Piercing the Heavens

by Calm Wind

Chapter 174: I said Keep the Shenanigans to a Minimum!

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 174: I said Keep the Shenanigans to a Minimum!

---

“C’mon slowpoke!” Soarin flew backwards, hooves resting behind his head as he smirked at Dash following him. “Come and get me, I can do this all night!”

“Oh, those are fighting words!” Dash sneered as she pumped her wings. “I don’t care if you’re an oversized alicorn now! I’m still gonna beat you!” she jawboned right back as she streaked through the star filled night sky, illuminated by the full moon.

“I dunno, I think you just like my flank!” Soarin taunted as he turned to try and get away. “My biiiiiiiig godly plot!”

“You’re damn right I do! HA!” Dash ponded her wings, mixing Matteo’s Air Burst and High Winds’ wing motions together to accelerate greatly, catching him in an instant and wrapping her hooves around his large neck.

“Ahhh! You got me!” Soarin exaggerated dramatically as he stopped flapping his wings and let the two of them freefall.

They crashed into a very thick cumulus cloud with a soft POOF, the two of them laughing as they bounced along its surface until they rolled to a stop.

“RAWR!” Dash playfully growled as she leapt onto Soarin’s back, clambered up his neck and gnawed on his ear.

“Oh no, I’ve been captured!” Soarin hammed it up, a yellow aura appearing on his horn. “Whatever will I do?” his voice turned sly as a yellow aura surrounded Dash and lifted her off his head.

“Hey! Come on, no fair!” She tried to struggle, but was firmly caught in the magic. Soarin chuckled and rolled over onto his back, nestling himself into the cloud as he watched Dash flail to no avail. He smirked as she eventually gave up, crossed her arms, and puffed her cheeks out. “Cheater.”

“Like you aren’t enjoying this view?” Soarin shifted one hoof behind his head and rubbed the other on his chest. “These dashing good looks,” He whipped his head about, his ethereal mane waving majestically. “This new large body… these massive muscles…” he bounced his chest. “I’m straight from your wildest dreams, eh?” Dash’s eyes opened wide, her lips scrunching up and her face turning slightly red. Her wings twitched furiously “I’ll take that as a yes.” Soarin bounced his eyebrows and released his magic.

“Ah!” Dash yelped as she fell and landed right on top of him. Within seconds she had propped herself up. Her legs were straddled on his stomach and her hooves were pressed to his large chest muscles. Her mouth hung slightly ajar, her body heating up as she stared at his muscles and started slowly moving her hooves up and down.

“See something you like?” Soarin chuckled.

“I feel something I like…” Dash quickly answered, her body shuddering as she leaned down to press her body to his. “You are… so…” she couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Give it all a thorough examination,” he ran a large hoof over her back and down to her flank. “Be naughty now, I expect no less,” he said, giving her a light spank.

Dash’s body tensed and she slid herself slowly along his very muscular body closer to his head.

“Gawd…” she slurred as she felt him all over. “As if you weren’t already sexy enough before… Oo!” she cooed as Soarin brought his hoof around and lifted her whole body up with it, seemingly without any effort at all.

“How about now, even sexier?” he smirked as he bounced her up and down over him. She latched onto his arm and crossed her back legs, watching his chest and arm flex as he held her up. She reached out toward him, making grabby hooves.

“Mine… mine, mine, mine, gimme!” Dash desperately wailed as he lowered her back down. She quickly pressed herself down and ran her hooves over his chest very eagerly. He wrapped his arm around her back and gently pushed her against him. She let out a quiet, sharp exhale as he did. Her eyes snapped to his, wide and twitching as he held a sultry stare.

“I’m all yours, Dash.” Soarin flashed her a handsome smile that seemed to glint in the moonlight. “Give me your best. Let’s see if you’re as awesome as you claim to be.” He bounced his eyebrows and beckoned her forward with a hoof.

“Oh… oh god… ah…” Dash dug her hooves into his chest, quickly pulling herself up and over towards his head. “Yes, you are mine. All mine, dammit.” She sat her plot down on top of his chest, wrapped her legs as far around his neck as his shoulders and surrounding muscles would allow. “You big hunk of buff, meaty stud… I want it, I want ALL of you!” She pressed the rest of her body to his neck. “I wanna feel you! You that took down a king and a goddess… only YOU could, NGH!” She rubbed herself against him and forced her head into the crook of his neck with her body jittering. “You’re literally a god now! Ooooooh yes, I want to ride you like the god you are!” Her breath hissed sharply through her nose and teeth as she ravenously nuzzled into him. “Ngh… NGGHHHH! YES!” After a few seconds she sat up, grabbed his cheeks, and stared right into his sexy gaze. “COME HERE! NOW!” She rushed in towards his lips.

