Chapter 11: Up on the Ice
“Welcome to the Icefields.”
Spitfire couldn’t believe her eyes. After spending the entire night from sunset to sunrise climbing up from the valley below into this place, she and the others had expected to be greeted by a blanket of featureless white ice. Instead she saw fields and forests, flowerbeds and streams, all made entirely of ice and glittering like diamonds in the early morning light. For a moment she thought they were sculptures until she saw that the grasses and leaves swayed in the breeze. She saw a glittering white butterfly that glowed with the same blue light she’d seen in the eyes of the elemental winter wolf.
She also saw the winter wolf, stalking towards her and the rest of her crew in a low, aggressive stance.
Aurora edged out to the front of the group, putting herself between the wolf and her students.
“Lesson time, Spitfire. You feel up to handling this mutt?”
Spitfire checked the straps on the ancient blades she wore on her forehooves. She nodded.
“If it comes to that, yeah.” She advanced to the captain’s flank, wary eyes on the wolf.
The captain spared her a sideways glance. “Good. Tell me what you’re up against.”
She sized up the beast. “Ice elemental. Bites freeze you solid. Very territorial, and it isn’t just one. This single creature…”
The wolf sat back and howled. Five more winter wolves materialized from the frozen turf and joined it, turning the single howl into a chorus which in turn whipped up a fiercely cold wind.
“...Is actually a whole wolfpack. Also? It’s rude.”
Aurora chuckled. “Rude, Spitfire?”
Spitfire called out louder, “Yeah. Rude. What’s the deal with you, pup?” She cautiously sidestepped the captain and crept toward the approaching wolf.
“We go through all that trouble to cut you loose, you help us find our way up here - and now you’re all howling and huffing about it?” She took another step, and another. She was now only steps away from the alpha, and the pack it had summoned had edged around her in a semicircle. Her eyes darted around, nervously.
This is no time for nerves. Show it dominance, it’ll back down.
Red called out in a concerned voice, “Honey? Are you sure that’s the same wolf we met down in the valley?”
“Of course it is!” she called back over her shoulder, “Why else would it be here waiting for us?”
She took one last wary step toward the beast. “Come on, Snowball. We aren’t gonna hurt you. We cut you free! Remember? Friend!”
She held a hoof out. The wolf sniffed at it.
The pack pounced.
Spitfire felt a wave of icy panic flow through her. She dropped to a low crouch and unslung her blades, coiling to strike. Before she could strike at her nearest attacker, a new pair of icy jaws sprang out from the snow between them. The new wolf grabbed the attacking wolf by the throat and dragged it back down into the ground. As she looked around, similar defenders appeared all around her, striking in expert unison to dispatch the attacking pack, seizing them each in turn and disappearing into the ground with a flash of light and a burst of snowflakes.
The new pack’s alpha, taller than the first but painfully skinny with a patchy coat, snarled and leapt at its counterpart, flinging it back to the ground and crushing its neck between powerful jaws. The defeated alpha shattered, its blue glow sinking back down into the icy turf.
It turned to face Spitfire and sat down on its haunches, and panting wagging its tail. This winter wolf had a cracked off ear and showed signs of serious deformation from melting. She recognized this one.
Spitfire gasped. “But if you’re the one from the valley, then…” She looked down at the shattered remains of the first alpha wolf. The distinctive sound of Red’s laughter split the air. Spitfire looked back, embarrassment evident on her face.
“I toldja! I said it wasn’t the same one!” Red elbowed Wedge in the ribs. “Didn’t I say?”
He shrugged. “I mean, you asked. That’s not exactly the same as-” His eyes widened as he saw her glower at him. “That is to say… yes, darling. You did say.”
Red gave a self-satisfied nod. “Good.”
Spitfire felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment. She turned back to the wolf and stood, taking cautious yet friendly steps ‘til she reached the monster’s side.
“Thanks for the save, snowball.”
The wolf barked happily.
Spitfire reached out, tentatively, to touch its coat. It tilted its head to the side, allowing her to scratch it between the ears. The sensation was painfully cold, but the creature seemed to like it. She chuckled.
“Aww, you like that, buddy? You like that? Who’s a good boy!”
