MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 114: On With the Show
Spitfire slowly walked circles around the lobby, observing the Wonderbolts as they all prepared for their operation. By now, they were geared up and ready, donning their flight suits and any other equipment they needed to pull off their show routines. Several of them were strapping on the signature Wonderbolt smoke packs, backpack-like smoke machines that generated their ‘jet stream’ effects. Some were able to generate the steam effect themselves, but these packs, recently redeveloped and upgraded by Rivet, allowed any Wonderbolt to have a jet trail. Not only would these be useful for the show, but they would be essential in both keeping the Shadowbolts off balance and creating the smokescreen when Luna formed and took control of their dragon image.
She glanced over towards the stairs to see Rivet float down from the broken stairwell, aiming himself towards the west hallway. No doubt he was heading towards his workshop or to the engine room, but seeing him reminded Spitfire that she wanted an update on his progress. There was no doubt, if they were successful, that the Shadowbolts might be pretty angry. She knew that the compound was being worked on around the clock, but she wanted to know where progress on restoring the flight mechanisms stood for the sake of their plans moving forward.
“Rivet!” she called out. Rivet stopped as he landed, turning his head towards Spitfire as she approached. “Do you have a moment?”
“Something wrong with the projectors?” he asked, sounding a little grumpy. Spitfire smirked as she heard his tone, having heard he was dealing with a slight ‘lack of competence’ with some of his helpers recently while trying to deduce and repair the mechanisms of the bridge controls that had emerged in the third floor break room.
“No, we’ve got everything we need from you down here,” she assured him. “I’m just curious how the compound repairs are going. We’re taking a risk here. While it’s meant to save one of our cherished members, if successful, we have to assume the Shadowbolts will redouble their efforts to come after us.”
“Actually, it’s pretty functional right now,” Rivet answered without missing a beat. Spitfire’s eyes widened slightly and she blinked, tipping her head as Rivet continued. “We’ve more or less put all of the engines down below into working condition, at least with the resources available to us. We’ve been running tests on them without connecting them to the propellers and they’ve performed thus far. Stress tests have been positive, but it has yet to be seen if they can handle a lift off. All of the calculations say yes, but nothing will tell us more than an actual attempt. That’s more or less the reason I’ve been moving around up here. The engines are as good as we’re going to get them, I’m just trying to get the bridge put back together as well as the blades on the central propeller. Once we get the propeller blades all fixed up and make sure the flight controls work like they’re supposed to, we just have to seal up the last pieces of the compound that were blown apart during the propeller extensions and we should be good to take flight, or at least try.”
Spitfire stared down at Rivet with her mouth agape.
“What?” Rivet asked, lifting an eyebrow.
“That’s…” Spitfire blinked again. “A lot further along than I was expecting.”
“The staff has been diligent and efficient… for the most part,” he said while glancing back at the stairs and the central propeller shaft. “Honestly, they’re just as happy to be stuck out here in the mountains as everypony else, if you catch my meaning. We’re all pretty eager to get this tub moving. The Renegades have been especially helpful in repairing the propellers outside.”
“Well, can you give me a timetable then?” Spitfire asked eagerly. She definitely wasn’t expecting an opportunity so quickly, but knowing they may be able to get their greater plan underway soon had her excited.
“You’re stretching my workforce a little thin right now with this operation,” Rivet explained while looking past Spitfire at the unicorns and the projectors recruited for the mission. “But assuming I’ll be getting all of them back, we could have this beast ready for an actual takeoff attempt in a matter of days. If you ask me, the place is far from top working condition, but with our limited resources it’s the best we’ll be able to manage. Until we get back to civilization, we won’t be able to make full repairs. Based on what you’re saying, we’ll have to take the chance regardless.”
“Hmmm…” Spitfire pondered their options. “This may be a bit of a stretch, but do you think this thing could make it all the way to the Crystal Empire?”
“If we can get it in the air and keep it in the air, maybe. It all depends on how much stress is put on the engines and how my team handles it.”
“Yet another risk. We’re making a living off of those recently,” Spitfire shrugged. “There’s no way around it, but I trust you, Rivet. And… thanks for all you’ve done.”
“The best thing you can do to thank me after all this is to let me take a long nap. Celestia knows I’m going to need it…” he sighed as he turned away and moved towards the west hallway.
Spitfire chuckled as she watched him leave. He’d get a nap and a raise if they made it out of all this alive. Rivet tried to humble his way out of praise, but the fact remained they’d likely all be dead right now if he hadn’t stumbled upon and initially tinkered with some of the engines down below.
“Captain!” Fire Streak’s voice rang out from the recruit barracks, Spitfire’s ears turning and catching it. “We’re ready to go!” Fire added as he approached.
“Alright then,” Spitfire turned to face him and his group. “Let’s—WHOA!” Spitfire cut herself off, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping as Fire Streak approached with his group.
“How do we look?” Surprise asked cheerfully from behind Fire as Spitfire scanned them over in disbelief.
“Uh… Wow…” Spitfire commented.
Just as Starry Skies had initially reacted to them, Spitfire couldn’t believe just how… perfect they all looked.
The Streak twins and Squall simply had their mane and body colors switched and darkened, but Luna had put a few personal touches on the rest.
Surprise had gone from pure white to a dark, dirty grey color, her mane following by transforming from vibrant yellow to a dusty brown. She had also altered her mane style to look more similar to Blaze since her puffy, wild mane was pretty recognizable.
Playbitz retained his brown color, but the black wing tips were turned to brown and his black mane turned to silver-white.
Swift Justice was given the opposite treatment, his mane remained the same but he was given black fur, which only acted to further enhance his stealthy look and would likely aide him in lurking in the shadows of the fortress.
Shine Struck’s colorful mane was turned to all yellow, her thistle fur color replaced with a faded red that heavily contrasted with her mane.
