Will's Path
Impact
Previous ChapterCHAPTER 2 ~ IMPACT
Wonderbolts Complex ~ Security Tower
November 1st
9:45 PM
A lone guard sat in the security tower. His job was to watch the runway and make note of Wonderbolt departures and arrivals. The goal was to not let Wonderbolts crash into each other. It wasn't strange then, that at first when he saw a streak of brown light enveloped by electricity, it didn't faze him. However, as the trail of light approached, his trained eyes picked up signs that this pony wasn't flying, he was falling! "Oh god, he's going to be seriously injured! I have to do..."
It was too late to do anything; the meteoric pony smashed into the grass beside the tarmac with a giant CRASH followed by a large ZAP.
* * *
Spitfire
Wonderbolts Complex ~ Captain's Office
November 1st
9:50 PM
"Ughhhh... I HATE PAPERWORK!" Spitfire screamed, banging her desk. "It always keeps me here in until the middle of the bucking night! I really wish something would happen right now... I need somepony to yell at! To take my stress out on!
As if Spitfire's wish were granted, Fleetfoot busted straight in the room, gasping for breath. Spitfire, finding the perfect opportunity, jumped out of her seat and started flapping her golden wings. She slipped on her sunglasses and craned her neck down to meet Fleetfoot's sweaty face. Spitfire got in real close before bellowing as loud as she possibly could. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU KNOCK ON THE CELESTIA DAMN DOOR BEFORE YOU ENTER YOUR SUPERIOR'S OFFICE YOU BUCKING MAGGOT?! DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY, NOW! CLOP CLOP!
"But... General Spit..."
"DID I ASK YOU FOR YOUR BUCKING OPINION MAGGOT! TWENTY WING-UPS! TODAY WOULD BE NICE!"
"YES MA'AM!" Fleetfoot replied finally with absolute fear.
"THAT'S RIGHT! UP, DOWN! I WANT TO HEAR THOSE BONES SNAP! COME ON, I'VE SEEN PEGASI AT BUCKING RETIREMENT HOMES DO TWICE AS MANY AS YOU HAVE IN HALF THE TIME! LET'S GO, LET'S GO, LET'S GO!" Spitfire put her rear right hoof on Fleetfoot's back, flapping her wings to stay in a bipedal position. "COME ON, THAT'S ONLY TEN! WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY! YOU WANNA KNOW WHY? BECAUSE IT'S BUCKING NIGHT! SO STOP TAKING YOUR SWEET ASS TIME AND MOVE YOUR BUCKING BODY!" Spitfire then proceeded to repeatedly stomp down of on Fleetfoot's back with her hoof.
"Ughhh... nyeh..." was all that Fleetfoot kept managing to get out through the pain, breathing, and Spitfire's ear-shattering screaming.
* * *
When they were done, Spitfire flew up in the biped position and crossed her forehooves. "So Colonel Flatfoot! What did you want to tell me?" Spitfire asked decently calmly, feeling relieved after taking her stress out on Fleetfoot. She was still shouting, though.
Fleetfoot was pissed. "YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT I BUCKING WANT SIR? THE GUARD IN THE BUCKING RUNWAY SECURITY TOWER SENT ME TO GET YOU! HE SAID IT WAS URGENT AND YOU GO AHEAD WASTING TWO DAMN MINUTES MAKING ME DO BUCKING WING-UPS!
"Well! Why the hay didn't you say that in the first pla..." Spitfire was cut off by Fleetfoot smashing her hoof against the ground. Her eyes told Spitfire she would have had a knife through her face if she had finished those last two letters.
"Oh, yeah... Sorry!" Spitfire grinned in embarrassment.
"...Never mind, let's just go... General Shitfire." Fleetfoot grumbled, but with an added smirk at the end.
The use of Spitfire's trainee nickname broke any resistance she had left. "Defeated by my own subordinate... Buck my life!" she snarled to herself, slamming the door behind her. Fleetfoot snickered the entire way down the corridor.
* * *
Wonderbolts Complex ~ Airstrip
November 1st
9:55 PM
The two mares came zooming in. Spitfire came in forward and skidded to a stop, while Fleetfoot descended from higher up. There was a large group of Wonderbolts, managers, doctors, and guards surrounding something in the grass beside the tarmac of the Firefly Airstrip. It was built and designed by General Firefly for efficient takeoffs and was one of the many great achievements he accomplished for the Wonderbolts. His proud runway was the scene of something else tonight, though.
"Alright, make way!" Spitfire shouted as she trotted through the crowd. Fleetfoot stayed close behind her. Those in her way shouted "Yes General Spitfire!" and promptly backed away, making a column of space for her to trot through. The parting of ponies revealed another smaller, group consisting of Admiral Soarin' of the Alpha Squadron, a few elite Wonderbolt doctors, and a watchtower guard who was busy talking to the said ponies.
Soarin' was the first to notice Spitfire and Fleetfoot; he proceeded to wave them over. "Fleetfoot, Spitfire sir! What took you so long? As the new head of all the Squadrons and the Leader of the Wonderbolts you two are the last ponies I expected to show up so slowly!"
"Sorry Soarin', we got... held up," Fleetfoot responded with bitterness. She was staring daggers at Spitfire, who responded by blushing and cracking a toothy smile.
"It's okay, it was just urgent. We need consent from you before you do anything," he said, causing Fleetfoot to punch Spitfire with her wing.
"Okay, I get it, jeez! I'm sorry!" Spitfire said a little too loudly. She started blushing profusely again.
"Uhhh... girls?" Soarin' said, completely out of the loop. "Is there a problem?"
