Chapter 82: Train of Thoughts
MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 82:
“Come on, come on, while we have the opening, let’s go!” Spitfire waved from beside the train car as Air Mach and Dash carried Soarin towards her.
They were at the Cloudsdale ground station, but aside from the platform conductors and a few other members of the station staff, the place was completely empty. Not a single reporter in sight. The earth pony security guards were posted around the station until all Wonderbolts were on board.
Fleetfoot looked all about the station as the five Wonderbolts Spitfire dispatched to gather their belongings returned with the rest of squad seven, who all looked incredibly confused.
“How did we get such a clean path to the station? This never happens…” she thought out loud as she removed her goggles and mask. Fire Streak trotted up beside her.
“We fed the media false information about our departure,” he explained. “They think we’re leaving tomorrow.”
“Grr…” Fleetfoot gritted her teeth and growled while glaring towards Spitfire. Fire blinked and backed away slightly as Fleetfoot grumbled.
Leaving the recruits out of the loops was one thing. Hell, she could understand if squad seven was kept in the dark as well… but the lead squad?! Spitfire had blatantly deceived her, Soarin, and Air Mach, putting faith in the second and third squad to carry out a mission that three Wonderbolts with the HIGHEST clearance to information knew nothing about. Forget Air Mach, Spitfire just led on two of her best friends in favor of capturing some ponies they knew very little about. Fleetfoot understood Spitfire’s duties and obligations, but lying to her closest friends was not a good sign. Spitfire had tried keeping a lot of things from them recently and Fleetfoot had had enough of it. This wasn’t the Spitfire she knew. Had the captainship really changed her so much?
“All aboard!” the conductor’s voice called from outside.
Fleetfoot glanced out the window of the rear train car, catching a glimpse of the last few security guards before they disappeared from view towards the third car from the last.
The train cars lurched and creaked as the train began to move as Fleetfoot turned her head to see Dash and Air Mach moving towards the car ahead, most likely to lay Soarin down on one of the foldout beds in the private cabins.
The rear car was a lot more crowded than their first trip. With squads two and three present, they were nearly at full capacity. Normally a situation like this would be loud and possibly rambunctious, but most of them were just sitting and thinking about what they had just encountered and how easily the best of the best had just been pushed aside without a real fight.
But Fleetfoot didn’t care about how crowded the car was or who was now there… she only wanted to confront one pony.
Spitfire was sitting alone near the front of the car, staring out the window as the train picked up speed. The rest were visibly avoiding her, which wasn’t surprising after her outburst following the escape of the Shadowbolts. Even Wave didn’t approach her.
Soarin was usually the one that handled Spitfire. The two of them were like family to her, but she never felt quite as attached to the two of them as Spitfire and Soarin seemed. It wasn’t surprising. The two had known each other practically since birth. But Soarin was down, and in pain… so Fleetfoot felt it was up to her.
She got up from her seat, and slowly made her way through the mingling Wonderbolts and towards Spitfire.
Fleetfoot shared a strong bond with Spitfire, and strong bonds are built on respect and trust. With this deception, Fleetfoot felt like Spitfire was forgetting that. She didn’t care what Spitfire’s plan was for, she felt insulted.
Fleetfoot didn’t say anything upon approaching. She stopped, turned, and looked directly at Spitfire who was still looking out the window.
Spitfire’s ears perked up when she saw the faint reflection of Fleetfoot in the window. She glanced behind her just enough to see Fleetfoot’s mane before turning back around and staring out again. It was a surprising move, like Spitfire didn’t want to say anything on top of looking unapproachable.
Fleetfoot sighed when Spitfire didn’t acknowledge her. She stepped into the space, and sat right down on the seat right next to Spitfire.
Nothing was said for a few minutes. Spitfire kept looking out the window, and Fleetfoot stared straight forward at the wall beside the connecting doors. The silence was going to last if Fleetfoot didn’t speak up, and she was well aware of that. Fleetfoot was known for being super talkative and bringing the conversations forward, so in the event that she said nothing, it was easy to tell she was angry or bothered.
She let the moment marinate for a few minutes before taking a deep breath and breathing out slowly through her nose.
“So…” Fleetfoot spoke up, earning a sudden flinch from Spitfire. “Are you gonna tell me why you don’t trust me anymore? What about Soarin? You don’t trust him either?” she didn’t hold back at all. She felt somewhat betrayed and she was going to make sure Spitfire felt it.
“Fleet…” Spitfire quickly spoke up. “That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?” Fleetfoot pressed. “Tell me what tiny corner of your brain told you it was okay to deceive your two best friends. I’d like to meet it and promptly punch it.”
“Fleet!” Spitfire suddenly turned to Fleetfoot. Fleetfoot turned as well, keeping her demeanor stern all the way to the point that Spitfire’s face came into view. Her eyes widened slightly and she blinked. “It’s not that… please… don’t say that.”
Talk about a sudden drastic change. Spitfire had been sitting alone since they had gotten on the train, but that time alone looked like it took a toll on her.
Her mask was off, goggles around the neck. Her eyes looked bloodshot and heavy, her posture was incredibly slouched and her voice had an uncharacteristic, slight slur to it as if her voice was barely even trying. Not only that, but this was usually the point where she would belt at Soarin as she had in the past when they had gotten into arguments… but right now Spitfire not only seemed docile… but… very tired? Exhausted?
“Then… what was that all about?” Fleetfoot asked, quickly easing the harshness in her voice. Seeing the usually hard and serious Spitfire in such a… weakened state was unnerving. She had seen Spitfire emotional, she had seen Spitfire lose her cool, but even in those moments Spitfire was still strong. Here, she looked anything but.
