The raw Vanhoover winter air slapped against Scarab's face as he slowly treaded up Mt. Icepike. Bits of snow had gradually piled up on his fur jacket to the point where the color of the fur was indistinguishable from the white of the snow. It made the back of his neck ache with a dull cold pain, but it wasn't nearly as painful as the sharp frigid air filling his lungs with every breath, making his throat raw and lowering his inner body temperature. Large puffs of condensation escaped from underneath the black bandanna that covered his mouth and snout. He mentally thanked himself for remembering to pack one before leaving the Badlands. It was perhaps the only thing keeping the inside of his throat from freezing closed. The snow was just barely deep enough to traverse efficiently. He cursed at the fact that using magic to help him hike up the mountain would've drained too much of his energy to make it to the base without passing out from exhaustion. It felt like hours of trotting and digging and climbing, but he could faintly see the distinguishable crack in the rocks in the near distance. Squinting his eyes, he could see the faint glow of a fire from inside it.
"Good, he's already here."
The thought of thawing his freezing body against the fire spurred him to complete the last few steps of his journey. Looking behind him almost instinctually to make sure he wasn't followed, he continued up the steep incline towards his destination. As he approached, he saw the outline of a dark pegasus pony coming to meet him halfway. The pegasus yelled through the stiff wind.
"Its a good thing you came when you did. The snow storm is only a few minutes out."
Scarab was suprised and somewhat relieved by the fact that his leader refrained from scolding him for his tardiness since he was a constant stickler for punctuality. There was no time to apologize for lateness though, he had to get inside and thaw quickly. Following his leader inside, he took off his rucksack and set his spear and other weapons against the cave wall. He took no delay in stripping off his outer layer of clothes and curling up to the fire, his knees cracking and protesting as he kneeled down, stiff and worn from the long hike. He didn't look behind him, but he could feel the ominous presence of the Colonel behind him. Coming around to his front and sitting on the opposite side of the fire, Scarab was able to fully admire him after not seeing him for nearly a decade. Not one bit of him had changed since then. He had a black mane and a short black tail with a small sliver of silver that parted it down the middle. His coat was dark as well, but was slightly lighter than the pitch black of his mane. He was still wearing his officers uniform, albeit faded and torn in a few places. However, what Scarab truly admired about the Colonel was his eyes. They had an indistinguishable color, but it was somewhere between green and orange. Just looking into them always gave Scarab the chills, but he enjoyed it. Although he never admitted it to anyone, it reminded him of a sunset over a grassy field. He suddenly realized that his admiration was creating an awkward silence and decided to finally speak up.
"It's good to see you in one piece after so long, sir" Scarab said with a smile, not unsincere.
"How goes things in Fort Murkwater, Lieutenant?"
"Straight to business, I guess." Scarab thought to himself before responding, "Decent, sir. The rations are holding, but Luna's recon teams get closer and more numerous every night. The night raids are relatively easy to hold against, but it won't last that way forever, especially with the recent division of troops." He cunningly left out the fact that the Colonel's choice for him to leave the fort would most likely herald its fall within weeks. No need to stir anything up.
Blackwing thought this over for awhile before getting up and pacing back and forth. Fort Murkwater had been his main base of operations since the Crystal Empire's second purification. He finally came to a halt and closed his eyes with a sigh.
"No matter, we will have no need of Fort Murkwater soon."
"Sir," Scarab said while looking around the dimly lit cave, "Surely this isn't the base you were-" Blackwing cut him off.
"Of course not. The rock under our hooves goes down many many feet. We'll be mining our way down over the next few months in order to make more space."
Scarab almost started to protest, but thought it wise to remain silent. Using so much time and effort to make a base out of a mere cave seemed like too much of an investment. It aggravated him that he left the closest thing to home he had, trusted his Colonel's judgement, only to be presented with a hole in a rock. But then again, what other options were there? They'd be spotted within days if they started from outside. And if that wasn't enough, the cold would eventually kill them. He had to admit, finding a cave like this at the peak of Mt. Icepike was a good find. It would be best to not take it for granted.
"I've already hired miners to start working at zero-five-hundred hours tomorrow. If diligence graces us, we'll be done in just under two months."
