Chapter 173: Shifting Down a Few Gears
MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 173: Shifting Down a Few Gears
“……………What?” Star blinked as Dash walked by her and over to her bed. “Run that last part by me again?”
“Spitfire spontaneously decided that the force is going to spend a week at the most expensive luxury hotel and resort in the Crystal Empire.” She repeated with a straight face as she reached down and grabbed an empty duffle bag from beneath the bed. “We’re moving there tonight, so be ready to go in two hou—”
“ARE WE THERE YET?!” Twister yelled from atop Matteo’s head, several restraint belts wrapped all over his body, wearing a baseball cap, and with a trunk much larger than the room’s front door strapped to Matteo. Matteo squawked as the weight of the trunk tipped him backwards and the two crashed loudly on the ground.
“Be ready in two hours,” Dash continued, completely ignoring Twister as Matteo reached out from beneath the trunk and grabbed Twister by the neck as hard as he could. “Should probably grab some dinner too,” Dash added casually as Matteo started punching Twister repeatedly in the face, Twister’s head making squeak toy noises and the hat on his head changing to a different hat every time Matteo hit him.
“That’s… quite a way to finally speak up,” Thunderlane added as he slowly shifted away from Twister and Matteo. “No orders for two weeks and suddenly a vacation?”
“Aren’t you glad you stuck around now?” Dash chuckled, as she stuffed her belongings into her bag. The rest of the reserves had been sent home after a week of inaction, but Thunderlane had stayed since Applejack and the rest of Dash’s friends were still there. She was sure Bulk and Derpy were still around as well, but she hadn’t seen them in a while.
“I guess not,” he shrugged. “I hope Spitfire lets me in.”
“She will, and if she doesn’t I’ll pull strings,” Dash gave him a wink.
“I’m still wrapping my head around this,” Star blinked continuously.
“Allow me!” Twister’s head shot in between them, his neck elongating and speedily wrapping around a pillow on Dash’s bed like a snake and slapping a post-it note on it that read ‘THIS’.
“Do you object?” Dash asked Star with a tip of her head.
“Well, no!” Star crossed her arms and shrugged. “Just not what I expected.”
“I understand her completely,” Dash said as she zipped up her bag and jumped up on her bed, casually sitting her plot down hard against Twister’s elongated neck. His face turned blue and his head started inflating like a balloon. “Yeah, a lot of weird things just went down, but we have some color on what’s up with Soarin and Commander Wave Chill was just cured of the crystal sickness. I’ve been through the whole ‘lover awakens and is back in my arms’ scenario more than a few times now, believe me… she’s bouncing off the walls in her head right now and wants to be practical about what we all just went through.” Twister’s head was now bigger than her behind her and making squeaking balloon noises. “It was a pretty rough go, several of us ended up fighting each other, and she did not put on a good show of leadership or restraint, all of which I heard right from her mouth by the way. She wants us to reconnect. It’s an in-your-face out of nowhere way of doing it, but I think it’ll be awesome.”
Dash tipped to the side, letting her bottom off of Twister’s neck. He started blowing loud raspberries and flailing around, his neck retracting back to his body and launching himself across the room towards Squall by the window. He crashed into the window, but flattened like a pancake before slowly sliding off the glass and to the floor.
Squall didn’t look at him the whole time, he just kept staring out the window.
“Some of us could really do with some loosening up…” Star said quietly as she put her hooves on her hips and pouted towards Squall.
“I’m all for it,” Matteo suddenly chimed in as Thunderlane smirked at him.
“You’re the last one I expected to say that,” he said with a chuckle.
“You said it’s a resort, yes?” Matteo asked. Dash nodded.
“Yeah? Why?”
“Is it the one south of the castle?” Matteo pressed.
“I haven’t—”
“The one with the water parks?” Matteo cut her off.
“I don’t know, Matty!” Dash quickly said to avoid being cut off again. “I just know it’s a nice one.”
“A water park? That’s what has your attention?” Star asked curiously as she eyed Matteo up and down from the talons all the way up to his extremely stoic face.
“I like water parks,” Matteo said with a straight face. Dash, Star, and Thunderlane all glanced between one another and started snickering. “What’s so funny?” Matteo snorted.
“Do you even fit in water slides?” Thunderlane asked as they kept chuckling. Matteo just glared harshly at him. “Whoa, whoa… okay, okay!” Thunderlane backed off while gritting his teeth. He bumped into Twister’s large trunk, blinked, and looked up to see Twister wearing a speedo, a swimming cap, and a snorkel. He was standing on one hoof with his other on a barrel, his front hooves on his hips.
But Thunderlane furrowed his brow and looked behind him at the trunk instead.
“How did you even get this in here?”
“DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT.” Twister popped up directly in front of him and pressed his face to Thunderlane’s.
Dash held a hoof over her mouth, still stifling laughter from Matteo’s apparent interest in water parks, but she averted her eyes and saw Star staring towards Squall over by the window by himself.
Dash sighed as she watched Star do nothing. She had actually given up trying to talk to him? Squall hadn’t been the same since the encounter with Ruin, despite the fact that the only things revealed were actually great things about him and what he cared about. He was either too embarrassed to look them in the eye or… he wanted to avoid the subject. Ruin did force something very personal out of him after all, and Squall was always very sensitive to his own inner thoughts and feelings.
Maybe the resort would help him loosen up. At least she hoped. She was getting tired of him being so distant. This couldn’t last going forward.
But for now she focused on getting herself ready to go and making sure the rest did. No doubt the rest of the Wonderbolts were getting ready as well.
“Oh, of course! I’d be happy to assist,” Fancy Pants said with a bow. “Just leave it to me. I can easily get the force a block of rooms at the Grand Ruby.”
“Thank you, Fancy,” Cadence nodded with a smile while turning to Spitfire.
“Wow,” Spitfire chuckled. “Must be a real nice place if not even you can pull strings there,” she said to Cadence.
“Oh I’d rather not overstep,” Cadence tipped her head and laughed nervously. “I can do it discreetly from time to time, but for around a hundred ponies at a time? That might be a bit much. Besides…”
“Besides, what?” Spitfire asked as Cadence glanced towards the sly smile of Fancy Pants.
“Ah, nothing… I won’t ruin it for him,” Cadence giggled as Fancy chuckled with her.
“Well then…” Spitfire shrugged. “I appreciate it, both of you. The Wonderbolts have been…”
“Through quite a bit,” Fancy Pants finished for her as he stepped forward and placed a hoof on Spitfire’s shoulder. “I’ve had the opportunity to speak with a few of them, no need to explain yourself,” he said while purposely not mentioning his discreet involvement during the battle. “And a good friend of one of yours is a close confidant of mine. It’s no trouble at all. I can have you in your rooms by late tonight, say, around nine o’clock… just in time to catch some well-deserved rest on the softest beds you’ll ever sleep on.”
“God, that sounds pretty good right now…” Spitfire shivered delightfully at the thought. “I’ll have us there by then.”
“Until tonight!” Fancy gave a quick wave of his hoof and turned to leave.
“The Grand Ruby, huh?” Fleetfoot chimed in as she stepped up beside Spitfire.
“I can’t think of a better resort in Equestria,” Cadence nodded. “Though I may be a little biased.”
“As long as I can get a drink, a massage, and chances to show off my flank, I’m sold,” Fleetfoot shook her head out and batted her eyelashes.
“Let’s keep the belligerence to a minimum,” Spitfire quickly placed a hoof over her head.
“Aw, but I wanna have fun!” Fleetfoot pouted.
“You can have fun without the hotel staff or other patrons sending complaints to me,” Spitfire grinded her hoof back and forth gently against Fleetfoot’s head.
“I won’t make promises I can’t keep!” Fleetfoot giggled as she reached up and grabbed Spitfire’s arm off her head.
“Thanks again for the help, Princess,” Spitfire nodded to Cadence. “We really need a break to unwind and I can’t think of a better way to do it. I hate to ask for more, but please do your best to… keep the gods focused on Soarin and not bickering with Sombra.”
“Think nothing of it, and…” Cadence gritted her teeth and looked up. “I will try, though I doubt there’s much I can do about it.”
“I appreciate the effort at least,” Spitfire chuckled as she pressed down harder on Fleetfoot’s head, preventing her from wiggling free.
“Oh, one last thing. This is perfect timing,” Cadence sat down and happily clapped her hooves together. “In an effort to keep the citizens calm in the wake of the very strange events, we decided to go ahead with this year’s Crystal Ball.”
“Crystal Ball?” Spitfire tipped her head.
“An annual celebration of the Crystal Empire’s founding!” Cadence smiled. “The date just so happens to be the last day of this coming week. It would be great to have the Wonderbolts attend and it would be a nice end to your resort stay. It’s a night festival starting at sundown that extends nearly from end to end of the Empire with all the citizens taking part, and it ends with a grand ball in the halls of the palace and the streets surrounding it. It’s a tradition that’s gone back since the Empire has existed, and it has never been cancelled. I can think of no better way to keep the citizens at ease.”
“Huh…” Spitfire blinked. “I don’t think we have any formal attire though.”
“DON’T LISTEN TO HER!” Fleetfoot zipped in front of her and jammed a hoof against Spitfire’s mouth, her eyes wide and sparkling. “We’ll be there!”