“I took a chance Fleet,” Spitfire began as she let her head droop down. “I thought that if I layered my plan with deception on both sides, I would catch the Shadowbolts off-guard, and we’d be bringing one of them home for questioning right now. I planned this for months, letting only squads two and three completely behind closed doors. I wanted us to appear to be aware of them as we went on our trip and take ‘precautions’ with a squad of ‘unknown’ recruits to keep an eye out. The Shadowbolts kept talking about us being amateurs or weaklings… so I thought I’d play into that, but they saw right through it or they were prepared all along…” she leaned back and let the back of her head rest against the top of the seat cushion with a heavy sigh.
“And…” she continued. “It didn’t work. I was aware of the risks, but I was determined to succeed through any means necessary… and what came of it? You’re angry at me and Soarin could be in serious danger,” she sat back upright and looked towards Fleetfoot. “I’m sorry Fleet…”
An apology. That was the icing on the cake. Spitfire was apologizing. The same Spitfire who stood by all of her choices to death and always spoke of making decisions for the good of Equestria, the Wonderbolts and everypony… just acknowledged a blunder and apologized in a manner that sounded so incredibly defeated, it almost hurt Fleetfoot’s ears to hear Spitfire say such a thing.
“I…” Fleetfoot spoke, but instantly paused. Nothing came to mind, absolutely nothing or at least not immediately. She sighed and rested her back firmly against the seat, pondering what to do. She came forward with the intention of berating Spitfire and it seemed like Spitfire had done plenty of that to herself already. The sudden shift had put Fleetfoot at a disadvantage.
But eventually something came to mind and it was really the only thing that had to be said.
“Spitfire…” Fleetfoot used her full name, something she didn’t do very often. “This is just another choice you’ve made as our captain. Not all of them are gonna go your way…” she paused, glancing at Spitfire but there was no reaction. “Just, please stop trying to do everything yourself,” she continued. “The lead squad has four ponies for a reason. We could have been very on board with the plan.”
“Do you think Air Mach could’ve kept in character that long?” Spitfire suddenly asked. Fleetfoot looked at her blankly and blinked a few times.
“Okay, I can understand it with him, but you could have told Soarin and I,” Fleetfoot nodded in agreement. “Because… if we had known we had backup, I don’t think Soarin—”
“—Would be hurt. I know Fleet… that was the first stab in the heart that made me realize it was a bad decision,” Spitfire finished for her. Fleetfoot frowned as Spitfire shook her head. “It was stupid… and that’s all I’ve felt like recently while trying to find out what the hell these Shadowbolts are after. Absolutely stupid.”
Fleetfoot remained silent, not sure if there was anything she should or could say. Spitfire herself said she was aware of the risks and now she was paying for them.
Fleetfoot suddenly perked up as Spitfire’s eyes slowly fluttered close and she tipped forward.
“Whoa!” Fleetfoot reached out and grabbed her before she could fall off the seat.
“Uh?” Spitfire blinked and clutched Fleetfoot’s arm as she tipped back up. “Sorry,” she said with a long yawn after. Fleetfoot looked her over curiously. A thought crossed her mind.
Spitfire had been incredibly stressed lately and so on edge with the Shadowbolt mystery that it was a wonder she hadn’t gone insane with such intense pressure and worry riding on her shoulders…
“Have you, by chance, slept recently?” Fleetfoot asked her. Spitfire glanced up, he face almost ghostly with how ragged she looked. She sighed, realizing she wasn’t getting out of it.
“I haven’t slept in four days,” she outright admitted.
“WHAT?!” Fleetfoot’s jaw dropped.
“And the last few times I have slept it’s been for about an hour or two before I woke up,” Spitfire admitted further.
“Excuse me, but…” Fleetfoot looked at Spitfire with extreme worry. “How are you even operating like that? You’ve been training with us, did the show, the wing-ball game and chased Shadowbolts on top of that? I bet your body is screaming at you!”
“It is… but can you blame me, Fleet?” she sighed as she tipped and leaned against Fleetfoot. “My anxiety has kept me awake…” she started to shiver slightly. “We don’t know what the Shadowbolts are doing… but based on the past, they could show up any moment. I’m responsible for keeping every Wonderbolt alive and well. I know first-hoof what kind of torturous acts the Shadowbolts are capable of and I can’t sleep at night knowing one of my own may be caught off guard and subjected to similar pain. It’s overwhelming. I’ve taken steps and precautions. I’ve doubled patrol runs, we have the experimental squad zero… but I still can’t—”
“Hold it,” Fleetfoot suddenly grabbed Spitfire and put her back upright. “Stop right there.”
“What?” Spitfire blinked, too tired to protest.
Fleetfoot smiled at her. Of course, something like that was exactly what Fleetfoot wanted to hear. Spitfire was taking risks and doing unconventional things. But Fleetfoot heard it straight from Spitfire’s mouth. She couldn’t sleep at night knowing that any single Wonderbolt could fall prey to the Shadowbolts like she did. That was the loving and caring captain Fleetfoot knew and she was still there, even if Spitfire was a bit disgruntled and exhausted.
“You need to continue this… but not with me,” she looked up over the back of the seat. “You need your hubby,” she giggled as she scanned the car.
“My wha—?” Spitfire blinked sleepily as she tried to register what Fleetfoot meant.
“CHILLY!” Fleetfoot through the train car. Spitfire’s eyes widened and she turned around just in time to see Wave Chill’s head pop up over the top of another seat in the middle of the car. “Come here!”