"But how were you able to convince them to come all this way just to mine at rock?"
"I still had some leftover bits from the Griffon raid last year. Figured I'd put it to good use. Its funny, really. Griffin bits aren't nearly as valuable as regular bits. But the halfwits could barely tell the difference."
Scarab chuckled a bit before becoming instantly embarassed as a large growl escaped his stomach. He hadn't eaten in over a day, but thinking of it as a display of weakness, he tried to hide it. Blackwing grinned a bit at his Lieutenant and tossed him a large portion of some sort of meat that he had in his rucksack. Scarab caught it quickly with a levitation spell before it hit the cave floor.
"T-thank you sir." Scarab gobbled it up in just a minute or two, not caring what kind of meat it was, while Blackwing trotted to look out the cave and over the mountain. After finishing, Scarab joined him at his side. Trying to see what he was looking so intently at, he squinted in the distance to see a faint sparkle on the horizon.
"Whots that sur?" He asked, his mouth still full of food.
"The Crystal Empire." Blackwing said with a bit of confidence, Scarabs eyes widened as he quickly swallowed, "All our efforts have brought us to this place. With just a little more, we'll finally have what we've sought after for nearly a decade." Scarab tried, but couldn't bring himself to smile.
"Something wrong, Lieutenant?"
"N-no sir!"
"We'll need all the help we can get if we're to make this final push forward. I hope I can count on your support."
"Of course, sir. I'll have your back 'till the end." He said proudly with a salute.
Blackwing smiled, "I know. You've been faithful to our cause for all this time. I know you won't let me down." He said with a subtile threat in his tone. Scarab got the message.
"You've proven yourself to me many times now. So I'm promoting you to Lieutenant first class. Congratulations." Blackwing was never one for ceremonies or elaborate speeches. Scarab's eyes lit up as he gave a proud salute again.
"T-thank you sir!"
Blackwing ignored the respectful gesture and instead turned to face the cave wall, picking up a rock shard with his hoof.
"We're so close...so close to redemption." He continued to etch out letters onto the rock, Scarab lifted an eyebrow at him. "No more will we have to hide in these damn shadows!" He yelled as he threw the rock against the opposite wall shattering it to pieces, startling Scarab a bit.
"This is the last part of our campaign, Scarab. After this, we'll live as kings under him once more."
Scarab watched him cautiously as he went back to the fire and laid down, studying over what looked to be a map of some sort. He looked back up to the wall to see what the Colonel etched.
In scraggly writing it read,
"ALL HAIL KING SOMBRA!"
~1~De-Stressing And Repairing Wounds~1~
Rainbow Dash's room was more cluttered than usual. In the past, this would've been because of random nick-nacks and clothes, but now since her life was engulfed in the Wonderbolts, it was littered with Wonderbolts posters and documents. She was usually one for keeping her room clean, but with her busy schedule as a Wonderbolts officer, she simply didn't have the time or leisure of room cleaning. Across her desk lay a tall stack of recruit applications and reports, which usually would be Spitfire's job to go through, that were given to Rainbow Dash simply so that the higher officers didn't have to do as much work. Outside her one half-open window to the left of her bed, the gentle breeze poured in. But it wasn't so gentle enough to leave her papers in a proper stack. It was about mid to late afternoon, so the low orange sunlight found an easy way to seep into the room.
Tank, Rainbow Dash's pet, was sleeping peacefully on the foot of her bed, although he knew well that he wasn't supposed to do so there. Rainbow's soft "scoldings" weren't nearly strict enough for him to take the rule seriously, mainly because Tank was just so hard to stay mad at. Suddenly, a faint swooping sound outside of the door prompted him to emerge from sleeping and perk his head up. As the doorknob jiggled slightly, he used the small helicopter mechanism attached to his shell to fly out of the bed and towards the door. The door flew open, sending a small gust of air which scattered more papers off from her desk. Rainbow Dash trotted in with a sigh and kicked the door closed with her hind hoof before shedding her uniform and working her way towards the bathroom. She gave Tank an affectionate nuzzle before opening the bathroom door and disappearing behind it with a *clank!* She could feel the droplets of sweat bead down herself from the long tiresome day as she turned the knob on the shower all the way to hot. She winced at first from the hot water but then let out a deep exhale as it struck against her naked body, gradually relaxing her. She spread her wings, letting the water get in between her feathers. As she scrubbed her bare body up and down, she noticed something that made her groan in frustration. Ever since she joined the Wonderbolts, she hadn't slept with anypony, stallion or mare. The random moisture that would appear between her hind legs during the day because of random thoughts of sex was a side effect of this. She stepped out of the shower briefly, sending a slight shiver down her spine from the sudden lack of heat, to retrieve the only thing she had that helped when these feelings built up too much.