“FlrrtFrrt…” Spitfire mumbled while flattening her brow.
“Shush, I’ll figure out the clothes,” she winked.
“Fine…” Spitfire caved, gently pushing Fleetfoot’s arm down.
“Excellent,” Cadence stood up and nodded. “I’ll be sure to include you on the royal guest list then. Now I really should get back to Soarin and—”
“SPITFIRE!” an angry voice suddenly boomed from within the palace halls. Spitfire’s ears twitched and she sighed.
“Was waiting for this…” she said sarcastically as she turned to face Descent angrily stomping towards her with Lightning Dust nervously keeping up behind him.
Again, there was no sign of Starry Skies.
Cadence quickly glanced back and forth, silently mouthing ‘I gotta go’ before turning to leave them to what appeared to be an impending confrontation.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! A resort hotel? Now?! What did I just say about being too relaxed?!” Descent kept shouting, all those in his path moving aside as he stormed right up to Spitfire and jammed his face into hers. But she didn’t budge, holding a straight face as he scrunched up his. “Please tell me you’re joking, have you forgotten what the current situation is?!”
“I know exactly what the situation is, Descent, and this is what the Wonderbolts need right now,” she said firmly, not caving under his harsh glare.
“We have an enemy that’s still out there somewhere and you have the mind to think a vacation is the next course of action?!”
Fleetfoot yelped and backed off as Spitfire suddenly reached forward and grabbed a hoof full of the neck of Descent’s Renegade flight suit. She pulled hard, forcing his head down to be level with hers and narrowed her eyes.
“Now you listen to me, tough guy, because I’m only going to say this once,” she hissed sharply. “The Wonderbolts are NOT the Shadowbolts. We don’t operate the same way and we don’t follow your set of rules. There is a form and function to the way we work and that structure was majorly damaged during the chaos and confusion of everything that’s gone down since we ripped the Nimbus out of the ground in Canterlot. We don’t thrive on beating each other down or living in fear of an aspiring leader looking to off those above them to gain rank. We thrive on comradery, friendship, and family… our strength comes from our connections and our desire to fight hard for those fighting just as hard around us.”
She let go of Descent’s suit, but otherwise stayed right where she was, and Descent remained with his head tilted.
“So yeah, we have an enemy out there. Want us to be at our best? Then we need to do this, and after we do this, I have more plans to get us in the best possible position to take on our enemy. So YOU keep focusing on the Renegades, and I’LL focus on the Wonderbolts. Don’t go lecturing me on what you don’t understand.”
There was a long pause between them, both Lightning Dust and Fleetfoot standing perfectly still as the two glared at one another.
“Feh,” Descent scoffed as he stood upright. “Fine… but don’t come crying to me if there’s suddenly contact while you’re sipping cocktails at a poolside.” He quickly turned away, surprising all of them with how quickly he dropped it. Past disputes between the two of them never ended with a single argument from one side.
“Hold on a second,” Spitfire reached forward and grabbed him by the shoulder. Descent stiffened briefly, but growled.
“WHAT?” he said harshly with a loud snort.
“Turn and look at me for a moment,” Spitfire demanded. Descent slowly turned and glared, his scrunched expression twitching slightly. “Are you feeling alright?”
Descent’s eyes widened considerably for a brief second, but he quickly forced them back into place.
“I’m fine,” he said quickly, his face struggling to hold the overly serious look.
“You sure as hell don’t look like it, and you sure as hell aren’t acting like it,” Spitfire pointed out.
“Yeah, you’re usually twice as stiff and radiating at least three times the testosterone,” Fleetfoot chimed in, leaning against Spitfire and tilting her head in to get close to Descent. Descent pulled back and averted his eyes, saying nothing.
Both Spitfire and Fleetfoot glanced towards Lightning Dust as they caught a glimpse of her subtly waving at them from behind Descent. She placed a hoof near her mouth and whispered.
“Starry Skies.”
“LIGHTNING DUST!!!!” Descent rapidly turned and erupted at her.
“AIEE!!!” she yelped and scooted back as Descent loomed over her.
“You’re kidding me…” Fleetfoot pushed off Spitfire and lifted an eyebrow. Descent froze in place and scrunched his mouth as Fleetfoot moved up beside him. “She’s still avoiding you?”
“She’s avoiding everypony,” Descent murmured.
“No, I’m pretty sure she’s avoiding you specifically,” Fleetfoot nudged him in the shoulder as he sat down and grunted, not offering any response. “What did you do? Pop a stiffy when she turned all pretty and sparkly?”
“Fleet…” Spitfire rolled her eyes. But strangely, Descent didn’t retort.
“Must’ve been, she plays a good grump game, but anything saucy breaks her on the spot. And with what you’re packing down there, she probably—MRFF!” Fleetfoot was cut off as Spitfire put her in a headlock and stuffed a hoof over her mouth.
“Ignore her,” Spitfire said calmly to Descent as Lightning Dust kept her eyes averted with her face turning red. “So she showed up to join us during the battle, vanished again after it was all over, and still won’t show herself?”
“Hrm…” Descent hummed in frustration.
“What the hell is the big deal? Her crystal form?” Spitfire continued as Fleetfoot grabbed her hoof and tried to remove it from her face. “We had lots of ponies with crystal heritage ‘activate’ when we came within the shield. What’s the big deal?”
“Something is different about hers,” Descent cut in. “And it’s something she didn’t wish to share, it seems.”
“Is she hiding something?” Spitfire thought out loud.
“I really couldn’t care less,” Descent quickly interjected. “It doesn’t matter to me at all, I just want her back here with me where she belongs. I’m having a hard enough time handling things as is.”
“FWAH!” Fleetfoot gasped for air as she finally got free of Spitfire’s hoof. “Sounds like you could use a vacation!” she giggled while still restrained.
“Oh please, I don’t have time for—”
“You know…” Spitfire cut him off, a smile forming on her lips. Descent blinked, his eyes shooting open as he quickly turned around and glared at her.
“No.”
“You knooooooooooooooow…” Spitfire leaned towards him, a smirk forming on her lips.
“Abso-LUTLEY not!” Descent growled at her.
“Ooo…? Oooooooooooo? Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Spitty?” Fleetfoot joined in, leaning towards him.
“… I will fight you both.” Descent gritted his teeth.
“That settles it,” Spitfire clapped her hooves together. “You’re coming with us.”
“What did I JUST say?” Descent snapped, but Spitfire shrugged.
“Okay, put’em up, buddy,” she lifted her hooves. “I’ve beat up your other marefriend more than once. You know, the one who can crush steel beams with her eager thighs.” She started bobbing back and forth. “Just try me on for size, if you don’t come along quietly, I can make it so you wake up in a hotel bed three days from now.”
Descent’s eyes narrowed to tiny slits and his expression flattened considerably as Spitfire goofily wobbled her head around and rotated her hooves.
“Don’t try it,” Fleetfoot shifted low in between the two of them while making a sliding motion past her throat. “She did it to me once, it wasn’t pleasant.”
Descent continued to stare at the two of them, the corners of his mouth straining as they curled down as hard as they could. But then he blinked when he heard Lightning Dust chuckling behind him.
“Hrmrrrghrmrmmmm…” he slouched over and growled to himself. “No. My answer is still no, I need to—”
“You need a break, son.”
Descent flinched as Blazetail’s voice met his ears. Spitfire and Fleetfoot both glanced past him to see both him and Flashwind coming forward. Descent quickly turned and glared at Blazetail.
“This isn’t your choice to make,” Descent poked him in the chest. “I’m not going, and that’s final.”
“Really now?” Flashwind moved up beside her husband and lifted an eyebrow as she looked Descent in the eye. “Would you have gone if Starry wasn’t missing?”
“I…!” Descent shouted, but instantly trailed off, his mouth stuck open but nothing coming out.
“That’s a big fat yes!” Fleetfoot shifted in front of the two veteran Wonderbolts and stood on the tips of her hooves. Descent reclined and cringed.
“No it isn’t—!”
“Oh, it SO is!” Fleetfoot giggled as she reached up and tapped a hoof to his chin. “Your pretty princess would make it all better, eh?”
Descent’s eyes twitched unevenly.
“Are we talking about the vacation or Starry?!” he demanded, grabbing his mane and pulling on it.
“Look, Descent,” Spitfire came around and nudged Fleetfoot aside. “Let’s be serious. You’ve been working overtime on our behalf and taking care of just about everything for us from the moment you saved our asses in Canterlot. So let me put it this way… it’s about time you had a break, and we owe you one, so let me do this for you.”
Descent stared at Spitfire, his expression remaining hard and unwavering.
“No,” he sighed. “It’s not my way of doing things, plus I need to find—”
“There you go again,” Flashwind cut him off. “This is only about Starry, isn’t it?”
Descent went completely silent and averted his eyes from all of them.
“Tell you what,” Flashwind put both hooves on his shoulders. “Join them, go get off your hooves and rest. I’ll separate a small group of Renegades and will search for her myself. You’re not the only one who wants her back and helping out around here.”
“And I’ll take care of the scouting routes,” Blazetail chimed in. “The Wonderbolts are trying to recharge their own way… and something tells me it would do you good to partake.”
“Hrm…” Descent harrumphed in a disagreeable tone.
