Sure, speaking softly when you threaten is a good way to go about it. But never be shy about backing up your threats with a lot of force. Be ready to bring the fire. Enough to burn the very stones they stand on, so that they understand just how wrong they were.

-Ashen Path

Three years before...

The world had a habit of being an awfully civilized place whenever the best solution was to break things and kill bad guys. Every time tensions rose, a good shouting match that should have ended with a hoof-fight and been over with after two minutes seemed to be stretched out into a long-fought passive-aggressive game of words. It wasn’t just once either. High society made an art out of complaining about things. Perhaps it was just because those with too much money had so few problems, and needed to find something to make a mountain out of. Or maybe they’re just all pricks. Never had to face any real problems not on paper; never grew any balls.

Still fuming as he walked down the hall, Shadow gave what little part of his mind wasn’t ranting over to balancing the tray on his back. Making a mess of things this close to closing time would just be a waste of the evening. The memory still lingered though. An earth pony mare, wearing a dress inlaid with diamonds and wearing a rope of pearls around her neck, making a mess on the table because the spoon in her soup bowl was not rotated all the way around. How her husband had demanded to speak with the owner over ‘such rudeness.’ At least Shiny Platter had the gumption to tell the noble that he would not be welcome again if he couldn’t keep his wife on a leash.

Remembering those words made Shadow chuckle as he set the tray down for the bus-colt. To imagine himself doing such things again, after all that had transpired in the last few years just seemed ridiculous. Join the Guard? Check. Get dragged into a black-ops group? Check. Wield a custom-tooled sniper rifle? Fly faster than the speed of sound in level flight? Shoot something from over a mile away in the line of duty? Check, check, and check. For all the thrill that came with it, a life of living under a mountain and never coming back out to the world was not an enviable one. But with a little messing with the records (courtesy of Dive), and a few strings pulled (courtesy of Argent Fire), Shadow had been ‘traveling’ the last year, and thus away. Argent’s sister, Shiny Platter, just so happened to offer him a job as a waiter at her restaurant. It didn’t pay a lot, but it was enough for a small apartment in the crummy part of town. Not that Shadow was worried about dealing with thugs.

Six hundred thirty-eight bits, and seventy-two pieces. That was his takeaway for the last two weeks. It was nice, putting that little check in his saddlebags at the end of the pay period, but it was just a drop in the bucket. All his real pay came from working with the Guard, and even then it was all in hard cash. Argent made sure everything was kept off the books. So long as Shadow used his paycheck from waiting tables to cover his rent, and a little bit of food, it was foal’s play to leave all the nicer things back in his room at base. For that matter, there wasn’t much he had want for.

What else could I want, really? The thought flittered back and forth through his mind as his hooves traced the familiar path out the back door of the restaurant and down the alley. It would take him home, just like it had night after night. The cobblestone that paved every street and alley in the city was worn smooth by the rain. Originally white, it had been turned gray by the many years of rain and hooves beating down upon it. I’ve got the best job in the world, so long as I don’t tell anypony about it? And who would I tell anyways? I get to play with the biggest guns, fight alongside the bravest stallions, and each day I can see that my work goes to good use. Canterlot is still here, isn’t it?

Speaking of toys, the next few days were all for making good on his promise to Ray. Something about a recoilless rifle, which would be cool, and a new version of the combat skin. Both sounded like they couldn’t really be bad, but knowing Ray, they were both very dangerous and would probably hurt to try out. It would sure beat the hell out of listening to uppity nobels whine about their soup spoons though. But that wouldn’t be until tomorrow, and Shadow still had time to kill tonight. That would consist of little more than sitting in front of the music channel and drinking--crap. I’m out of beer.

Stopping dead in his tracks, Shadow looked around, only to realize that he’d passed the grocery store he normally stopped by on the way home half a mile before. It didn’t matter too much. There was a liquor store six blocks past where his apartment was, and it would still be open this late.

The beauty of the Canterlot night was in full swing. Late hour or not, the city never slept, and there were always residents out and about doing something. Nighttime joggers, ponies with late shifts hurrying out to get groceries or pick up their foals from day care, colts and fillies out playing without regard for the chariots that raced down the streets--all of them were what made the city what it was. Sure, the high reaches of the mountains were beautiful, and the vast expanses of the oceans mighty, but no wilderness Shadow had ever seen came close to the feeling of life that the city brought. Every moment was a new one, with a new face, and a new name waving hello. Sometimes too literally. A cry for bits washed over his ears as a scraggly stallion waved a hoof toward Shadow.

“No, I don’t carry any bits in cash, sorry.” Darn beggars. That stallion even had a spell woven, hoof-embroidered saddlebag. Any damn fool could see he wasn’t really homeless.

Pressing on faster, Shadow almost didn’t notice where he was until the store loomed in sight. Situated in the corner of a strip mall, it was right beside a smaller road which led into a section of apartments, and Shadow recoiled. That was where she lived. Memories washed over him, dragging him back to a happier time.

“Oh cmon, Shady. Won’t you eat your dinner now? I made it just for you.”