---

“NNnnnnnngggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh…” Dash’s eyes slowly opened, her body feeling hot and tensing sporadically all over.

She blinked a few times, her ears standing up as she realized Soarin wasn’t in front of her and her surroundings were that of their hotel suite. Her eyes shifted down to see that she was biting down hard on a pillow that she also had wrapped in an extremely tight squeeze hold with her arms and thighs. She was also faintly glowing yellow.

She froze in place, the glow fading and her eyes opening wide as she saw Little Star staring at her… and trying her hardest not to laugh.

Dash frantically released the pillow, throwing it and all the surrounding sheets aside before sitting upright stiffly with a blank look on her face. Her eyes darted about in a few directions before they landed on Twister peeking over the top of the mattress. His eyes were pointing in different directions with a sign planted next to him that read ‘IGNORE ME.’

“Well then…” Star started giggling to herself while lifting an eyebrow at Dash. “Sounded like quite the adventurous dream you were having.”

Dash’s eyes somehow opened wider.

“Oh… my gosh… was I sleep talking?” she asked as her ears flopped down and her face filled with dread.

“It was a lot more than talking,” Star snorted and looked off with a hoof over her lips.

“THAT WAS A WEIRD ONE!” Twister suddenly blared through a megaphone into Dash’s ear. Dash cringed as his voice pounded through her head before pressing a hoof to her ear and glaring at him.

“Oh great, you can see into my dreams now too?”

“IGNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!” Twister blared into her face, blowing her mane back.

“OW! GAH!” Dash hunched down and rubbed her hooves on her ears. Twister put the megaphone down and went back to staring in different directions. Five seconds later he put the megaphone back up.

“YES I CAN.” He spoke normally into it.

Dash grabbed the megaphone from him and slammed the wide end over his head. It slid down his body, his head popping out of the mouth piece.

“What was I saying?” Dash asked Star embarrassingly.

“Some…” Star held her breath for a moment, the ends of her lips curling up. “Very raunchy things…” she couldn’t stop a fit of giggles.

“Allow me!” Twister’s megaphone melted off of him and he hopped up on Dash’s bed. He licked his hoof and ran it once through his mane and turned it into the same shape as Dash’s mane. He then wound up with an arm outstretched and spun in a circle before walloping himself right in the face. His face caved in and shot back out with a loud SPROING and his face was now identical to Dash’s.

Dash moved to stop it before it began, but her eyes widened when Twister reached between his thighs and pulled out an enormous artistically accurate plushy of Soarin that was twice his size and threw it onto the bed.

“Oooooooooh Soarin!” Twister cooed, his imitation of Dash was way off despite how accurately he mimicked her appearance. “Come here you big hunk of stud!” He pounced on the plushy and began humping it. “The way you swallowed a grumpy old king and a sexy shapely goddess turns me on!” He shifted forward and grabbed the head of the plushy, pulling out what appeared to be a silicone replica of an alicorn horn and strapping it to the head of the plushy. “Now your horn is EXTRA big! I simply CANNOT ignore your girth!” Twister grabbed the horn off the plushy’s head and shoved it into his mouth, swallowing it whole. He latched to the plushy and started rolling all over the mattress with it. “You got the best features of both Sombra AND Celestia now!” he stopped rolling and flipped around, slapping his hooves against the plot of the plushy. “My GOD your enormous ass excites me so!” he exclaimed as he started rubbing his cheek against the plushy butt. He suddenly rolled off and grabbed the pillow that Dash was latched to when she woke up. “Hey Soarin, wanna see me make ENTIRE pillow disappear into my va—”

“STOP.” Dash thrust her arm out and punched him in the face. Two clown horns popped out of Twister’s ears and let out a low pitched HOOOOOOONK as her hoof sunk several inches into his head, his facial features all getting sucked in and his mane spazzing out back to its normal shape. “I get it…” she snarled flatly before looking over at the large Soarin plushy. “And I’m keeping this,” she said casually as she tossed the plushy over to the head of her bed. “Please tell me that was exaggerated,” Dash asked with concern as she looked back to Star.

“Those weren’t the exact words but… it was close,” Star shrugged and smiled weakly.