Aurora squeezed her eyes shut and massaged her temple with a long white wingtip. Here she had one cadet playing with an ice elemental, and another toying with her son… and her two boys were hopelessly smitten with them.
She watched the malformed winter wolf nudge Spitfire’s hoof for attention, and before long her prized pupil was scratching its belly and asking it, repeatedly, if it could help her to identify a good boy.
Harmony save me from troublesome fillies and lovesick colts.
“Cadets to attention,” she muttered.
That only got a distracted “Hmm?” from Soarin’, who was too busy warily watching Spitfire play with the creature to hear her. For a moment her heart hurt. Her little angel had devoted himself to someone else.
He’s growing up. And she’s so like I was, at her age…
She shook her head clear. This was no time to be sentimental.
“Cadets! Attention!” It was a bellow this time. Four ponies snapped into line, embarrassed at their momentary breach of protocol. Aurora put on her practiced stern instructor face.
“That’s better. Do I really have to remind you that this isn’t a vacation? Five!”
Stargazer called back, “Yes, Captain!”
“With me. Reconnaissance. We need to verify Seven’s information. If the intel she gleaned while cave-diving is correct, there should be an enemy force in the vicinity, well-provisioned and in significant numbers. You and I will scout the area, identify any enemy patrols, and find their base of operations. Six! Eight!”
Two voices this time. “Yes, Captain!”
“Find some shelter and make camp. Something in a cave or a crevasse. Well-hidden. Let’s not be marked and tracked this time. If you do this right, you’ll need to keep an eye out for our return - we won’t know where to find you. Seven!”
“Yes, Captain?”
“That was an intensely reckless display.” Aurora began pacing around the yellow mare. “Was your assessment of the initial threat accurate, cadet?”
The color drained from the yellow mare’s face. “No, ma’am.”
“Did you have a plan of action for dealing with that first winter wolf?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Did you have reason to believe that you’d be assisted by this other winter wolf?”
“No, ma’am.”
“And where would you be if he hadn’t showed up?”
“Dead, ma’am.”
Aurora stopped in front of Spitfire and held her gaze for a long, withering moment.
“Do better next time, cadet.”
“Yes, ma’am”
Aurora let out an irritated grunt. She shook her head. “Find out what the mutt wants, wouldja? You spared it. You followed it. It wanted us here. Find out why, if you can.”
“That’s it. Get to work.”
Four voices called out “Yes, ma’am!” in unison.
“One more thing - keep under cover, and keep flight to a minimum. If we’re spotted, our overnight march will have been for nothing.
For several gruelling hours, Spitfire helped Soarin’ and Red carve out a campsite into the walls of a crevasse that ran through the icy forest floor. For all that the icefields looked like a crystalline facsimile of the forests and meadows below, it seemed that they still occasionally cracked and split like a glacier. When she popped her head back up out of the crack, she saw that Snowball was waiting. He’d sat patiently through the entire morning, head cocked slightly to one side like a curious dog. So far, she hadn’t had any luck communicating with him. Nor had he made any real attempts to interact with her or the rest of the squad - except to growl at Soarin’ any time he came near.
She floated over next to him and rubbed behind his good ear. He panted happily. She pulled her hoof back and shook the frost off of it.
“Yeowch. I hope you appreciate this, pup, because it isn’t the nicest feeling.”
He yawned and nuzzled her hoof, begging her to scratch his ears again.
She chuckled. “C’mon, Snowball. I know you brought me up here for more than just playtime.”
Snoball looked at her quizzically, then hopped up to his feet.
Spitfire moved to follow him. Finally, she thought, we’re getting somewhere.
He padded over to the nearest tree and raised his head up to a low-hanging branch. He leapt up, broke off the crystalline branch, then turned and dropped it at her feet, wagging his tail.
She buried her face in a hoof. “Okay, fine. But just one throw!”
Soarin’ gave the campsite a once-over. Five pony-sized alcoves carved out of the icy wall, and an artificial cloud beneath as a makeshift safety net. It wasn’t pretty, but it would work.
He heard a noise from above. The monster was barking like a dog again. He popped up to the lip of the crevasse and poked his head out, just in time to see his partner throw a long icicle for her new buddy to fetch. Red popped up next to him. He furrowed his brow.