“Fleeeeeeeet…” Spitfire groaned as she slouched into her seat. “Nooooo, I don’t want him to see me like this,” Spitfire groaned and covered her face with her hooves.
“Too late, soldier colt is already eagerly making his way over!” Fleetfoot grinned as Wave was indeed trotting over with his body practically already in the attention position. Spitfire sunk into the seat in an attempt to hide as Wave stopped just behind the seat and saluted as Fleetfoot remained leaning against the seat back.
“Yes, ma’am?” he asked dutifully.
“I’ve got two jobs for you, Chills,” Fleetfoot began while glancing down at Spitfire. She had forced the mask portion of her uniform up and had dug her face completely into it. “One,” Fleetfoot pointed at him. “Pull the other half of your suit out of your ass and relax,” she said while rolling her eyes. It took Wave a moment, but he realized that was Fleetfoot’s special way of telling him to be at ease. He released his salute and tried to relax his body.
“Secondly…” Fleetfoot continued while turning to Spitfire. She sighed and shook her head when she saw Spitfire literally curled up with almost her whole head stuffed into her flight suit. She reached down and forced Spitfire’s head out of her suit, earning a squeak of discontent from her as she threw her hooves back up over her face. “I want you to take your lady here to one of the private cabins, help her relax, and make her take a nap or something,” she asked in a quieter, serious tone.
“My la—?” Wave leaned over and instantly stopped talking when he saw Spitfire all curled up and facing away, holding her hooves over her face like she was ashamed. “Captain—er, Spitfire?” Wave corrected himself as he blinked and looked at Spitfire with a combination of curiosity and worry.
Fleetfoot watched as Wave took multiple hesitant steps around Fleetfoot and towards Spitfire. Fleetfoot tapped her hoof impatiently as Wave took his sweet time.
“Oh, for Celestia’s sake…” she stood up and grabbed Spitfire, hoisting her up. Wave flinched as Fleetfoot suddenly got between them, and then grunted as Fleetfoot hooked her arm with his. “We’ll be in Canterlot by the time you two actually get there, come on!” she ordered.
Spitfire gave no resistance, being too tired and too embarrassed to fight Fleetfoot. Wave’s eyes darted around at all the other Wonderbolts looking towards them as Fleetfoot dragged them along.
“Uh… um… sure…” Wave fumbled as Fleetfoot turned them and squeezed all three of them through the connecting doors and into the car with the private cabins. Spitfire kept looking down and Wave was too busy looking at Spitfire in concern, it made Fleetfoot’s job of moving them much easier with little to no resistance.
She pulled them two doors past the cabin occupied by Soarin and Dash and stopped in front of the door.
“Alright, you two,” she let go of Wave and yanked the door open. “In you go!” she said cheerfully, nudging Spitfire until she moved in on her own accord. Wave walked around Fleetfoot towards the door, but before he could make it in, Fleetfoot grabbed him by the arm. He turned and looked at her, meeting a stern look that didn’t often come to Fleetfoot.
“Please,” Fleetfoot spoke with sincerity. “Help her relax… and when we get back, make an extra effort to help her at home too. We have a lot of things to address and if our captain isn’t taking care of herself, we will struggle. So please…” Fleetfoot made a hoof motion towards Spitfire. “Go help her.”
Wave looked towards Spitfire as she slumped against the cushioned seat in the private cabin. He swallowed, took a deep breath, and nodded.
Fleetfoot stepped back and let Wave close the door behind them.
She stared at the door for a few moments… and frowned. Then she looked to her left, staring at the cabin door leading to Dash and Soarin. She sighed and shook her head.
Her two best friends were in distress… but in both cases it felt like she couldn’t help them as much as somepony else. But her feelings aside, they had a mystery to solve, and without Soarin and Spitfire, Fleetfoot was lost. She wondered if the rest of the Wonderbolts felt the same.
Because one of her duties as a commander within the lead squad was to take over should the lead captain be compromised, physically or emotionally. She always assumed Soarin would be that pony, but if both of them were out? Then it fell on her… or Air Mach, and she was not letting that happen.
She could only hope that Soarin would be alright, and Wave could help Spitfire relax, because she wasn’t sure if she was ready to act without them. In fact, there had never been a ‘without them.’
“Feel better guys… please…” she said to herself as she walked back towards the rear car.
Wave approached Spitfire from behind and reached towards her, hoping to get her to look at him. He wanted to look into her eyes and see what he could do from there.
Before he touched her though, she turned around and stepped towards him, still looking down. She leaned into him, pressing her face into his chest while groaning. Wave flinched at her sudden move, but quickly brought his arm back and gently wrapped it around her neck and over her shoulders.
“Hey…” Wave ran his hoof up to the back of her head and lightly scratched behind her mane. “Look at me.”
“No,” Spitfire replied adamantly.
“Why not?” Wave asked as he ran his hoof through her mane and back down to her back.
“Because I look like a friggen wreck…” Spitfire growled while pressing her head harder into Wave’s chest.
“Fair enough…” Wave sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to win. Fleetfoot said Spitfire needed to relax. Crushing his sternum with her face seemed like a good start. They remained silent for a few moments. Wave didn’t think of anything else to say, but he felt his presence would at least help.
“It’s too much…” Spitfire suddenly broke the silence with a mumble, her voice muffled against Wave’s chest. Wave frowned down at her as he reached up and removed the mask portion of his flight suit. He shook his mane out and held her even tighter as she sighed. “It’s too damn much…” she repeated. “I can’t handle it… it’s killing me.”