“Great…” Dash sighed as she tried to pull her hoof out of Twister’s head, but she quickly realized it was stuck. “Oh, for crying out… Star, a little help here?”

Star fluttered over to Dash’s bed and grabbed Twister’s waist. The two pulled as hard as they could in opposite directions, barley making any ground as they struggled.

As they strained, Matteo pushed the bedroom door open and stepped in.

“Can we grab breakfast?” he asked, asking zero questions about the situation in front of him. “I’m hungr—”

Dash’s hoof ripped free from Twister’s head, Twister and Star both launching across the room towards Matteo. They crashed into his chest, but met no resistance, vanishing into his fluff without Matteo feeling anything. Matteo blinked and looked down at his chest, touching his talons to it.

The closet door across the room slid open and Twister and Star flew out of it, crashing to the floor.

Star immediately rolled over and sat up, blinking rapidly as she looked between Matteo and the closet.

“What the hell just happened?!”

“Trust me kid,” Twister shifted over and slung an arm over her shoulders, slowly motioning the other hoof towards the closet as the door slid itself shut. His lips extended from his face towards her ear. “You don’t wanna know…” his stretched out lips whispered.

Thunderlane walked in behind the still very confused Matteo.

“I’m with Birdo, let’s eat so we can…” he trailed off as his eyes landed on the giant Soarin plushy on Dash’s bed. Dash just stared blankly at him. “Is that why you were making those weird noises all night?”

“All night…?” Dash’s eyes grew wide with realization. “HOW LONG WAS I—?!"

“Most of the night,” Matteo answered as Dash grabbed and pulled on her ears. “Thankfully quietly, I fell asleep no problem, but it sounded like you were enjoying a very tasty meal and agreeing with somepony a lot.”

“FOOD! YES FOOD!” Dash suddenly leapt up on the bed hysterically. “BREAKFAST! LUXURY! ALL THOSE GOOD THINGS ARE WAITING FOR US! HAHAHA!” she shuffled quickly past all of them and out into the living room of the suite. She stopped at the door and turned around to see all of them slowly following… except for… “Where’s Squall?” she asked in a slightly flat tone.

“He left ten minutes ago,” Matteo answered. Dash flattened her brow and grunted, Star groaning in frustration behind her.

“Okay, that does it. Ignoring us is one thing, alienating us is a different ball game and I’m drawing the line here.”

“Allow me,” Matteo lifted a talon. “He’ll think you’re nagging him.”

“Matty, really?” Dash sighed. “We just had this discussion last night.”

“And I believe we agreed,” Matteo nodded.

“We didn’t agree on anything!” Dash groaned as she stepped towards Matteo and glared at him. But before they could say anything else, Twister popped up between them and stretched out his arms to put them around both their shoulders.

“HUDDLE UP, TEAM!” he yanked them both in and pulled them down low. “Here’s what we’re gonna do!” his arm around Matteo extended further until it reached all the way around him and reached into the center of their huddle with a pair of very small elastic shorts in his hoof. “I’m gonna force this pair of hot tight pants on him, then give him the ultimate wedgie of his life time…” his hoof around Dash reached out and grabbed Little Star by the tail.

“HEY!” she yelled as Twister held her upside-down next to the shorts.

“Then I’m going to forcefully spank Thunderlane with Little Star’s body in front of Grumpy McGrunt-a-lot’s face until he’s learned his lesson!”

“Why me?!” Thunderlane exclaimed from outside the huddle.

Twister’s neck extended, shooting his head from the huddle until his face was pressed to Thunderlane’s

“CAUSE I BET THAT PURTY MOUTH O’ YERS SCREAMS REAL NICE.”

Everypony flinched and Twister screamed, diving under the living room carpet as Matteo’s stomach suddenly growled so loudly that it almost echoed about the room. A bush popped up from the carpet and Twister peeked out from it wearing a safari hat.

“Aye… the beast draws near!”

“You know what I do agree with?” Dash spoke up to Matteo. “Your stomach… let’s get food.”

“I hope they have oranges…” Matteo said as they finally made their way out.

---

“Ready? Ready?” Air Mach snickered as he, Lightning Streak, Fire Streak, Macho Savage, and three other Wonderbolt stallions huddled together in a shallower part of the pool. There was a circular mirror floating in the water in between them.

“Yeah, do it!” Lightning Streak yelled.