* * *
"What's the big commotion about?" Spitfire asked as she approached the doctors. They responded by moving out of the way and pointing to a brown and black lump on the ground. It was a tan pegasus with a spiky, frizzy, jet-black mane and tail. The latter which looked like the leaf of a pineapple. He also didn't have a cutie mark, despite seeming to be middle aged. There was a huge, charred crater around him and a skid mark depicting that he had hit the ground with considerable force. "What the buck?! Who the hay is this stallion and what happened for him to crash like this?" Spitfire shot. Everypony responded by giving blank stares. "Well? Someone had to have seen something!"
"Oh yes sorry! I think I can shed some light on what happened." the watchtower guard proclaimed. "Sorry, missed your question the first time, Medical Mutual over here asked me a question as well," he said, pointing a forehoof towards a cream unicorn with a goatee and a cutie mark of a lock with a heart connected to a group of five ponies.
"All right, elaborate!" Spitfire said with her usual harsh tone.
"Yes, sir!" The Watchtower guard began, restarting his story for Spitfire and Fleetfoot. "My shift was in the Security Tower tonight! I was just doing my job when suddenly my eyes are attracted to a brown comet that bursts out of the cloud line. At first, I though it was Lighting Streak coming in with a new color of lightning, but I realized too late that it was a pony falling not flying. I couldn't deploy the net in time, I'm sorry..."
"Hey, buck up! There was no way you could have caught him, he came in too fast! I saw it from the roof, and I wasn't even quick enough!" Soarin' justified.
"Yeah, for there to be such a big crater he had to have come down pretty hard," Spitfire observed.
"Thanks for understanding..." the guard said with a smile. "But that begs the question! Who is this pony General Spitfire?"
"That's what I'm gonna find out!"
* * *
"How's the examination going?" Spitfire asked the head doctor, a unicorn named Bone Fracture that specialized in bone spells, as signified by his broken bone cutie mark.
"He's not dead, he's just unconscious. It's amazing, even after landing this hard, he only had a bruised ribcage from skidding on his side. Nothing was broken or damaged," he reported. "He has some of the strongest bones out of anypony I've ever seen."
"Wow, that's incredible. This pony must drink a lot of milk. You hear that, cadets? You're all on a milk diet from now on! We need to be able to crash like this with minimal injury!"
"That's not a bad idea General, but remember, he landed on his side, so none of his vital organs even had a chance of being damaged." Bone Fracture retorted.
"Still something worth trying!"
"Whatever you say..." he sighed.
* * *
"Hey, everypony! I found something!" Surprise suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, causing everyone to jump, even Spitfire.
"Celestia dammit, every time!" Spitfire screamed, cueing insane laughter from Surprise. She had an odd-looking saddlebag hanging from her left forehoof.
"Suprise! Ahhahahaha! Dang, I wasn't even trying that time! You guys are so easy!" she responded.
At that, everyone started genuinely laughing at Suprise's crazy antics.
"All right! That was a good one Slowpoke! Now, what did you find? I'm presuming it's that weird saddlebag you got there."
"Ding-dong!" she squealed. "I traced his impact path and found this on a crazy thick thundercloud he crashed through. Wasn't heavy enough to squeeze through it. A normal pony or unicorn could probably stand on that thing!"
"Ah! So that's why he had electricity spiraling around him!" The Tower guard said.
"Well, is there anything in the bag?" Bone Fracture suggested.
"It feels like it. It's pretty heavy. Let's take a look!" Surprise said, but then stopped. "Huh? Where's the opening flap? And what's this small metallic thing?" She was prodding a zipper, something she had never seen before.
"Let me see..." Bone Fracture said. "Aha!" He then flashed his horn and slowly unzipped the bag with his magic. "Wow, this is advanced!
"Must be a new brand of bag." Surprise shrugged. She then dug through it with Bone Fracture. "What are... Oreos?" She grabbed the OPEN HERE plastic with her mouth and opened the package. "Ooooo! Cookies!" she screamed, sticking one in her mouth. "Mmmmmm... Oh, my... sweet Celestia! Where do you get these things! THEY ARE SOOOOOOO GOOD!" She went for another one, but Bone Fracture grabbed them away with his magic.
"Stop eating this poor pony's food!" he said.
"Awww... but cookies!!" She said with puppy dog eyes.
.
..
...
....
"FINE! TAKE ONE! CELESTIA!" He screamed, finally succumbing to Surprise's death stare and angrily passing her another Oreo with his magic. She promptly jumped up and snatched out of the air with a "HAY YES!"
"Well, this is weird," Spitfire said, finally having something to contribute to the conversation. "First, a new brand of saddlebags, that doesn't look like it fits anypony I might add. Second, snacks that nopony has ever heard of. This guy must be from a big city. Manehattan? No, Las Pegasus. There are crazy products big businesses make there, plus there's the fact he's a pegasus. He probably was traveling or something."
"I actually doubt he his from either of those cities." Bone Fracture stated. "Take a look at this!" He passed a card to Spitfire.
"If found, please return to Will Wave. 21300 Edgewood Road, Pepper Pike, Ohio." Spitfire read. "Will Wave must be his name, but what the hay kind of address is that?"
"In all my years of being an Orthopedist, I've never seen a street in either of these cities named Edgewood. I've also never heard of a city named Pepper Pike. Finally, since when does an Equestrian address have a fourth component? What even is this "Ohio" thing?" Bone Fracture asked. Nopony knew.
"Well, at least we know his name. But who is this pony and where is he from?! He doesn't even have a cutie mark!" Spitfire said with confusion.
"Maybe we will find something else if we keep looking!" Surprise said right into Spitfire's earlobe, which swiveled 100 million degrees.
"GAAAH! SLOWPOKE!!" Spitfire bellowed through the night sky.
* * *
"My word, this is incredible!" Bone Fracture said, holding Will's Wii U. "I wonder what this machine does?"
"Same goes for this plastic rectangle thing," Spitfire added, shaking an iPhone she was holding in her wings. "I've pressed this weird button and lights it up, revealing words and a strange picture of two hairless apes.
