, each punch he threw struck the padding, but his strength was so fierce that each one sent a powerful shock through Dash’s body. She had no openings and no opportunities as Silver laid the punishment.
After striking Dash roughly twenty times, he spun around and delivered a hard kick to the stomach, sending her straight to the ground, roughly crashing and bouncing with pieces of her armor ripping free from the straps and flying off of her.
As soon as she stopped rolling she flailed around for a moment before scrambling to turn herself upright. She breathed heavily as Silver slammed to the ground a few feet from her. He glared down at her, asserting his will upon her as she stared back with a sudden wave of fear over taking her. He wasn’t stopping.
She was scared.
Very scared.
Silver gave her a task, and suddenly turned on her. There was nopony else in the room. There was nopony else to see this. She doubted that Silver would actually injure her, but why was he not stopping? She was down, she was disoriented, and she could no longer protect the dummy. She could only think of one thing now.
Run.
She had to get away, her own safety suddenly became priority and she quickly turned away from him. She forced herself to her hooves and began sprinting for the doors. She had no idea what was going on, but she had to get away!
“RAINBOW DASH!” Silver’s voice boomed behind her like a fierce roar.
Dash instantly froze in place. Her body shivered as it stiffened and she very slowly turned her head to look back at Silver. He hadn’t moved nor had he made any effort to follow her once she started running.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” he asked in a very stern, somewhat disappointed tone of voice. Dash just stared, extremely confused as to what was going on. Silver snorted and pointed towards the dummy. Again, Dash just blinked. Silver shook his head and sighed. “So you’re running away from a fallen comrade… leaving them to die at the hooves of the enemy? Bad… very bad, Dash.”
Dash’s ears stood up as Silver turned and slowly walked towards her. She had completely disregarded the whole ‘defend the dummy’ part of the exercise as soon as she felt in danger. It completely left her mind and survival became priority.
“Take off the armor,” Silver ordered as he walked right past her and to the doors. Dash obeyed, removing what was left of her armor as Silver patiently waited. She discarded every piece before facing Silver again. “Walk with me,” he opened the door and made a head motion for Dash to follow.
Confused, still slightly disoriented, and curious as to what just happened, she followed after him. Her first steps were hesitant, not sure if he was going to suddenly attack her again, but after thinking about it, his actions clearly had a purpose, Silver always had a purpose. She had a feeling she was about to find out what it was this time.
They slowly walked down the hall from the end of the east hallways towards the lobby. For a about two minutes, no words were exchanged between the two of them. Dash was ordered to follow, and that’s what she was doing. It wasn’t until they neared the lobby that Silver finally spoke up.
“Rainbow Dash,” he began. “One thing all Wonderbolts must be aware of is the importance of the lives they fight to protect. We are a defense force, we are here and we train to respond to abnormal threats to the kingdom that the royal guard and the standard Equestrian defenses are ill prepared to handle. The common citizenry does not know of our military function. We are only praised for little tricks and stunts we pull to get oos and ahs. But when the time comes and we are called upon, they will look up and scream for help, and we will respond and protect them with our lives. That’s a principle that goes for all those who cannot protect themselves, including fellow Wonderbolts. It is up to you to protect them with your life as a shield for the helpless.”
Dash listened carefully as they passed through the lobby and Silver directed them towards the stairs.
“Remember when I told you about the conflicts between the drakes and the griffons?” he suddenly asked while glancing at her. Dash nodded. “Well… after that little encounter we had where I was nearly burned to death, the Wonderbolts were sucked into the conflict, Celestia placing her hopes in us to separate the two warring species. After two months of recovery from my burns, I was quick to get up and rejoin my wingmates. We were on the verge of convincing the griffons to cease their attacks, but things weren’t going so well with the drakes. I was assigned to a large squad of Wonderbolts led by my mentor, Blizzard Strike, to patrol the borders. The whole day was quiet and we patrolled from dawn to sundown. All seemed well and we received word of a squad inbound to our position. Blazetail and Flashwind were on their way with the King Gerardo of the griffons and Princess Celestia in tow along with four squads of Wonderbolts and three teams of Sky Wings.”
Dash listened intently as they climbed the stairs up to the second floor. Dash was curious as to where they were heading and even more curious once they stopped at the second floor and turned down the west hall from Spitfire’s office. Dash had never been in the administrative wings of the second floor before. She had never gone beyond Spitfire’s office in the dead center.