Twister looked like he had gotten in a fight with a blender and lost. His green fur was turned blue, but he was also covered in several white and gray splotches. His mane was a dark viridian color and looked a little more wild than usual.
Misty Fly… looked absolutely ferocious. Her fur had been turned dark red with fake scars all over her face and sticking out on the exposed portions of her body beneath the Shadowbolt suit. Her mane was no longer its pretty, sky blue, instead black with red streaks in it that matched her fur. It was a little hilarious to see Misty Fly look so sinister with her usual, bright, happy smile still on her face.
As Spitfire looked them over, a dirty yellow mare with a tri-colored mane of black, dark grey, and light grey stepped out and smirked.
“How AWESOME do I look?” Rainbow Dash’s voice came from the mare. Rainbow Dash pushed her goggles up and whipped her mane about. “I look just like Daring Do! This is so cool!” she stated as Starry Skies and Luna stepped around them.
“Not bad at all…” Starry Skies nodded as she looked them over again and turned to Luna. “You’ve got a good choice of colors.”
“We have observed your Renegades closely,” Luna winked at Starry. “It served as a good template to make the changes.
“Well then!” Spitfire spoke up, catching all of their attention. “You guys look pretty damn good!” she chuckled. “Well done Princess,” Spitfire nodded to Luna. “Have you met with the unicorns yet?”
“We have not,” Luna shook her head. Spitfire turned and pointed towards where the Renegades, Recruits, and unicorn staff members were gathering with the image projectors.
“They’re waiting for you over there,” she turned back to Luna and smiled. “Just ask and one of them will run you through the operation of the projectors. Don’t worry about the machinery, it just takes magic to run and I’m sure with your alicorn magic you’ll be able to put on quite a show for us.”
“We shall do our best,” Luna nodded.
“And thanks for helping us,” Spitfire added respectfully.
“It is an honor to work beside the Wonderbolts,” Luna gave her a bright smile before heading off to get further instructions. It was interesting to hear such a phrase coming from one of the divine sisters. If anything, it was an honor to have her involved. This was going to be one of the largest Wonderbolt operations in their history, and Spitfire felt lucky to have the abilities of a goddess at their disposal.
Spitfire refocused and looked to find Starry Skies, but she had already gone on her way. She wanted to thank her as well, but they didn’t have time to dawdle. She was confident Fire Streak and his infiltration team were ready. The Wonderbolts themselves were ready. The former Wonderbolt Renegades were saddling up and ready to fly with the unicorns and projectors in tow.
Everything was in place, now they just needed their signal to move.
“Everypony listen up!” Spitfire yelled as she hopped up and hovered into the air. The lobby went silent and all eyes turned to her. “As soon as the Renegade scouts return with the fortress location, we are heading out! Make all your final checks with your squads and equipment! Be ready! We are not delaying a single moment!”
Rainbow Dash had to tell herself over and over to focus. She was about to embark on a very difficult, very dangerous mission, but her inner filly was giddy all over because Luna’s color change had basically turned her into her favorite book hero. She must have stared into Surprise’s mirror, quietly squealing for several minutes before Fire Streak finally got her to calm down… for the most part.
She’d have to find out if Twilight knew about this spell, because it would make her next Nightmare Night not just twenty percent cooler, but double that! Like… forty percent cooler! That was cooler than anypony besides her could handle!
Dash blinked, shook her head out, and lightly smacked her hooves against the sides of her head.
“Focus, Dash… Focus…” she whispered to herself. Geek time was over, it was time to be professional. She was chosen for this, so she needed to prove Fire’s faith in her was well placed. After coming back down to earth, Dash looked around and took in the commotion around her and their group.
The Renegades and recruits were moving about, helping Rivet’s staff move the image projectors into place. Princess Luna was nearby, being instructed on the use of the projector control panel. Seeing the recruits helping, Dash looked them over to see if she could find Little Star and Matteo. She still wanted to meet with them one last time before they launched. She just couldn’t stand the thought of Star worrying about them like she already was. One extra hug and attempt at reassurance wasn’t going to stop her from worrying, but Dash felt Star deserved it anyway.
However, she ended up finding somepony else.
Descent was standing just inside the front doors, glancing back and forth as the Wonderbolts, both current and past, young and old moved about in preparation. He didn’t look pleased at all, shaking his head as a look of disapproval remained constant on his face.
While his expression was clear, his curiosity suggested he was conflicted. He kept watching with apparent interest regardless of all the arguments he had given Spitfire towards why he felt the operation was suicidal and pointless.
Dash kept watching as Storm Front suddenly emerged from the crowd, walked towards his father, and started talking to him. Dash couldn’t hear a word of it over the commotion, but it looked like he failed to sway Descent. Descent just looked away and grunted. Storm’s ears folded backwards as he let out a sigh. He reached forward and gave his father a hard pat on the side of his shoulder. Descent flinched and tipped slightly, the ‘pat’ having strength behind it. Storm nodded and said something else before turning, smiling, and walking back into the crowd. Descent kept his eyes on his son, looking confused… and slightly surprised.
Shortly after Storm returned to the crowd, Lightning Dust and Astral Bolt stepped through the doors of the compound, shaking snow off of their bodies before addressing Descent.
Dash figured the Shadowbolt Renegades were still outside working the blizzard. They probably all had to since the Wonderbolt Renegades broke rank to help the Wonderbolts. Descent probably felt like he was in a little bit of a bind, but Spitfire’s determination had overpowered him. He was forced to keep up their initial charade for them as the Wonderbolts executed their plan.
“Oh!” Dash quickly turned back to the recruits as a familiar large figure entered her peripheral vision. She looked over to see Matteo, in his flight suit with the hood pulled down, pushing a cart that held two projectors on it. Dash was certain Matteo would be one of those chosen to carry the projectors out. They were box shaped and about a cubic yard in dimensions. Matteo could easily carry two of them.