Surprise walked over to see Spitfire's item. She started reading the text on the screen out loud. Honey! I'm calling the cops! If you are ignoring me, you are in sooooo much trouble! She then looked at the picture. "Hmm... maybe he is an animal photographer and this is a super-duper crazy-cool camera he owns! However, he frequently goes missing looking for photos and ignores his wife!"
"I doubt it. He doesn't have a cutie mark in something like that. How the buck to do you use this thing for pictures anyway?! Also, how does this thing display words? Where did these words even come from?!" Spitfire began vigorously tapping the screen with a hoof in an attempt to get an answer.
"Ehh... It was just a theory." Surprise honestly didn't care, and she went back to finish digging through Will's bag. Spitfire facehooved.
"Oh wait! Maybe it's that small camera icon in the bottom right corner!" Bone Fracture observed. He was wincing at Spitfire's increasingly aggressive taps that were turning into punches." He grabbed it out of her wing with his magic and to his face.
"Hey, I was looking at that! Don't forget the position you're in maggot!"
"You were going to break it, sorry sir!" He saluted.
"...Fine, you have a horn..." Suddenly, an idea came to Spitfire. "Try find if he has pictures on there! Maybe there is a clue somewhere as to who he is!" Spitfire ordered.
"Yes sir!" he replied. Then, Bone Fracture turned to the phone. He focused on a mental image of the camera button and tried to press it with his magic. Suddenly, the screen changed to the Camera app. "Success!"
"Wow!" Surprise exclaimed. "This guy is cool! He has all sortsa neat stuff!" She said as finished digging through the bag. She came out with Twizzlers in her mouth like grass. "I'm a cow! Moooooo!" Various Wonderbolts and staff started cracking up at that.
Fire Streak, who was in the large circle, called out to Bone Fracture, who was busy testing the Camera's features. "Hey doc, take a picture of Surprise with that crazy camera! She looks hilarious!"
"What do we have to lose? I've figured out how to take them. All you have to do is push the big red button, simple! Surprise, do you want to do this?
"Wait! We don't have time for..."
"MMMPHMPH!" Surprise mumbled, cutting off Spitfire. Her mouth still full of the foreign licorice. "WRRY I UUPPHH ZOE I CIN EET THISE!"
"Okay, stand still!" Bone Fracture said. He adjusted the camera's focus until he found the perfect shot of Surprise. "Make a silly face!" Surprise derped her eyes and stuck her tongue out, while somehow still holding the juicy red vines in place. He then proceeded to take the picture.
"BONE FRACTURE, WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! YOU ARE DISOBEYING MY..." *SNAP
The picture would have been fine, but he forgot to factor one thing. The flash was on and it was pitch black outside except for the lamps.
Surprise jerked back at the sudden flash of light. "GAH! MY EYES!" she screamed. She continued to stumble in a blind shock and tripped over the unconscious pegasus. Surprise went flying backward off the side of the runway, but a rainbow maned cyan pony jumped and caught her over the edge. The rest of the Wonderbolts and staff just stood there in complete shock as to what had just happened.
* * *
"I'm so sorry!" Bone Fracture apologized. "I didn't know there was a flash!"
"You better be! You disobeyed my orders and almost killed..."
"Naw! Don't worry about it! I thought it was fun!" Surprise replied.
"Fun?! You almost died Slowpoke! If Crash hadn't stepped up, you would have fallen off the cliff and died!" Spitfire screamed, pissed at how positive Surprise was being. "By the way... Airpony Rainbow Crash, get over here!"
"The cyan pegasus with the rainbow mane and tail walked forwards to the center of the crowd. "Yeah? What's up, General?" She said with a nasally tomboyish voice and a cool smile. It was mentally taxing for her to suppress her feeling of extreme pride as she approached.
"Nice work! You caught her in mid-air with you hooves over a 5,000-foot drop!"
"Awww... thanks! It was nothin', really!" She let slip.
"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't..." Spitfire mumbled, suddenly losing her gratitude.
"Hey! Everypony else just bucking stood there! I had to do something!" Dash snapped, trying to salvage the praise received from Spitfire she had burned.
Soarin' butted in. "Rainbow Dash is right! We all just let it happen! She took a huge risk! It might not have been possible to fly holding somepony like that, so be glad she acted when it was still a hovering distance!" At that, everypony in the audience started murmuring. "Wow! Crash has great reflexes!" Blaze said. "You're just a bucking self-centered over-exaggerator!" Another pony, a doctor shouted.
The entire crowd was soon freaking the buck out. Nopony knew what to make of the situation anymore. Some were arguing about the pegasus, some were freaking out over his stuff, and some were speculating that Bone Fracture was trying to murder ponies. The calm-headed ones tried to restore order, but couldn't. Even screaming at the top of her lungs, Spitfire's booming voice was only a little more than a whisper to the rushing tide of ponies voices.
Suddenly, a voice 100 times louder than a pony with a megaphone echoed through the night sky.
* * *
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF EQUESTRIA IS GOING ON HERE!" Celestia suddenly boomed, promptly shutting everypony the buck up. "YOU ARE GROWN STALLIONS AND MARES OF THE EQUESTRIAN AIR FORCE! YOU SERIOUSLY THINK ARGUING LIKE FOALS IS GOING TO SOLVE YOUR LITTLE PROBLEM?!
Everypony bowed to her extreme presence. Spitfire was the first to speak up. "Sorry, Your Majesty! We were trying to verify the identity of the individual that crashed into our airstrip! We searched his personal belongings and then we pulled out his camera and tried to take a picture. However! Bone Fracture over there didn't turn the bucking flash off and... well, let's just say, everything exploded!
"IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU WERE ARGUING ABOUT A MONSTER ESCAPING TARTARUS, THIS IS NOT HOW YOU SOLVE... Wait! A pony?! You were arguing about... a pony that crashed into the Firefly Airstrip?!"
"Uh... yeah..."
Celestia gasped. "I think I know what's going on here!"