“Sherry...I’m not all that hungry tonight. Sorry.”

“You know you can’t lie to me that easily, Shadow. I know you’re hungry. Here, go on. Start eating. I know there has got to be something that’s bothering you.”

Shadow took the plate, and slowly began eating the fried rice off the edge. Sherry was far too good of a cook. Even with his stomach unsettled, it was still marvelous. Soon the plate was empty, and Sherry was grinning at him. Her eyes sparkled and her smile twinkled. She took the plate and wrapped one foreleg around the back of his neck. Tingles ran down his neck, but before he could shiver, she pulled him into a tight embrace. The warmth of her breath down his neck was enthralling.

“So why don’t you tell me deary? What’s wrong?”

“I...don’t think...I…”

One hoof over his lips cut off the nervous stammering.

“Oh Shady. We can wait til you’re ready to talk about it. It’s not like we just have to sit here awkwardly and wait until it’s right.” Her lips met his, and he lost all desire to speak. They were warm and calming, and he wanted nothing more than to share the kiss with her. Before he knew it, Shadow was lying on his back on the sofa, his legs wrapped tight around Sherry. She held him close, but left one leg free to play with his mane.

It seemed to last an hour, even if the embrace was only for a few minutes. Sherry let the kiss go, and leaned her head back, looking down expectantly. Shadow licked his lips, feeling the warm mix of saliva. It was...comforting, knowing that the mare who he was going to marry was sitting there on top of him, holding him close. She wouldn’t abandoning him now, after promising him a life together. Not even with the news he had. She might not like it, but they were still in this together. And soon he’d have the bits to buy her a really nice wedding bracelet.

“Sherry?”

“Yes, Shadow?”

“I...got turned down again. Side Room Sound didn’t hire me, and all the auditions flunked again. I’m clean out of a job.”

“Oh it doesn’t matter, it’s not like you wouldn’t be moving in with me in a few months anyways. Just keep looking, I’m sure there’s something else out there.”

“I did find something though. Sherry, I did it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I signed my papers for the Guard.” She frowned, and Shadow continued desperately. “Look, Sherry, I know you don’t like that, but I think my dad was right. There just isn’t any work for me in music. The Guard will actually pay me. They’re gonna make me an officer, and officers get paid more. I might even get to stay here in Canterlot, and then there won’t be any change to our lives, except that I won’t be living on spare bits. Please...I’m sorry, but I did this for you…”

“You know how I feel about the Guard, Shadow.” Sherry slowly pulled her legs out from behind Shadow and sat back up, leaving Shadow feeling cold still down on the couch. “You’re better than that you know? Don’t do this to me, Shady. You’re my colt! I thought we were going to live a life of peace and beauty together!”

“Sherry, I did so such that we’d have the money to do just that. I just can’t seem to make bits as a musician, or a sound tech, and if we’re going to have a life together, I can’t just let you do all the work.”

“But you can! Please, just tell me you can tell them to take it back! You can tell them to take it all back right? You can move in here with me, and we won’t worry about a thing.”

“No. I can’t. I leave for training in a week.”

Sherry paused, tears running down her cheeks. She held out one hoof before him. “Shadow, I love you! Please, find a way to...to make it right!”

“There isn’t any way. Sherry...if there was I’d do it, but I did this for you. For us!”

Sherry began to sob, every tear crashing down to the floor.

“I’m not going to have a husband who would be a murderer. It’s them or me.”

“I told you, I can’t take it back now.”

“Then you’ve chosen to be a killer. Give...give me that bracelet back.” She began to cry, but kept her hoof out.

Slowly, trembling, Shadow took off the diamond bracelet, and set it on Sherry’s waiting hoof. A thousand responses, replies, and retorts all rose in his throat, but he choked them off and stood up. Somehow, his hooves found their way to the door, and opened it for him. It wasn’t until he was many paces away, and the rain had slicked down his mane and coat that he began to cry, adding his own tears to the downpour.

“I’m so sick of seeing kids like you in here. Give me an ID, shorty, or get out.” The voice ended the daydream with a harsh dose of reality, the rainy streets faded away to be replaced with the front end of the store.

Shadow looked up from putting the bottles on the checkout conveyor to see a scraggly beige unicorn clerk sneering at him. Oh you little punk. Shadow nosed through his saddlebags until he found his bit pouch, and pulled the little embossed and gilded card with his photo out and held it out in his teeth to the cashier. Magic yanked it from his teeth, and the clerk stopped sneering as he saw the card. It was Shadow’s old Guard identification, still valid for a few years after he ‘got out.’ Wordlessly, the cashier floated the card back over and started totaling the purchase.

“That will be one-hundred and fifty-five bits.” With the air of a pony conferring a favor upon a lesser being, Shadow put the gold in front of the clerk. Now I remember why I stopped shopping here.