“Captain, ah—Spitfire…” Wave mentally punched himself. Call her by name dammit, CALL HER BY NAME. “You’re doing the best you can…” he tried comforting her as he rubbed his hoof around her upper back.
“But it’s not good enough,” Spitfire pounded a hoof against his chest.
“Oof!” Wave grunted, but remaining in place.
“Sorry…” she quickly apologized. “It’s just… I’m making decisions and doing what I feel is best, but I feel like I just keep making mistakes, and now Soarin got hurt in the process. Nothing is going right, and I can see it happening right in front of me, but the more I try to fix it, the more things go wrong, what the hell!?” Spitfire pounded her hoof on his chest again.
“Ah!” Wave grunted as he buckled again. “Okay, please stop hitting me…” he said with a light chuckle.
“Sorry…” she said again. “There are just too many unknowns…” she continued. “I don’t have enough evidence to issue large, high-scale orders, dispatch ponies in numbers, or risk revealing any trump cards. The only option I saw… and took… ended up being a terrible option,” she reached her arms around Wave and clutched him tightly. “What do I do, Wave? It’s my job to make sure everything works out… and that nopony gets hurt in the process. Well, I’m doing a damn fine job of that right now, aren’t I?!” she pulled back her hoof again, but this time Wave caught her arm.
She looked up at him and he visibly cringed as he took in how disheveled she looked. Spitfire quickly looked right back down.
“And crap, you saw me…” she said, the irritation in her voice as clear as the disappointment. Disappointment in herself. Wave could see it clearly. Spitfire wasn’t as broken as she looked. She was just incredibly stressed and didn’t know where to turn. She hit him twice, almost three times as she berated herself, so she wasn’t devoid of her strength, just tired, and unable to put the pieces together… but it wasn’t like anypony else had.
“Whoa!” Wave yelped as Spitfire suddenly tipped sideways and stumbled, nearly dragging her down with him.
“Ah!” her eyes snapped open and she shook her head out. “I… sorry, I’m… ugh…” she groaned as she pounded her head continuously against Wave’s chest.
“Ow, ow, ow… Captain, stop, I MEAN…ARGH!” Wave suddenly growled. Spitfire looked up as Wave let go of her, walked over to the cabin door and knocked his forehead against it twice before turning around, walking back up to her and quickly hugging her again. “SPIT…FIRE…” he said harshly, trying to physically drill her name into his head. “You need rest…”
“No, I can’t rest… I need to—” she tried to fight him and push away, but he had her locked against him.
“No,” he denied her as he reached over to the wall opposite of the cushioned seat, opened a large hatch, revealing a fold-out bed. He lowered the hatch and grabbed the bed, slowly pulling it out. “You need rest.”
“Wave, I…” Spitfire growled, but Wave picked her up. “Ah!” she yelped. And quickly latched to his neck. “Put me down!” she demanded. Wave looked at her curiously.
“Don’t like being picked up?” he asked with a surprised smirk. Spitfire was holding onto him very tightly and looking at the ground.
“Just don’t drop me!” she squeaked. Wave had to fight back a chuckle. Their strong and fearless leader, who soared through the skies at high speeds with great skill… was afraid of being picked up and carried? Soarin threw her in shows all the time, it made no sense… but it was kind of cute. Maybe she didn’t like not being in control? If anything, Wave didn’t want her to think about the Shadowbolts, he was going to do as Fleetfoot told, and help Spitfire relax.
He let a chuckle slip as he set her down on the bed. As soon as her plot hit the mattress and he let go, Spitfire crossed her arms and looked straight down.
“Lie down,” Wave ordered her.
“No,” she instantly replied, but her words couldn’t combat her fatigue. As soon as she retorted, her eyes fluttered shut for a moment and she tipped over. “Wah!” she yelped as she fell over and lightly fell onto the mattress. “I didn’t do this because I wanted…” Spitfire blushed and turned over to face away from Wave.
Definitely no lack of strength or drive. She just needed to rest, but not before Wave could say what was on his mind.
“Spitfire,” he got it right finally. “Listen to me,” he began. She didn’t turn over to look at him, but one of her ears turned sideways towards him and that was good enough for him. “Like I said earlier, you’re doing fine. A couple of mistakes here and there don’t make us lose any faith in you,” he rested his arms on the bed and leaned towards her. “You’re the strongest of all of us. Anypony else under this pressure would have caved by now. We believe in you, that’s why we follow you.”
“Easy for you to say…” she sighed as she remained. “Silver and Soarin seem to question me an awful lot… and now Fleet is skeptical of me too.”
“Have they tried relieving you of command yet?” Wave cut in.
Spitfire remained silent, not saying a single word because there was, in fact, nothing she could say to counter that. Wave smiled, pulling himself up onto the bed and resting his chin on her side.
“We wouldn’t be that unique of a force if all of us were like me and followed orders without a single breath of hesitation,” Wave chuckled, purposely making fun of himself. “They only fight you at times because they want to make sure you’re making the right choices… you are our captain after all, and what you do represents us. If they didn’t care about you and what you mean to us, they wouldn’t bother,” Wave slid his chin up to her head and nuzzled his nose lightly against her ear. “So please just rest… it’s been hard to see you all worked up. We want you to be as healthy as you can be, physically and mentally… so you can lead us.”
There was a very brief pause, followed by Spitfire suddenly turning over, grabbing Wave by the face and pulling him into a sudden kiss.
“Mrph!” Wave’s yelp was muffled by the pressure of Spitfire’s lips against his. When she released him, she inadvertently pushed him a little, causing him to slide off her, and right off the bed, landing with a loud thump on the floor. “Ow…” he chuckled as he pulled himself up and peeked over the edge of the bed. Spitfire was already turned back over and facing away.