“Okay, how about this?” Flashwind reached up and forced Descent to look at her. “How about you do this to spend some time with your son?”
Descent froze, his ears standing straight up and his eyes widening as Flashwind threw the haymaker.
“Have you ever had any real quality time with him? At all?” she kept pressing. “You were only able to sneak in and out when he was younger and since you two reunited it’s been nothing but conflict. Don’t you think it would be good for him, and you, to have some time to actually connect?”
Watching Descent’s shift in posture was like watching butter melt in the desert sun. Flashwind’s proposal cut right through his tough exterior, prodding something extremely personal. It was as if she knew this was how he’d react.
Descent quickly turned away from her, clenching a hoof in front of his chest for a moment before he sighed and slowly glanced at Spitfire.
“I’ll… go.”
“Perfect,” Spitfire clapped her hooves together. “I’ll make sure you and Storm get a room to share.”
“Yeah, sure… that sounds great…” Descent mumbled, sounding completely defeated.
“Hmm…” Fleetfoot rubbed her chin. “We should bring Lightning Dust along too,” she nudged Spitfire.
“Eh?” Spitfire looked up and stared towards Lightning Dust. Dust stiffened as Spitfire’s gaze hardened slightly on her.
“Descent’ll be in a room with Storm, but do you really want to bombard him from all sides with how weird we can be? Let’s at least have one of his there for him to fall back on in case… Spitty?” Fleetfoot tipped her head quizzically as she saw Spitfire’s gaze grow harder. She glanced between her and Lightning Dust as Dust continued to hold perfectly still and look increasingly anxious. “Oh…” Fleetfoot perked up. “Right, uh… I almost forgot about—”
“No, that’s a good idea,” Spitfire quickly shifted her eyes away from Lightning Dust. “She can come too.”
“Aha… th…thanks…” Lightning Dust stuttered as she tried to play it off.
“Anywho!” Spitfire turned around and put a smile back on. “I for one… am looking forward to my first good night’s sleep in forever. We are meeting around eight tonight in front of the palace for roll call before heading to the Grand Ruby by nine. Don’t be late!” Spitfire winked towards Descent before trotting off with a bounce in her step. Fleetfoot hopped up and down a couple of times while giggling happily before following behind.
“See ya there, big daddy!” she called back to Descent before speeding up to catch Spitfire.
“Good choice, son,” Blazetail patted Descent on the back.
“Your son will appreciate it,” Flashwind added as the two turned and left as well, leaving Descent and Lightning Dust alone.
Dust made her way over to him, snickering lightly under her breath. Descent was staring directly ahead, a flat, unamused look stuck on his face. Dust looked him up and down.
“They got you pretty good.”
“Shut up…”
“C’mon guys, c’mon!” Dash yelled back to the rest of her crew as they made their way towards the Crystal Palace with their belongings. “We’re not going to be the last group to show up!” she added as she and Star trotted along the road illuminated in the night by the crystal lamps. Matteo, Thunderlane, and Squall picked up the pace to catch up with Twister standing upright atop Matteo’s head, looking through a telescope.
“HARD TO PORT!” Twister yelled, yanking on the left side of Matteo’s crest. He squawked and fell to the left, tumbling into an antique store. Squall kept going, but Thunderlane stopped to cringe and watch as Twister somehow navigated Matteo around the entire shop and back out without breaking a single thing inside. Matteo slid out of the shop on his stomach, his chin flat on the ground as he sighed.
“Why is it always me? Couldn’t he do this to one of you for once?” he asked with a grunt as Twister yanked on his crest feathers while straining and screeching.
“Isn’t really our fault, Dash!” Thunderlane called forward as Dash turned and glared at them.
“TWISTER! CUT IT OUT!”
“Kay.” Twister appeared directly beside her with a cute look on his face and an angel halo. Dash flattened her brow and flicked the halo off his head.
“As if anyone would buy that,” she said to him sarcastically as the halo was immediately replaced with devil horns. “Now quit foolin’ around! Let’s go!”
She picked up the pace with the rest following behind, eventually spotting several Wonderbolts gathered as they drew near the Palace gates. Seemed she was worried for nothing, because not even half of the force appeared to be there yet. Dash slowed down, the rest catching up to her as they trotted right up to Spitfire.
“Reporting for vacation!” Dash said jokingly with a salute as Spitfire turned to greet them.
“Pfff… good one,” Spitfire jabbed her in the shoulder. “Everypony is taking their sweet time, so sit tight,” Spitfire said with a slight grunt as she glanced up at the clock to see it was five past eight.
Dash nodded, turning back to make sure her squad was completely accounted for. Squall, Matteo, Star… well, Thunderlane wasn’t really, but he was there, and…
WHUMP
They all jumped as Twister suddenly slammed the massive trunk he had in the hotel room onto the ground and sat atop it with a tie-dye button down shirt, dark sunglasses, and summer hat. Thunderlane looked the trunk up and down.
“How did you get that out of the hotel room?”
“DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT.” Twister popped up in front of him and got in his face again.
Good, that was everypony. Dash quickly scanned to see which Wonderbolts had arrived. Spitfire was obviously there. Fleetfoot and Air Mach were with her. Blaze and High Winds were there. Squad Three had not arrived yet and…
“Bwuh…?” Dash blinked as she saw Descent and Lightning Dust sitting nearby. They were out of their Renegade suits and each had a bag with them. THEY were coming with them? She didn’t know the details, but based on Descent’s grumpy expression she assumed it wasn’t his choice. She also noticed Starry Skies wasn’t around. Was she still missing or did she refuse? Knowing her, the very idea of Fleetfoot being within the vicinity would be enough to keep her away.
After a little more scanning, she spotted Squad Zero grouped together off to the side. Dash hummed quietly to herself as she saw them, specifically Shine Struck. It had been a long time since she had talked to any of them, and she and Shine never got a chance to really talk about witnessing Spitfire’s abilities to mimic like they do. As for the rest of them… they played a part in Spitfire attempting to shut down her plan during the battle, so it felt a little awkward, but… she just chalked it up to another few ponies she had to possibly re-establish with. If she could at least talk to Shine, that would probably take care of the rest. Aside from her, Dash mostly worried for Calm. If Starry Skies wasn’t around to harass, Fleetfoot’s other favorite target was him. A whole week at a resort? She’d find him eventually, not that the big dope would find anything big enough to actually hide him.
Dash perked up as something large moved past her. She leaned back slightly as Macho Savage stomped by, hooting and hollering his usual aimless jargon with Lead Runner and Point Dex right behind.
Spitfire perked up when she saw them.
“Rivet actually let you two out of the Nimbus?” she chuckled as Point Dex ducked under Macho’s swinging arms.
“Don’t look at me, Runner’s the one who dragged me out,” Dex huffed as Lead Runner patted him on the head.
“You needed a break, hun!” he cooed flamboyantly.
“And Rivet didn’t?”
“He kicked and screamed too hard when I tried,” Lead Runner waved a hoof and chuckled.
Squad Seven…
Dash narrowed her eyes slightly as she glanced around but… where was he?
“Um… hey…”
Dash perked up and she looked over her shoulder. The rest of her squad looked as well.
Storm Front had stopped in the same path as his squad, looking at all of them nervously with his duffle bag slung over his shoulder.
“How… are you guys?”
“I’m—”
“We’re fine.” Dash cut off Thunderlane, who blinked and froze as Dash spoke for him and turned her back again. “Just dandy,” Dash added with a slightly harsh tone as Storm Front flinched. He looked at the rest of them, leaning away slightly as he got yet another harsh glare from both Matteo and Squall. Thunderlane had backed off entirely, sensing the mood. Star was looking between the rest of her squadmates and Storm, but didn’t seem to know what to do. She wasn’t projecting disapproval like the others, but she still didn’t say anything.
Twister had his head lodged in the large trunk.
“Uh… that’s cool… yeah…” Storm sighed heavily, turning and moving to join his squad.
The moment he was out of earshot, Star put her hooves on her hips and looked between them all.
“Don’t you guys think you’re being a little harsh?” she asked. Squall just looked away. Matteo grunted.
“Direct betrayal isn’t so easily forgiven,” Matteo said strongly. “Especially when as egregious as this.”
“I know YOU are going to be stiff about it,” Star said while rolling her eyes. “But Dash… what about you?” she asked while floating over to her. Dash exhaled and shook her head.
“I’m not ready yet,” she said simply.
“Ready for what?”
“Him.”
“Why?”
“It still hurts, Star,” Dash explained as she turned to her. “To have somepony you’ve grown with and trusted as much as we have turn around and stab you that hard in the back.”
“Didn’t it all work out in the end? It’s not like anypony was thinking straight,” Star tried to reason with her, but Dash held her ground.
“Doesn’t matter… it was a whole different level of trust he shattered.”
Star tipped forward to say more, but stopped, sighed, and shrugged as she turned away.
What none of them knew, though… was that Descent had witnessed the whole exchange.
“Hmmm…” he hummed to himself as he glanced between Dash and Storm, taking careful note of how crushed Storm looked. “Hmph…”
“What’s up?” Lightning Dust asked, glancing at him.
“Nothing.”
“Where the hell is Fire?” Spitfire asked as she scanned the growing group of arriving Wonderbolts.