“I don’t like it.”
Red smirked at him. “That’s ok, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t like you either.”
“Not what I meant. I mean I don’t like that she’s buddy-buddy with it. Those things’re dangerous. You saw what they did to T-Bone.”
She looked down. “Yeah. I did.” She hesitated. After a long moment, she sighed. “It wasn’t pretty.”
Soarin’ glowered as the beast returned the icicle to Spitfire then rolled over onto its back, its tongue lolling out of its mouth. Spitfire giggled - she giggled! - and rubbed its belly.
He felt Red’s hoof on his shoulder. “C’mon, you old stick in the mud. Let her have this. She deserves it.”
He shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. I’m gonna say somethin’.”
He set his hooves and vaulted up .
“I wouldn’t, if I were you.”
Soarin’ ignored her and stalked over towards the playful pair. Now she was actually letting the beast lick her face. She pranced over to the icicle to give it another throw. The wolf rolled back onto its feet with alarming speed. It bared its teeth at Soarin’ while Spitfire’s back was turned, then loped off to catch the next throw. As he arrived at her side, she looked up at him with frost-covered eyebrows.
“Need something, partner?”
“I, uh, I’m just worried, is all.”
“Nothing to worry about, Soarin’. I’ll be careful. Besides, I’m probably more likely to get my tongue stuck to the stick than to have any trouble from this big cutie.”
The wolf bounded back to her with the stick. Soarin felt a jolt of cold as it nudged him aside to drop it at her feet. Spitfire picked up the stick and swung her head in a wide arc and sent the icicle arcing across the frozen meadow.
“How can you say that? You saw what these things can do! You were almost puppy chow this morning! You know what they did to T-Bone! And the reindeer!”
The wolf returned and sat by Spitfire’s side, and she obligingly scratched it between the ears again. In a sing-song voice, she said, “Awww, but Snowball here saved me! Didn’t you? Didn’t you? Yes you did! And they’re just creatures, they aren’t responsible. Those assholes must’ve driven them down into the valley and forced them to attack. Right, Snowball? Right? Right?” She picked up the icicle and gave it another fling, then shivered.
“He is cold, I’ll give you that. Fine. If you’re worried, I promise I’ll stop before I get frostbite. Okay?”
Soarin’ put a hoof to his face. “That’s not what I… Spit, you know that’s not a dog, right?”
She let out a groan. “Yes, Soarin’, I know it’s not a dog. But at the same time, he kinda is, right?”
The wolf came back. This time, he didn’t want to give up the stick. The two of them played tug-of-war for it.
Soarin arched a skeptical eyebrow as he watched the massive winter wolf easily tear the stick away from her. ”It really isn’t”
Spitfire rubbed her jaw. “Besides, I always wanted a dog. But, you know… Cloudsdale.”
“It’s an ice elemental!”
“He’s friendly!”
“I don’t like it!”
“He doesn’t like you either!”
Soarin looked away. “Red already said that,” he grumbled.
Spitfire shrugged and gave the icicle yet another toss.
He relented. She was attached to the beast, and she was as happy as he’d seen her in weeks.
Just roll with it and be ready to intervene if it goes sour.
“So, ‘Snowball,’ huh?”
She gave a shy little shrug. “He seems to like it.”
He sidled up next to her and watched her give the icicle one more throw.
“And it’s definitely a ‘he’? How can you tell?”
She shrugged. “All dogs are boys and all cats are girls until proven otherwise. Beyond that, I have no idea.”
He chuckled. “Well, I’m just glad you’re having fun. D’you think Snowball will let me throw the next one?”
Spitfire and Soarin bounded and laughed as they played with her new friend. She noted with relief that the wolf had warmed to Soarin quickly once he’d let his guard down. She watched him pluck a transparent apple off of a crystalline tree and throw it for Snowball. The wolf leapt up and caught it out of the air, pulverising it into an icy mist. It chewed at the air for a moment, confused. She giggled and gave Soarin a hip bump as he sauntered alongside.
“See? This is fun.”
He rolled his eyes and shot her a mock glare. “OK, fine. You’re right. It’s fun.”