"Y-you do?!"
Celestia nodded as she lit up her magnificent horn like a lamp and bathed everyone in a soothing light so everyone could see her. "I was passing by when I heard this commotion. Perhaps I should thank you for that, for I was planning on passing right by the Wonderbolts Complex! I wasn't worried about you ponies handling it if..." She then pointed with her wing. "...he showed up here. "However, I heard arguing, and as such, came down to see what problem was ahoof. It seems that I was sorely mistaken!"
Spitfire could not have looked more depressed at that last statement. Celestia saw this and immediately felt guilty, so she trotted up to Spitfire and put a wing around her. "I'm sorry. As Princess of the Sun, my choice of words was uncalled for. I cannot imagine the initial shock everypony felt; I'm sure you were trying to handle the situation."
Those words lifted the burden from Spitfire's shoulders, and she breathed slowly. Her exhaled gusts of carbon dioxide ruffled the feathers of Celestia's regal wings. Looking up at Celestia, she smiled, remembering her mother; this was the exact way Jet Fuel held her as a filly. Out of habit, she rubbed her furry face against Celestia's soft wings. Spitfire didn't care if she looked like a three-year-old, the memories calmed her. It was adorable.
However, as the sadness subsided, a new feeling came up. Something was bothering her about what Celestia said. At first, she couldn't put her hoof on it, but as she thought, she realized something that shocked her to the core. "Wait! What do you mean by "if he showed up here!" Your Majesty?..."
"...You weren't looking for him, were you?!"
* * *
"HOLY SHIT! CELESTIA YOU KNOW THIS GUY?!" Spitfire was freaking out.
"Spitfire, language, please!" She chuckled. "Yes... well no, I don't know him know him personally, but I know a lot about him, like where he is from.
"Where is that exactly?" Spitfire asked calmly after heeding Celestia's advice.
"He comes from a fine place called Earth. He is not native to Equestria." She answered.
"W-wait, is he one of those?"
"Yes, he is one of the select humans brought to Equestria." Celestia then began magically examining the pegasus's body. She sighed and said. "Although, thanks to Lyra, it was more like he was thrown into Equestria..."
"So that's why he was falling out of the sky!"
"WHAT!" It was Celestia's turn to freak out. "HE FELL FROM THE SKY?! IS THAT WHAT YOU MEANT BY CRASHING?!
"Wait, where DID you think Will came from?"
Celestia looked like she was having an aneurysm. "DO ANY OF YOU KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THIS PONY IS?"
"Uhhh... Celestia?... We examined him and his belongings thoroughly, but we could only find his name and address. Is there something valuable he has?"
"VALUABLE? HIS OWN BODY IS... HE IS OUR..." Celestia then finally realized she was, one, breaking everypony's ear drums, and two, about to reveal something that would cause a mass panic. She took a deep breath. "Rainbow Dash!" she said in a much calmer tone. "You must take this pony to Twilight Sparkle, immediately!"
"Me?!" Rainbow Dash asked in shock.
"Yes, the beginning of something that will change Equestria is at foot here! As such, I want you six to be the ones that guide this pony to his goal! Spitfire, I want to you to go too! To guard this pony's life!
"Wait... But..." was all that Spitfire got out.
"That's my order as your superior! A Commander of the Equestrian Guard!!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Spitfire saluted.
"Perfect timing! We just finished checking out his body!" Bone Fracture said with pride. "We have his data down to the Canterlot Medical Records in no time Your Majesty!"
"Excellent! Get this pony unharmed to the Princess of Friendship immediately!" With that, Celestia teleported away, but not before saying. "I'll be watching him closely..."
After she disappeared, Spitfire took back the reigns and started barking orders. "Alright! Listen up! We have an order from the Princess herself to take Will to Ponyville! Clipper, Flatfoot, and Slowpoke, you're coming with Crash and I! Admiral Hoof-in-Mouth of Squadron Beta, you are in charge while I am gone! First, I order you to lead the clean up this mess! Then, tomorrow, I want everpony up and at 'em at 0300 hours doing wake-up flight drills! Got it?!
"Yes, sir!" High Winds complied. "Alright, you heard her! Grab a shovel or something and get to fixin' this turf!" Everyone in the entire Wonderbolts and staff saluted and ran to get various hole filling tools.
When it was just the five of them and Will, who was still out cold through all this, they began to prepare for takeoff. It was decided that their flight formation would be a diamond around Soarin', who would carry Will since he had the biggest build.
"Do you think it's the best idea to try to fly with an unconscious pony?" Fleetfoot asked. "Maybe we should let him wake up first, and go in the morning."
"Plus, there is a hail storm blocking the quickest way to Ponyville, and it's nasty! I don't think it's very safe to fly, let alone escort an unresponsive pegasus who can only hinder us." Rainbow Dash added.
"I don't think waiting is a good idea. Celestia said to go immediately." Spitfire rebutted.
"It doesn't matter if he wakes up, we are still going to have to carry him. I doubt he can fly yet." Soarin' said, supporting Spitfire's argument.
"Ehhh... I honestly don't care either way." Surprise shrugged. "I just don't wanna fill a stupid hole." At that, she started gagging herself with a wing.
"Alright then! It's a 3-2 vote, we are going!" Spitfire stamped her hoof.
"Ummm... you mean 3-3? Surprise voted for both sides." Fleetfoot objected, noticing Spitfire's rush get going.
"Ugghhh... Fine, but Surprise HAS to pick a side."
"I'll vote for going now if I get to hold the saddlebag!" Surprise played her cards.
"...Alright! You get the saddlebag! Let's go!
"Fine..." Fleetfoot rolled her eyes.
"We are gonna get so beat up from this... Don't tell me I didn't warn ya!" Rainbow Dash winced.
Everypony got into the escort formation. Soarin' put Will on his back and Surprise took Will's backpack. "Alright, on the count of three!" Spitfire called. "One, two three!"