Most of Dash’s attention, however, was not drawn by Matteo’s task, but by Little Star, who was also suited up and… laying on top of his head, and clutching his crest feathers with her little hooves. Matteo looked unaffected, but slightly unamused with his pony-hat, but he was a griffon of his word. Dash and Squall both asked him to keep her safe and he was going to do that, even if she was acting weird.
Dash couldn’t stand it. She needed to talk to them one more time. They still had a moment or two, so she turned and started moving towards them. She heard a second set of hooves following behind her as she did. She glanced back to see Squall was following behind her. Instinctively, she looked for Twister too, but he was currently stuck and flailing in a headlock provided by a glaring Misty Fly. Twister was good at picking the wrong targets for his shenanigans. With Squall in tow, she approached Matteo and Hat Star.
“Matty,” Dash said his name as she stopped right behind him. Matteo pushed the cart into place with the rest of the projectors before turning and looking at her. He blinked for a moment, looking over her color change, but despite Dash’s very slim hope that he’d make a comment about it, he said absolutely nothing as if nothing had changed. Dash held in a snicker as he remained perfectly serious despite the pouting, wide eyes little mare latched to his head. “How are things going over here?”
“We’re almost ready to leave,” he answered, again unfazed by Star. “Apparently I’ll be carrying a couple of these,” he explained while giving a head motion towards the projectors, one that failed to move Star at all. Matteo sighed and moved his eyes up, releasing whistle from his nostrils. “And it looks like I’ll be carrying a pony on my head too…”
“Star…” Dash chuckled as she floated up and got eye level with her. “I know you’re worried, but I promise we’ll make it back.” While it seemed easy to simply say that, Dash knew her words would reach Star. Dash wasn’t one to reassure others without weight behind it. She reached up and grabbed Star, trying to pull her off Matteo’s head, but she was firmly latched to him. “Star, look, you have to play your part too,” Dash said, realizing she had to get a little stern, something Star was usually more likely to do.
“I know…” Star sighed, finally speaking up. “I just wish I could be out there with you guys, I hate knowing I won’t be able to do anything if you get into trouble.”
“Everything needs to work for us to carry this out safely,” Dash tried to encourage her, but Star still looked concerned. What could she do here to—?
“Will you stop it already?” Squall’s voice suddenly came from behind Dash. He nudged her aside as he floated forward and grabbed Star. Her eyes widened and she tightened her grip on Matteo’s crest as Squall yanked her upward.
“BRUAWK!” Matteo released a painful, low pitched squawk as Squall ripped her from his head. His crest remained intact, but Matteo quickly bent down and grabbed his head in pain. Dash didn’t blame him. That had to sting.
Squall floated down and placed Star on the floor, completely ignoring Matteo uttering several swears under his breath. Star just stared blankly as Squall, in his odd reversed color scheme, pulled the Shadowbolt hood off of his head, bent his head down, and shot her a serious look.
“WE. ARE. COMING. BACK.” he emphasized each word. “If you have any doubt in your mind about it I’ll punch y—” Squall slammed his mouth shut and blinked, squinting and swallowing before continuing. “I’ll… uh… be angry,” he struggled to finish as Dash tried not to keel over laughing. It was thoughtful of Squall to try and dissuade her worry, but what had her laughing was how he realized he was about to suggest he’d hit her and he quickly tried to change it. “So stop,” Squall regained himself and pointed at her. “We need you to do your thing so we can do ours. Got it?” His words were a tad harsh, again, but that was the nature of his speech. Star’s expression remained blank for a few moments, but then she looked down and nodded towards the floor.
“I will, but promise me you’ll be careful?” she asked. Squall grunted.
“I just said we’d—HURK!” Squall grunted as Star reached up, grabbed the neck of his suit and yanked him forward, butting heads with him and glaring.
“I SAID PROMISE ME!” she growled as Squall tried to lean his head back in surprise. Star quickly let up and let go. “S-sorry… just… please…”
Dash stepped back and let Squall handle it. She knew he could. He had just admitted he cared about Little Star, and she wanted to see it for herself. Matteo remained quiet as well, finally sitting back up, but still rubbing his head with one arm.
“I promise,” Squall said to grant Star’s request. Squall was ready to turn away, but Star leaned forward and grabbed his arm, hugging herself tightly to it. Squall gritted his teeth before opening his mouth to speak, but chose against it and let her do it. After a moment, he reached down and picked her up with one hoof. “Okay, now stick with Feather-brain, will you?” Squall said as he lightly tossed her back to Matteo. She yelped, but landed softly against Matteo’s chest feathers before he reached up and stopped her from falling.
“I’d appreciate it if you called me by my real name,” Matteo said to Squall with irritation. “Or do you want me to call you Scarface?”
“Stick by him and we’ll be back,” Squall said to Star, ignoring Matteo.
“Hey!” Matteo’s feathers fluffed up slightly as he growled at Squall.
“I will! Good luck!” Star replied to Squall. Matteo sighed as neither of them paid attention to him, but glanced to his left as Dash approached again.
“We’ll come back, Matteo,” Dash humored him, “Until then, I order you to be a badass, got it?”
“Heh…” Matteo smirked as Little Star dropped out of his talons and started moving on her own again. “Now that’s an order I can follow naturally.”
“Good luck, Matty,” Dash returned his smirk and reached out a hoof. Matteo nodded, balled up his talons on his right arm and bumped it with Dash’s hoof.
“Luck to you as well,” he returned before going back to his preparations.
Dash turned away with Squall as the two started moving back towards their group. As the two walked, Dash glanced at him and smiled.
“Nice work with—”
“Okay, yeah, I know…” Squall cut her off quickly. Dash chuckled and let it be, knowing Squall was still not used to expressing himself emotionally to others. They were a few yards away from the rest of their group when suddenly Fire and the rest looked up and turned their ears forward. Dash and Squall blinked before turning to see Spitfire hovering above them with Steady Wing and Comet floating behind her.
“Everypony ready up and get in your formations! We have the location of their fortress. We’re launching in two minutes! Move! Move!” Spitfire yelled out.