Air Mach grabbed a plastic toy bucket floating in the water next to him and flung it into the air directly above them. The moment he let it go, they all reached out and locked arms onto each other’s shoulders, staring down into the mirror and watching the reflection of the bucket overhead.

“Hold fast! No moving!” Air Mach snickered as the group started to jostle and shift slightly.

“It’s coming down!” Fire Streak called out as they saw the bucket reach its peak and start falling back towards them.

“Ooooooooooooooooooh…” they all started as the bucket closed in.

It bounced right off Air Mach’s head with a loud KLUNK and he fell flat into the water with a splash.

“OOOOOOOOOH! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!” the rest of the stallions broke apart and laughed as Air Mach emerged from the water holding his head and laughing with them.

“Again! Again! Come on!” Lightning Streak cheered as they re-huddled and grabbed the bucket for another throw.

“What the hell are they doing out there?” Fleetfoot asked with a giggle as she pushed her sunglasses down, lying flat on a pool chair as she watched the stallions repeat the silly game.

“Hrm…?” Spitfire tipped her head up from her reclined position in her chair beneath an umbrella, pushing her own sunglasses down in time to see the bucket fall and hit Fire this time, hooting and laughter ringing out again. “Being stallions,” she said as she stretched out and reclined again, but kept her head tipped enough to keep watching. “Looks like the lifeguard already gave up on them.”

Fleetfoot looked over to see the unicorn stallion lifeguard slumped into his chair and glaring at the Wonderbolt stallions with his hoof propping up his cheek.

“I’m surprised they got Fire to join in,” Fleetfoot giggled as she glanced towards Misty Fly nearby. She had a chair pulled all the way up to the edge of the pool and was sitting on the end of it, leaning forward as she watched the stallions and laughed silently to herself.

“Everypony needs a little fun now and then, even Fire,” Spitfire said nonchalantly as she leaned her head back and sighed, feeling relaxed. “As long as they don’t break anything I don’t care what they do.”

“I think they ripped that mirror out of a suite bathroom…” Fleetfoot pointed out.

“That sure lasted…” Spitfire exhaled sharply through her nose.

“OooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH…”

The bucket hit Macho Savage at a weird angle and ricocheted into Lighting’s face.

“WHOA HO HO!” The stallions broke apart as Lightning fell back and sunk into the water as the bucket got stuck on his face.

“I kinda wanna join…” Fleetfoot giggled as she swiped the sunglasses of her face and cheekily glanced at Spitfire while biting her lip.

“Knock yourself out.”

“Hee!” Fleetfoot sprang up and leapt all the way from her chair into the pool. Spitfire flinched slightly as the water splashed against her, but smiled as Fleetfoot swam towards them. “Hey boys! Make room!”

“ACCESS DENIED!” Air Mach yelled as he turned to join the stallions and locked arms with them while wiggling his plot back and forth at Fleetfoot. “No mares allowed!”

“Oh, you THINK so, huh?!” Fleetfoot tried to push her way in between them. “Lemme in!”

“Hold the line!” Lightning Streak yelled while laughing. “Don’t let her in!”

Macho Savage suddenly threw the bucket into the air without the rest of them seeing it.

“Don’t make me get rough!” Fleetfoot threatened. “I will!”

“Wait,” Fire glanced about. “Where’s the buck—”

KLUNK

It hit Air Mach over the head.

“OOOOOOOOOH!” the stallions yelled out as he fell into the water and yanked Lightning Streak down with him.

“HYEEP!” Fleetfoot yelped as she was squished between their bodies and dragged under too, but she was the first to emerge with her mane all slicked down and a smile on her face. “Ha! Now’s my chance!”

But before she could lunge into the ring of stallions, Lightning’s arm reached out and wrapped around her stomach.

“Don’t think so, babe!” he chuckled as he yanked her towards him. “Must be my lucky day!”

“Oh god no!” Fleetfoot gagged, pressing her hooves to his chest and trying to get free.

As she struggled one of the stallions threw the bucket back into the air.

“Hey! Hey! Bring her over! Put her up in the center!” Air Mach yelled.

“Eee!” Fleetfoot yelped as Lightning passed her up above the stallions and they all held her up above them. “Hey! Put me down!” she demanded as the bucket started falling back down.

“Where’s it gonna land, where’s it gonna land?!” Lightning laughed as they started forcefully pushing each other around since their arms were occupied by Fleetfoot instead of holding onto one another.

But as the bucket fell, Surprise suddenly leapt into its path, the bucket landing perfectly on her head like a helmet.