“Sorry…” she apologized once again. Wave shook his head with a smile.
“Give me a little more warning when you do that,” he said as he climbed back up on the bed and sat beside her.
“I’m glad I have you, Wave,” she said out of nowhere. Wave blinked, staring at her as her back remained turned to him. Before he could reply, she looked straight upward and released a long, high pitched yawn. “I’m… so… tired…” she sighed as she let her head plop back down.
“Here…” Wave said as he scooted towards her and nestled his body against hers. “And Spitfire? I’m glad I have you too.”
As soon as his side pressed to her back, Spitfire turned over again, but this time snuggled herself into him the best she could. Wave remained still, letting her find a comfortable position. She settled with her head resting on his arm and her nose just brushing against his chest, she released a content sigh and completely relaxed.
“I love you…”
Wave’s ears pointed up. He looked towards Spitfire.
“Did you just say something?” he whispered.
“No, nothing…” she replied quickly before digging her face into his chest and sighing again. Wave smiled and nuzzled her forehead.
“Sleep,” he said with a caring tone.
And Spitfire fell asleep within seconds.
“Hrmph…” Silver grunted as he stood up from his seat and stretched his arms and legs out. Multiple cracks and pops from his old, overworked joints sounded out from his body as he stretched. Thankfully, the clickety-clack and constant, quiet hum of the train car’s wheels against the track concealed most of the noise.
He wasn’t in the mood to have Blaze get in his face and yell ‘HAHA, YOU’RE OLD!’ like she did every time he decided to stand since his body made enough noise to make a sheet of bubble wrap blush. He looked around at the train car. It has been almost an hour since they left and it looked like the Wonderbolts had begun to relax.
It was something that Silver found he simply couldn’t do. In fact, he was a little displeased that a few were being so carefree. Close by, High Winds was seeing how far she could dip the end of her tail into Lightning Streak’s mouth without waking him as he snored loudly with his neck arched backward over the seat and his mouth wide open.
They just encountered a force of pegasi that managed to elude them without throwing a punch. It didn’t speak for the combat capabilities of the Shadowbolts but it took a lot of skill to fend off and escape Wonderbolts in the manner they accomplished. Silver was a little angry, being tossed aside instead of faced straight up was cowardice, at least to him, but he was more puzzled than anything.
Youngster.
One of the Shadowbolts called him ‘youngster.’ Not to mention it was in a voice that Silver had sworn he had heard in the past. It was impossible to make out facial features with the large red goggles they wore and the headbands obscuring their manes. The only thing he was able to recognize was the voice… but where? Silver had had a long career. Not only had he known three different generations of Wonderbolts, but he had encountered many adversaries as well under the wing of Blizzard Strike. There were more than a few ponies he had known in his life, friend and enemy alike who had referred to him as ‘kid’, ‘colt’, ‘youngster’, etc. There were way too many to pinpoint it and he had taken quite a few blows to the head throughout his long service of combat, which didn’t help when looking through his long-term memory, but this Shadowbolt knew who he was. He even countered Silver’s signature combat moves.
Silver could clearly see where Spitfire’s frustration was coming from. Silver’s only confrontation with these Shadowbolts prior to now was spotting one of them in the distance, the red, white maned stallion. After getting tossed around by them, he wanted to know about them just as much, if not more because of the youngster comment. It had to be a pony he knew, but who? And was it an old friend or an old foe?
“Dammit…” Silver leaned up against the side of his seat and reached a hoof up to remove his mask and rub his forehead. It was making his head hurt. He decided to try and focus on something else. It was no use deliberating with himself before returning to the compound. He’d save it for the all captain meeting.
He started thinking about something else… that prompted him to look around the car again, this time for a specific pony. However, they seemed to be absent. Silver scanned the car two more times before blinking and furrowing his brow. Silver’s eyes shifted towards Matteo, then he pushed off the seat and started moving towards him.
“Wide-Load!” Silver called to him as he approached. Matteo, hearing his old recruit training name, looked up towards Silver without hesitation. Silver found it amusing that he still replied to it.
“Sir?” Matteo addressed as Silver approached.
“Where’s Rainbow Dash?” he asked. The moment after he spoke, Twister sprang up from behind the seat to Silver’s left and dove at Silver with his lips puckered and making a continuous sucking noise. Without looking, Silver thrust out his left arm and grabbed Twister around the neck, hooking him down and putting him in an unbreakable headlock.
“She’s with Soarin in the private cabins,” Matteo answered, not even batting an eye at Twister, who was still making kissing sounds.
“Of course she is…” Silver rolled his eyes, wondering how he hadn’t thought of that one to begin with. He turned, dragging Twister with him as he walked around Matteo. Squall was sitting in the seat in front of Matteo, dozing off. “Hold this,” Silver said as he picked up and dropped Twister in Squall’s lap.
“What the—” Squall’s eyes opened upon impact and then widened when he looked down and saw Twister reaching up for his face with his lips puckered.
“KISS ME!” Twister said followed with maniacal giggling.
“GAH!” Squall reclined in disgust, grabbing Twister and tossing him off towards the aisle, only Twister sailed over the aisle and landed in Storm’s lap in the seat across.
“Oof!” Storm grunted as Twister’s back landed directly in his stomach. He looked down and blinked.
“Do you consider yourself a generous lover?” Twister asked while bouncing his eyebrows. Storm chuckled, lifting Twister up and looking him in the eye.