Squall and Dash glanced at each other briefly before quickly making their way back towards their group. On the way there, Squall bumped right into Storm as he tried to cross towards squad seven. The two blinked and exchanged glances for a moment before Squall huffed and kept moving, but Dash stalled for a moment. Storm looked her up and down and smirked.
“Give ‘em hell in there, Daring Do,” Storm chuckled and held out a hoof. Dash squealed internally, but kept her composure, returning the smirk and bumping her hoof with his.
“Put on a show they’ll never forget,” she winked at him. The two kept it short, breaking away to join their groups. Dash increased her pace as she saw Fire Streak waving her over, but when she got halfway her eyes suddenly widened. She stopped and looked back towards the Wonderbolts gathering together, looking for somepony specific.
“Miss Dash!” Fire Streak called her name as she continued to look around. “Miss Dash, let’s go!” he yelled a little louder, but instead of abiding by the order, Dash fully turned and made her way into the crowd. “What in the…?!” Fire growled, but Misty Fly placed a hoof on his shoulder. Fire looked back at her to see her neck extended up as high as she could make it, looking in the direction Dash was moving. Fire blinked and hovered a few inches off the ground. Then he saw it too. “Ah…”
“Silver!” Dash yelled as she approached squad two. Silver’s ears stood up and he turned to look towards Dash’s voice. But when he turned he blinked and looked back and forth, trying to find Dash. “Right here, dummy,” Dash chuckled as Silver’s eyes snapped to her and he stared blankly.
Dash approached him wearing the Shadowbolt uniform and with her changed colors, even as she did it seemed to take him a moment to realize it was her. When he did his expression went from blank to serious.
“What are you doing over here?” he asked sternly as he looked at all the Wonderbolts moving around them. “You should be with your team.”
“Oh, relax,” Dash scoffed. “Spitfire said two minutes, I just wanted to see you before we launched…” she trailed off as she noticed Silver examining her temporary look. She smirked and whipped her mane around. “Looks awesome, doesn’t it?” she asked as Silver lifted an eyebrow.
“You look silly,” he commented bluntly. Dash immediately scrunched her face and glared at him.
“Dick…” she shot back with a scoff. Silver chuckled at her reaction before stepping away from Blaze and High Winds and patting Dash on the shoulder.
“Good luck out there Dash,” he said with a sudden sincere tone. “Be safe, and…” his eyes looked strong and confident… confident in her. “I hope you can save Wave Chill.”
“I don’t hope we can,” Dash quickly said. “I know we can… and we will!” she showed her confidence to show his was well placed. “I promise.”
“ONE MINUTE!” Spitfire’s voice rang out, causing Silver to look up and nod.
“Get moving, I’ll see you back here,” he smiled.
“You too you, old fart,” Dash turned and took a step. The moment she was about to take her second step, her eyes widened in a moment of realization.
“Aware—”
Dash stuck her hoof out and blocked Silver’s before it could hook trip her. She glanced to her left and smugly grinned at him. Silver was already grinning from ear to ear.
“Nice try, ass…” Dash pushed his hoof away.
“Go make me proud,” Silver made a head motion towards Dash’s team.
The two parted ways as the Wonderbolts readied to launch. It was time to strike, take back Wave Chill, and show the Shadowbolts that they were not to be taken lightly.
“Soarin, let me go for a second,” Rapidfire suddenly asked as Soarin helped him through the tunnel. Soarin blinked and glanced at him.
“I thought you didn’t want me to drop you,” he said sarcastically.
“Shut your trap,” Rapidfire growled back at him. “I think… I might be able to put weight on my leg now. The pain has lessened,” he explained.
Soarin kept looking at Rapidfire for a moment, the glow from the horn splashing against Rapidfire’s face in full now that he had finally shed the shredded bits of his flight mask away. If Rapidfire fell this time, he had no reason to lash out at Soarin because this was on his request… so, Soarin obliged.
He slowly removed his arm from beneath Rapidfire’s arm-pit, but kept his hoof there just in case he was getting ahead of himself.
“Rghhh…” Rapidfire winced and grunted as he put weight on his back leg. As Soarin let go, Rapidfire managed to support himself, but he was shaking. Soarin stepped away and watched as Rapidfire struggled to stay up, but he ended up holding firm. Soarin sighed and sat down, relieved that, even if only for a moment, he had relief from carrying Rapidfire’s weight with him. It was bad enough that he had to keep his horn alight. If Rapidfire really could move on his own now, that would lift half the burden Soarin was dealing with.
“You sure you’ve got it?” Soarin asked as Rapidfire continued to shudder and wince.
“I’ve got it!” he yelled at Soarin angrily. Soarin rolled his eyes and just sat back as Rapidfire tried to take a few steps. Each one was labored and looked primed for a crash, but he managed to stay up. After a few more steps, it looked like he was getting the hang of it. He had a very nasty limp, but he was able to walk on his own.
“You’ve got it. It’s not pretty, but it’s working,” Soarin commented as he stood up and hobbled up beside Rapidfire.
“Hmph…” Rapidfire grunted in response as the two continued through the tunnels.
Soarin had noticed, since Rapidfire had told him his story, he had been a little more cooperative. Maybe getting it off his chest helped. It definitely wasn’t due to any sympathy Soarin had given him, because he didn’t give him any. Rapidfire’s path leading up to now was clearly rough and in the end he missed his goals… but Soarin couldn’t forgive him for the terrible things he had done as a result of letting his morals go. He felt pity for Rapidfire. A story like his was one that sounded unbearable, but he could not, and would not forget the damage Rapidfire had caused him and to those he cared about.
It was too bad… had Rapidfire only confided in them instead of pushing them away, had he treated them as friends as they had him at first and let them know what was on his mind, maybe things would have been different, maybe they could have stopped him from turning down a dark path… but he didn’t and as a result they couldn’t. All he ever did was anger them, annoy them, and especially with Soarin, try to draw him into conflict. They had tried at first to understand why he had suddenly become an ass, but his constant deflection of their concern eventually became unbearable… and he simply became somepony they really, really disliked.