“SURPRISE, BITCHES!” she yelled as she fell towards them with her arms and legs outstretched.

“INCOMING!” Fire yelled out as the stallions began pushing and shoving against one another, some of them trying to grab and pull others back to keep them from getting away. Fleetfoot shrieked as the stallions lost their grip on her and fell into the water.

“OOOOOO SHI—” Lightning was cut off as Surprise landed right on top of him, forcing him down into the water. Fleetfoot shielded herself as the water splashed into her face.

Lightning popped his head out of the water and looked back and forth as Fleetfoot and Surprise next to him.

“Man, this just keeps getting better!”

“HOLD THEM BACK!” Air Mach exclaimed as the stallions came back together around the mirror with the bucket. “The circle of stallioness must not be defiled by estrogen!”

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Lightning chuckled as he put both Fleetfoot and Surprise in headlocks. “I got ‘em!” he yelled as he scooted in towards the stallions, but turned around to hold the two mares just out of the circle.

“Brother, must you put your rear in my face?” Fire complained as Lightning’s plot kept bouncing against his and Air Mach’s faces while he held the mares out.

“Deal with it bro, we have to maintain the ring of dudes!” he chuckled as he looked at Fleetfoot and Surprise struggling in his grip. “Don’t act like you’re not enjoying this, ladies.”

“You WISH!” Fleetfoot snapped back while sticking her tongue out at him.

“Bucket’s going up!” Fire yelled, tossing the bucket into the air and they took their positions while staring at the mirror.

But the bucket barely got halfway up into the air before one of the poolside chairs suddenly flew into the reflected view and started falling towards them.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” The stallions all shouted, instantly letting go of each other. They scattered in different directions as the chair splashed into the water and the lifeguard started angrily blowing his whistle.

Spitfire blinked and glanced over to see Misty Fly on her back and rocking back and forth laughing next to where her chair used to be sitting.

“Keep the shenanigans to a minimum I said… They’ll totally listen to you, right?” Spitfire said quietly to herself as she sighed as she let her head rest back against her chair. “We’re going to cause so much trouble here before this week is over…”

She glanced up as she heard a splash, watching as Misty swam through the water and tackled Fire Streak from behind. Blaze and High Winds both flew in and dove into the water as the mares and stallions started a silly battle of the sexes with several other Wonderbolts gathering and joining in. Inner tubes, beach balls, and other assorted pool paraphernalia flying in every direction as the lifeguard gave up and slumped back into his chair again.

Spitfire smiled as she watched the hilarity ensue.

“Ah, who cares…” she sat up and shifted to the edge of her seat, resting her chin on her hoof as she watched the Wonderbolts go at it. What were a few complaints from the hotel staff if she got to watch Fleetfoot smack Lightning Streak over the head with a giant inflatable banana? It was going to be all business after this, so it would be good to cut them loose and let them have fun.

In fact… she suddenly wanted to jump into the fray herself.

She swiped off her sunglasses with a smirk and stood up, taking a few steps towards the edge of the pool, but… she stopped.

She blinked and looked about at the group in the pool. It wasn’t all of them but… all of the top tiers were present except for…

“Wait a second…” she said to herself as she looked back and forth at the crowd. “Where’s Wave?”

Wave Chill was nowhere to be found. And considering the stallions had roped Fire into their silly game of bucket-chicken, it was strange that Wave wasn’t there too.

“Hrm…” Spitfire hummed, putting a hoof to her lips as she scanned the Wonderbolts again, making sure she didn’t just miss him.

“OOOOH YEEEEEEAH!”

“GAH! FUCK!”

Macho Savage suplexed both Blaze and High Winds into the water.

“He’s not with Blaze and High Winds either…Hrm…” Spitfire hummed against as she shifted her eyes. “Why aren’t you out here?” she asked out loud as she turned and started walking to look around other parts of the pool.

---

Dash slowly floated along, sitting back in an inner tube as the lazy river decided where she went.

“Haaa…” she sighed as she passed beneath trees and stone decorations placed along the sides. “We just got here and I’m already feeling refreshed…” she hummed happily to herself as mist from a waterfall gently splashed against her. “This place is good.”