As soon as they turned in, Dash noticed along the left wall, between the windows and opposite of the offices, there were portraits of Wonderbolts... retired Wonderbolts, a wall of honor so to speak. Silver continued.
“They were due to pass our position in ten minutes…”
Dash’s head snapped back towards him. Ten minutes? That’s how long he gave her just now during their test.
“We were ambushed,” Silver gritted his teeth as Dash’s ears flopped down. There was a visible pain in Silver’s eyes as he recalled the event. “We didn’t stand a chance. A group of at least fifteen drakes surprised us… almost all of us. I spotted them incoming and called out a warning right as they were upon us. I managed to duck out of the way, but Blizzard Strike and four others were plucked right out of the sky and driven a hundred feet to the ground. The two remaining and I tried to take the fight to them, but before I could count to five, they were both down and I was being driven to the ground as well. I managed to break free and push off before the knockout blow, but now there I stood, the only thing between them and my seven fallen comrades. The all writhed and groaned in pain behind me as the drakes slowly closed in.” he stopped in the middle of the hallway.
Dash took two steps past him before stopping herself. Silver removed his goggles and let them hang around his neck. He looked away from Dash, wiping his arm across his eyes once before turning and looking at the wall behind Dash. She turned and looked as well. The wall of retired Wonderbolts had ended. They were now in front of a different wall that also had pictures of Wonderbolts on it. Only… this one was different. Dash glanced up above the first pictures on the wall and her eyes widened.
‘In honor of those who fell in battle.’
“I was scared… Dash. I was scared of death. I was staring into the eyes of the same species that had recently nearly burned me to death two months prior. They all approached slowly, with embers and small flames protruding between their teeth. I was terrified and I knew the only thing ahead of me was pain. My fear over took me. The cries and wails of agony from my fellow Wonderbolts failed to reach my ears.”
Dash gasped quietly. She knew what he was going to say and it hurt before she even heard it.
“I ran…” he sniffled as he stepped by Dash and began slowly walking down the rows of pictures on the wall. “I fled the scene…” he reached up and tapped one of the pictures. Dash’s mouth hung open and her ears fell to the sides of her head. “In my fear, I forgot my duties…” he tapped another. “I only thought of my own safety,” and another. “And left them all…” and another, and another, and another, before stopping in front of a specific one. “…to die.”
Dash found her hooves moving on their own. They carried her towards Silver as he stared directly at a particular picture. Dash stopped beside him, and followed his eyes towards a picture nestled in the row of those who had fallen. A deep blue stallion, with and ice blue, spiked mane, wearing a serious expression that rivaled Silver's.
‘Blizzard Strike: Wonderbolt Captain, peerless teacher, and loving father.’
Dash slowly looked up towards Silver, but he had his eyes locked on the picture of Blizzard Strike.
“They were all killed as soon as I left them,” Silver began again, his words choked up. “Six Wonderbolts who were all a part of my recruitment class, and my mentor, who was like a second father to me… all dead because I ran in the face of extreme danger. I ran into the approaching squads, king, and princess less than a minute after running, but by then it was already too late.”
He looked straight down shamefully.
“We were soldiers… but they were also my family. They were my brothers and sisters and Blizzard Strike was my mentor. They are all dead because I ran instead of holding my ground and taking the blows for them. Afterward, I never felt like more of a pathetic failure in my life. If not for Misty Fly adamantly convincing me otherwise, I was prepared to remove myself from the Wonderbolt ranks in shame,” Silver took a deep breath and sighed. “Since then, my life has gone on, I met and married my wife and I have two children. I have a little family of my own. But I will never get my first family back. I’ve lived every day of my life with it weighing heavily on my shoulders, but I have no one to blame but myself.”
He suddenly turned towards Dash, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her to face him as well. He looked her directly in the eyes, faint traces of tears in the corners of his.
“It was on that very day, when Misty dragged my ass back into the compound, that I made a vow. A vow to never again run away from danger, to never again leave a fellow Wonderbolt or anypony else to a terrible fate. To protect each and every one of my brothers and sisters… until my very last breath if need be. This is the most important lesson I can teach you Dash… take good heed of it, and think about it. I’ve been cursed with a terrible shame that weighs on me every day of my life, and I do not wish the same for you.”