They started galloping in synch down the runway, extended their wings, and took off. The ponies that were returning to fill the crater watched and started cheering for the brave souls. They needed support; they were about to enter a monster.
* * *
Equestrian Countryside ~ Hail Storm
November 2nd
12:00 AM
The wind was howling. Bits of razor sharp ice flew every which way, making it hard to see or hear anything. "CELESTIA DAMMIT, WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DO THIS TONIGHT! ALRIGHT TEAM! BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING, THIS IS GOING TO BE ROUGH AS BUCK!" Spitfire was barely audible; hail storms quickly became her arch-rival in screaming. The Cloudsdale Weather Factory told me they had a malfunction and generated double their normal frozen water supply, but this is bullshit! They are gonna get a piece of my bucking mind for just dumping their problems like this!
"OW OW OW!" Surprise was being sliced by the bullet-like hail shards. So was everypony else.
"Hang in there Slowp... GAH!" Fleetfoot screamed, accompanied by the explosion of plastic. Her goggles were pierced by a giant piece of hail that whizzed by, shattering the lens. The sharp shards sliced through her eyeball, some sticking and falling out, and one boring right into the middle like a bullseye. She buckled back in extreme pain. When she raised her eyelids, she saw red. "GUYS! MY EYE IS BLEEDING! I CAN'T SEE!"
Everypony stopped and rushed to Fleetfoot. "GAH, HOLY BUCKING SHIT! THERE'S A PIECE STUCK IN... YOU'VE A GIANT CUT STRAIGHT THROUGH YOUR..." Rainbow Dash began to hurl.
Spitfire rushed to her first-aid kit and grabbed some ace bandage. "MMPH!" Spitfire lurched when she saw it too, it was a gruesome cut. The blood was oozing from the eye and the socket. I poured out onto Fleetfoot's Wonderbolt uniform, staining the ripped, tattered fabric a deep crimson. It wasn't helping that there was literally a giant piece of glass tearing into her pupil. "I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS! IF WE ARE GOING TO BANDAGE FLEETFOOT'S EYE, WE NEED TO PULL OUT THIS ASSHOLE PIECE OF GLASS!
"THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING IN WILL'S BAG WE COULD USE!" Surprise suggested.
"ON IT!" Dash announced. After digging a little, being careful not to let hail in, she pulled out a Pocket Utility Kit. "WOAH! WHAT'S THIS?"
"HOLD ON, LET ME SEE IT!" Surprise demanded, wanting to be the first to discover the cool trinkets in Will's bag. She fiddled around with it, trying to ignore the extremely painful ice crystals slicing through her Wonderbolts uniform into her flesh.
"Celestia, please remind me to make more ice-proof uniforms when we get back," Spitfire said to herself.
"I THINK I CHIPPED A TOOTH BUT I GOT IT!" Surprise announced right in Spitfire's face, making her jump for the third time in three hours.
"SLOWPOKE! GO BUCK YOURSELF!"
"AWWW... BUT I FOUND TWEEZERS!" she whimpered, holding out the Utility Kit with the scissor tool extended.
"...WAIT A MINUTE! SLOWPOKE, YOU FOUND PLYING TOOLS?! YOU'RE AMAZING!"
"YOU REALLY THINK SO! *GASP* I NEED TO... OW, GAH!" A giant hail piece went straight through Surprise's chest and out the lower back.
"ADMIRAL SUPRISE!"
"OHHH..." *cough* Blood shot out of her mouth.
"OH SHIT SPITFIRE! FIRST, YOU'VE GOT A PONY WITH A PIECE OF BUCKING PLASTIC DESTROYING HER EYE. NOW YOU'VE GOT ONE WITH A LUNG PUNCTURE?! COME ON! WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A DEADLY BUCKING HAIL STORM!" Surprise started coughing very violently. Bloody mucus was being discharged all over Spitfire as she tried to help Surprise regain a steady breathing pattern. "I'LL BE RIGHT BACK! STAY. HERE. CRASH! KEEP SLOWPOKE ALIVE!"
Spitfire took the Utility Kit over to where Soarin' was caring for Fleetfoot. There was a green tarp tied on his back were Will was laying under to protect him. The rope kept him firmly on Soarin's back. "General! Do you have the extraction tools?" he asked.
Spitfire passed the scissors to Soarin'. "ALRIGHT, CLIPPER! YOU NEED TO GET THAT GLASS... GUH!" Spitfire was hit in the head with a hoof-sized ice chunk. Her vision swam.
"ARE YOU OKAY SIR?!" Soarin' cried.
"Y-yeah, I-I'm fine."
"WHAT? SIR, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
"I'M FINE, CLIPPER! IT WAS JUST A BALL OF HAIL! I CAN TAKE A HIT!"
"ARE YOU SURE?" Soarin' noticed Spitfire was swaying back and forth in her hover. "HOW MANY CLAWS AM I HOLDING UP!"
"S-S-SEVENTEEN! NOW... KISS... MY ASS! I HAVE TO GET BACK... TO SURPRISE..." Spitfire suddenly started feeling woozy. "GET... THE SHARD... OUT OF HER EYE... AND PUT THIS... A-AROUND IT!"
"WAIT, SEVENTEEN?! SPITFIRE, PONIES DON'T EVEN HAVE..."
"THAT'S AN... ORDER... CLIPPER!"
"OKAY!... PLEASE... BE CAREFUL..." Soarin' said as he took the Utility Kit and the roll of Ace Bandage. "YOUR GONNA BE FINE FLEETFOOT, JUST HOLD STILL..." was the last thing Spitfire heard from those two as she flew back towards Dash and Surprise.
That, and a scream of unfathomable pain that echoed through the storm, seemingly making it even more aggressive.
* * *
"WHO WAS THAT?! FLEETFOOT?! NO! PLEASE DON'T TELL ME!..." Dash asked. She was trying to keep oxygen flowing through Surprise's one good lung with CPR.