Simply calling it a ‘pool’ barely did it any justice. This particular water park section of the resort had the most interesting pool set up Dash had ever seen. One started by climbing up stairs on an artificial cliffside that had several water slide entrances at the top, but it also sported the start of several slow moving water ways that slowly moved down the other side of the artistically crafted ‘mountain’ allowing guests to relax as they floated to points where a small, slight incline slides seamlessly pushed them down to the next waterway. At the bottom was a lazy river that split in several directions, guests floating down whichever the current put them on and passing beneath bridges that connected the ‘islands’ in between the streams. Each waterway eventually led to a larger pool area that was shaped as if it were a large lake, where most of the regular pool fun and water slide exits were.

This was the second time Dash had started at the top and slowly floated down. The water slides were tempting, but right now she was just in the mood to be a lump on her tube and take it all in. She had had plenty of excitement in the morning anyway… not to mention she definitely saw she was glowing yellow faintly when she awoke from her… very elaborate and outrageously sexual dream about Soarin. She’d wonder about that and if her yellow aura enhancements were to blame for that later though.

She turned her head to the side as a small group of young colts paddled by, laughing, splashing, and chasing one another as they rushed passed her along the river flow.

“Hard to believe this place was under siege two weeks ago…” she said to herself, looking back into the sky. “Either most didn’t know what was actually going on or Cadence is just that good at being persuasive…” Dash furrowed her brow. “Or she came up with a story to explain it… She’s sneakier than she looks…”

She glanced ahead to see that she was nearing a turn that led into one of the larger pool areas, and no sooner did she see it, did she hear a lot of commotion nearby.

“WhoooooooOOOOOooooAAAAAA!” Lightning Streak yelled as he suddenly launched into the air with Misty Fly grappling with him. Surprise zipped up and started hitting Lightning over the head with a beach ball repeatedly until all three of them fell back down with a loud splash.

Dash floated around the corner into the pool just in time so see Fleetfoot holding Macho Savage in a headlock. He was flailing around trying to get her off and flat out punched Air Mach in the face while doing so. Dash winced as they came near and barely missed her, falling into the water shortly after.

Nearby, High Winds had Fire Streak in a half nelson and Blaze was tickling him as he laughed uncontrollably.

“Man, they have a lot of energy,” Dash chuckled as she continued to casually float into the middle of all the Wonderbolt cacophony. Normally she would join right in, but she was being a little wary of her… body situation.

She lifted up her arm and looked at it, turning it over and over, tensing and relaxing it a few times. She didn’t mind a little roughhousing, but considering her sudden increase in strength and the clear presence of Celestia’s magical energy within her… she wanted to relax a bit first, just calm down and level out… at least initially. They had a whole week at the resort, so maybe after a day of relaxing she’d be willing to turn it up a notch.

She floated away from the shenanigans and started floating past the water slide exits. She watched as several colts and fillies shot out and splashed gently into the water, laughing and screaming as they paddled to the edge of the pool and clambered up to go again.

But then the water coming out of one of the slide tubes suddenly slowed and got very weak as if something was blocking it. Dash blinked and eyed it curiously for a moment, when suddenly a whooshing burst of water shot out of it, followed by Matteo emerging from it and landing in the water with an enormous splash. Dash shielded herself as water splattered all over her, followed by holding on as several waves caused her inner tube to bob up and down.

Matteo’s head eventually rose out of the water and moved towards Dash. He was large enough to walk on the floor below and keep his head above water. His crest feathers were slicked over his eyes, but he seemed to know Dash was right in front of him. Dash couldn’t help but snicker.

“Hey look, you fit!” she exclaimed as Matteo shook his head out vigorously and his head proofed up.

“In this one, yes. A few others have been problematic,” he said casually as Dash smirked and lifted an eyebrow.

“You really are loving this, aren’t you?” Dash said with a chuckle. “I gotta ask, how did this come about, Mr. Stoic Warrior?”

“Gilda and I took Teodora to The Shells when she was three.”

“The Shells?” Dash blinked and tipped her head as Matteo floated beside her, his head turning to face her.

“It’s a rest and relaxation destination a few miles away from the western border of the Griffon Empire near the ocean. It has many attractions, including amusement parks and several water parks and resorts,” he explained.

“Huh…” Dash lifted her brow. “The way you’ve enlightened me about the Griffons, they never struck me as the vacation resort owner type.”

“We aren’t,” Matteo shook his head. “It’s owned and run by Hippogriffs.”

Dash stared at him blankly.

“Have you never seen a Hippogriff?”

“All I’m picturing are hippos crossed with griffons,” Dash admitted honestly.

“They are similar to griffons, only with the body of a pony as opposed to…” Matteo trailed off, briefly bouncing up to reveal his soaked lion half briefly before submerging it back in the water.