The trip home was uneventful, and for that, Shadow was grateful. One more memory, asshole, or surprise out of no-where and he might have just struck it in the face and moved on. Instead, after a contented dinner of leftovers from the restaurant, Shadow plunked himself down on his sofa with the first of several bottles. Sure the morning was early, but it was test day, not ops day, and somehow the schedule hadn’t shown him working again for another three days. Ray probably phoned Argent again. Jerk.

“Ray, wake up, you bastard!”

The yell followed the echo of Shadow slamming open the armory door, and the sound jumped off each metal wall and floor to fill the room with cacophony.

“I’m up! I’m up!” cried Ray from further back in the room. “Sweet Celestia, what time is it. It’s...damnit Hunter, it’s eight-thirty in the morning!”

Shadow chuckled and followed the pained voice toward the back of the room, where Ray was holding an alarm clock in one hoof and his goggles in the other. Found Ray without his goggles on. Check one more item off the bucket list. “Well, you said to be here early.”

“Right! That means sometime before noon! And preferably after ten! Not everyone runs on your freakish military hours, you know?”

“Can it. You dragged me up here to do ‘stupid stuff.’ Waking up the tech early qualifies as stupid. What’s next?”

“We get to work.”

“I thought you said officers don’t work.”

Ray stuck his snout into a pouch of coffee, and inhaled deeply. “That’s right, you don’t. I figured out the tech, I designed the tech, I built the tech, now who’s gonna help me test the tech? You. But that’s the fun part, not work. Want some coffee?”

“You know I don’t drink coffee, Ray.”

“One day you will. You won’t be young forever, you know.”

“Depends what you’ve got for me this time.”

“Well hang on. I’m not going to let you kill yourself without having a mug for me to sip on.”

True to his word, Ray took twenty minutes to make a cup of coffee, and consume a boxed pastry from the cabinet next to his desk. When he finally finished, he swept the crumbs off his desk onto the floor.

“Ok, so you get to pick what we’re testing first. Your options are ‘really big gun’ or ‘new suit.’

“I do like guns. What have you got for me?”

Ray chuckled. “Something big enough to compensate for even you. And the best part is, it doesn’t even have any kick.”

“No kick?” mused Shadow as he followed Ray over to one of the larger benches. Sitting on the top was something that probably better fit the description of an artillery piece than a gun. The bore was more than a quarter the width of Shadow’s hoof, and the entire contraption was mounted onto a saddle arrangement. Several belts holding shells the size of a small sweetcorn cob lay to the side, ready to be loaded in. The most curious part of the whole contraption was that the back end of the barrel was open.

“How’s it work?”

“Well, it’s supposed to vent most of the expanding gasses out the back, so in theory the recoil would go down a lot. Ninety-three percent if my math was all spot-on, which should make it manageable enough to make what normally should be a light artillery piece into a pony-mobile platform.”

“You gonna tell me what happens if your math wasn’t ‘spot-on?’ Last time you said that I wasn’t able to get the smell out of my coat for days.”

“Oh come on, you big baby. You should have just taken a longer shower. The worst that could come from this is you get a good shake.”

“Really?”

“No. The worst that would happen would be the harness coming apart under the force, and ripping right through you. Now lets go shoot it.”

“Why can’t you?”

“Because you get paid to do stupid and dangerous things. Worse still, I’m pretty sure you enjoy it.”

That earned a laugh from both stallions. “Sure. Let’s go.”

The range was warm and peaceful under the morning sun. ‘Warm’ was relative for a high mountain valley, but that was of far less concern to Shadow than the targets at the end of the range. A sloppily drawn changeling in black marker was taped to cardboard and propped up with rocks.

“Really, Ray?”

“Hey now! My art is great! I’d love to see you draw something that good.”

“I’m talking about it being paper. You really want to test a weapon that’s built for breaking through walls on a target that couldn’t stand up to a colt with a water pistol?”

“We’re not here to test what effect the gun has on the target. It is very well known what quarter-hoof shells do. What I want to know is if you can fire it safely, and if that’s confirmed, whether or not it’s accurate. Also, I’ll be measuring stats on the shots. Muzzle velocity, drop, so on and so forth to see if there is any change due to the setup.”

Ray levitated the harness over Shadow’s back, cinching down a series of straps until they were tight. The entire setup didn’t feel too heavy until the telekinesis went away, and the full bulk of the barrel thudded down. Shadow huffed at the sudden weight, and spread out his stance. It was heavy, and with the saddle harness all the way tightened, the only way to aim was to shift side to side and rotate.

“There!” exclaimed Ray as he slotted in the first round. “Should be all good to go. Point at bastard, shoot, and I’ll take notes.” He scampered back a safe distance and whipped out a clipboard.

“Wait...Ray? How the hell am I supposed to aim this thing? I can’t really get a good idea of exactly where it’s pointing.”

“Check your helmet, there should be an option to toggle on the targeting feature. I’ll turn it now now.”

A simple crosshair appeared in the HUD, up and to the right of the cardboard changeling. It dipped up and down with each every inhale and exhale, making it just a little tricky to line up over the crude target.

“Alright, firing on my mark. Three, two, one, mark.”