"SHE... JUST GOT THE SHARD... REMOVED FROM HER EYE." At that, Dash made the biggest cringe face ever contrived from the face of a living being. She started puking all over again.
"CELESTIA... DAMMIT! I CAN'T... EVEN... HUBLAGH!" She sputtered as bile flew out of Dash's maw.
"DA... SH... PLEASE... I... CAN'T... BREATHE!" Surprise begged for air.
"I'M... ON IT..." Spitfire staggered. The world was becoming a blur. Spitfire began giving Suprise slow, tired mouth-to-mouth. It wasn't enough, but I kept Surprise conscious. At least it did until Surprise coughed blood up Spitfire's throat, who responded by hacking and wheezing. Her entire throat tasted like metal, it was hard to breathe. She started feeling lightheaded and dizzy. She couldn't go on...
Soarin' heaved in. He was puffing hard, for he was holding two full weight ponies and trying to fly. "Sp...it...fire" he choked between gasps of air. "I... need you... to take... Fleetfoot. I... can't... carry... both." Suddenly, another huge piece of ice smashed into the back of Soarin's head.
The impact was all his body could take at his current state of energy. With the last of his strength, he passed Fleetfoot to Spitfire, who barely caught her. Finally, Soarin' passed out, plunging towards the countryside.
"S-S-SOARIN'! Spitfire and Dash yelled, the latter finally able to breathe from the hydrochloric acid she had been chunking. She snapped into a nosedive, entering the pose that made her famous around Equestria. A mach cone started forming around her hooves.
"Spitfire, who was struggling to fly with Fleetfoot and Surprise in her hooves, could barely keep up. Suddenly, another crack was heard. The malevolent hail storm had claimed its fourth victim. Dash began falling out of the sky.
"DASH! SOARIN'!" Suddenly, all the fatigue from the ice impact was gone, replaced by pure adrenaline. She zoomed downward, creating a fire streak that lit up the night. When she caught up, she quickly tied Dash to a rope from Will's bag around and grabbed it with her mouth. She then proceeded to do the same thing with Soarin', who, when caught, was only 50 feet from the ground.
The inferno cut through the storm like a knife through an apple. Hungry hail melted at impact. Spitfire didn't feel any pain, and any struggling was immediately replaced with pure determination. She was holding her four unconscious, battered, and bleeding teammates with two ropes; five, if you included Will. The sheer amount of inner strength needed to hold five full-sized ponies in your mouth could be matched by a select few, and she was flying while doing this! The only thing she felt was the importance of getting all of her comrades out of the storm alive. And Spitfire was going to accomplish that, no matter what.
* * *
She just kept going. Her drive never faltered, not even once. Her brain only had one thought process. GET. THE BUCK. OUT. OF THE STORM. "I'm gonna save them... I'm gonna save them... I'm gonna get Will to Twilight... I'm gonna get Will to Twilight." Her words were a broken record, but they were the only things she could think of.
The wind pushed hard and the hail ripped at Spitfire's soul, but the word stop had been erased from the fabric of her existence. She could not stop, only push forward. The hail strike caused her surroundings to become numb as if time had stopped. Sound became faint echoes. There was a flash of light, and suddenly a phantasmic horse came swirling around Spitfire.
"GAH! WINDIGOS! SO THAT'S WHY THE STORM SEEMED TO BE ATTACKING US!" Spitfire was muffled by the rope. They must have been feeding off of our hardship, suffering, and misery at the hand of the storm! It's the perfect Windigo breeding ground! Oh shit, this is not good, the Windigos could keep this storm alive forever!
The Windigos howled and started circling the ponies. Spitfire felt her entire body freezing, her lower body was being encased in ice. Hail struck hard, knocking out vital wind and fight. She had to hold on to the rope, Spitfire was their only hope of survival. She didn't know what to do.
The world went dark, and everything became null and void. There was nothing to do. Spitfire couldn't call for help, for it would be like screaming in outer space. The magic ice was warping the reality of Spitfire's goals. She suddenly felt submissive, like her body wanted to be one with the ice. To serve the Windigos as their ice slave. To be a tool; a source of nutrition that the Windigos would abuse and molest. This was the fate Spitfire was being forced to accept. And she was accepting it with a smile, causing her grip on the rope to loosen.
Suddenly, something tugged at the back of Spitfire's mind. It was a voice, calling, no pleading for her not to fall to the dark magic she was currently embracing. "No! You can't do this! They need you... I need you! I don't know who you are, or why I am able to talk to you, but please!"
Wait! Who are you? How are you talking to me in my mind?! Spitfire was snapped out of the brainwash that had almost been complete.
"Don't worry about who I am! Just save your friends! Do it for me!" The voice demanded.
Suddenly the world returned to normal. Spitfire was back in the hail storm. Just in time too, only her mouth was unfrozen. She struggled, and the Windigos noticed. They attempted to reprogram her brain again, but Spitfire wasn't gonna have any of that shit. "I don't know who that was, or how the buck I heard them up there, but I must save my team mem... No, my friends! I must deliver Will to Princess Twilight! I AM SPITFIRE, LEADER OF THE WONDERBOLTS! AND IF YOU THINK FOR ONE SECOND YOU CAN SCREW WITH FIRE, THEN YOU ARE GONNA GET BURNED!"
Spitfire exploded in a blaze of glory, melting her frozen encasement. It wasn't just adrenaline anymore, it was pure strength and energy. She regripped the rope and blasted off, creating a flaming tail like a comet. In her charge, she crashed into any Windigos she saw. "GO TO HAY, YOU STUPID MOTHERBUCKERS!" Any that were hit by the fireballing pegasus were instantly vaporized. The rest scurried away into the depths of the storm, fearful of their lives.
Spitfire spied a small hole that signaled the end of the cloud line. "I see an exit! I'm getting you all the BUCK out of here alive, OR I'M GOING DOWN WITH YOU!"