“I like to think I am,” Storm replied, playing along with the shenanigans. Twister reached forward and pressed his forehead against Storm’s while sneering with his eyes nearly bulging out of his head.
“THEN… YOU ARE…” Twister said before launching from Storm’s grip and landing back in Squall’s lap.
“WHAT THE F—” Squall freaked out.
Silver just kept walking away as everything happened behind him, his expression flat and shaking his head.
“And I let these jokers into the Wonderbolts…” he said to himself as he reached the door connecting the train cars and stepped through.
“Ngh… ahh…” Soarin groaned as he shifted and winced uncomfortably on the fold-out bed. He was laying on his back, but his wings were unfolded, sprawled out and reaching off the edge of the bed. One of his arms flopped over to the edge as he moved, and a blue hoof reached out and hooked with his.
“I’m here…” Dash said as she looked over Soarin with never ending worry. “I’m always here…” she whispered to him, not even sure if he could hear her through the pain. He was in a strange state, it was like he was unconscious, but continuously in pain, moaning and groaning as he flinched and budged. The horn was glowing brighter and fading in an uneven pattern that kept changing. The color of the glow shifted from blue, to yellow, to blue in a similar, erratic way. Small streams of light squeezed through Soarin’s shut eyelids, sometimes the lights were blue, sometimes yellow. It was as if the magic was fighting over him.
“D…Dash…” Soarin suddenly said, but remained in his unconscious state. “It… hurts…” he kept mumbling. Dash reached her other hoof around and clasped both of them around his hoof, squeezing it as hard as he could.
What was she supposed to do? Normally her presence calmed the blue magic down, but whenever the yellow magic got involved she had no effect on it. There had to be an explanation, there had to be a reason, but nothing came to mind. She knew what the blue magic was, it was the dark magic used to revive Soarin and, according to Discord, that magic was afraid of her. Then what was with the yellow? Where did it even come from?
Dash looked up and towards the door to the cabin in surprise as the knob turned and it slowly opened. She didn’t want anypony to disturb Soarin, something she made blatantly clear to Air Mach after he helped her move Soarin in. Being demanding to a lead squad Wonderbolt probably wouldn’t look good on her record, but it was also Air Mach, he probably thought it was beautiful passion or something like that. Dash was prepared to tell whoever was at the door to leave, but she stopped completely short of doing so when she saw…
“Silver?” Dash blinked as she saw her mentor step through the door.
Silver paused for a moment, looking between Dash and Soarin before walking in and quietly closing the door behind him. She wasn’t expecting Silver. Any other pony she would have turned around and forced out, but him… Silver seemed to be the exception. In fact, his presence had a comforting effect she wasn’t expecting.
Dash looked away from Silver and back at Soarin, sighing as Silver walked up and sat beside her.
“How is he doing?” Silver asked as he looked over Soarin. It was pretty obvious he wasn’t doing great, but Dash could tell Silver was asking to help her.
“He’s calmed down a little…” Dash said as she gave Soarin’s hoof another strong squeeze. “But he looks like he’s still in pain,” she looked down at Soarin’s hoof then back to Soarin. She moved his arm over to place it back at his side, but when she tried to let go, he groaned and his hoof clamped to hers, refusing to be released. She pulled his hoof back over, willing to hold onto it for the whole train ride back if that would help him. “He…” Dash began but hesitated.
“Yes?” Silver glanced at her, encouraging her to speak. The more she said, the easier it would be for her to take it all.
“He doesn’t deserve this… any of this,” Dash’s ears flopped down. “Why do the worst things have to happen to the best ponies?” she said with a hint of frustration among her worry. She focused her eyes on the horn and narrowed her eyes, glaring at the magic as if sputtered, pulsed, and changed from blue to yellow. “It couldn’t happen to somepony else? It had to be Soarin? I don’t care how bad that sounds, he doesn’t deserve it,” she ranted, Silver’s presence allowing her to let it out.
“Any other pony would’ve given up by now,” Silver broke his silence. Dash didn’t look at him, but she listened. She always listened to Silver. “Soarin is one of the toughest stallions I’ve ever had the honor of working beside. A mountain could fall on him and he wouldn’t break.”
“Still…” Dash sighed. “It’s still not right.”
Silver remained silent as the two continued to observe Soarin for a few moments.
“So it’s happening again…” Dash broke the silence quickly.
“What is?” Silver glanced at her.
“The Shadowbolts,” Dash clarified while gritting her teeth.
“Ah,” Silver grunted, sharing Dash’s lack of enthusiasm.
“I heard the reports, but I didn’t want to think it was true,” Dash gave Soarin’s hoof another squeeze as she locked her eyes on his wincing face. Silver looked down at Dash, looking at her closely, examining her expression as she continued. “They always show up… since the first time I’ve met Soarin and every time I’ve been with him since except once, the Shadowbolts have pushed their way into our lives and made it hell. I’m so sick of them, why can’t they just leave us alone?!” she raised her voice in anger.
“There’s more to this than we know,” Silver spoke up, recalling his thoughts before coming to see Dash. “Something is different about them. We don’t know who they are. I didn’t recognize any of them from when we fought the Shadowbolts and Nightshade over their flying compound.”