At that last syllable, Shadow bit down on the firing bit, and the unmistakable roar of a quarter-hoof gun sounded over his right shoulder. Most of the noise was sealed out by the helmet, but it was still a thundering reminder of how much firepower he was packing on his back. Every last muscle from head to hoof had been kept relaxed to avoid shaking the the aim, and prevent injury should something go wrong. After a second or two, no kick came, and he was still standing in the exact same place. The gun hadn’t so much as jerked on the harness. Down the range, there was a hole where the ‘head’ on the target had been.

Ray laughed, stomped his hooves, and then cheered before slotting in another shot. “Oh hell yeah! It works! Give it a few more shots, will ya’?”

“Sure thing. Firing in three, two, one, mark.”

Like falling sideways into the wall of a hurricane, the sudden force twisted Shadow off his hooves. The air whipped through his mane, and the feel of gravity spun so quickly that not even the ancient pegasus instincts deep in his brain could tell him which way was down. Just as suddenly as it all began, the ride came to a sudden halt as the barrel of the rifle lodged in the dirt. Still carrying the momentum of the flight, Shadow slammed into the side of the harness, and then the entire mess of pony and weapon came to a halt, leaving him hanging upside down a few hooves off the ground. All around, the world spun fast enough to make butterflies dance in his stomach, and Shadow hurled up his breakfast.

“Well...I guess it needs some adjustments,” admitted Ray as he lifted Shadow free of the harness.

“Yeah, I suppose you could say that.”

Hoofsteps, outside the door. The clang of keratin against the cold stone, even while muffled on the other side of the wall still seemed preternaturally loud. That noise dragged Shadow’s unconscious mind from the depths of sleep like a dragon plucking a sheep off the side of a hill. Eyes wide open, Shadow took everything in. The bed had plain brown sheets, the floor was of plain gray stone, the door was carved out of the rock, and in a flash it came to him. Oh. Right.

The door opened, and Shadow winced as the light from the hall hit his eyes. “Good Morning, Ray.”

“Holy shit, you guys all seem to wake up before I get there. You did sleep, didn’t you? Do you ever sleep, for that matter?”

“Of course I do. You’re up awfully early though.” Shadow rose from the cot and followed Ray down the hall to the armory.

“Never went to bed. No way I’m getting up early enough to see you test this thing.”

Together they shared a meal of toaster pastries, cereal, and other things that were of dubious breakfast quality. It was all nothing but sugar, and while that would normally be a bad idea, it was the ideal food source for the morning’s work. While Shadow ate, Ray was digging around in the back of the lab. After a few minutes of low cursing and clanging, he emerged and plunked a suit identical to Shadow’s down on the table. “Ok, so this is version three-point-oh of the combat skin. Just finished it twenty minutes ago.”

“I don’t see any difference.”

“Of course you don’t, that’s why I’m the one telling you what it does and not the other way around. This model has the improved FOF tagging system that Dive has been nagging me for, so hopefully you won’t have to go through any more messes. It’s ever so slightly more bulletproof, and by that, I mean you can probably crash through a canopy without ripping it into pieces. Bullets will still go right through, though.”

“Did anypony ever explain to you what ‘bulletproof’ means?”

“And most importantly,” continued Ray, completely nonplussed, “the friction co-efficient of the suit has been enabled to be next to zero. I know that’s what I said last time, but this is a factor of eight-point-seven improvement. That was far enough I had to enchant it to add the friction back just on the underside of your wings for each downstroke, otherwise you wouldn’t displace any air. It also comes with the ability to be manually controlled, so that you don’t just slide when you land. Anyways, I want you to test just what it can do.”

“You don’t know? You built it.”

“I know what the numbers say. If the math is right--and don’t roll your eyes at me, I spent a lot longer working on this than the recoilless rifle--with your wingpower, you should be able to achieve an altitude of over three hundred thousand hooves.”

Three hundred thousand hooves. It was the hypothesized edge of space, but nopony really knew for sure. After all, it wasn’t like anyone had ever been there. An average pegasus might make it to twenty thousand hooves in the air. Up there, the air might be cold, but it was the necessary range to work on the weather. After all, it was only for ceremonies and the such that the pegasi left the clouds but a few hundred hooves off the ground. On the other hoof, a good flier could make it to sixty thousand. The Wonderbolts held records at ninety thousand and change, and that was after hard training and using oxygen gear. Even with the flight training that Crash and Dive had bestowed upon him, and the pressurized enchanted flight skin that Ray had built, Shadow had never flown over half the height Ray wanted him to try to reach.

It seemed like a bunch of big numbers, but really, the width of an average pony’s hoof was pretty small compared to the vast heights of Equestria. Mount Eternity was only twelve thousand, three hundred, and thirty-eight hooves high. In the summer, all the snow melted clean off the top. Further back in the range of the Azurites, there were peaks that kept their snow all year around, not summited by pony explorers. It had kind of figured that at least one morning a week, Dive made them go climb one without flight, which was only allowed if one of their number slipped and fell. The wild clouds in the highest parts of the atmosphere had always been out of reach of the pegasus race, save for scant legends of heroic and divine figures reaching their lofty heights. Thunderhoof the Mighty and--Ray’s hoof waved several times in the air in front of his face. All of the daydreams of some legendary figure accomplishing the impossible, and himself taking their place were shattered with the trip back to reality.