The dildo was seven inches in length, not on par with the average stallion, but it was better than nothing. It had an accurate resemblance of a real stallion, having a flared head, a slight ring in the middle of the shaft, and two plump balls at the base just for good measure. She stared at it a bit longer than neccisary, rubbing it up and down, wishing that it was for real. Noticing she was already "ready" enough, she didn't bother reaching for the lube as well. She stepped back into the shower and let the comforting hot water douse her once more. Using the suction cup that was at the base of the toy, she stuck it against the shower wall where it stood at a slight angle. She looked at it with lustful eyes as the wetness between her hind legs grew thicker and thicker and her tender area began to throb in anticipation. Feeling kinky and incredibly horny, she licked her lips before licking up the bottom of its shaft, leaving a thin line of saliva. She went back in and engulfed it in her mouth, feeling the flared head prod her throat as her hoof traced between her thighs and pushed against her opening. She let out a small moan while pulling the dildo out of her mouth and licking the head passionately while rubbing herself up and down on her continuously throbbing clit. She couldn't wait anymore. Turning around and guiding the large head into her opening, she let out another loud moan muffled by her biting her lower lip. Moans turned almost to screams as her pussy, tight as a virgin mare in heat from its prolonging lack of attention, parted to let its entire length enter her. Once it was deep enough so that she felt the life sized balls press against her raw clit, she ground her hips up and down several times before starting to go back and forth against the cock. Her flank made a loud *thunk!* against the shower wall with every backwards push of her hips as her cheeks turned crimson and her mouth hung wide open in pure pleasure, letting her tongue hang out and her moans to escape without hindrance and fill the bathroom.
This kept up for quite some time as Dash continued to release her sexual frustration on the horse cock dildo. Her juices were already flowing down both the dildo and the shower wall when she felt the point of no return. Biting the shower curtain hard and clenching her eyes shut, she pushed all the way back onto the cock and let out a last muffled scream as she produced her first orgasm in months. Her wings flared out in response and her legs locked up as she nearly bit through the shower curtain in pure unadulterated pleasure. Her marehood was so stimulated by the orgasm that it gripped around the cock so hard that it pulled it off of the wall, leaving it inside of Rainbow as she slowly slipped down to the shower floor. She proceeded to breathe heavily in exhaustion as she still continued to convulse around the shaft, her orgasm still being released, as the last of her fluids leaked out around the toy and down the shower drain. With her energy completely depleted, her body slipped slowly to sleep without Rainbow realizing it or having any time to do anything about it, the dildo still deep inside her marehood.
"AUUUGHHHHH!!!!"
Rainbow Dash screamed as the hot water ran out and she was introduced to a sudden dose of ice cold water, waking her up from her post-sex slumber. The knob squeaked as she quickly turned it off, leaving her cold, wet and shaking. She quickly stepped out and reached for a towel as the dildo popped out of her and fell with a *thud* on the bathroom floor. Not bothering to clean it off, she quickly put it back under the sink cabinet and wrapped herself up in the towel. The steam from earlier quickly escaped from the door as Rainbow opened it and headed back towards her bedroom. She saw the stack of papers and groaned as she then looked at the clock. 10:45. She finished drying off and sat down to finish what work she had the energy to complete. Every achy muscle in her body begged her for more rest. Today had been a rough day for her, as always. Despite her athletic endurance, the officer physical training still wore her out. And that was just the mornings. In the afternoon, she was tasked with various leadership classes and training, which was the worst part. If it was just a physical exercise, she could get used to it. But the everyday mental stress that came with becoming a leader is what wore her out most every day. What felt like hours passed by as the moon climbed higher into the sky, illuminating the clouded streets of Cloudsdale outside her bedroom window. She continued to scribble tirelessly on. It wasn't until midnight that Tank, bored from not having his friend to play with, climbed on top of her hoof at around midnight, snapping her out of her work trance and stopping her writing. She let out a long yawn and stretched her wings.