Snowball bounded up, head low, tail high, ready for the next game. Spitfire looked around. “Hang on, boy. Maybe I can find you another stic-”
“Hey! You give that back!”
She looked up. Snowball had Soarin’s scarf and was bounding away from him. He laughed as he leapt into the air to give chase.
Spitfire laughed as she raced after them. “Hey, guys! Wait for me!”
“I’ll go high, you go low! Get around behind him!”
“Can do, partner!” She put on a burst of speed. The two of them cornered Snowball behind a tree. They both charged in together.
At the last second, Snowball disappeared down into the frozen ground, leaving Soarin’s scarf fluttering in the long icy grass. Spitfire ducked low to pick it up. Then Soarin crashed down into her. The two of them rolled end over end down the side of the hill until they came to rest in a snowbank. Spitfire lifted her head up off of his chest as he laughed and shook the snow out of his mane.
And before she knew what she was doing, she was kissing him.
Pancakes for dinner were a Grandpa Bastion specialty.
The old warhorse suppressed a smile as he watched his granddaughter make a horrible mess of her dinner. Little Dinky had a pancake skewered on her horn, syrup running down her mane, and had successfully flung a pat of butter up onto the ceiling. Dee looked positively flustered.
“Oh no, Dad - I’m sorry. Here, let me get that-” She scrambled about for a napkin and flexed her wings to fly up and collect the ceiling butter.
He chuckled and gently took the napkin from her with his magic. “Never mind that, I can reach it just as easily as you.”
He ducked his head to avoid a flying dollop of whipped cream. As it passed his head, it stopped dead in the air, surrounded by a pale blue glow. He pursed his lips in a mock concerned expression.
“Dinky Doo, is that how your mama eats her pancakes?”
The little filly calmed herself and looked back at him with a solemn expression.
“No, Grampy.”
“And aren’t you both sergeants for your grandma and your daddy now? With big, important jobs to do?”
“Yes, Grampy.”
“And don’t you think you should set a good example for your mama? After all, you were promoted before she was.”
Dinky giggled and stuffed an oversized bite of pancake into her mouth. “Yeff Gampy.”
He saw Dee mouth a silent “thank you,” then move toward the kitchen to grab more napkins. He waved her back down to her seat.
“No, no. Eat up. Relax. You’ve had a long day. I can clean up here.”
Dee returned to her meal. She was as good a daughter-in-law as an old stallion could ask for. Crucially, she was the one member of the family that didn’t treat him like an old fogey, and let him do things for himself now and again.
I’m retired, not bedridden. He let out a little “hmph,” and quickly regretted it when he saw that Dee had noticed.
“What’s the matter, Dad?”
He sighed. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just… wishing ‘Rora had, I don’t know, consulted the ol’ Guard Captain before running off on another adventure.”
From the look in her eyes, he could see that Dee agreed with him, or at least sympathized with him.
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
He gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s fine. But, Dee, I would appreciate it if you could come visit again tomorrow? After your day at camp? I really would like to be kept in the loop.” He winked. “And tell that lazy son of mine I expected him out of bed yesterda-”
He was cut off by an explosion of shattering glass. Jagged shards of the great picture window just above the kitchen table rained down all around him as he instinctively put up a telekinetic bubble around his family. A bulky object scraped across his kitchen table, ruining the finish as it skidded to a stop. A brick.
A brick with Horns Out of Glimmervale! scrawled on it.
Evening found Spitfire, Soarin’, and Red huddled around the dim glow of a small lantern as they waited on the forest floor above their campsite for Aurora and Stargazer to return. Soarin’ held a chunk of ice against his visibly swollen lower lip. Spitfire leaned her head against his neck.
“I’m sorry I bit you… I guess I got a little bit carried away.”
Red snorted. Soarin’ scowled. “You broke the skin!”
Spitfire blushed. “I guess I got a lot carried away?”
Red’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “Now now, Soarin’ there are worse things in the world than a,” She paused and waggled her eyebrows, “spirited partner.”
Now there were three red faces in the lantern light.
Spitfire snuggled further into his side. He wrapped a wing around her. She closed her eyes
“You two are just too cute for words.” Red sounded quite pleased with herself. “Another match made in heaven, thanks to yours truly.” She gave a self-satisfied nod and stretched.