“I’m not so much worried about the ponies,” Dash sighed. “I know three of them personally. Descent, Starry Skies, and Lightning Dust were all good ponies who willingly left when the Shadowbolts were deteriorating. What I’m worried about is what they want, what they’re after,” she bent down, bringing Soarin’s hoof up to her face, nuzzling it with the tip of her nose. “The last time they attacked… they were after Soarin. I… I don’t want them to take Soarin away from me,” her voice sounded a little choked. She slammed her eyes shut and shook her head. Her mentor was sitting right next to her, she refused to show weakness, but she couldn’t hold it back. “I don’t want them to take my Soarin from me!” she raised her voice a little while leaning forward and pressing Soarin’s hoof to her chest. “Dammit…” she cursed. “Dammit, dammit, dammit…” she shook her head. “I hate this…”
Dash flinched as something happened that she never expected to happen. She felt something drape over her back and over her opposite shoulder. She looked to her left, seeing a grey wing over it, before looking back to the right at Silver. He had his wing draped over her.
“It’ll be alright, Dash,” Silver sighed, still looking at Soarin. “I have faith in Soarin and faith in the Wonderbolts... well, most of them," he said with a quick eye roll that forced a small smile onto Dash's face. "The Shadowbolts don’t have the element of surprise this time. We know they are here, and we WILL act against them. You know, assuming they actually fight us instead of turning it into a bullfight,” he said with a hint of a growl in the back of his voice. “If these new Shadowbolts think they can keep messing with us so easily, they are sadly mistaken. We learn and adapt, and if they try anything drastic, we will meet them head-on in combat,” he nodded. “You can bet counter measures will be put into motion as soon as we get back to the compound.
Dash felt her body relax in the warmth of Silver’s wing, his words of wisdom giving her peace. She was glad he came to check up on Soarin… and most likely her too. From the moment he had entered the room, she felt more at ease.
Dash’s ears stood up as she realized something.
“So…” she spoke up, her lips forming into a small smile.
“Yes?” Silver blinked and glanced down at her.
“Were you guys hiding nearby the whole time?” she asked, looking up at him.
“We arrived early this morning in secret to keep watch, yes,” Silver answered. Dash’s smile grew slightly.
“At the arena too?” she asked. Silver nodded.
“At the arena too,” he clarified. Dash’s smile widened further.
“So did you… see me fly out in front of the crowd for the first time?”
Dash watched Silver’s face, he stared at her for a moment, before looking back up and towards Soarin as the magic seemed to be calming down. The lack of moans and groans left the cabin at peace. Silver looked down and closed his eyes, a small smile forming on his lips.
“Yes… I saw it,” he said while giving her a brief glance. The smile on his face and the tone of his voice failed to hide something that Dash could clearly see and hear as he smiled at her.
Pride.
It made Dash feel so good.
--- To Be Continued ---
What, you guys though wavefire was gone? 
I'm sure you've noticed but there have been a few different points of view in some of the recent chapters. Fleetfoot, Silver, and Spitfire have been given chances in the POV light. I've done this before, but this is probably the largest concentration of them ive had yet. Dash and/or soarin have the POV for about 98% of the time.
Just a small feel good transitional chapter. You all know me, i don't like to jump from event to event. It feels more real to me, and im sure the readers get more immersed in the world and what the characters are experiencing when they see and read the little things that happen in between the defining moments. 
Things are going to slow down and we're going to have some fun and quiet times before things pick up again... but you know me, it's not gonna happen without significant story elements addressed 
Such as here, Spitfire revealing her anxieties (and getting snuggles from Wave) And Dash having a master and student moment with Silver. Dash regretted that Silver couldn't see her fly out in front of the crowd... but looks like Spitfire's reckless plan allowed it to happen anyway 
Anyway, sorry for the wait on this chapter and yeah its a bit short, but as ive said in my blogs, Kestrel has been busy with school and his work on my edits has been limited. I have a back-up editor (Lucky424, or some of you may know him as... the orange mail counter pony in the compound 
He edited two of my recent side stories.) but i'm holding out Kestrel as much as i can because we've worked together for this long, i hate dismissing him quickly. But i can rest easy knowing that if Kestrel ever gets busy to a point where he can't edit for a while, Lucky is just a PM away.
Anyway, Chapter 83 is actually already done I'm in the process of reading through it myself before sending it to Kestrel, but i will say again, be patient. Kestrel has work and even if the chapters are delayed i do keep writing. In fact i might start chapter 84 tonight after i send 83 off to Kestrel
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!
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AND WE'RE OFF!!!
Awwwww..... That ending...... And do you watch asdf? Cuz.
...Wow... First thought: Damn, Spitty.
You crazy.
D'aawh, so freakin' cute... Spitty said it first... 
Twister... 
Second:
Third: ...I KNEW IT!!! Ex-Wonderbolts confirmed!
Fourth:
Fifth: ....Poor Soarin
Sixth: ...A mentor's pride is a wonderful thing...
5895172
This one?
or this?
... :( I wanted some Crazyness BLAHHHHHHHHHHHH
ANY way i hate you stupid Train pun ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Stupid train.... i hate it soo much...
Yes finally! It is 11:30pm here, but I don't give a damn and right now I need to keep my mouth shut so I don't end up squealing and waking up my sister. This chapter has just made me feel so happy inside, that can't stop smiling
Wace? Who the hell is Wace?! Imposter!
SPITCHILL FOREVER
5895182 both.
i baked you a pie!
oh boy, what flavor?
PIE FLAVOR
Great chapter. I wonder if Soarin will return to conscious or not. Either way they need to find a way to help Soarin conquer that Yellow Magic. Good luck and thanks for the update.
OMG I freaking wanted to cry in the last part. But I didn't. Imma tough cookie ^^
...
...
derp
...
Is it just me. Or is now, when Dash anxious, Soarin is under more pain... The magic is being controlled by not only is emotions, but the emotions of Dash and Spitty?
Sweet with Spitty and Wave. LOL Super cute.
And I loved how Silver came in to save the day for Dash, really nice... at least, make it bearable.