“Command to Lieutenant Wing, are you there? Hello-o!”

“Real funny, Ray. Did you really say three hundred thousand hooves? That’s insane! That’s twenty miles in the sky. You said you wanted me to test the suit, not to go to space!”

“Well, aside from a few ideas I’ve had about putting surveillance equipment into something called ‘orbit,’ yes, I do really want to see just how high you can go. There’s a bonus to that, but one you can’t tell Dive about.”

Oh boy… “And that is?”

“Well think? A twenty mile dive? In a new nearly-frictionless suit? Think of how fast you could go.”

The thought was tempting. It would be like something out of those old legends, except that it would be a chance to really feel all that speed and power. “Pretty damn fast.”

Ray rolled his eyes. “Like, ‘boom-by-four’ kind of fast, Shadow. Think. Almost nopony will know, hell, nopony will ever know, but how would you like to be the fastest flier in the history of ponykind?”

Nopony will ever know. The words echoed in Shadow’s skull, and refused to go away. The fastest ever. High enough to touch the stars. That’s the place of a pony in a fairy-tale, yet it would go to the soldier. “I’m never gonna be able to look at a news article about the Wonderbolts the same ever again, will I?”

“As sure as Celestia shines, you won’t. Now get in the suit, and let’s get going. You’ve got a trip all the way out to the Mahorri Desert this morning, and the teleporter isn’t going to stay warmed up forever. Also, I’m getting sleepy.”

The Mahorri was a place of ‘fond’ memories for everypony on the team. Located past the changeling swamps and the zebras grasslands, it lay in the far south of the continent Equestria was situated on. The land would have been claimed, but it was so hot and dry that there was no point in trying to live there--perfect for practicing high altitude, high speed flight maneuvers. The intel folks liked to call it ‘area fifty-two.’

Putting on the new combat skin was utterly the same process as the old one. It didn’t look or feel any different, but nonetheless came with a shiver of excitement. This time, as the material tightened to conform to his body, there was a hint of a promise coming with it. Today was the day to write a legend. Every step was a bit closer, and every inhale a taste of the tale. Too soon though, Shadow found himself standing in the teleportation chamber, looking over at Ray’s grinning visage as he lit the runes up. This time, as the world faded away, it also got warmer, until it felt for all the world like standing in the middle of an oven as the room faded away.

The sun had yet to come up, leaving the red sands of the desert dark, and a deep purple where the waves lapped against the shore. Off against the horizon, the edges of the dawn were just starting to form, promising to bring day to the empty and heat-blasted wasteland that was the Mahorri Desert. For fifteen hundred miles south there was nothing but sea, and the surrounding desert was half that large in every other direction. Shadow took a moment to savor the salt in the air, before pressing the helmet over his head, and letting it seal him into the cool little world that was his new skin.

“Ok, Ray, I’m all ready to go. You recording this?”

“You know that’s a stupid question, Shadow. We both know that you know that your helmet is always recording what is going on.”

“So that we can both get in trouble with Dive later?”

“Totally worth it.”

“Well, if we’re keeping this then…” Shadow cleared his throat and stood up tall. “This is an official record, officiated by--”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold on there. Why bother making it an official record if nopony other than you, me, and the rest of the team is going to see it?”

“If no one else is ever going to see this, why do you care?”

Silence reigned on the comms until Shadow started again.

“This is an official record, officiated by Lieutenant Grade Three Shadow Wing. Record subject: altitude record attempt. Time and date: zero-four-forty-five, twelfth of Sunfire. Witnessed by Refract Ray. Officiating party would like to designate a warning for vulgarity on the record.”

“...Seriously?”

“Go get your popcorn Ray, it’s my turn to do the work.”

Just like the thousand times before, Shadow took to the skies, building speed as he shoved the air underneath his wings. With each passing moment, more and more of the surrounding landscape was visible, revealing it all to be rolling dunes of red and waves of blue. There was nothing else in the Mahorri. Even as the air went from stifling hot to freezing, the view was all of the dead land and endless waves. The line between the two stretched further and further in both directions until the distinction faded away. Wind and wingbeats were the only two sounds in the lonely skies, dark above and dark below. It was a special serenity and an ancient struggle, the pegasus reaching for the sky. As it grew ever closer, it remained ever far away.

“You’re going kind of slow, aren’t you?”

Ray’s voice jerked Shadow right out of his reverie. “Dammit, Ray, can’t you leave the flying to the pegasus? Even if your friction magic works, it doesn’t turn off gravity, does it?”

“No…?”

“So if I try to fly that high all in one go at top speed, I’m gonna burn out long before I get close.”

“Oh. Ok.”

The silence following remained only for a few minutes until crashing and banging sounded on the other end of the radio. Shadow grit his teeth, and then gave up altogether.