"Sorry buddy, I know I've been busy lately..." Tank just stared at her with a blank expression as always.
Putting her pen down, Rainbow Decided to call it a night. Her work was only barely finished, but she'd be drowsy all day tomorrow if she didn't get a good night's sleep. She could handle a minor fuss from Spitfire every now and again, but dragging all day without proper rest was arguably worse. She got up and stacked her papers back neatly in her drawer, then headed over to her bed where she plopped down on her back, letting out a long tiresome sigh. The last thing she did before drifting off to sleep was setting her alarm to 6am.
"Only six hours of sleep...." She muttered to herself. "Oh well."
And with that, she was out like a light.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soft muttering and the clatter of utensils echoed through the busy mess hall filled with recruits. Fresh from morning physical training routines, they were usually the most energetic during breakfast. Usually the chatter was about leadership classes, pains of morning training, or Spitfire's recent chewing out of a clumsy recruit. And among the internal cliques, it was always the table in the center of the hall, the so called "talent table" that tended to talk about them most. Among the group were the most gifted and showed most improvement since enlistment. Since they were all part of the same squad, they always worked well with each other. Most other pegasi thought it was because of a sense of elitism, but the truth was that since they all came from ponyville, they would've naturally attracted into a group anyway because of their performance. Cloud Chaser and Flitter were the social glue that held the group together conversationally, along with Thunderlane, who was like a brother to them both. Raindrop, although not as social, usually sat next to them, followed by Wild Fire and Wild Flower. No one quite knew if they were related, but nonetheless, they stuck pretty close to each other. Somewhat distant from the group, but still at the same table, sat Lightning Dust. Lightning was perhaps the most talented of the group, and maybe the most talented in the academy. Why she never got a promotion puzzled her fellow recruits' minds from time to time, but most figured if it was important enough for them to know, the higher-ups would've told them. She could feel pegasi talking behind her back almost every day. Her status wasn't exactly a social outcast, though. In fact, it was far from it. A majority of the recruits looked up to her. To them, she had the qualities of a leader but the familiarity of a fellow comrade. However, many enlistees that knew her from last season knew that she wasn't always like this. Other than that, she mainly kept to herself; only paying attention to the bits and pieces of the discussion of her group that were important, but rarely inserting her two cents, and when doing so, kept it short and to the point.
"I'm telling you, that's what I heard FleetFoot say!" Flitter whispered to Thunderlane with a bit of humor in her tone, but a little loud to be considered a whisper by most.
"And I'm telling you, no Wonderbolt would ever suggest that recruits should get their break time doubled. It's never happened before. And besides, it just feels...unnatural. Even for FleetFoot's standards."
"Oh whatever," Flitter rested her cheek on her hoof and chuckled, "Can't a mare have dreams?"
A faint smile snuck on to Lightning dust's face, much to the suprise of the rest at the table.
"Looks like someone's in a good mood today." Wild Flower was the first to comment, a hint of teasing in her voice. "Finally find a stallion that can put up with that hair-do?"
Everyone at the table snickered and giggled. Lightning Dust simply rolled her eyes and continued to eat her mashed dasies to get away with not responding. Wild Flower let it go, just happy to see that the otherwise introverted Lightning Dust was showing a bit of emotion. A loud bell signaled the end of breakfast, and every recruit instantly rose to all fours and marched in lockstep in a linear fashion towards the exit, all except Lightning Dust.
Wild Fire spoke discreetly out the side of her mouth, "Lightning, what are you doing? Get in line!"
"Don't get your saddle in a bunch, I've got a meeting with Dash."
"Don't you mean Lieutenant Rainbow Dash?" Thunderlane added, trying to keep the value of authority alive. Lightning brushed the rhetorical question aside and trotted out the back exit of the mess hall as the rest followed in line towards the main exit.