It was a shame, really.
“There’s a thin draft in this tunnel,” Rapidfire suddenly spoke as he limped along. Soarin perked up and he glanced at Rapidfire, his wings were being held about an inch off of his body and the feathers were all pointed out.
“Huh?” Soarin tipped his head to the side as he also subtly puffed out his wings to try and sense any wind currents, but he felt none. “I can’t feel it…”
“It’s barely there. I almost can’t feel it, but it’s there,” Rapidfire explained as his wingtips continued to twitch. Soarin wasn’t about to cry foul. Rapidfire handled all the elements and effects better than he or any other member of the lead squad could. Despite him apparently thinking it was a useless skill, he was quite a master. If he could feel something, it was definitely there.
“Do you think it’s a way out?” Soarin asked as he aimed his light forward.
“If it is,” Rapidfire pondered. “It’s a ways away.”
“Only one way to find out…” Soarin nodded as the two continued down the tunnel.
While Dash had recently gotten over her pre-show anxiety a little bit, it didn’t stop her nerves from getting all tingly now. That’s how she was treating it as she flew in formation behind Lightning Streak and Surprise. Like a show. This operation was clearly much more than just a simple show, and she wasn’t even taking part in the ‘show’ portion, but the more she thought about the danger she was about to be exposed to, the less calm she felt. It wasn’t so much that she was afraid, just anxious. If everything worked out as planned, she’d be inside the Shadowbolt fortress, someplace she never thought she’d find herself in again… but worse, someplace she didn’t really want to see again.
In the back of her head, she was afraid about one thing. Something that had yet to be confirmed. It was almost worse that they didn’t know, because if she was really still alive… if Nightshade was onboard their fortress, Dash would at least be able to prep herself to possibly run into her. She hated not knowing, because Nightshade’s presence would completely and totally change everything about their approach.
“Everypony hold formation until Spitfire gives the order to break,” Fire Streak’s voice pulled Dash from her thoughts. He was glancing over his shoulder at the rest, Dash could just barely see him with Lightning Streak directly in front of her. “Once she does, follow my lead.”
Dash nodded along with the rest, glancing around them as they continued to fly.
They were flying through the artificial blizzard, the Renegades manipulating the specific area around them all to give the force smooth sailing through it. Only the strength of the blizzard was reduced though, the lack of visibility less than five pony lengths in front of them was still being held. Dash couldn’t see the rest… but she could feel it: The combined draft of the entire Wonderbolt and former Wonderbolt Renegade forces all flying together, the continuous THUMP THUMP THUMP’s of hundreds of strong wings. If they were out in the open and in the clear, it surely would have been quite the spectacle.
Dash’s ears perked up as a high pitched whistle came from somewhere way in front.
“Slow descent!” Fire called to them. “Pitch down and follow behind!” he ordered.
Dash did exactly as she was told, following directly behind squad three as the little band of false Shadowbolts began to fly lower. As they drew closer to the ground, the limited visibility lifted a little, allowing Dash to get more of a view of what was going on around her. They were surrounded by Renegades, many of whom either had a unicorn passenger or a piece of equipment in tow. Among them, but a little further off, Dash could barely make out groups of Wonderbolt recruit squads helping out.
Her attention was drawn away as Luna flew past them and formed up beside Blazetail and Flashwind, exchanging words with them before the two former captains pointed forward.
“KEEP LOW!” Blazetail yelled out. “We are approaching the edge of the blizzard! STAY! LOW!”
Dash gulped as they all suddenly hit a very thick pocket of wind and snow. While the Shadowbolt goggles did their job, their smaller design made Dash feel less protected, causing her to squint and grimace as they hit the strong outer edge of the blizzard and powered through it.
And then, just like that, they were clear. However, Dash barely had a moment to look around before the entire secondary force of Renegades, recruits, and unicorns all came to an abrupt, somewhat shaky landing as a mountainside appeared before them. Nothing was damaged, nopony was hurt, but a few had to be helped out of the snow.
Everypony made it down, and no sooner did they land on the mountainside, did they set to work. Dash pushed up her goggles and exhaled, spewing a cloud of mist from her mouth into the cold air. She glanced around as the rest of the ponies outside of their team helped the unicorns as they began explaining the setup of the projectors.
“Sit tight,” Fire Streak spoke to the team as they all gathered together. “Now we just wait. Stay loose, walk around, move your wings, but don’t stray too far.”
Dash was way ahead of him. As were most of them, it seemed. Squall was already keeping his wings loose, and Dash had started doing the same the moment before Fire had spoken.
She spotted Matteo and Little Star being directed by a unicorn, showing Matteo where a projector was to be set up and getting Little Star to help him with the precise details. Dash wanted to help them, or maybe… oh, who was she kidding, she just wanted another excuse to go reassure them again. She couldn’t keep doing that, it would suggest she was very unsure of how things would turn out. Confidence was key to everything being successful here.
To take her mind off of it, Dash started walking around a little, not straying too far, as Fire had ordered. She kept opening and closing her wings and moving her limbs about to keep them loose as she hopped up a small, nearby cliff and moved a little bit further. She stopped right in her tracks after gaining a bit more of a view of what was just beyond.
Before, she couldn’t see it due to the mountainous terrain around them, but after hopping up and moving a little… there it was. Right there… parked on the ground just a little over a mile away…
The Shadowbolt fortress.
The sight sent shivers through her body. It wasn’t up in the air and glaring down at them like it had twice already, but it didn’t take away from its intimidating presence. It was sitting on the ground in a clearing, the propellers at rest, and the giant crystal formation strewn about it were all calm, but still emitting a soft glow.