“Damn it, Ray! Can’t you not make any noise for just two minutes?”

“Not me this time, I think you’re going to have to ask Chaff and Savage.” Ray chuckled, and judging by the picture, was getting into some kind of vintage bottle. Shadow shut off the video feed.

“Hey hey! Hunter!” Chaff’s tired words were only interrupted by the unmistakable slurp from a coffee mug. “What the fuck are you doing? It had better be awesome, because Ray got me up at four in the sun-damned morning to see it.”

The altimeter clicked to 120,000 hooves, and Shadow leveled off. It was almost as high up as they flew when heading out to mission, and just about as high as he’d ever been. Still catching his breath, he braced himself for whatever Chaff could bring. “I’m pretty sure he told you.”

“Oh Ray told us,” answered Savage, sounding bemused. “Something about you testing his new gear, not blowing up, gonna fly really high, and generally stuff worth getting up early for. You know Dive was gonna have us up in another few minutes anyway to do his crazy sprint drills, so don’t feel bad about it.”

Endless chatter seemed to fill the radio after that. Ray and Chaff were like two little colts; they seemed to just feed off of each other and get louder and louder, while ignoring everything else in the room the whole time. Annoying as it was, it gave Shadow some time to catch his breath. It also gave Dive time to find out that nopony was at the ready room for the drills, and storm into the armory.

“What in the hells below are you all doing in here? Ray! You better not have kept them all up again!” There was just enough pause by everypony for Dive to notice what was playing on the screen. Collectively, everypony winced inside. “And Shadow, I know you said you’d be away today testing tech. Carry on.”

“Yes, sir,” answered Shadow.

“Oh he’s like a freaking robot,” laughed Chaff, and suddenly Savage, Ray, and Dive were all laughing too. “Capn’? Shadow is about to get really high.” That earned another bout of laughter.

“Is he now? Did he have a willow bark chew with his beer?” asked Dive.

“Oh no, sir.” Seriousness filled Chaff’s tone. “The lieutenant is about to cut loose and do something fun with his life. Recommend that we stop him, sir, before he finds a way to get the stick out of his rump.”

“Shaddup, Chaff!”

“I’m denying and rescinding your order,” uttered Dive, still somehow chuckling. “And I’m not so sure, Chaff. This could get good. Shadow? I want you to go ahead and get as high as you want.”

“That’s not funny, sir.” The laughter on the other end said otherwise.

“Where is everypony?” demanded yet another voice. Crash had apparently managed to wander over to the armory as well. Oh great. Gonna try to set a world record in front of the whole squad. No pressure or anything. Not like I need to focus on this. And now the stable sergeant thinks Chaff is a comedian. Ray probably dragged them all in here to watch, and he knew I’d hate it. There wasn’t training on the schedule, I remember it!

“You still there, Shadow?” Crash’s voice cut through the cacophony, steady and re-assuring. “Look here soldier, you’ve probably figured out that we just wanted to watch you do some badass flying. Now, if you can get up there and do some cool stuff, Savage and I will hold Chaff for you to punch when you get back. Sound like a deal?”

Shutting Chaff up or removing everypony from the room other than Ray would have been a better deal, but since neither of those were going to happen, it would have to do. “Alright, I’ll take it. We’re going to tape it too, so if Chaff screams like a filly, we can keep it forever.” Cheers of agreement met the suggestion, and Shadow grinned. “Ok Ray, I’m all ready to go.”

“Ok there, Hunter. I’ll be monitoring the suit status the whole time. If something goes wrong with it, I’m gonna tell you to bail, so be listening for that.”

“Got it.” Time to go.

The long climb ahead would demand every last bit of speed possible. Turning right to follow the coastline away from the impending dawn, Shadow put every bit of his back into it. Slowly at first, but quickly growing to the point that it howled louder than any bray of a windigo, the air whipped past his helmet and under his wings. Yet even as the the sonic barrier approached, and passed with a flare of deep blue, the air seemed to continue to part in front of him. Split by the wedge of forehooves, the surrounding zephyrs had no choice but to go around, seeking some other avenue, only to find that it was as if nopony were there. Each time the riled and hissing winds sought to slam into his side or wrap around his wings, they slid right off. A modicum of fear passed through Shadow as he saw the ground start to pass by swifter than ever before. For the first time in his life, the readout on his helmet display clicked over boom-by-two. A muffled chorus of gasps filled the radio as the air finally began to find purchase on his form.

With the change in drag, the sprint finally began to take its toll. Each intake of air became a precious gift, and each twitch on the body was another drop of sweat that soaked into his coat. The display was fixed at ‘Bx2.18,’ and apparently wouldn’t be going any higher without a waste of effort. Leaning back into a steep climb was all it took to start letting that speed go. Furiously flapping the whole time, each inhale went from deliberate to desperate as Shadow fought to keep whatever speed he could on the way up. He winced as sunlight flared all around him, the result of already being ten miles into the sky. The ground below would still be dark, but he refused to look down or over to see the sunrise. Maintaining balance was critical at this speed; one push too far in any direction could throw him off, or even into a spiral.