Spitfire chuckled, then looked up at her wingpony. “I did warn you, you know. I told you you didn’t know what you were getting yourself into”
He grumped, “I’m one hundred percent sure you didn’t warn me about this,” and pulled her in tighter. “I’m not mad, I just,” he waved his free hoof around his lip and the ice pack, “I just started using them and now they’re busted!”
Red leaned back nonchalantly and inspected her feathers. “If you’d like to show your affection another way, I can step out for a while.”
Soarin’ laughed. It was a full, easy laugh that reassured Spitfire that he wasn’t actually upset. She turned to address her friend.
“Don’t be silly, Red. There’s nowhere to go.”
“You’re probably right. Besides, it’s better if you have a medic present for your first time. Given the injuries sustained on first kiss, Soarin’ might need immediate medical attention!”
Even Spitfire laughed that time. She nestled herself deeply into Soarin’s strong wings, and for the first time in a long time she had not a care in the world.
The red glow of sunset faded and gave way to moonlight. Spitfire didn’t know exactly how long they sat there in contented silence, it felt like forever and yet not nearly enough. Just as she felt herself begin to drift off to sleep, she heard Snowball bark. Then she heard the hoofbeats.
Wedge galloped into the lantern light alone.
Oh boy, new update!
Well... I said if this ever came back I would dance.
Booya!
https://i.redd.it/reg7x91qjhr01.gif
Suck it universe! You're not killing another classic today!
Yes! I knew it was a good idea to keep this story in my watch list!
One of the classics has returned! I really can't wait to read this. I've had to try to write some of my own Spitfire and Soarin stories since there seemed to be so few; I'm glad to see this one has come back.
Best of luck to you!
8893539
yes! New update.
Only took............. like 2000 days longer than I intended
8893575
*twilight dance from EQG
thanks for pre-reading
8893592
Thanks!
ITS BACK!!
wait what an update after so long? must reread and catch myself up
Omg they're ab offical couple now
This is probably the longest Fimfiction hiatus I have seen, I have to read this just for the dedication to continue this story after all these years.
damn it the cliffhanger, before it wasn't as bad, not enough suspense just a little mystery but now Aurora is missing and we don't know what happened. though I do enjoy spitfire getting herself a pet ice wolf out of everything even if she was a bit reckless.
8893641
omigosh I can't believe it!
8893668
OMIGOSH I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!
8893722
it's, ahhhhh
I think it might be a new record????
8893872
I had to get serious sooner or later
YESYESYESYESYESYESYES!!!!!
Well... I remember nothing about this...
Time to re-read!
And just finished re-reading, including the latest chapter. I only have one thing to say...MORE PLEASE!!!! :)
8894982
OK but only because you asked so nicely
8894029
You mean an academy record.
Also, wow, and seriously, congrats for bringing this back from the dead.
And lo, the faithful were rewarded with the bounty of a new chapter
I have never even heard of this story..... Now I want to read this.^^
yaaay, this fic is why I made an account here and now its alive!
8895660
I set all the academy records, obvs
8896547
I'm not picky. The unfaithful are allowed to read it too
8897023
Thanks!
8897924
It woke up!
Unexpected surprise chapter!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH YOU'RE ALIVE
1105042
I can finally come out of my corner after six long years of waiting!
Thanks Mysecsha for picking this amazing story up again. You don't know how happy that makes me.
8898923
Hey I bemember you! Welcome back to the party. Sorry it's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo late
2000 days late
Thousand
*mumble cough* there's a blog post or seven about why
8898991
That's okay, I'm just happy you're back and a little surprised that you remember me
Just read your blog posts. Sorry to hear that you had a rough time, but I'm glad you're feeling better now. Congrats on the little one^^
Back from the dead. Awesome
Now that I finally got time to reread this, I'm glad to see my memory held true and this is just as amazing as I remember it being. I just don't see stories like this one any more, so it's good to see that not only is this back, but the quality didn't suffer from the show going to shit like I've seen with so many once-great stories over the years.
8903763
Clan Ghost Bear, I see. I suspect I've found someone else who's excited Battletech released a few weeks ago.