Spitfire's attitude reminds me of a character in Trinity Seven, the holder of Libra I think... Don't know why all of your stuff remind me of anime that I've watched. Anyways brilliant chapter once again. I can't wait till next time and I'll be supporting Kes all the way.
...saw Twister reaching up for his face with his lips puckered.
...saw Twister reaching up for his face with his lips puckered.
This is the new ship. LET IT SAIL!!!
Twister...
You could write a book solely on his shenanigans, and it'd be a hit!
LOVE IT! Xd.
You're probably one of the best writers I've ever read (and I read a lot, so that means something, xd)! Loving the story, loving the other stories, etc..
Calm, I seriously think that you'll be a bestseller when you unleash this on the world.
all of the daaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwws were achieved
cant wait to see where this goes before i take a temporary leave of absence from the internet as a whole 22 days from now (3 months in the mountains has its up sides and down sides
GAAAAAAHHHHHHHH
TWISTER WAS SO CLOSE TO KISSING SQUALL
WHYYYYYYY DO YOU TEASE ME LIKE THIIIIIIIIISSSSSSS
Oh, and by the way, can't wait to see a chapter with Twister's POV. That would be very interesting.
I felt like crying while reading the Wavefire part. That's exactly how me and my boyfriend are with each other. The only difference is that Wave and Spitfire are actually there for each other. Me and my boyfriend, on the other hoof, are separated my thousands of miles. *sigh*
And I must say. I love it when characters break out of their characters. I loved it when Silver showed pride. I loved it when Spitfire said sorry. I loved it when Fleetfoot was sincere. I loved it when Wave was more chill with Spitfire. I'm really just waiting until Twister and Squall break out of character x3
...
I still need to draw ships for this fic...
5895361 Huh, I watched that anime also.
And cute. WaveFire FTW.
5895339 nope, it's not just you. I think rainbows feelings affects soarins, and they do have connected dreams, too.
I was rereading this and I SQEEEed so hard my head started hurting. Why?
And in the next chapter, Fleetfoot got knocked out and Air Mach/Animak had to be the captain. He became a better captain than Spitfire and was promoted. Air Mach added a new rule for the Wonderbolts: Everyone has to wear his shades
5895466 cool, wavefire
Edit- MY EMOJIS DIDNT SHOW. GRSHKBFHHDHJJVGGFHJJJ
5895172
Heh, i don't actually
Just thought it would be funny 
5895175
A little bit of everything, eh?
And i wouldn't be so sure... remember Silver is curious if it could be some old enemies as well
5895197
Can't have a super action scene every chapter
But heh, train puns
5895208
hahaha you can't handle the loooooove and snuggles!
I wanted to cry so many times during this chapter. And I actually did. Especially at that ending. Oh my God... THE FEELS!!!!!!
And I totally flipped out at the end of the Wavefire scene. SHE ADMITS IT!!!!!!!! 
I loved this chapter. I really did. So much emotion, so much mystery, so much... I don't even know anymore! 
Looking forward to that next chapter! 
5895216
WACE TO DA FINISH!
(fixed
)
5895217
SHIPPING OUT!
5895260
Indeed
And your welcome!
5895308
Nothing quite beats a mentor's pride in their student.
5895339
Spitfire just needed some snuggles, but she'll never say she does
5895361
Spitfire is super tsundere
5895597 Could be both, but three of the S-81s match descriptions of ex-Wonderbolts of Chapter 70. Likelyhood of accuracy with given data is relatively high. But, I thought that about other theories in the past.
5895373
i totally didn't do this to tease the few readers i have that ship the two of them
5895623
but calm don't you think spitty would be pregnant sense she was in heat. which is more than a 50 percent chance of her having a foal.
5895400
Not quite
The yellow magic is something else entirely, though it would make sense with Spitfire (i didnt think about that during the story boarding process)
AND YES lovelovelove. Spitfire seems to have a hard time being cuddly, but she really does like it
5895402
Awwwww thanks, that means a lot to me, really
I'm just glad its all been so well received, the fandom has been amazing and very encouraging to write for.
5895423
I'll try to get as much out as i can before you're gone for a while.
And when you come back you'll have LOTS to read! 
5895631 Neither will I. But women never say what they mean when it comes to what they want.
5895467 We know their dreams are connected. If Calm doesn't have the next chapter out soon.... I'm gunna go crazy.
5895450
hahaha to be honest i wrote that scene because of all the twist/squall talk that had been going around
I thought i'd throw you guys a bone for some lulz and to let you know i listen to everyone 
And indeed... it's great to have unique character personalities, but it's also great to have characters who can change due to circumstances, get serious or worried, show sincerity amongst their usual silliness and such. It gives them more depth and makes them more likable
So, Soarin is under intense pain from two ghosts, and he's totally under serving of it...
To quote the Great Dane Cook:
5895466
The ship shall always sail!
5895477
hehe
Spitfire came thiiiiiiiis close to dropping the tough act and saying what she truly feels 
5895483
that sounds like a Wonderverse fic i would TOTALLY read
5895710 And I now want some FireFly fluff somehow.
5895609
indeed, i almost cried when writing the Silver part... because i've been in that position... and when a mentor you'd do anything to impress tells you you've done a good job, it's a really incredible feeling.
ANd yush, Spitty is feeling the wuv
5895642
i get asked this all the time
Yes, in the real world, thats what would happen with a horse in heat, but im not going into baby territory here. It's not in my outline 
5895738
*flattens ears* pwwwwweeeeeeeeaeeeaaaaaaaassssssseeeeeeee