Dash could see Shadowbolts flying around it. All who got close passed through a thin pink light that appeared briefly, signaling that the shield was indeed up. Those moving in and out shot towards the blizzard, luckily far from their current location. Hopefully the Shadowbolt Renegades could keep the charade up and running without their former Wonderbolt counterparts. Despite Descent’s unwillingness to help them here, the blizzard was playing a very important role, having kept them concealed and allowing them to move undetected and set everything up.
Dash turned around and took a deep breath. Her Wonderbolt training had paid off. A year or so back, she’d be absolutely quaking in her own hooves, but her experience with the Wonderbolts had taught her to keep calm under pressure. She was still anxious and a little scared, she was sure all of them were. But, like her, their nerves were not causing them lock up. This was what the Wonderbolts did, they handled outrageous situations that most others could not. Just another day at the office. The absolutely insane office.
It was time to focus. Dash knew they wouldn’t move a muscle until/unless the fake show and dragon attack were successful, but always being prepped assuming their moment would come was key to their success.
In the meantime… something else had been on her mind, but had taken a back seat due to the situation. They had a moment now… so she wanted to briefly touch base with them. With squad three, that is.
She contained it earlier to be professional, but Dash was incredibly happy to work with squad three. It wasn’t that she’d feel less inspired with squads one and two, but squad three was special. Her first real experience within the Wonderbolts was with them back when she was granted a visiting training day after the royal ball. They made her feel so welcome and at home, not to mention she got to meet her fillyhood idol, Misty Fly and learn about how awesome she really was. It was an experience she would never forget and getting another chance to fly side by side with them had her pumped up.
She climbed down the little cliff side and made her way back over to her team. She stopped for a moment as she caught a glimpse of Squall stuffing Twister’s head into the snow, but she decided to let it be. Twister probably had it coming and would be perfectly fine no matter how hard Squall hit him. Squad zero was nearby as well, at least the three who were chosen since Calm was up with the rest of the Wonderbolts. They all looked a little nervous. Dash had already heard it from Shine, but it was a little strange to see Playbitz and Swift showing similar behavior. Perhaps they were all aware that their job security may rest on whether or not the mission succeeded. While they had been given a free ride into the ranks, Dash was actually glad she didn’t have to worry as much as they did about failure… at least in most situations. She had earned her spot, so mishaps could be tolerated to a point. Squad zero? They didn’t have that luxury.
However, Dash was confident they would succeed because they were under the command of squad three. Fire was one heck of a captain and he had a professional team under his wing.
“Hrmph…” Lightning Streak suddenly grunted and belched loudly… directly into Surprise’s face causing her to grimace.
“Gah! I took a direct hit!” Surprise yelled out as she pressed her face into the snow and rubbed it vigorously against it.
“Whoa… where the hell did that one come from?” Lightning blinked and shook his head.
Mostly professional. But despite their natural silliness, squad three was still incredibly reliable. Spitfire wouldn’t have put her faith in them otherwise.
“Something troubling you, Miss Dash?” Fire Streak asked her before she could even speak to him. She blinked and tipped her head to the side.
“I don’t look that nervous, do I?” Dash pouted, feeling as if Fire had masterfully picked out her small bit of anxiety.
“Well, no,” Fire gave her a smile. “I just noticed you’re moving around more than the rest.”
“Oh…” Dash saw the reason behind his concern. “I’m a little jittery,” she admitted. “Getting a glimpse of the fortress didn’t help. I’m ready and willing to go through with this mission but…” She glanced back up at the small cliff she was just standing atop. “I mean, my last experience inside that place was unpleasant. Very unpleasant. So yeah, I guess I’m a little troubled,” she quoted him.
“Worry not, milady,” Fire gave her a proper bow. “A great majority of our plan will be executed by my squad. You six were selected to help us blend in and provide us with assistance should things go wrong. Just act natural, leave most of the deception to us, and be ready to assist us with anything we ask. Do those things, and it will be smooth sailing, hopefully.”
“Hopefully?” Dash flattened her ears.
“I apologize,” Fire exhaled through his nose. “I have the utmost confidence in our success, but it is important to acknowledge the error margin and the danger. Such thoughts will not deter us, but it is important to acknowledge them.”
Fire blinked and flinched as something bumped into him. He looked to his side to see Misty Fly more or less slide herself along his side until she was standing even with him. Once in place she flashed Dash a very bright smile… which still looked so wrong with how intimidating her color change had made her.
“Well,” Fire chuckled as he looked back towards Dash. “I know one pony right here who has endless confidence… and can back it up too.”
Dash always felt giddy in the presence of Misty, but she suddenly felt awful. She wanted to acknowledge Misty, but it had been such a long time since she had used any of her sign language, in fact she had nearly forgotten all of it. Fire noticed Dash fidgeting slightly and quickly turned to Misty, giving himself a little space before opening his wings and holding up his hooves.
All he did was hold his hooves at chest level before making them shake in place while also shaking his wings. Then he pointed at Dash. Misty blinked several times before looking at Dash and giving her a smile. She walked up to her, turned to face the same direction, and draped a wing over her before flashing her a confident grin. Dash stared blankly as Misty gave her the confident smile. She reached up a hoof, motioning between her, Dash, Fire, and all the rest. She then touched her hooves to her chest before pointing one hoof down at the ground.
Dash quickly looked at Fire, who chuckled.
“Misty says ‘we’ve got this,’” he translated for her.
Misty saw Fire translate, and quickly followed up by holding a hoof towards Dash. It only took Dash a moment to catch on. She smiled back at Misty and bumped hooves with her. Misty gave a strong nod before moving back towards Fire.
Dash had goosebumps all over. It was one thing to meet Misty Fly back during her first visit, it was entirely different to have Misty approach, treat her, and influence her as a fellow Wonderbolt. Dash felt a wave of confidence wash over her. She was already set to go, but having extra motivation from one of the most incredible Wonderbolts overshadowed many of her fears. She had nothing to worry about at all. Squad three was in command, it didn’t matter what sort of danger they were flying into. They’d get the job done.