“Maybe Lightning Streak ate too many burritos at lunch again,” Fleetfoot shrugged and rolled her eyes. She slowly looked to her left to see Air Mach sitting perfectly still and silent. “Okay this is getting weird, why the hell haven’t you said a word all day?”
Air Mach gritted his teeth, grinning wide as he puffed his chest out and looked skyward. Spitfire looked over towards him and flattened her brow.
“Air Mach, when I told you to keep your mouth shut…” Spitfire paced up to him. “I meant just while we were talking to Celestia and curing Wave… you can talk now.”
“HWAAAAAAAAAH!” Air Mach exhaled loudly into the air. “HA!! No need to specify, captain lady! The great Animak makes his own challenges!” he shouted while pointing to the sky. “And now it’s time to hit this resort hotel with all I’ve got! Bring it on, relaxation! I’m gonna beat the shit out of you!”
“WHY?!” Fleetfoot pressed her ears to her head and quickly turned to Spitfire. “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?”
“You wanted to know,” Spitfire lifted an eyebrow at her.
“You could have just told me that! AUGH!” she groaned as Air Mach continued to chant random things about ‘owning’ his upcoming vacation.
“Maybe I should have…” Spitfire cringed as Air Mach bounded over and started chanting to other Wonderbolts as well, allowing Fleetfoot to remove the pressure from her ears and sigh in relief. “Ah… There’s squad three…” Spitfire waved to the last of the top tiers to arrive.
But Fire and Misty only waved briefly before both Lightning and Surprise suddenly shouted something and pointed. Fire perked up as well, Misty catching on as she saw them react.
“Huh?” Spitfire blinked, but Fleetfoot nudged her with a smarmy giggle.
“Turn around hot stuff, you’ve got company,” she said while bouncing her eyebrows.
“What are you—?”
“Reporting, Captain!”
Spitfire’s heart nearly jumped through her throat. She spun around to see Wave Chill walking out of the Palace and only a few paces away. She was shocked for a moment, but her face quickly lit up with a big smile.
“Wave!” she giddily greeted him as she shifted forward, but froze in place, looking him up and down. “Oh, wait, wait… you’re… feeling alright? You’re out of there pretty quick… not sore or anything?” she frantically fretted over him, causing Fleetfoot to burst out laughing and keel over.
“I feel alright,” Wave assured her with a smile. “A little achy still, but those crystal dew baths they have in there sure are something.”
“Good,” Spitfire immediately leaned forward and hugged him. “Ooooooh you have no idea how good it feels just to see you up and on your hooves again…” she said as she pulled away and other top tier Wonderbolts started gathering around.
Blaze launched herself at him, falling short and sliding on the ground until she clung to one of his hooves.
“YOU FUCKING JACKASS!” she yelled as she clutched his leg tightly. “DON’T EVER FUCKING WORRY ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!”
“Good to see you, Blaze,” he chuckled as High Winds joined her side and put a hoof on her head gently.
“You look pretty good for a stallion that pretty much was just dead,” she said with a yawn, shimmering brightly.
“I’m just glad I’m not,” Wave gave her a nudge before looking about. “No Silver, huh?” he said with a frown.
“He’s still in the hospital I’m afraid,” Fire chimed in as he stepped forward, High Winds finally prying Blaze off Wave’s hoof. “He won’t be joining us, but he’s alive and well.”
“That’s good to hear at lea—OOF! Hi Misty!” Wave teetered backwards as Misty fly practically tackled him and nuzzled her cheek into his as she hugged him.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa…” Lightning reached forward to stop her from leaning into him so hard.
“I tried to stop her, my arm hurts a lot now…” Surprise whined from behind with fake teary eyes.
“Okay, okay…” Spitfire came forward, chuckling to herself. “Let’s not overcrowd him now… we’ve got plenty of time to catch up this coming week, everypony make sure you’ve got your things ready,” she ordered, causing them to detach and slowly disperse, all giving Wave a look or pat on the back as they left.
“Nothing has changed, huh?” Wave asked, returning his attention to Spitfire and Fleetfoot.
“Pffffffffffffffffthpbphtbphtb…” Fleetfoot blew raspberries. “May look like that on the surface but HELL that ain’t the truth.” She said sarcastically.
“They haven’t lost personality at least,” Wave pointed out. “Frankly, that’s all I want to see.”
“You… really are feeling alright?” Spitfire suddenly asked again, gently placing a hoof on his shoulder.
“Captain?” he tipped his head as Spitfire pouted.
“Just a few hours ago you were frozen in a crystal and covered in marks sprouting crystalized formations… it’s just gone?”
“I’m standing right here, aren’t I?” Wave smiled at her, which she returned.
“Guess it’s just hard to wrap my mind around… it doesn’t seem real.”
“I won’t claim to feel in tip top shape but,” Wave gave her an assuring nod. “I’m definitely not in pain anymore, just feeling a little stiff still. It was worse before the clerics took me to their recovery baths. Let me put it this way. It really sucked being stuck in bed for weeks with hard jagged crystals poking out of me. I think I could use some rest and relaxation too.”
“I guess I can’t argue with that,” Spitfire chuckled, rubbing her hoof on his shoulder. “But either way, just take it easy… nice and slow.”
“Will do, ma’am,” Wave nodded. But Spitfire didn’t pull away, she flattened her brow, looked down, and sighed. “What?”
“You don’t have to use formalities with me, you know…” she said quietly, while slowly shifting her eyes up to him in a somewhat cute, pleading stare.
“Oh, heh… Sorry…” Wave chuckled. “I guess old habits die hard.”
Spitfire was about to let go of his shoulder, but he suddenly reached a hoof over to clasp it, catching Spitfire off guard.
“I’m going to go catch up with the others before we leave,” he nodded and gave her hoof a squeeze. “Thanks for always looking out for me… I never doubted you for a second, Spitfire.”
Spitfire’s eyes widened as Wave moved forward, pressing his cheek into hers and nuzzling all the way down her neck to her shoulder, pressing his body to hers and running his wing feathers through hers in an extremely affectionate gesture before moving on to go find other Wonderbolts.
Spitfire’s body shuddered delightfully throughout the whole motion, short breaths drawing into her throat as her fur stood on end and her wings flittered. She turned around quickly as the jolts rushed through her, watching Wave make his way towards the group and get warmly greeted by the other Wonderbolts.
It was a wonder she didn’t melt on the spot, the goofiest looking love-struck grin plastering itself to her face as her cheeks turned pink and she wobbled a little in place.
“God, you two are so damn CUTE,” Fleetfoot mused, while slyly watching Spitfire turn to mush.
“Eheheeeeeh…” Spitfire giggled in a euphoric daze. “Yeeeeeaaahhhh… we arrrrreeeee…” she agreed, her voice almost cracking as Fleetfoot nearly lost it watching Spitfire sway and babble.
“Though I gotta say, that was pretty casanova of Chiller,” Fleetfoot nodded, impressed. “Never struck me as the type to be so forward.”
“I… confessed love to him right before he was captured,” Spitfire said dreamily.
Fleetfoot’s eyes snapped to her and went wide.
“Whoa wait… I heard you say it to him before he was put under but…” She bounced up and down giddily. “When?! Where?!”
“When we were all forced to share a locker room and the vents weren’t working.”
“PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT…” Fleetfoot bit her lips and almost fell over. “Hahahahahaha! You confessed you loved him in a room that smelled like literal ass?”
“And kissed him… softly,” Spitfire kept admitting without caring.
“Love in a time of stank…” Fleetfoot held her hooves out and closed one eye, slowly moving them apart. “Starring Spitfire and Wave Chill!”
“Oh, stop it…” Spitfire kept giggling, clearly only half there as the rest of her was still in a tizzy.
“But that’s great!” Fleetfoot affectionately pressed her cheek into Spitfire’s chest. “The two of you were always so stiff and by the book. Who would have thought rubbing the two of you together was the trick to loosen you both up!” she snickered.
“Hmmmmmmmmyeeeeeah…” Spitfire seemed to get a little more lost in herself again, which only made Fleetfoot giggle harder as she followed Spitfire’s eyes directly back to Wave Chill surrounded by other Wonderbolts.
“You look like you have some needs to be satisfied,” Fleetfoot nudged her while bouncing her eyebrows. Spitfire blinked and shook her head out, somewhat coming back to her senses but the hearts might as well have still been floating out of her ears.
“Oh, I don’t want to be too rough with him right after…”
She trailed off as Fleetfoot gave her a very flat-browed, blank look.
“Okay fine, I’m probably going to wreck him,” Spitfire admitted, while grinning and glancing away.
“Or you could let him wreck you. C’mon girl, belay the order and let him take command! You could use a good zero effort rutting,” she cooed.
“Mrrrffff…” Spitfire shut her eyes and bit down on her lip hard. “Stop it, Fleet… at this rate everypony’s gonna stare at me…” she whined as she crossed her back legs.
“Oh, it’s going to be so easy to mess with you from here on…” Fleetfoot grinned mischievously.
“Captain!”
“BRLARGH!!!!!!” Spitfire launched upward, her wings catching herself in a hover as she slowly floated back down. She turned to Fire Streak with her face blinking red as Fleetfoot fell over and rolled on the ground laughing.