“Huh, neat,” Dash nodded. “Related at all?”

“Perhaps. Ancestors possibly, but I have never looked into it,” Matteo said as his avian instincts started kicking in and his feathers swished about in the water.

“So you went to this place and…?”

“I think I had more fun than Teodora did,” Matteo said with a straight face.

“Was she too busy trying to fight every other kid she saw?” Dash asked with a smirk, drawing a sigh from Matteo.

“No, she didn’t start acting like her mother until she turned four. She was still very squeaky and bouncy at the time.”

“And you still had more fun than her at a water park? I’m sorry, that’s just so weird to imagine,” Dash said with a snicker.

“Gilda said the same thing,” Matteo shrugged. “I didn’t understand what was so confusing. It was fun.”

Dash kept snickering while trying not to look at him.

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing…” Dash waved him off as she failed to hide the amused smile. The thought of big Matty running around a water park full of kids having a great time was just so... goofy.

Her ears perked up as she picked up familiar laughter. She could hear Thunderlane and Little Star. She sat up and looked over the edge of the pool in the direction of a large wave pool that was placed just a few yards from the pool’s edge. A wave cycle had just ended.

“Hey let’s go group up,” Dash beckoned Matteo as she tucked herself in and fell through the tube into the water. She grabbed the tube with one arm and paddled to the pool’s edge with Matteo simply walking through the pool behind her.

As the two emerged to transfer to the wave pool, Star caught a glimpse of them and waved them down, encouraging them to join. Dash glanced about as they moved, sighing when she saw no sign of Squall anywhere. They saw him at breakfast, but he was sitting alone by himself off to the side and before any of them could confront him, he had left. After that they ran into him at the room before heading down to the pool, but he forced his way past them and trudged away, ignoring Dash’s demands for him to stop and turn around as he vanished around a corner. She was reaching the end of her rope with him, eventually she was going to stop holding back for the sake of everypony trying to relax and have fun. He was pushing his luck.

She struck him from her mind for now. They’d track him down eventually. For now… fun.

Dash jumped into the pool with her tube over her head. She lost her grip on it, but popped up in the hole in the center and started kicking her way towards Star and Thunderlane. Matteo simply started walking from the slanted edge and kept wading down into the water until it was up to the middle of his neck again.

“The next cycle is about to start, get over here!” Thunderlane yelled as they drew near.

“I’m ready!” Dash exclaimed as she and Matteo reached them and she pulled herself up onto the inner tube. “Bring it o—”

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK

Dash’s eyes went wide as the loud horn sounded from behind her. She turned to look over her shoulder as several other guests in the pool started yelping and gasping in surprise. Something large and wooden suddenly rushed in front of her line of sight.

She didn’t bother to look up, down, or side to side. She just flattened her brow and pressed a hoof against it to float back and get a better view.

It was a small replica of an old wooden ship complete with white sails. ‘H.M.S. PayMeNoMind’ was written on the side. Several of the other guests looked on with confusion as the lifeguard on duty just stared blankly.

“I was wondering where he was…” Dash said with a sigh as loud CLONK noises sounded from the boat until Twister appeared at the edge of the deck. He was standing on his hind legs while wearing a dark trench coat and a white ship captain’s hat. He had a pipe in his mouth, a scruffy blue beard that matched his mane, and a peg leg. He angrily gritted his teeth, chewing on the mouthpiece of the pipe as he shut one eye and opened the other very wide while glaring down at the rest of them.

“Call me… Fishmael…” Twister said in a hard, serious voice. On cue the next wave cycle started in the pool, the waves slowly building up. Matteo cocked an eyebrow as he stared at Twister.

“I understand the reference, but Fishmael was the narrator. The captain was Greyhab.” Matteo pointed out.

They all flinched as a loud thunderclap echoed from above. A thick dark cloud that was conveniently the exact same size of the ship appeared above it and began down pouring over it. Bright flashes of lightning and loud booms of thunder roared as Twister forced himself through rushing winds and rain towards the bow of the ship. He pulled out a long telescope that extended all the way past the wave generator, got into the face of a guest sitting at a table behind it. A straw popped out of the lens and drank all of the guest’s mixed drink before zipping all the way back and slamming in front of Twister’s face. He chucked the telescope over his shoulder and slammed his peg leg onto the railing, glaring forward as the rain beat against his face.