“Fire Streak!” Spitfire’s voice came down from above. They all looked up to see their captain hovering down towards them. She was looking around at the whole team though.
“Right here, Captain,” Fire Streak waved.
“Ah,” Spitfire chuckled and shook her head. “The color changes and uniforms are throwing me off,” she admitted as she touched down. “The Wonderbolts are all in position and ready to move. Is your team all set?”
Fire Streak looked behind him to see Surprise throw a snowball into Lightning Streak’s face at point blank. Lightning’s head whipped backwards as he took the hit before looking right at Surprise with a face full of snow.
“Seriously bro… throw another one!” he threatened, only to get hit in the face with three more snowballs.
“As ready as usual,” Fire sighed, but Spitfire seemed to like how relaxed and casual they were being.
“Good! I know you understand the importance of your role… and I know you won’t let me down,” she gave Fire her vote of confidence.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Captain,” Fire nodded. Spitfire glanced at Misty and exchanged a hoofbump and a nod with her before turning and seeing Dash. Dash was still smiling from her interaction with Misty, bouncing a little, and looking ready to blast off at any moment. Spitfire didn’t ask, she just smirked and turned to the commotion around them.
“Blazetail! Flashwind!” Spitfire called out as she glanced around. Less than a moment later, Flashwind appeared over the small cliff Dash had stood on and landed in front of Spitfire. “Preparations?” Spitfire got right to the point.
“All the projectors are in place, I believe my husband is checking with Princess Luna as we speak…” she looked up just in time to see Blazetail glide down and land beside her.
“The Princess?” Spitfire quickly asked him as well. Blazetail gave her a nod.
“Luna is all set and waiting at the controls,” he answered.
“Your teams?” Spitfire continued.
“The tremor teams are in place, the recruit squads are ready to fly the unicorns to safety once their job is done, and the rest of the Renegades are ready to launch as soon as you give the order. I hope your little plan works, because they’re itching to put pressure on the Shadowbolts for once. Nothing against Descent’s strategies, but we all feel like it’s long overdue.”
“Good, and I agree,” Spitfire smiled. “It’s time to give them a taste. We’re all tired of being the target.” Spitfire looked back and forth between them. “Well…” she put on a devious grin. “It’s show time!”
Rainbow Dash watched as Spitfire and the former captains parted ways. She took a deep breath as Spitfire moved up and back into the edge of the blizzard to join the Wonderbolts. It was almost time…
“Are we all good to go down there?” Silver asked as Spitfire rose back up to the front of the Wonderbolt force beside him. She gave him a nod as she stared out towards the Shadowbolt fortress. They were at the misty edge of the blizzard, just barely hidden from view.
“All set,” she said simply. Silver looked her up and down as she focused.
“So how are we going to approach? Stealthily or—” he stopped as Spitfire shook her head.
“No, we are going to fly right towards them, slowly,” she explained. Silver blinked and stared at her blankly.
“We’re just going to casually waltz right up to them…”
“Yep,” Spitfire glanced at him, meeting his blank stare. Silver’s brow flattened before he exhaled and shook his head.
“If you say so…” He didn’t protest, but it was clear he was iffy on it. Spitfire was okay with that because she was honestly a bit iffy on it too. The whole thing was supposed to be a charade, so she wanted it to look as casual as they could. Whether or not the Shadowbolts would be affected by it was an unknown variable, but after their last encounter, seeing Moon’s behavior made her feel the Shadowbolts weren’t mindless. If they still had their wits about them and weren’t blindly following orders, perhaps they could also be thrown for a loop as well.
“I take it you’re ready?” Spitfire asked Silver. Silver nodded.
“Just give the order and I’m moving,” he said as he stared out at the fortress now. Spitfire turned to the others in their squads.
“Blaze? High Winds? All set?” she asked as the rest of the force began to rise up behind them.
“Bet’cher spicy ass, sis!” Blaze replied while bumping her flint gloves together, creating small sparks. High Winds yawned before pointing at Blaze.
“What Blazey said…” she added monotonously. Spitfire turned to her squadmates.
“Fleet and—” she flattened her brow when she saw Fleetfoot perched on Calm’s back. Calm was hovering in the air, but his face was bright red. “Calm… are you two good to go?”
“Ready with my noble steed!” Fleetfoot giggled as Calm simply nodded, holding his breath.
“Good, and Fleet… you have two perfectly functional wings. Stop terrorizing Calm and use them. We need him to not be distracted,” Spitfire ordered sternly.
“Aw… alright,” Fleetfoot pouted as she dismounted and hovered forward.
“And Air Mach, are you—” Spitfire flinched as Air Mach rushed past her and pointed towards the Shadowbolt fortress.
“The time has come my brothers and lady brothers! The colt gloves are off and the very-stallion gloves are on! We’ll take the fight right to their front door and put on a show they’ll never forget! We’ll punch ‘em in the mouth with our burning stallion spirits and take back our brother from their dirty, cowardly hooves!” He shifted over towards squad two. “We are Wonderbolts young,” he jabbed Blaze in the shoulder.
“Ow!”
“And old!” Air Mach shifted over to Silver and jabbed him as well. Silver flinched and glared at him. “Why, I bet the old Iron Horse, Silver Lining himself is itching to break a hoof off in their ass and call it a dowdy-do! Give them a solid, Iron Horse beating for taking his brother and trusty friend away! Isn’t that right my brother?!” he wore an overzealous smile as he stared through the lenses of his ridiculous sunglasses into the completely unamused eyes of Silver Lining.
“You’ve got such a big mouth,” Silver grunted. “Seriously, I could jam a flagpole in there. It might knock all your teeth out, but I could definitely get it in.”
Air Mach swiftly turned to Spitfire, his cape lightly smacking Silver in the face as he pointed at his captain.
“You heard it right from the legend’s mouth! We’re all ready to do this!” he exclaimed as Silver angrily pulled him down by the cape.