“Are you… okay?” Fire snorted as he looked her up and down.
“YES! FINE! PERFECTLY FINE!” Spitfire frantically stated. “What is it?” she tried to cool down, but it wasn’t working at all. Fire smirked, unable to hide his amusement.
“The force is all here, I took the opportunity to do roll call while you were… occupied,” he said while trying to stay professional.
“Oh?” Spitfire blinked, looking past him and scanning over the gathered crowd. “Oh… thanks. Round up the top tier squads and bring them over here.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Fire nodded, unable to get rid of the smirk.
Spitfire winced awkwardly as she reached up and touched her still very warm face. She took several long deep breaths to try and calm down.
“Having issues?” Fleeetfoot teased while touching a hoof to Spitfire’s shoulder and tracing a circle on it.
“HmmmmmMMMMMMMM…” Spitfire sat down and pressed her hooves to her face. “Not the bad kind, but… oooooooh… I can’t stop it…” she groaned. She kept her face in her hooves, but started to worry when Fleetfoot didn’t say anything.
“Give her a moment guys, she’s a bit heated!” Fleetfoot suddenly said while lost in a fit of giggles. Spitfire looked up with wide eyes. The rest of the top tier squad members were all sitting before her, their bags in tow, and looking on with varying degrees of amused or confused expressions at Spitfire’s current state. Wave was there too, and he was averting his eyes nervously with a smile on his face.
“Um… UM…!” Spitfire locked up, her face going blank as it remained bright red. Her eyes were fixed on Wave Chill. The others stared, waiting for her to say something, but eventually Blaze turned and lifted an eyebrow at Wave.
“Did you poke your nose in her cooch or something? She’s lit up like a fucking candle,” Blaze commented.
“No I just…” Wave chuckled, embarrassed.
“Not even at the hotel yet and they’re grinding each other,” High Winds commented with a yawn and turned to Wave after she stopped shimmering. “Warn me before you relieve the weeks-long morning wood with her, I don’t want to get caught in the blast radius.”
“OKAY EVERYPONY!” Fleetfoot chimed in, stepping in front of Spitfire who looked just about ready to explode. “Let’s split up and get everypony moving towards the hotel. Sooner we get there, the sooner we can crash, alright?”
That seemed to do the trick, the others nodded in agreement while clearly seeing their captain was a bit… unresponsive at the moment. They split up and started rounding up the Wonderbolts.
As Fleetfoot made her way around, she ended up corralling Dash and her squad with her, bringing them along as the group started moving as a whole. The two of them began chatting, but Fleetfoot suddenly frantically tapped Dash’s shoulder and pointed elsewhere. Dash blinked and looked to see Spitfire standing by Lightning Streak and Wave Chill. They were all gathering up their bags and getting ready to move, but as Spitfire got her bag on her shoulder, her eyes locked on Wave. He was conversing with Lightning and had his side turned to her.
Fleetfoot started giggling rapidly as Spitfire bit her lip and reached a hoof out, touching Wave’s waist just above his flank.
“Hm? Yes?” Wave casually turned and looked at her.
“HuhWHUH?!” Spitfire pulled her hoof back and turned red… again. “I, uh… NOTHING! Nothing… haha! I’m good, let’s go!” she turned and started walking really fast to the front of the moving group.
Fleetfoot slumped into Dash, cracking up as Dash blinked with a widening grin.
“Brace yourself, Dashie!” Fleetfoot stood up and winked at her. “It’s gonna get silly around here real fast!”
It was a bit of a walk to the resort, but it didn’t take long before they knew it was close. They could tell where it was from almost four blocks away. “Grand Ruby” was certainly a fitting name for the place, because with all the relatively blue crystal surfaces around the Empire, a structure made entirely out of red gemstone stuck out like a sore wing. The building was massive and the way light bounced off of it caused a shimmering rose colored hue that the surrounding blue surfaces simply couldn’t match.
Eyes grew wide and shifted up as they drew near the enormous resort premise stretching outward for several acres. The ruby architecture of the building itself was incredibly impressive. It almost looked medieval in comparison to other buildings nearby as if it was preserved from a long lost form of builders many thousands of years ago. It did not nearly stand as tall or as proud as the Crystal Palace, but it rivaled it in beauty, and certainly stood out being bright red with spires on the four corners and six stories high.
Fancy Pants was waiting for them outside the front gate. He waved down Spitfire as they approached.
“A few minutes early I see!” Fancy chuckled as he looked at his pocket watch. “Eager to get off your hooves?”
“That’s putting it lightly,” Spitfire nodded as she came forward and shook hooves with Fancy. “Also… wow. You know I think I saw this place from the above when we flew in on the Nimbus, but I had no idea it was a resort of all things…”
“Probably the best one you’ll find in Equestria,” Fancy bowed. “If it’s relaxation and a good time you’re after, there is no finer place.”
“Thank you again for covering this for us,” Spitfire smiled. “For more than eighty ponies? I hate to be a burden on your pocketbook like that.”
“Cover you?” Fancy smirked as he removed his monocle. “Why, my dear, I have no idea what you’re talking about!” he chuckled heartily as he replaced the monocle and turned his back to her. “Please, follow me in!”
“Eh?” Fleetfoot blinked, she and Spitfire glancing at one another.
“I dunno…” Spitfire shrugged. “C’mon.”
While they weren’t sure what Fancy was implying, the Wonderbolts filed in, all walking through the gates and past the wall encircling the property.
And they thought it was impressive from the outside! As they walked along the promenade towards the main building, they were met with a wondrous sight of the many areas and attractions strewn around. There were several restaurants, bars, one or two outdoor water parks with other themed pools and areas nearby. Outdoor stages for shows, a large fitness center detached from the main building that looked larger than the Nimbus gym, golf courses, private club areas… and that was just the front. The attractions stretched around and behind the hotel building as well. With the architecture of the building alongside it, it almost looked like one could call it a kingdom of entertainment with a castle in the center, everything lit up and being used by guests who appeared to be both from within the empire and from elsewhere. Some of them were surprised to see so many present, but it looked like Princess Cadence had done a good job at returning the Empire to normalcy after such a strange event two weeks prior. Tourism appeared to already be back in full swing, and why not? The Empire probably made a lot of bits off of it.
As they entered the hotel and walked into the lobby, nearly every single Wonderbolt had to do a double take. The inside was very modern and contemporary by design, almost completely the opposite of how it looked from the outside. Whoever owned and ran this place sure knew how to impress. The floors were smooth white crystal, leading to the ruby walls with several other surfaces including the ceiling, the chandeliers, the walkways of the upper floors above all colors that complimented the red hue of the buildings form. The lobby was wide open, several fountains and extremely comfy-looking chairs and couches strewn about. In the center was a large fountain that wrapped around a small collection of exotic trees and flower arrangements. There were live tropical birds perched on the branches of the trees, some of them squawking quietly and saying a few words they’ve probably heard over and over, but otherwise they seemed well behaved and weren’t bothering guests.
The group almost accidentally dispersed as everypony was too in awe of their surroundings to really pay attention to where they were walking. But they eventually all gathered around the central fountain and waited as Spitfire and Fleetfoot followed Fancy up to the front desk.
There were two stallions working at the reception, both unicorns. One looked older, the other looked like a fresh young hire. Both were dressed in nice suits.
“Hello! Welcome to the…” the young stallion greeted them and blinked, looking past them at the enormous crowd of Wonderbolts. “Welcome… to the Grand Ruby! How may I help you today?”
Spitfire and Fleetfoot glanced at Fancy Pants as he stepped forward and casually leaned an arm on the counter.
“Prepare forty rooms, please,” Fancy said before looking back at Spitfire. “Does that sound like enough? I’m assuming you want to have roommates.”
“Huh? Uh…” she did some quick, messy math in her head. They had the recruit squads too plus a few more here and there, so it was somewhere around one hundred. With two or three to a room, that would work. “Yeah, that sounds like enough,” Spitfire answered, but was still confused.
“Perfect,” Fancy turned back to the receptionist and smiled. “Forty rooms.”
The receptionist furrowed his brow.
“Do you… uh… have reservations, sir?” he asked, sounding slightly put off.
“No, but I need forty rooms,” Fancy repeated. The receptionist narrowed his eyes.
“Sir, there is a process here…”
“I’m aware,” Fancy nodded. “But I need forty rooms.”
“Sir, you can’t just come in here and make demands like you own the place!” the receptionist snapped at him.
The older receptionist looked up from his spot further down the desk. He grunted, turned, and walked right up to the younger and sharply pointed at Fancy Pants.
“He does own the place!” he snapped, nudging the younger stallion aside. “Sorry, Mr. Pants. Forty rooms? I’ll get them right away.”
Fancy smirked and nodded.
“Thank you very much,” he nodded before turning back to Spitfire and Fleetfoot, who were both staring blankly with wide eyes. “Now then, I have other matters that require my attention,” he bowed to them. “Enjoy your stay at the Grand Ruby!”
Without another word, he casually trotted between them and started making his way out. Spitfire and Fleetfoot just kept staring straight ahead as the two stallions behind the desk started frantically moving about, speaking with other staff members and shuffling through keycards.
“Well DAMN!” Fleetfoot finally spoke up as she and Spitfire glanced at one another. “I say we stay on a first name basis with Fancy Pants, what do you think?”