8903785
Yeah, definitely, although the timing is kinda unfortunate because the last few weeks have been crazy busy for me so I haven't had time to actually play it. Case in point, even with this being my highest priority story to read it took me nearly a week to read, and even that was only possible because I could read it on the go which isn't the case for a PC game.
You're back! Oh sweet Harmony, you're back! One of my favourite fics, this made me soooo happy!
8903763 The biggest mistake a really good fanfic can make is trying to follow every single development in the show, ESPECIALLY when the show's writing begins to falter.
Once the story has become its own world and has grown beyond the show, there's no need to remain umbilically tethered to it.
8923819
Oh god, yes. I have seen so many great stories utterly destroyed by trying to cram newer material in where it didn't fit over the years, and I really don't want to see that happen to this one right after it returned from a six-year hiatus.
8903785
I finally got time this weekend, and it's awesome. Sure it's got its hiccups (I spent far too long trying to dig up baseline heat dissipation online because they didn't bother to tell me I get 30 free), but they've all been minor so far and I'm loving the game.
8923963 There are times when a story has had much better ideas for a particular direction than the show took.
I think we can agree that is true certainly for the changelings.
8923978
Oh god yes. There are so many old stories that did amazing things with them, and then the new material came along and destroyed them in a disaster of stupidity. The thing that makes it even worse is that prior to that point, they were really the only remnant of the early fandom left with interesting ideas, genuine creativity, and good character work.
Hell, at this point there's really nothing the writers haven't destroyed, and with the way the fandom has largely left or blindly followed the stupidity I've basically given up hope for new stories. The good news is that I still have a huge backlog of old stuff to read and stories like this one occasionally update, but that changeling stupidity really drove the last nail into the fandom's coffin for me.
8898991
That's a new Academy record! ;D
Seriously though, it's nice to see the story back.
8925958 At least the new show writers haven't ruined... uhm... the Diamond Dogs!
And I guess Zecora is still safe since they've pretty much ignored her. Sheesh, talk about wasted potential. Though I hear she's going to be getting an episode, so clearly her character's going to be butchered. I wonder if they'll have her stop rhyming at some point because it's too difficult for them to even manage basic rhyming couplets.
8926800
Didn't they trash her in an episode a little while back? Granted I never saw the episode so this is fuzzy memory of comments from people I know have working brains, but I seem to recall there being something moronic about her.
8927987 She did get infected with a disease. But it wasn't a terrible episode. I thought the magical disease was properly grim and horrifying. Almost a magical Cordyceps.
8929423
Oh right, I remember that now. I think the comment I saw was basically that Zecora was a non-entity as a result of the disease and that something else was irredeemably stupid. Probably continuity. They seem to have made a hobby of seeing how badly they can fuck that up.
I found this in 2012 and I'm not sure I read the whole offering at the time, I'm pretty sure I paused while I waited for more updates. Waiting and waiting for a update that never seemed to appear...
Then bam, I see an update to this amazing Soarinfire fic and just had to read from the start. Now that I'm all caught up again I firmly believe this is the best SoarinFire I've read in an alternative setting ever. This reads with a more legit feeling to it and its setting than many of the MLP fics set in the standard realm that we are supposed to know oh so well. It was just so easy to slip into this story and not want to leave. Even though i started at the start again, I was sad when I ran out of chapters.
Soarin and Spitfire... are amazing
I really like their interactions, not just with each other but also with the other members of the flight school. The family links here is well placed and I really like the other couple in Soarin's flight group. Stargazer and Red are hilarious together, I like how she even let the family know she wants to marry him just like that. The fact that Stargazer's mother totally knows he's getting some also made me laugh rather loudly when shes appeared and told them she knew and that its a special case out there in the wild. I just hope Red doesn't find herself with a lil one or she might struggle to finish the course with the current policies.
I wish that Soarin and Spitfire would keep having cuddles every night and so that when they get back, cuddles would continue and Soarin's bed (or Spitfire's depending how its played) would become abandoned (but obviously no antics like Wedge and Red get up to, that girl is a bad influence on him ). I just think Soarin and Spitfire are super cute and that waking up cuddling scene where they were allowed to sleep in like that was just great!