Not needing to use the signs, she made her way up the 5 flights of stairs towards the officers lounge, it was a relatively short trot, but it gave her enough time to think. It had been nearly six months since she and Rainbow talked about anything serious, and they never fully discussed the incident that caused her to lose her rank. Although she was a bit nervous, she realized talking it out with her friend, (now squad leader), about it would help her get over her edginess whenever she was around Dash. The feeling of not being able to be open with a close friend is a simply depressing feeling, and it made Lightning smile to know she was about to be rid of it. Hopefully... She finally reached the fifth floor, where most of the officer's offices were located. She kept a stiff stride, expecting to pass various squad leaders, captains, and Wonderbolts, making sure to keep a sense of respect. But to her bafflement, the long hallways were empty. Turning the corner, she found herself in the officers lounge, where she stood straight at attention and saluted.
"Lightning Dust, requesting a word with Lieutenant Rain...bow..."
There was no one there either. She puzzled over it awhile before about-facing and working her way to Rainbow's office itself. Usually, there'd be at least two or three upper-ranks in the lounge, sipping on coffee or eating breakfast. She wasn't supposed to go directly to an officer's office. Or rather, she could, but she knew if everypony who had an issue went straight to their offices, it would make things un-organized and interrupt the chain of command. Usually she would've just waited in the lounge for an officer to pass by and escort her to Rainbow''s desk, but the relationship between the two was informal enough that Rainbow wouldn't give two bucks. Disregarding the fact that absolutely nopony was there to stop her. She slipped around the various corners and turns to get to another long, nearly unending, hallway that had every officer's office except for the Wonderbolts themselves, with the exception of the large double door at the end of the hallway with "Spitfire" written on a gold plaque above it. Just seeing that office gave a shiver down her spine, not just because of her sternness, but because the last conversation she had (although a bit one-sided) wasn't exactly a friendly one. Because of her change in attitude over the last few months, she couldn't help but to have a sense of humility around Spitfire now. It filled Lightning with embarrassment now every time she thought of how cocky and disrespectful she was to such an accomplished pegasus. She nearly passed up Rainbow's office dwelling on the not-so-distant past. Coming to an abrupt halt, she faced the door and stared up at Rainbows name that lined the upper door frame. It wasn't as fancy as Spitfire's plaque, but it still gave her a bit of jealousy. She tried to briefly go over what she had to say in her head before taking a deep breath and knocking on the door loudly three times......No answer. After another three knocks with the same outcome gave Lightning a slight look of annoyance, although her true emotion was disappointment. She tried peeking into the small window in the door, and noticed that the lights were off and the room was vacant. Although she felt a bit let down, she took the opportunity to take a closer observation from outside the window. It was a relatively neat office. There were random papers scattered across the desk, but then again even Spitfire's desk was a bit messy. Since Rainbow was usually out overseeing drills and exercises (or just sleeping in and barely getting to the academy on time), she rarely had the leisure to relax in her office for more than a few minutes and make it look heavily inhabited. Across from the desk, she could see a couple of framed pictures hanging on the wall. One of Rainbow in her uniform and the other of a muscular stallion pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail that she could only guess was her father.
"Having fun?"
Lightning nearly yelped in surprise from the voice that came nearly a half inch behind her ear. She scrambled and regained what little composure she could muster in a half second, about-facing and saluting.
"Y-yes, I m-mean no ma'am! Sorry ma'am!" Rainbow giggled at her response.
"At ease, girl, at ease."
Lightning Usually wouldn't have given Rainbow so many "ma'ams", but in her fluster, she didn't want to risk turning around and make the mistake of accidentally addressing Spitfire with a hearty "Whats up?". Rainbow smiled as she reached around Lightning and unlocked her office door, giving her the opportunity to smell the blueberry scented soap she had used to wash with not but thirty minutes ago before sprinting her way there. She had her normal uniform on, but her hair was in a tight ponytail; Lightning knew her well enough to know that this was a sign of her not having time to get ready in the morning. Following Rainbow into her office, she closed the door behind her and waited patiently for Rainbow to get situated before addressing her.