“Don’t even have to suggest it…” Spitfire said as she slowly shook her head in awe.
As the receptionists and staff went to work, the rest of the Wonderbolts were all gathered near the center fountain, enjoying the cool mist coming off the splashing water as the exotic birds chirped, squawked, and moved about overhead in the trees.
Dash was sinking into one of the couches, slowly losing her grip on consciousness.
“This has to be THE MOST COMFY thing I’ve ever sat on…” she mumbled. Star was to her right on the couch, Thunderlane in the seat across, and Matteo sitting on the floor beside Dash, facing her. Star was on the edge of the cushion, eyes still wide and sparkling in awe at the lobby. Twister was dressed in a hula skirt and a coconut bra, fanning Dash with a large leaf while blowing kisses at Matteo.
“How have I lived for thirty years and never knew this place existed?!” she bounced as she looked around.
“Huh… this is interesting…” Thunderlane spoke up, his nose stuffed in a brochure he picked up at the entrance. “I was wondering why the clientele didn’t look a hundred percent high end. It looks like the resort has several large discount deals if you want to stay and only use specific things… like the golf course, or for club attendance… there’s also a family special for cheap if you just want to use the water parks…”
“Not surprising,” Dash waved a hoof in the air as she sighed contently. “Fancy Pants is a really smart business pony. Want to know how he’s rich enough to own a place like this? Everypony is a potential customer to him.”
“You know him well?” Star asked, tearing her ogling eyes away from the lobby.
“One of my friends from home does a lot of work for his fashion businesses… and he also is the head distributer of Zap Apple Jam, which is made on the farm of another friend from home. So I used to see him a lot, yeah,” Dash explained, Thunderlane averting his eyes and rubbed the back of his head while awkwardly chuckling. Dash nearly fell asleep on the spot as she let her head fall onto the back cushion.
“When can we go to the water park?” Matteo suddenly asked.
“Tomorrow, Matty… I can barely keep my eyes open right now,” Dash said followed by a long yawn.
“Oh!” Star perked up. “Squall, you’re from the Empire!” she looked towards Dash and Matteo, but didn’t see him. “Have you ever been…?” she trailed off as she looked the other way and Squall was nowhere to be seen.
“He’s over there,” Matteo pointed. All eyes followed to see Squall sitting by himself in a chair halfway across the lobby.
“Auuuugh!” Star grunted in frustration and fell over backwards onto the couch. “That’s it… I give up…” she groaned and started fluttering her wings making tiny repetitive PLAP PLAP PLAP noises against the cushion.
“What’s up with him anyway?” Thunderlane asked as he tossed the brochure onto the table. “I know he’s a grump, but he wasn’t THIS bad when I showed up.”
“That Shadowbolt you guys confronted,” Dash waved a hoof at him as she sat up. “Ruin. He dug pretty deep into him.”
“Okay, what was up with that guy, by the way?” Thunderlane asked. “He was downright creepy.”
“He’s not like the other Shadowbolts,” Dash explained. “Though I’m not really sure how to describe him in short…” she blinked as Twister’s head slowly rose up behind Thunderlane, only his eyes peering over the back of his seat. “He’s kind of like Twister… but not quite as far off his rocker and he has a sick-twisted desire for chaos and pulling the strings of others for his own amusement. Also seems to get off on sticking his nose into personal feelings and exposing what ponies are afraid of.”
“That’s a scary thought…” Thunderlane cringed as he recalled their encounter.
“By the way, on your six,” Dash pointed.
“Huh?” Thunderlane looked behind him and yelped, falling forward off his chair as he saw Twister peeking over the back.
“On the plus side, Ruin can’t seem to handle Twister no matter how hard he tries, so… at least we have a way to fight back.”
“Right…” Thunderlane swallowed as Twister vaulted over the back, into the chair, several other seat cushions springing over with him and encasing him in a cushion fort on the seat. Only Twister’s eyes were visible from the darkness inside of it, repeatedly shifting back and forth with skepticism.
“But anyway, Ruin went after Squall for talking back to him…” Dash said as she slowly looked at Star.
“Hrmm…” Star groaned.
“He cut through Squall’s mind, dug out a lot of personal things about him, and coerced him into completely losing his cool by pulling all the things out of his head about his friendship with Star, what she really meant to him and how he actually enjoyed many of the ways she treated him despite the way he usually reacted. Then after laying bare Squall’s own desires, he threatened Star’s life,” Dash explained as Star turned onto her side and tucked her legs in. “I don’t think he actually intended to kill Star, but Squall went ballistic, I’ve never seen him so angry or desperate, and it was all over her.”
“Huh…” Thunderlane blinked as he moved away from Twister’s fort and sat on the floor. “He’s… been distancing himself because of that?” he tipped his head curiously.
“I KNOW!” Star suddenly sat up and pounded her little hooves on the seat. “How can he possibly think anything that came out of that was bad?! It only made me think better of him! Yet he’s ignoring me, and us, like he’ll get cooties or something!” she fell back over and groaned again.
“He is a closed book,” Matteo suddenly chimed in. “No doubt he never wanted to admit anything Ruin revealed.”
“How does that make it any better?!” Star sat back up and pouted at Matteo.
“I never said it did,” Matteo shook his head. “His feelings are very personal to him, I’m sure you’ve noticed by now,” he said as one of the exotic birds in the tree behind him started slowly shifting down the branch towards him.
“Well, yeah… but still…” Star huffed and looked over towards Squall sitting by himself. “Would it hurt him to, you know, acknowledge that I was… happy to hear all that?” she said shakily as her ears flopped down. “It’s not often you find out somepony… cares so much…”
Dash perked up as Star said those particular words, she blinked and glanced over at Squall, then back to Star. She hummed quietly to herself, tapping her chin.
“I’ll see if I can talk to him a bit,” Dash suggested. “I’ve been trying to respect his personal space, but… I’m not gonna sit back and let him shut you out.”
“I—”
“No,” Matteo cut off Star. Dash turned to him and lifted an eyebrow.
“I’m sorry, what?” Dash asked.
“Let me speak to him,” Matteo suggested. “It’s more likely that I will sway him,” he explained as the purple bird behind him got closer, stopped and started coiling and stretching out its neck repeatedly while staring at the back of Matteo’s head.
“I don’t see how…” Dash paused briefly as she watched the bird near Matteo make its way closer to him, sitting on the branch right beside Matteo’s head and tipping its head back and forth. “… How that would make a difference.”
“This requires a male perspective,” Matteo explained, causing Dash to flatten her brow.
“Oh boy, this again,” she said as she rolled her eyes.
“You mock me, but I am right,” Matteo stated firmly. “He is too stubborn and will take anything you say as nagging, while I can goad him into seeing that he’s being a coward. This will not be solved by a soft approach.”
“Who said I was going to be soft?” Dash fought back, trying her best not to start snickering as the bird next to Matteo lifted one of its legs and began gently grabbing towards his head, completely unbeknownst to him. Thunderlane was starting to scrunch up his mouth to stifle a laugh too.
“Whatever you have in mind, I guarantee it won’t be enough,” Matteo continued to insist. “Allow me to confront him man to man. I assure you this is the…”
Matteo paused as the bird pressed its foot into his cheek. Matteo slowly shifted his eyes over to look at the bird as it turned its head all the way upside-down and started leaning in and out as if it were examining Matteo closely.
Matteo just stared flatly at it as it continued to bob in and out. Dash, Thunderlane, and Little Star all snickering.
“Friend of yours?” Dash asked with a smirk.
“You insult me,” Matteo snorted as he glared down at her.
“Bird, meet bird,” Thunderlane joked.
“Did I see you in the bird bath the other day? I can’t remember!” Dash joked as she pressed a hoof to her nose to alter her voice.
“Hrmph…” Matteo glared at the bird, quickly turning his head, opening his beak, and letting out a quiet hiss. The bird whistled and quickly sidestepped away up the branch while several feathers on its crest tilted up. It remained on the branch two yards away, bouncing up and down with its wings spread out.
“Oh, that did it, now he wants to fight you,” Thunderlane joked, the three of them chuckling harder.
Matteo stood up and moved away from the tree, sitting next to Twister’s cushion fort instead.
“AS I WAS SAYING…” Matteo snorted. “Allow me to handle this.”
“I think I’ll do just fine, thank you. I don’t need a lecture in macho manliness,” Dash gave him a flat look.
“You twist my words,” Matteo furrowed his brow. “Believe me, he will not listen to you,” he insisted as a stick slowly started extending out from the ‘window’ of Twister’s fort. “I am not trying to challenge your status as our leader, this requires a personal touch.”
“And I think you’re full of it,” Dash rolled her eyes. “I don’t see how berating him will help. He’s not a griffon you know, is that how this works back home?”
“I’m simply stating what I believe to be…” Matteo’s eyes widened as the same purple bird emerged from Twister’s cushion fort on the stick with its head crest still up, bouncing with its wings extended. Matteo promptly balled up his talons and punched down as hard as he could atop Twister’s fort. It capsized in an instant and released a long raspberry as Twister’s tongue stuck out in between the cushions and flapped up and down. The bird leapt off and flew back to the fountain trees while squawking.
“This is going nowhere,” Dash sighed. “Star, who do you want to help?”