The action going on with who is trying to get Spitfire is very good and I can see that conflict continuing on nicely. The whole thing has been well played so far and I trust this to continue to lead to a gripping series of events.
Please update again. I don't mind a bit of a wait, especially with the quality of your work, but I'm not sure I could stand another super loooong wait.
8939181
Thanks so much for reading and enjoying! I love getting comments like this but I have to stop myself from writing long-form responses because I'm terrible at keeping my own secrets and I really shouldn't be dropping spoilers (ESPECIALLY now)
Would you believe, six years ago I never really realized/intended that this would be an alternate universe... But I guess it has definitely become one.
Don't worry about the update schedule - chapter 12 will be out by the end of May.
I hope
8939534
Awesome!
long as the story continues to be as crazy good as it has been so far, and as long as Spitfire and Soarin continue to build on their relationship and keep getting in some cuddles, then I'm sure I'll enjoy whats coming greatly.
Found a few errors.
Chapter 3:
The gleam reappeared Red’s eyes. “Are you sure? ‘Cause I could set up a therapist’s couch, charge you fifty bits an hour. (...)
Chapter 4:
Spitfire lowered her head and strained her ears. She could just here the rumbling, shuffling, snapping sound of many feet running across the forest floor. “We need to get out of here.” She looked around. The burn zone offered very little cover, and the nearest patch of healthy forest lie in the direction of the noisy, angry pack.
Chapter 8:
“No, no. Getting your flank handed to you is punishment enough. But, if I hear word one that you’ve taken it upon yourself to decide who is and isn’t fit to be wearing that uniform you’ll find yourself on a train to Canterlot before you can even utter the word ‘stain’! (...)
8945166
good catches. If I remember I'll fix them the same time I publish chapter 12
Just finished re-reading it. now before I leave any remarks about the hiatus lemme say that this story is every bit as good as I remembered, if not better.
I still remember when I loaded this story on my Kindle 4 years ago. I just got into the fandom and was aimlessly scooping stories up for my enjoyment, and I thought Rapetrain-Express's stories were good. This was the first 'real' fanfic I read after enjoying rape's content for so long. To be brutally honest, it opened up a new can of worms. I used to think I'd only enjoy MLP for clop, but holy moly, this is on another level. The amount of attention to detail and the structured nature of Squardran Solar are just mind-blowing. There's 5 living, breathing characters all with unique, identifiable personalities, a solid plotline that grips your attention all the way till the last finished chapter, and to top them all off there's a close-knitted family army pushing their children to their limits but secretly watching behind their back in case anything bad falls on their back. This is THE SoarinFire action story, in which romance is carefully interweaved in between military action, not too much that it steals the spotlight but truly heart-warming when it happens. Everytime these two get intimate something will jump up for them to worry about, and I LOVE IT. Also, cliffhangers.....
On a personal level though this story always has a place in my heart. Four years ago I bought a Kindle just to read ponies stories. Four years later, I still use the exact same device to read stories and guess what? It's the 1104th story on my Kindle, Which means I went back to the same story after reading 1100 more over the course of 4 years. Prior to reading it I was pretty anxious, cuz after all the good stories I've read over the years I thought I'd have a much higher standard and won't find this story as appealing. But you proved me wrong. It still every bit as enjoyable if not more, and reading the latest chapter both brought a dopey grin on my face and a slight frown. Grin because the quality of writing still feels consistent as if there's no time gap in between these two chapters. Frown because I really, really don't want any bad news about Aurora. She's such a memorable character. And the way she cared for her boys makes her that more motherly. We don't see any athletic grandma maneuvering left and right as if age doesn't matter, so please, please, please,
no spoilers buttell me she's safe8893668
Yes! And that's only the beginning of all the sweet stuff ahead.
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yeessss can't wait to see more
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I'm glad you still like it!
no spoilers butno spoilersThis was the first pony fic I fell in love with and was sad to see it pass away. I've reread it at least two dozen times. Seeing a new update is SUCH a joy and a treat, so glad you're back, and a wonderful update! Yay!
And a very well done chapter :)
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This comment posted at the same time as chapter 12!
I'm glad to be back, and glad you liked it, and I can't wait to see what you think of Chapter 12: Sundown