"So what's up? You can sit if you want. Sorry for being late by the way, I had a uh...rough time sleeping last night." Rainbow smiled comically with a *squee* before taking off her flight goggles and creating an open space on her desk. Lightning would usually remain standing out of respect, but both of them knew that formalities weren't the norm between them since they were close friends. Or at least, by the academy's standards. She took her goggles off as well and took a seat in one of the two chairs on the opposite side of the desk.
"Well..." In her nervousness, she skipped right to the point, "About back then...six months ago..." She looked down and rubbed her hooves together. She had thought out all the steps to take to lead up to the subject on her way here, but somehow her confidence instantly dropped the second she was in Dash's presence.
Rainbow knew this talk was going to come sooner or later, since they never really settled anything out. She pinched her temples and let out a long sigh before cutting her off with a dull tone.
"Look. Spitfire already explained why you were demoted. You can have a court marshal if you wan't to dispute it, but I mean, it was so long ago that it probably won't fix anything. Besides, Spitfire already said it was only a temporary-"
"I'm sorry." Lightning Dust stopped Dash mid-sentence, leaving a look of humility on Lightning and one of surprise on Dash.
"Huh? You aren't here to have the sentence challenged? Or to complain or anything like that?"
"No." She let out another sigh and closed her eyes briefly before continuing, "I wanted to see you so I could tell you I'm sorry. Back then, all I cared about was being number one, and I was so blinded by my ambition that I didn't have any awareness of how people looked up to me, or what kind of example I was really setting. And that led to me doing you-know-what. After I was de-ranked, I almost couldn't live with myself. Not because I let myself down, but because I knew that every recruit around me couldn't see me as a proper leader anymore. They just saw me as competition. Spitfire explained everything to me, including what you told her before you quit. And after I heard about what you said, I realized something. I can be the best flyer in the academy and work my way up the ranks. But it doesn't mean anything if your subordinates and followers don't respect you. But I can see that in you, Dash. Everyday I see how much the recruits admire you and look up to you, and-"
"Hey chill out, its okay." Rainbow retorted with a pleasant smile, a bit embarrassed to learn how much she was revered. " I get it, you're sorry, you don't have to spill your heart out or anything..." She rolled her eyes at Dust, but not in an insulting way. But seeing how this didn't lift Dust's mood in the slightest, she kept going.
"Besides, I'm guilty of that too. Heck, a couple of weeks ago I nearly destroyed Ponyville trying to pull off a double rainboom." She chuckled, but it still wasn't doing anything. Dash got up from her desk and sat down on the second chair next to Lightning Dust.
"Listen, we both know what you did wasn't exactly the best thing in the world...but the best and only thing you can do about it now is realize that what you did was wrong, and make up for it so that it doesn't happen again."
Dash put a reassuring hoof on Lightnings shoulder, and gave her a warm friendly smile which finally helped her face lighten up. "Kay?"
"Oh alright." Dust responded with a soft smile and then stood up, looking at Dash with a raised eyebrow.
"But you still owe me a race, Lieutenant Rainbow Dash.
Lightning Dust consistently picked fun at Rainbow's new title with her because the two were close friends back in the day, and still were. Such formalities just seemed awkward to both of them, so they both took the subtle hint that neither of them cared either way.
"Count on it!" Dash teased back with a confident grin and gave Lightning a high-wing before she about faced and trotted towards the door.
Pride filled Rainbow as the door closed; not of herself, but of Lightning. It was the kind of pride that kept her going every day. The pride she had of the pegasi who she looked over who grew mentally and physically because of her leadership. Just a few minutes ago, she was rushing to her office, worrying about for how long Lightning would rant and rave about how she was in the right and how she didn't deserve to be demoted. And now she had just witnessed her best wingmare have a complete ideological 180. Whether it be because of Spitfire or Dash herself, she was proud of her friend for doing the right thing and showing such an improvement in character. Without another second for thought, she hopped up from her desk and cantered out her door and towards Spitfire's office at the end of the hall, still wearing the same smile that refused to come unglued. She looked up at the large doors before giving it a knock, hope filling her heart as she heard the almost immediate and deep pitched commanding tone of her leader.
"Enter."