“I really don’t care who, honestly,” Star groaned. “Just get him to stop ignoring me!”
“HOW BOUT WE ALL HELP?!” Twister suddenly popped up beside Dash. “Dashie can be the good cop!” Twister slammed a police hat over Dash’s head. “Big Bird can be the bad cop!” Twister slammed a fedora over Matteo’s head and jammed a massive Cigar into his beak. “And I can be the obsessive roleplay shipper!”
Twister flung himself down onto the seat beside Star and pulled out two miniature action figures of Star and Squall.
“AnD ThEn…” Twister’s voice warped as his eyes stuck open wide and his head started rotating like an owl. “ThEy KiSsEd!” He started slamming the faces of the two figures together as Star’s eyes widened, mortified. “AND THEN THEY BANGED TOO!” Twister stood up, turned the figures around and started bumping their butts together. “POSTED THE STORY AT PRIMETIME ON THE WEEKEND! FIVE THOUSAND WORDS OF ROUGH SEX! 100:1 LIKE TO DISLIKE RATIO IN AN HOUR! AHHH CRAP TOO BAD, IT DIDN’T MAKE THE FEATURE BOX BECAUSE IT’S STILL FILLED WITH MANE SIX LESBIAN CLOP!”
“No! NO! STOP! ARGH!!!!” Star reached over and grabbed him by the neck, shaking him so hard that he made the noise of a clown gargling underwater. “YOU’RE NOT HELPING! Not here OR with Squall! I swear to Celestia!”
“Okay, okay enough…” Dash chuckled as she grabbed Twister from her and his body deflated like a balloon. “We’ll all try to get through to him and we’ll figure out how to do it together, how does that sound?”
“Agreeable,” Matteo said flatly as he spat out the cigar and carefully eyed the purple bird still staring at him from the fountain trees.
“Dashie, keys!” Fleetfoot’s voice suddenly came from behind her. Two sets of key cards dropped into her lap as Fleetfoot happily trotted by, humming as she went to give out others.
“You know what? I’m tired as hell, let’s just go get some sleep,” Dash suggested as she stood up from her chair.
“Yes, let’s please do…” Matteo growled, glaring at the bird as they all got up and went to collect Squall.
“Five-two-zero… five-two-two… five-two-four! Here we are.” Spitfire smiled as she stopped at the door labeled 524 with Fleetfoot and Misty Fly right behind her. She started fiddling with the keycards as Blaze slowly moved by behind them, grunting and straining as she pulled High Winds along, who was sleeping face down on the floor.
“Fucking… dammit… Windy! You couldn’t wait till we got to the room?!” she cursed as Surprise slowly bounced patiently behind them. They eventually got to the door across from Spitfire and Blaze nearly kicked it open once Surprise unlocked it.
“Why do these things never agree with me…?” Spitfire grumbled as the door mechanism kept flashing red.
“Try not using it upside-down,” Fleetfoot snickered from behind. Spitfire blinked and looked down at the card. She quickly turned it over and it worked on her first try.
“You didn’t see that,” Spitfire mumbled as she pushed the door open and made her way in with Misty eagerly close behind. Fleetfoot stuck her hoof on the door to keep it open as she leaned back and looked down the hall. A few doors down, the Streak twins and Wave Chill entered a room together.
“Whatcha looking at down there?” Spitfire called from within. Fleetfoot giggled and moved in.
“Just lookin’ at—WHOA…” she paused as she looked at the room. It was a large suite with a full blown living room, kitchen with bar-style seating, two bathrooms, and a three bed bedroom, all queen size. The ceilings were at least five yards higher than a standard hotel and there was access to a large balcony outside. “Damn!” she whistled as she followed the other two into the bedroom and claimed the middle bed. “I could get used to this!” she smiled as she started sinking into the cushy mattress. “Oooooo so soft…”
“You didn’t answer me,” Spitfire teased her as she flopped onto her own bed and sighed, glancing briefly as Misty Fly nestled herself onto her own mattress.
“Oh, nothing,” Fleetfoot smirked. “Just amused by the sausage fest down the hallway.”
“Wave and the Twins?” Spitfire lifted an eyebrow. “You have that much energy? What’s stopping you?”
“Oh god, no I don’t have energy,” Fleetfoot stuck her head into one of her pillows briefly. “One: I’m really tired. Two: We have plenty of nights to party. And Three: They’re all taken, what are you, trying to goad me into going after your stallion? Or hers?” Fleetfoot bounced her eyebrows. Spitfire smirked back at her.
“What about Lightning Streak?”
“Lightning doesn’t count,” Fleetfoot said very quickly while cringing.
“He did while you were drunk,” Spitfire teased while tipping her head and resting it on her hoof.
“I don’t speak for drunk Fleetfoot,” Fleetfoot shook her head vigorously. “Nopony speaks for drunk Fleetfoot.”
“Remind me to have a talk with drunk Fleetfoot about her public citation record someday then,” Spitfire chuckled.
“Hey, c’mon, a girl’s gotta have fun sometimes!”
They both paused and looked over as rustling noises came from Misty’s bed. Misty was on her back rubbing it against the mattress back and forth almost like a house cat. Once satisfied, she flopped onto her side with her head against the pillow and appeared to fall asleep on the spot. She looked so comfortable that the sight alone was enough to force a yawn out of Spitfire.
“I think Misty has the right idea…” she said sleepily as she stretched her body out.
“Thank god we got her for a roomie,” Fleetfoot said with a sigh of relief. “Can you imagine how it’s going to go across the hall? Surprise, Blaze, and High Winds?” I give it two nights before the floor collapses beneath them.”
Spitfire smirked and averted her eyes.
“What?” Fleetfoot asked while giving her a smarmy look.
“The way it was organized had Surprise rooming with us. I… pulled some strings to swap her with Misty Fly.”
“PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT…” Fleetfoot pressed her face into her pillow. “You left Blaze and Winds out to dry!”
“For some peace and quiet yeah, but I also kind of wanted to drive Blaze nuts,” Spitfire admitted.
“Oh you BITCH!” Fleetfoot burst out laughing, not considering her volume level because, well… Misty Fly. “I love it!” she added as Spitfire chuckled along with her.
Fleetfoot calmed down first, fixing her eyes on Spitfire as she held a hoof over her mouth and giggled happily. Fleetfoot rested her chin on her pillow, staring at Spitfire with very wide, almost sparkling eyes, her eyelids tipping up slightly as her lips started quivering as if she’d cry.
“Hm? What?” Spitfire asked as she finally caught the look.
“You… look so happy…” Fleetfoot said in a blubbery tone.
“Huh?” Spitfire blinked. Fleetfoot shook her head lightly.
“You really don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve seen you smile or laugh like this…” She sniffled loudly and buried her face into her pillow. “Don’t look, I’m gonna start crying like a baby over here…” she added, voice muffled.
Spitfire glanced down at her hooves, letting out a long sigh.
“I guess… I am feeling better, mostly. With Wave back in my life a huge weight was taken off my shoulders, but Soarin is still… I don’t even know what he is right now. The gods are saying he’s ‘fine’ for now, but he sure isn’t back to normal if he ever will be again. Am I selfish for being happy about one while the other is still—AH!” She yelped as Fleetfoot launched a pillow right into her face.
“NO! STOP THAT!” Fleetfoot pounded her hooves on her bed. “YOU WERE DOING SO WELL!”
“Blah!” Spitfire pulled the pillow off her face and furrowed her brow. “Am I not allowed to be worried about Soarin?”
“You’re allowed to worry about Soarin, but you’re not allowed to kick yourself in the teeth while doing so!”
“Sorry…” Spitfire sighed as she pushed the pillow aside. “I’m just naturally critical of myself, you know this.”
“Look, Spitty,” Fleetfoot scooted to the edge of her bed and propped herself up. “Let Soarin do Soarin and you just do you. Okay fine, he absorbed an immortal piece of ass and a sexy historical monarch stud to turn himself into one hell of a hunk of beef, fine, I get it…” she quickly rolled onto her back, her ears flat against the bed as she bit her lip and stuffed her hooves between her thighs, pressing them together. “And I kinda want it… but obviously I can’t have it.” She flipped back over. “But none of it is your fault and you have every right to be happy about Wave Chill! C’mon!” she angrily pouted. “Let yourself have this nice thing! It will be good for you!”
“I suppose…” Spitfire exhaled through her nose. Fleetfoot clapped her hooves together.
“Tell ya what,” she pointed. “I’m going to give you a challenge while we’re here. You have to thoroughly enjoy yourself without worrying about things you have no control over. How does that sound, think you can do it?”
“Easier said than done…” Spitfire said weakly with a shrug.
“YOU’RE DOING IT AGAIN!” Fleetfoot stood up and leapt from her bed onto Spitfire’s, tackling her and wrestling her onto her side. “STOP IT!” she demanded while gnawing on Spitfire’s ear.
“Ah! Hahaha!” Spitfire laughed as she tried to break free. “Stop! That tickles!” she managed to shift and thrust her hooves out, pushing Fleetfoot right off the edge of the bed.
“YEEP!” Fleetfoot grabbed the blanket, but she was already falling over the side. The whole blanket came off with her as she landed on the floor with a soft THUD. She poked her head out from the pile of blankets on top of her to see Spitfire catch her breath and turn to smile down at her.