“Heh…” Spitfire smirked, again feeling good about how natural the Wonderbolts looked. If they could keep up the antics and casual mindset… this would be a success. It needed to be a success. This was all to get him back. Spitfire took a deep breath and hardened her gaze towards the Shadowbolt fortress. “Hold on Wave… we’re coming to get you.”
Spitfire turned and whistled loudly.
“Wonderbolts! Let’s go!” she gave the order before turning and pumping her wings. She could hear the sound of beating wings follow right behind her as they started moving out of the blizzard’s edge and towards the grounded fortress.
Slowly, the entire force of Wonderbolts emerged and flew at a fixed pace, slowly approaching with every intention of the Shadowbolts eventually spotting them. Due to their approach from an angle, it seemed to take the Shadowbolts longer than expected to notice them, which was perfect because Spitfire wanted to get as close as possible.
When they reached about a quarter mile away from the fortress, they were spotted. A lot of commotion began erupting around the fortress and Shadowbolts began pouring out of it as well as the blizzard. Several commanders were among them. Spitfire was able to make out Blade, Sin, Shadow, Devil, and Angel. All five of them started spawning a few clones as they emerged. Spitfire was expecting this, but what she wasn’t expecting was their lack of full numbers. They had… defeated Trance and Witch, but Ruin, Moon, and Void were nowhere to be seen. They were probably out in the blizzard or still in the fortress, either way, having three less than what they thought they were going to deal with was more than Spitfire could’ve asked for. Specifically, the absence of Ruin pleased her, especially after Fleetfoot’s description of her encounter with him. Something about that pony was absolutely messed up and Spitfire had worried he would’ve been able to call their bluff more than any of them. Without him there, that factor was gone.
“HOLD!” Spitfire yelled out bringing the entire force to a halt about a hundred meters from the fortress. She briefly scanned the Shadowbolt numbers. With the commander clones, the Shadowbolts outnumbered them at least two to one. The commanders were being less ambitious with the clones it seemed, perhaps because the Wonderbolts knew their weak point, but they still had enough to tip the numbers heavily in their favor. With Blade in front, the Shadowbolts were charging towards them.
It was time for the show of the century. Spitfire took a deep breath and smiled.
“Fleet, phone me,” Spitfire ordered casually as she reached a hoof back. Fleetfoot hovered up beside her and hoofed over a megaphone. Spitfire looked down at it, the volume dial was set at four. She immediately cranked it all the way up to eleven as she cleared her throat and lifted the megaphone up to her mouth.
“LADIES AND GENTLESTALLIONS!” her voice blared through the megaphone so loud that several of the Wonderbolts behind her cringed.
The Shadowbolts came to a sudden and abrupt halt and stared towards the Wonderbolts as they were all… smiling at them? Blade pushed his goggled up as his crystals floated around him, lifting an eyebrow at the strange demeanor of the Wonderbolts. Several other Shadowbolts did the same thing, many of them looking back and forth at each other, perplexed as the Wonderbolts behind Spitfire began floating about in silly patterns, doing stretches, bumping hooves, and shaking themselves out in a sporting manner.
Spitfire’s smile widened as she saw the reaction from the Shadowbolts.
Perfect… it was exactly what she was hoping they’d do. It was time to really ham it up.
“We have a very special treat for all of you today!” Spitfire continued to blare through the megaphone. “The first ever, full Wonderbolt force air show!”
Blaze and several other fire handler’s threw flames into the air. High Winds and other wind specialists created gusts that made the flames dance about and explode above them.
“That’s right!” Spitfire pointed towards the Shadowbolts. “Every single Wonderbolt in the sky at the same time in a spectacular display of synchronized flying, dangerous stunts, and stunning special effects! And you are the lucky audience to witness it! Prepare to be dazzled, stunned, shocked, and left in awe!”
Blade flattened his brow and growled.
“What sort of backwards, absolute insanity is this?!” Blade exclaimed towards Spitfire. Spitfire took a deep breath and aimed the megaphone directly towards him.
“THE BEST KIND!” she yelled as hard as she could into it, causing Blade to cringe and cover his ears. When his ears stopped ringing, he shot a heavy glare towards Spitfire, grinding his teeth together.
“Whatever tricks you are up to, we’ll—!”
“Wonderbolts! Are you ready?!” Spitfire called out, cutting off Blade completely. Every single Wonderbolt pounded their chest.
“AYE!” they replied all at once.
“You hear that, Shadowbolts?!” Spitfire turned back to them. “You better be ready! Because this performance will blow you away!”
“Have you all completely lost your—?!” Blade was cut off again, this time by a loud CLONK as Spitfire chucked the megaphone at him and bounced it right off of his face.
“ARGH!” he grunted in pain and clutched his face for a moment before shooting a death glare towards the Wonderbolts. “THAT DOES IT! KILL THEM ALL!” he yelled out to the Shadowbolts. They all pushed their goggles back down and charged, all feeling just as fed up with the taunting antics as Blade. As they approached, Spitfire threw her arms up.
“WONDERBOLTS!” she yelled out as she and the rest of them completely spread out in all directions and all forced their wings outward. “ONE! TWO! THREE!”
On three, every single Wonderbolt simultaneously curved their wings and thrust them forward, causing a massive blast of wind to rush forth. The collective wing power of the whole force caused an incredibly loud POW to ring out right as the blast slammed against the incoming Shadowbolts.
The Shadowbolts yelped and grunted as they were propelled backwards, the wind not only striking them, but also blowing away several drifts of snow on the surrounding mountains. Even the shield around the fortress felt the effects, several intense ripples appearing around the pink shield as it was battered by the incredible whirlwind.
As the Shadowbolts all eventually regained control of their flight, Spitfire took advantage of their disoriented state.
“It’s show time!” she exclaimed. “WONDERBOLTS! GO! GO! GO!”
“HOO-RAH!”
---To Be Continued---