As bright as the morning light was, it failed to bring any warmth to the sky. Even after all the effort of getting just a little bit closer to the great light in the sky, the air seemed to be getting colder and colder. As that chill settled in even through the heating magic in the combat skin, the downstrokes seemed to be getting more and more slippery. The air just keeps getting thinner. Shit! Each wingbeat became more and more frantic, faster than the one before, and yet speed kept bleeding off the boom meter. All the while, the sunlight continued to grow brighter, and the sky above somehow grew darker. Even with the great light of the sun behind him, all Shadow could see of the sky above was blackness.

It was safe to stare; the speed had bled off to subsonic, and despite all the flapping, Shadow was just drifting on the leftover speed from before. Up above, perhaps a few hundred lengths away, though it was hard to gauge the distance, narrow wisps of cloud intertwined with each other. Angling toward it, Shadow alighted on the top, and almost slipped as the clouds slowly started to melt under his weight. They were so thin that he could see the ground through them. The ground! It was so far away! All of the ground was so far away. Not just the desert and the ocean, but with the optics zoomed forward, the land on the far side of the ocean came into view. Taking another step onto newer cloud as to not fall, Shadow turned his head to look out to the north, and gasped. There was no mistaking the faraway features of the changeling swamps, or the even further away forms of the Azurite mountains. I can see home from here, a world away.

The sky above was a perfect black. All the stars were obliterated from view by the greater light of the sun, which from the height was visible opposite of the slowly setting moon on the horizon. Still, for being bathed in both the light of the sun and the moon at the same time, the chill sank deeper into his bones, not far from that of a windigo. Shadow shivered and stepped forward again, just in time to avoid falling from the heights as the cloud wisped away.

“Ray, I’m getting really cold up here.”

“That’s what you say upon setting a world record? Really? Look at your altimeter. Three hundred and seven thousand hooves. And two hundred and four more, but who’s counting at this point? You’re on the darn edge of space right there. No wonder you feel cold. Your suit is reading an external temperature of higher than anything ever recorded on the surface, but there is no air to conduct it. All that ‘heat’ is coming from the radiation, which is quite high, by the way. Chalk up two world records. Oh, and whatever you do, don’t take of your suit. You’ll explode from decompression, then asphyxiate, and die of hypothermia, in that order.”

“Good to know. I didn’t really plan on it.”

“Well, I think that about sums all this up,” added Dive. “Ray, looks like the suit was a success, and soon we can get our space surveillance system set up.”

Shadow’s ears pricked up at that. “Wait! I’m going to have to fly this again?”

“Several times!” replied Ray, sounding cheerful. “But I think you’ll find it will be very worth it for when you have to go out on mission.”

“Don’t worry about it for now though, you can come on down now.” Dive sounded relieved and excited. Time to smash that to pieces.

“Alright. I will. And I don’t think the suit is quite done being tested.” Clearing his throat, and shifting one last time to another patch of cloud, Shadow started another record. “This is an official record, officiated by Lieutenant Grade Three Shadow Wing, in addition to previous record. Record subject: airspeed record attempt. Time and date: zero-five-one-five, twelfth of Sunfire. Witnessed by Refract Ray, Sergeant Razor Wings, Sergeant Wild Wind, Stable Sergeant Storm Crasher, and Captain Dive Skyward. Officiating party would like to designate a warning for vulgarity on the record.”

“Fuck! Shadow! What the fuck are you thinking?” screamed Dive.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Shadow was aware of Ray trying desperately to tell Dive that it would all be alright, and everypony else cheering. It was all loud, but none of it was there. It couldn’t compare to looking straight down off the edge of the cloud, twenty miles to the ground below. It was just one step.

He jumped.

And fell.

The fall was slow, or at least it seemed that way with nothing around save for empty sky to compare it to, and the ground apparently not getting any closer. Still, Shadow kept his legs stretched out forward and back in the diamond posture, trying to gain every bit of speed he could before the air grew thick again. Chancing a glance at the readout, the altimeter was dropping too fast to count, just past two hundred and seventy-five-thousand. The boom meter read at zero point nine nine.

The internal thud of jumping the sound barrier washed over Shadow, though the navy blue light of the boom was next to invisible in the dark of the upper sky. Just like further down, there was no tangible difference in the air from one side to the other, just a rapidly increasing number on his boom meter. Before two-hundred and fifty-thousand hooves were met, it had passed the two-point one-eight it had reached early and kept going.

“Why in the name of the Hell-Judge Shellot are you doing this, Shadow?!” demanded Dive, clearly through with the argument against Ray.

“Testing the suit.” It seemed like a rude answer, but everything seemed a little too surreal to care at this point.

“I get that! Do you understand that if something goes wrong, there won’t even be a smear of you left?! We won’t be able to put you back together if you’re just scattered ash on the wind!”