Spitfire flew straight for the hole. Time blurred once again. Sounds suddenly started going through a funnel. "One hundred... fifty... ten... HYAH!" Spitfire did a corkscrew through the hole, breaking out of the lethal storm. With her final reserve of gas, she rocketed towards Ponyville. All six ponies were accounted for.
Will opened his eyes suddenly, gasped, and immediately fell back to sleep.
* * *
Twilight Sparkle
Ponyville ~ Castle Of Friendship
November 2nd
2:00 AM
Another crumpled scroll hit the overflowing wastebasket and bounced down onto the polished study flooring. "No, no, NO! If I can't add Caspenac to Retvendseal, then it's not compatible with Gerogmant, making the equation impossible! Uaghhhh!" Twilight started bashing her head against her organized desk. "Oh, wait! What if..."
*knock* *knock* *knock*
Twilight gasped. "Who could be here at..."
*THUD*
"Okay, that was not a good noise!" Twilight jumped out of her seat and galloped to the castle door. She opened the giant mahogany doors. "Hey, are you alri... AH!" Spitfire collapsed into the foyer of Twilight's castle. "SPITFIRE!" Twilight cried. She noticed a note, on which had one very unsteadily written word. OUTSIDE
"Outside?" Twilight said out loud. She then peeked through the doors. What she saw caused a wave of shattered windows in close proximity.
* * *
Castle Of Friendship ~ Guest Bedroom 1
November 2nd
4:00 AM
Spitfire's eyes slowly opened. "S...tfire?" A voice echoed through her skull.
"Ughhh... Give me ten minutes mom." Spitfire "answered", half-asleep.
"Spitfire! I'm so glad you are okay!" Twilight squealed.
"Oh! Uh... Princess!" Spitfire hesitated and jumped out of bed, then proceeding to bow.
"Ugh.. I hate when ponies do that! Please, not me. I'm not one that demands respect."
"...Okay? I'll keep that in mind, Your Majesty." Twilight facehooved, Spitfire did not get the bigger picture she was implying.
* * *
"So how are they doing?" Spitfire solemnly asked.
"Your squad? I used a little healing magic to fix the magically curable problems, but *whistle*, those were some pretty beat up Pegasi. Ponies from the Ponyville General Hospital came to fix them up. They should be better in a few days thanks to your quick actions!"
"My... quick actions?" Spitfire was confused with how Twilight knew about their escapade through the hail storm.
"Celestia sent us a letter... explaining.... the situation... shortly after you showed up..." Spike choked out through heavy eyelids. He then dozed off on Twilight's back.
"Spike, stay awake! We need as much help as we can get right now!" Twilight scolded, nudging Spike with a purple forehoof. She eventually pushed him off, which woke him up with a jolt.
"Owww... Twilight, what the hay was that about?!" He said as he sat up, rubbing his scaly head.
"SPIKE! You know better than to swear like that!"
There is a saying that those who disturb grumpy, sleep-deprived dragons are damned. That saying isn't very accurate, fucked is a better word. Why? Because right after Twilight said that, Spike jumped right up on his feet, flipped off Twilight, and promptly left. He slammed the door behind him and shouted in a pissed off tone. "BLAH, BLA-BLAH, BLA-BLAH! I'M GOING TO BED! GOOD. NIGHT!"
"Well someone is in a sour mood. Heh. Reminds me of me during boot camp. Bucking drill instructors..." Spitfire groaned at the thought of her former superiors and their asshole wake up times.
"DID HE JUST...!" Twilight wasn't just angry, she was mom angry. She started taking her frustration out on Spitfire. "THIS IS HOW PONIES WITH YOUR KIND OF VOCABULARY COME TO BE! I HATE SWEARING, IT'S JUST MINDLESS BLURTING OF WORDS THAT USUALLY AREN'T USED IN THE CORRECT CONTEXT AND..." Twilight started going off on a tangent, so Spitfire responded with a firm hoof to Twilight's head, knocking some sense into her.
"Thanks... I needed that..."
* * *
The two walked down the guest wing to Will's room. The *clop* of their hoofsteps echoed through the hallway, and Twilight's horn lit it up just enough to see in front of them. "So, you were instructed to bring him to me? Through that giant hail storm none of the less?"
"Yes, although we almost all died, I was able to drag everypony out of there." Spitfire was beyond relieved her squad was safe.
"Celestia... she's never been this sloppy or hasty in an action. Why is this Pegasus more important than the lives of five of Equestria's most elite flyers?
"She's... not entirely to blame. I instructed a few Wonderbolts to assist my escort mission. I'm glad I did, they fought bravely and greatly affected the outcome of the operation. Also, there was no way to know..."
"No way to know? Know what?"
"Windigos... Celestia couldn't have known that there were Windigos in that storm."
"WHAT?! WINDIGOS! LIKE FROM THE LEGEND OF THE FOUNDING OF EQUESTRIA?!" Twilight was having a panic attack.
"It seems they are nesting in that hail storm," Spitfire added.
"If... if the Windigos are in that storm...! They could keep it going..."
"Yeah, forever." Spitfire put a wing on Twilight's shoulder. "That is not a good sign. Especially if they can expand it..." Spitfire turned around and pulled her hair into a ponytail. Her bruised, gashed neck was revealed, as well as a giant red mark on the back of her head. "That hail, it beats you up."
"Ouch! I didn't notice that!"
"Big piece of hail struck me dead-center in the back of my head. It made my vision swim madly. Impacts in the same area knocked Soarin' and Dash out cold."
"Wow... You poor ponies went through a lot." Twilight and Spitfire reached the door. "...And all for him." Twilight pointed a hoof at Will. "Spitfire, you and your elite group are truly incredible. The courage to do what the five of you did doesn't just come from anywhere."
"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. It is an honor to serve you and Celestia."