Silver looked down, and then back towards the picture of Blizzard Strike, his hooves falling off Dash’s shoulders. She was speechless. What could she say? Silver had just shared with her something so deeply personal to him, and did so just to teach her a very valuable, if not the most valuable lesson he could pass on to her. She simply waited for him to say something else.
“That’s all for today Dash… get some rest tonight, okay?” he suddenly dismissed her.
“Y-yes… sir…” she stuttered as everything she just heard lingered on her mind. Her first two steps backwards were very slow as she kept her eyes on Silver. He stared at the picture of Blizzard Strike and slowly sat down on the floor, clearly with the intention of spending a little more time there. Dash slowly turned and began walking away.
Silver glanced towards Dash as she left him, watching her until she turned towards the stair. She looked back towards him once, but quickly looked away when her eyes met his. He watched her disappear around the corner before turning back to the picture of Blizzard. He looked at it for a long time, lost in his memories.
“Sometimes I wonder…” Silver quietly spoke. “If you could see how far I’ve come…” he shut his eyes tight for a moment and a single tear ran down his right cheek. “Would you be proud of me?”
Art by: Noble Savage (Deviant art: thatdamntenpin)
--- To be Continued ---
I think i cried while writing this...
Silver is a very important character in this story, to Dash, to Soarin, to all those around him, and to me. I hate to have such a heavy weight on his shoulders... but Silver has lived a long Wonderbolt life, and seen more combat than most. He's bound to have some painful memories, but few can compare to that.
On the flip side, it looks like Soarin's having more trouble with the shield than first thought eh?
And What's this? Misty is gonna finally put an end to Fire's bumbling around her?! I KNOW ITS WHAT YOU ALL WANT! 
so it looks like we have two quite long chapters ahead of us to wrap up part 2! I hope you enjoy them when they arrive!
Thanks for reading i hope you enjoyed!
Stats
Page generated in 0.038 seconds
Total duration
821 users online
461,266 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
This was a really good chapter, with that last scene as probably my new favorite scene.
And speaking of which, something I missed there was that in the first sentence of the last paragraph, "Sometime" should be "Sometimes."
Sad time.
OoooOOOOO.....
Sliver Lining....
And here I was hoping, REALLY hoping that we'd get to see Silver and Dash have at each other without holding back. Those two really do have a mentor/student relationship that goes far above and beyond the normal recruit training. To Silver, I can see him thinking that Dash will be his legacy. Someone that can take his lessons and keep on utilizing them and even teaching them down the road.
In any case, it would be awesome to see a trial/test for Dash to pass in which one of them will be her facing off against Silver in all out combat in the Battledome.
Dammit.... now I have tears in my eyes.
Good chapter... it's just..... my feels.......
Sadly when you are faced with this fight or flight he picked flight I learned at a young age no matter the cost to give my all to protect the ones I love and care even if I just met them "if my team falls. I must pull the team Cus I know they would do the same. To die for them Cus they'd do the same. When face with danger you can't dwell you must run in and not care about to fear just know that it's for the ones you love" bright night
Wow that's deep man that's really.......just the feels fore silver right now.
Grate chapter as always.
I have been meaning to ask you did you make rivet and his brother after you and your editor?
“One thing all must Wonderbolts must be aware of is the importance of the lives they fight to protect.
Founds an error
“One thing all Wonderbolts must be aware of is the importance of the lives they fight to protect.
God, the feels. Too much! All feels aside it was nice to get some more background on Silver, and it was a great chapter.
Man... This is one chapter I'm going to be reading multiple times. Great job... Now I have got to hit the hay for I have to be up in seven hours to get the trash out and tomorrow will be... long.
If only I could "thumbs-up" this a second time... Great chapter. Silver is a wonderful character.
I couldn't understand paragraph 4
Rivet why are you difficult to understand in technology
cdn2.crushable.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/right-in-the-feels.gif
^ this chapter is most the most tear jerking chapter yet bravo calm
I have a feeling that its going to be less of speed bump and more of brick wall....with spikes
and poor soarin is gonna be on a collision course with that wall.