“Okay, okay… you win,” Spitfire agreed. “It’s not like this isn’t the first time Soarin has gotten himself into something ridiculous and somehow came out of it just fine.”
“He’s been pushing his luck on that a little recently…” Fleetfoot said sarcastically as she slumped into the blanket.
“I’ll focus on having fun,” Spitfire assured her. “And… I need a massage… really badly,” she added while shifting her body about and causing a few cricks and cracks.
“Good, and…” Fleetfoot suddenly paused.
“What?” Spitfire tipped her head, but then watched as Fleetfoot’s mouth curled into a mischievous grin. “Oh no, what are you scheming… I don’t like that face.”
“Oh, nothing…” Fleetfoot cooed as she stood up from the blanket. “I just have an idea or two about how I can help you reach peak relaxation!”
“‘Relaxation…’” Spitfire lifted an eyebrow. “Why do I get the feeling it has to do with your personal definition of that word?”
“Oh, trust me… you’ll like it!” Fleetfoot tossed the blanket back onto Spitfire’s bed. “But for now… we sleep. Misty is way ahead of us.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Spitfire yawned and started nestling herself into a comfortable position. “And Fleet… thanks,” she said as Fleetfoot made her way back to her own bed.
“For?” she asked as she slid onto her bed.
“For keeping me in line,” Spitfire said with some slight sarcasm and a chuckle.
“Hey, somepony’s gotta do it around here!” she giggled. “Sleep tight!” she rolled over and hit the light switch.
Spitfire started drifting to sleep quickly, the comfort of the nice bed and pillow winning her over without struggle.
But in the darkness, Fleetfoot was rubbing her hooves together, grinning mischievously, and bouncing her eyebrows.
Spitfire was going to have a great time and she was going to make SURE of it.
---To Be Continued---
Looks like things are about to get weird 
But at the same time we have quite a few scenarios that will have to play out... in the most Wonderbolt kind of way, of course. Nothing is ever simple or normal 'round these parts 
I admit, the part with the bird bothering Matteo came to me after i finished the chapter initially. I found this while randomly browsing the internet:
And simply had to make it happen somewhere.
Isnt it great to see Spitfire be such a stumbling blushing mess? She is not going to be able to control herself, but why should she? When's the last time she was allowed to feel this good? She may not know, but Fleetfoot sure does and boy is she gonna milk this for all its worth. Come on, dont you trust this face?:
As for Dash... she has two things on her hooves, Squall and Storm. Squall is just being, well, squall. considering Matteo and Twister want to 'help' with him, Thunderlane has his work cut out for him holding Dash back from strangling them both.
As for Storm... being maybe a little too harsh there Dash? There seems to be one particular detail about how she's treating him that is apparently shooting WAY over her head... perhaps some outside influence is needed for both of them to sort this out *glances at the grumpy dad in the corner* Ah ha... thats assuming Descent knows what to do with himself... after all... has the big tough, lifelong mercenary ever gone on a vacation before? Not to mention he's going to be surrounded by the Wonderbolts... who turn everything into a quite a shitshow no matter where they go.
It's time to kick back, recharge, and reconnect while the downtime presents itself. Buckle up kiddies, there be shenanigans on the horizon 
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!
(Art in this chapter by: Foxenawolf)
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oh, man, ever seen that "screwy squirrel" cartoon, "the screwy truant"?
https://claudecat17.tumblr.com/post/124458988956/cartoon-sunday-the-screwy-truant
How long until the story ends?
oh, THIS made me think of "Phules' company", where a rich guy had taken charge of a mercenary company, and he moved them all into the fanciest hotel on the PLANET while their base was being remodeled.
when the hotel manager tried to give him a hard time, he threatened to BUY the motel.
he also bought the company that was doing the remodeling, so they really WERE done in TWO WEEKS!
Out of all the characters, Silver is by far my favorite, but damnit if Twister doesn't make a close second! I love our little 4th wall breaker.
Everything is better with Twister around. The Matteo and brid moment was really funny. I can't wait to see what they do while relaxing.
I will take a guess and the vacation is going to fail horribly and damn that was quick you are officially the best on this site
Great intro, this is looking to be pretty interesting.
Definitely have a lot of material to work with here
Bet Fleet is gonna find a way to have Spit and Chill be in one room all alone.
I had to laugh at this as I remember hearing you complain about how the featured stories are chosen that one time. Nice to see you got it into the story somehow.
Oh, this is going to be good...
I cannot wait for the hilarity of Squad 2 and Squad 3 to begin! A lot can happen in seven days... Also, Fleetfoot, never change.
Calm Wind is screwed, given Rivet may not be present. What happened to Starry Skies?
The first thing that came to mind concerning Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Starry Skies is Princess Mi Amore. Of course, this is merely speculation, but Sombra did make a possible allusion of her concerning Cadance, I think.
Storm Front, yikes!
I honestly have no idea what Descent will do concerning the hostility between Squad Foxtrot and Storm.
You know, I remember a thread comment joking about Derpy taking on Lucky's job. I find the possibility unlikely but quite amusing.
Yeah, that sounds about right
And thank you SO MUCH for giving all of us that picture of Matteo and that bird. We really needed that in our lives 'sniff'
Keep up the good work my good slave
10347416
Hey come on dude, just enjoy this wild ass ride
Hmmmm, considering the Ruin/Twister matchup, have to wonder what would happen is Laughter joined in (in full PINK mode
) ... (is any world [really] ready??)
10347612
Not saying it's bad or anything like that, but I mean it's gone on for a long time. It's not a bad thing, just curious is all. I'm enjoying it so far :)
I love everything this chapter both puts into motion and hints at for the foreseeable future. I've been waiting on this one and now that its here I only want the next even more. Of course though take all the time you need to make everything as brilliant as you always do.
i hate water parks.
10347406
I am a huge fan of Tex Avery, you can bet similar gags to his will appear with Twister often (Hell, chapter 24 is literally a parody of "Who Killed Who")
Thats exactly where i got the gag from
10347416
So however many chapters it takes to make it from here to the end of my outline.
All i can say is this is the final story arc before it ends. As for how much longer until it does, anything i say will make it last 50 more chapters than whatever i say so im not gonna make any predictions
10347444
Good to have him back in the full mix. Something was definitely missing without him
10347489
Twister's presence once again lets me dive into cultural references and fandom humor
10347507
Aw shucks, ive just got my thoughts all well organized this time around 
If by 'fail' you mean they are going to be out of control in the best way possible, then yes
10347514
Had to put some meat on the plate! Didn't want this part to feel like filler, a lot of new development has to take place to replace that which was damaged
10347535
Nah, why would she do thaaaaaaaaaat?
10347537
I've long since stopped caring about the feature box, but i still can't help but poke fun at it 
Hahaha yep, you definitely remember!
10347569
There's gonna be lots of bonding... and lots of SILLY bonding
10347571
Back when i was still an up and coming writer here I used to be peeved at how it was typically dominated by short sex fics, but now i think it's a hilarious metaphor for the internet in general 
I've always been amused by the feature box
I had to get the pic of Matteo and the bird. There was no way that wasn't happening
10347794
if Twister, Ruin, Pinkie, and Surprise were all in the same place. we might as well divide by zero and get it over with
10347850
I can't believe ive been doing this for six years
10347951
I never wanted the serious/action portion of arc 3 to last as long as it did. You have no idea how happy i am to get back to the character focus.
10348173
10348279
That's good. I can't wait to see what happens during their vacation.
fleet's gonna lock wave and spitfire in a room by themselves isnt she
when i tell u my heart broke...
i have a feeling shits gonna go down at the crystal ball 0_0
Sooo......... no shit happened?
Interesting.
There is a lot of incoming shit isn't there?
when was the last time we had a specific mention of Calm and Squad Zero?
Also Twister is magnificent as usual
10348294
or ...
Hmmmm,, maybe dividing by discord
10348729
i.postimg.cc/brjyT3TV/FACE.png
10348760
(It's fun to know my readers always expect me to punch the Wonderbolts in the gut 
)
naaaaah i wouldn't do that, would i?
10349383
They were in on pinning down Dash and her squad when they encountered Sombra in the woods.
Let the S H E N A N I G A N S begin
10349801
cool, thanks
I love when the wonderbolts can just act like a bunch of high school bros. To be honest they do it most of the time anyway, but sometimes it doesn't fit. It does now, though.
"Hey Farvah? What's the name of that resteraunt with the goofy shit on the walls that you like so much?"
10350223
10354209
It's a group of 5 OC's including mine, the other four belonged to the very first group of friends i had in the brony community way back some 7 or so years ago. I initially was going to come up with random new OC's for squad zero here in PTH but then decided to use my OC and the remaining 3 for the experimental squad. (Rivet was already the chief engineer.)
10355308
"Shenanigans?"
"OoooooooOOOOOOOH!"
dis is gonna be fun
10357099
Fun and then some
10357054
Yep, Silver was directly inspired by Lee Ermey for his glorious entrance into the spotlight. In general i hear Ermey's voice whenever i write Silver's lines too.
10357922
My excuse:
Candy colored, magical, miniature, talking fantasy horses.
10363084
haha i would love to see that