The boom meter passed three. Far below, the ground lay, but much closer than before. Crash was shouting. Chaff was stammering. The chill began to wear away from Shadow’s bones as the air began to take upon substance once again. The sheer friction of moving at three times the speed of sound, even in the enchanted suit was incredible. Perhaps Dive is right, this ends with me in ashes.

“I won’t know that unless I brave the fire.”

“You really think that?!”

“I am still in control. If I feel myself start to lose it, I will pull up.”

“...I can’t stop you, but we are going to talk about this when you get back.”

Three point seven. One hundred-seventy-thousand hooves. The air was growing hot; the heat ran up his hooves and legs to rest like fire on his body. It hurt, as it should.

“Shadow, pull up now!”

Three point eight. One hundred and forty thousand hooves. The voice didn’t matter. He was ever so close to four.

“Shadow, pull the fuck up, you’re on fire sundammit!”

Three point nine. So close. One hundred thousand hooves. Something lit up everything in his eyes--holy sun that is fire!

With every muscle in his body, Shadow heaved against the downward velocity. Ever so slowly, the view in his visor rotated toward the ocean. No softer of a landing if it didn’t work out, but something to put out the flame would be welcome. Under the raw pressure of trying to change a boom-by-three dive to level flight, Shadow’s wings folded almost entirely inwards, jerking on the sockets as he struggled to push them back out. Even that tenth of a hoof of room was enough to airfoil a little, and turn the fall into an arc.

Three point one. Fifty thousand hooves. The fire was blinding. Only a sliver of vision remained between the waves of yellow rage. It was filled with blue--the sight of the sea under the new dawn light. And it was getting closer fast. Celestia save me.

An echo of a voice sounded, and over the howl of the wind there was no way to tell if it came from the radio, or inside his own head.

She can’t help you. But it is not your time.

The whispers faded away, and then were erased entirely by a force that struck Shadow all over. With a whump the fires went out, extinguished by the moisture in the air. Two lengths below his outstretched forehooves, the waves of the ocean passed below, hundreds each second. It was their spray in the air that had extinguished the fire, and the force of the flight was rending a giant cleft in the water.

One point eight. Twelve hooves.

With a cheer, Shadow pulled up, and watched as the sea followed. The wings of water to each side rose for hundreds of lengths into the air after him. In the light of the morning, each arc of the sea glistened with the colors of the rainbow, until at last the water returned back to the waves below. Slowly they fell back down, and soon the whitewash of the upturned sea returned to the endless blue.

“This is Hunter, I made it, and I’m coming home.”

“I’m not going to lie. I’m really just glad you’re alive. Don’t do that to me ever again.” Dive paced back and forth, still scowling. “Whatever happens, neither of us tell mom about this, alright?”

“Deal.” Shadow breathed a sigh of relief. Under the Equestrian Code of Military Justice, he had disobeyed several orders, and recklessly endangered his own life. This left him reprehensible by being discharged from his office. The real world however, didn’t leave anyone with such luxuries. It wasn’t as if there was a quick way to replace him.

“Now get out of my office!”

“Yes, sir,” chuckled Shadow, as he ducked out the door, and ran right into Ray.

“Oof!” gasped Ray as Shadow knocked the wind out of him. The larger stallion took a moment to get up, but grinned when he saw who was responsible. “Just the Hunter I wanted to see, completely alive and in one piece! Mind coming with me to the armory for a minute?”

“Only if we’re not testing any new tech. No exceptions.”

“I can promise that. Just need to go over a few things with you.”

The armory was once again devoid of any life, and as soon as they got inside, Ray closed the doors.

“Ok...Shadow, I’ve got some news that might make you just a little mad. I’ve been running the scans on the suit since you got back, and part of the enchantment, almost a quarter, is just gone. There really isn’t any other explanation...you absorbed it.”

“I...what?”

“Shoot. Look, Hunter. It means the frictionless enchantment wore off on you. I don’t know if it was the enchantment going funny, the speed and temperature you put it under, or some combination. Frankly I’ve never seen this happen before. But you’re gonna have to deal with that...pretty much for good. It wasn’t designed to come out easily. I know you’re gonna be pissed, but it’s there to stay.” Ray looked down, dejected, until Shadow hoofed him in the shoulder.”

“Oh come on Ray, why would I be mad? You’re telling me that I got something as good as those junk-ad wing-expanders or horn-extenders claim to give, except it’s real. I can’t complain.”

“Well, still. Watch yourself out there. I’m not quite sure what you’re capable of now. Would be really easy to slip up and do something stupid.”

“I’ll keep it in mind, but I doubt there will be any trouble.”

Author's Note

That chapter has been bouncing around inside my skull for two years, and finally gets out on paper. Celestia willing I'll be able to use that space for other daydreams now.

For you nitpickers that know a lot about atmospheric science, yes I know the effects of the altitude don't match up quite correctly with Earth's atmosphere. That's on purpose, and I actually did a good deal of reading on atmospheric layers, and conditions by altitude while writing. Also, if you somehow got this far into these stories and forgot that a 'hoof' as a unit of measurement is NOT a foot, you probably had a bad time.