Oh my... That was unexpected... And powerful... And... Damn... But something had to have happened in Silver's past to make him so strict, maybe even trying to become as much like his old mentor as he could to make up for the feeling of failure... They did have the same sort of expression...
Was sort of thinking that maybe he was Blizzard was Silvers father at first, but clearly not... I wonder though, will we find out who Blizzard's son is in the end??? Will there be something going on there??? Genuinely curious
Thanks for the chapter. It was great to read. I wonder will Silver ever find peace. Thanks for the update. Especially right before the holidays.
5415057 all I can see is thor (I think) dancing in the background
god the feels
m.memegen.com/j2eecx.jpg
more reason to love silver
plus what does the rivet thingy mcbob do and how to you use it, and in english this time
Wow, Silver Lining was very Dramatic in this Chapter huh?
and Nice and cool chapter though
5415623 Hey y'know what they say. Within each cloud there lies a silver lining!
Wow
THE FEELS :0
I have tears in my eyes
5415805 True
Yup I definitely want Misty Fly to corner Fire. Those two need to get together asap.
Poor Silver. But I think that he did good by passing on that very important lesson to Rainbow Dash so that she won't make the same mistake.
38.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_medtr1fR7Y1qgoivxo1_500.gif
Somebody....Halp.
Drop the comma.
knocking her back down.
Well... fuck. Fuck the dragons. Send in Soarin and let him cut loose!
I'm crying so hard right now!
But good chapter, keep up the good work.
5414612
GAH! i was looking directly at that sentence for a good ten minutes last night too!
Fixed, thanks for the extra catch thats a subtle one.
And yeah, this was a powerful scene i almost cracked a few tears writing it.
5414656
Haha am i getting you in trouble again?
5414616
Veterans all have moments that stick with them forever... some good, some bad...
5414749
The old stallion has been through a lot
5414751
Well, he went all out on her right here and she got beat up to the point where he knocked half her training armor off
So she's got a ways to go before she can match him, but the time may come 
And Silver really see's the potential in dash... as well as his own ability slowly fading. If he's going to leave something behind, it will be a Wonderbolt that can match what he had to offer, or more
5414810
Let it all out, not even Silver could fight them back
5414819
Well said
5415970 I can imagine how my ancestors felt during the Civil War
5414823
Thanks
Rivet is Kestrel's OC and Calm wind is my OC, we are not brothers, that's just how we address each other
The rest of squad Zero are the OC's of my other friends, if you go to my userpage and scroll past the comment section you will see a section devoted to our whole group
5414842
Ah
thanks for pointing that out 
*fixed*
5414855
If Dash is to be his legacy... she has to know and never repeat the mistakes of the master.
Thanks
5414880
I'm glad you really like it, i was hoping this would be a very powerful chapter and so far it looks like it's having that effect
Thanks!
5414895
Thank you
He has definitely become a special character for me and i probably enjoy writing him more than any other character.
5414958
What if i told you i basically wrote random technology babble?
not even i understand how that could work, but Rivet is a genius, he made it work 
5415057
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/421/615/f34.gif
i feel you bro
Oh i wonder why i would say something like that? I couldn't possibly be foreshadowing could i?
5415075
I had no plans for Blizzard's family to be honest, besides mentioning that he was a father to drive home what was lost when Silver ran away
Not just for Blizzards family, but for Silver as well, who looked up to Blizzard like a second father figure in his life.
Indeed Silver only wishes to be the best he could be, to be the Wonderbolt Blizzard Strike wanted him to be. I'm sure Blizzard would be proud of him... but Silver will never hear it
5415150
Thanks for reading!
5415487
Hahaha, it shoots gym balls into the air for Soarin to practice shooting his magic at moving targets
and im glad you're enjoying Silver's story, he's become quite an important character to me
5415623
Thank you
5414958 Trust me, Coming from a family with several engineers, If Rivet went all out, especially if he were nervous, it wouldn't make a hill of beans sense. Rivet would have to feel comfortable. Probably Soarin is getting short hand errr... hoof. Which is never easy to understand.
5415805
well said
5415816
twas a difficult thing to write indeed
i nearly choked up doing so
5415851
Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it... Silver wants Dash to never have to live with such shame and regret
And oh Misty is on a warpath now, next chance she get's she is getting Fire to talk, even if she has to be unconventional.