"You may go check on your team now. I'll deal with Will waking up."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
* * *
Castle Of Friendship ~ Guest Bedroom 8
November 2nd
4:30 AM
When the door closed behind Spitfire, Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes. "Fluttershyyyyy... I HATEEEE when ponies address me as royaltyyyy."
"Aw, I'm sorry, Your Majesty." Fluttershy snickered.
"Haha, very funny. So how is he doing? Thanks for coming in the middle of the night on such short notice."
"No problem Twilight, that's what friends are for!" Fluttershy said with a timid smile. She was so huggable. "It's amazing! He doesn't have a scratch on him! The tarp he was under completely protected him from the nasty storm."
"That was good thinking on Soarin's part." Twilight was becoming thoroughly impressed with the diligence and the small details Spitfire's escort group had included in their operation.
"Yes, it was. Poor Willy could have gotten seriously injured in the defenseless state be was in!" Fluttershy's small patter of wings as she flew around Will checking for anything bad was like listening to a serene, peaceful waterfall.
"Anything?"
"No, I think he is good! I can't find a single problem other than his reported damaged ribcage!" Fluttershy reported.
"I knew that you, as an animal caretaker and vet, would be a good pony to give a detailed check! Thank you so much!"
"Awww... thanks, Twilight!" Fluttershy said as she rubbed her face against Twilight's and gave her best friend a big, fluffy hug. Her smile and the soft fur Fluttershy grew warmed Twilight's heart. "Good luck Twilight! Keep me posted!" Fluttershy started walking out.
"No problem! And thank you! Today is going to be a peculiar one!"
Flutterhy waved with her delicate wing, closing the door behind her with a flick of her long, flexible tail.
* * *
"Alright Twilight, it's almost 6 AM, the time Celestia raises the sun. Will could be waking up soon. What should I do?" Twilight asked herself, rubbing her temples with the tips of her wings.
"Oh, I know! I'll check on him every 15 minutes! If he wakes up in between that time frame, it will give him a little bit of breathing room to take it all in first!"
Twilight was satisfied with her plan and walked out to check on the others. She rotated between them and Will for the next two hours. On the ninth trip, her life would change forever.
* * *
Will
Castle Of Friendship ~ Guest Bedroom 8
November 2nd
7:00 AM
Will's eyes slowly opened, everything was blurry. "Where... am I? And why do I feel so... strange? Why is it so... warm and fluffy?" He rubbed his eyes but felt something sharp. "What... was...?" His eyes looked down on a dark tan stab where his hand should be. "What the fuck am I looking at?" He blinked rapidly a couple more times until the world came into focus. The tan stub did not go away. It was a hoof.
Will looked at the tan appendage, to his other, and back. Both of his hands had hardened, flattened, and shrunk to a bony, circular platform. "What. The FUCK!" It then occurred to him that other parts of his body felt off. He felt like the distribution of weight on his spinal cord was equal, not all on the top half, which was currently allowing him to sleep in a ball. He was also way more flexible as his head was resting on his butt.
He now realized what state he was in. He was sleeping in a fetal position. Furthermore, he had a tan fur coat and was submerged under the covers of a bed he had no recollection of entering. "That's why it felt like I had three blankets on!... WAIT, I HAVE A FUCKING FUR COAT?!"
Will shot up like a bullet, sitting uncomfortably. "Gah! Why does leaning back like this hurt so much?!" He shifted a little to put his on the headrest but suddenly felt a jolt of pain from his ass. "OW! SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!"
He craned his neck and looked at his butt. What he saw almost made his head explode. "A tail... A black, spiky tail..." He grabbed his head and started hyperventilating. "I have. A FUCKING. TAIL! GREAT! NOW WHAT DO I GET UNDER CURTAIN #2?!" He asked nobody sarcastically. Going along with his sarcasm, he threw the covers to the side and just stared. His stomach was now barrel-shaped and his legs were matching hooves. Both were covered in a fluffy, dark tan fur. You know what else what else he won that was covered? "Congrats Will, you just won yourself a giant, tan and black, footlong horse cock!" he said to himself. That's what. "How the fuck do you even use that thing without snapping it in half?! It's so long!"
The last thing he noticed was his wings. When he found out the correct new muscles for them, he held them out. They were majestic, with a similar physique to eagle's wings. "Wow... That's actually pretty cool. But still, how do I have wings?!" He questioned in a robust manner. "So I'm a pony, just like Lyra. I'm also a pegasus. Wow! That portal did some weird shit!"
He stood up on all fours. Thanks to his bed, getting a grip on his bearings was simple due to the shift of the mattress. It was balancing that was still god awful. He only lasted for a few seconds before flopping on his side with an "OMPF!" After a few more tries, he finally was stable. He found that the center of gravity needed to be equally on the ball of each hoof. Otherwise, he would lean too much and topple over sideways due to the gravitational pull, which he noticed was the same as, or at least, had the same feel as, Earth's.
He took a moment to just breathe and try out his new parts. He lifted a hoof and crossed his eyes to his new snout. His wings were erect and in the wind-breaking position Pegasi use to stop on a dime in mid-air. The feeling of being equine, being on all fours. Most of all, having wings, hooves, and a tail. It was... amazing.
Suddenly, the door opened and a lavender unicorn walked in. However, she wasn't just a unicorn, she also had wings! Her hair and tail were deep indigo with a pink stripe running down the middle. "Hey! You're a...wake..." She said, cutting herself off. Twilight Sparkle just stared at Will, and Will stared right back. Twilight took a step forward, breathing heavily. Will blinked and got down on the bed. They stared into each other's souls.
The two felt a strong connection from that moment forward. The beginning of a new era could officially be marked. To be exact, it would be marked on Thursday, November 2nd, 2015 at 7:08.47 AM. After all, at that exact moment, Will had one, singular thought. That thought would shatter everything and revive the world as everyone and everypony knew it.
She is beautiful. As fuck!