“The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run!” Twister chanted as a loud boom of thunder roared out overhead. “Over unsound gorges! Through the rifled hearts of mountains! Under torrents’ beds! Unerringly I rush!” The ship lurched as the waves grew larger and nearly threw him to the deck. He stumbled back towards the mast and grabbed hold of it, his angered scowl never fading. “Naught’s an obstacle, naught’s an angle to the iron way!” he proclaimed while shaking a hoof at the thundercloud.

“Twister, you’re scaring the kids,” Dash said flatly.

She yelped as Twister’s arm extended down and grabbed her right out of her inner-tube and pulled her onto the deck beside him, instantly drenching her with rain.

“Pony madness is oftentimes a cunning and most feline thing… When you think it fled, it may have but become transfigured into some still subtler form!” he pulled Dash close and dragged her to the stern, placing her behind him as he grabbed the ships wheel and forced it into position as the wave cycle was now in full force. “I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I’ll go laughing! All my means are sane, my motive and my objective are mad!”

“Is this going somewhere Twister?” Dash asked in a flat tone as the ship swayed and lurched. His head completely turned around without him moving his body.

“Talk NOT to me of blasphemy, Dash!” his head spun wildly in circles before popping back into place with a loud THUNK. “I’d strike the sun if it insulted me!”

Down below Star and Thunderlane had subtly moved behind the boat, but Matteo remained in place, still with just his head poking out of the water as he stared up at the display.

“This is incredibly overdramatic,” he commented.

Twister suddenly released an extremely loud and long gasp, ripping free from the wheel and rushing to the edge of the deck, extending his telescope all the way down into Matteo’s face, the lens growing wide with Twister’s blinking eye visible in it.

“Um…” Matteo leaned back slightly.

Twister pulled the telescope back and broke it in half over his leg. He leapt up and grabbed the mast, hanging off it by a rope as a loud clap of thunder boomed… followed by a heavy metal drum rhythm and heavy guitar following soon after.

“SPLIT YOUR LUNGS WITH BLOOD AND THUNDER!!!!!”

Twister whipped down and grabbed Dash by the neck, pulling her over and pointing down at Matteo.

“WHEN YOU SEE THE WHITE WHALE!!!!!!”

“Twister now you’re really scaring the, OOF!” Dash grunted as the ship lurched and the two of them were thrown to the deck.

“BREAK YOUR BACKS AND CRACK YOUR OARS, MEN!”

Twister clenched his hoof and shook it at the thundercloud.

“IF YOU WISH TO PREVAIL!”

“Alright, that’s enough of—” Dash tried to reach for him, but he grabbed her by the head and forced her to look at his peg leg.

“THIS IVORY LEG IS WHAT PROPELS ME!”

“Wah!” Dash yelped as Twister threw her overboard, landing in the wave pool with a splash.

“HARPOONS THRUST IN THE SKY!”

Twister held a pool noodle into the air before rushing over and glaring over the side at a very confused Matteo.

“AIM DIRECTLY FOR HIS CROOKED BROW!”

Twister’s eyes popped off his head and shot down right in front of Matteo.

“AND LOOK HIM STRAIGHT IN THE EYE!”

“I’m not a whale…” Matteo said calmly as Twister’s eyes shot back up and smacked back into his head. He threw the pool noodle over his shoulder, reached into his trench coat and pulled out a hysterically large, grey cannon that he slammed up against the side of the deck, causing the boat to tip.

“WHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITE WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALE!”

The cannon tipped all the way down, the massive barrel pointing directly at Matteo’s face. It was easily five times the size of his head.

“HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIL!”

The cannon started shaking violently, making creaking noises that grew louder and louder until…

PATOOIE

A tiny suction cup dart attached to a piece of yarn shot out of the cannon and gently stuck itself to Matteo’s beak.

Matteo blinked and stared at the dart. Little Star burst out laughing as Matteo just sighed.

Near Star, Thunderlane was eyeing a piece of loose wood that was sticking out the side of the boat. He curiously grabbed it and pulled it out. The boat suddenly capsized, breaking to pieces as the thundercloud dissipated and the heavy metal music suddenly went way off key, the sound of several drums breaking and guitar strings snapping filling the air as the boat became a pile of driftwood.

“Uh…” Thunderlane let the loose wood drop out of his hoof as the wave cycle ended. “Oops?”

Twister angrily burst out of the water, throwing several planks of wood aside and stuffing his nose into what appeared to be an assembly instruction booklet.

“What is this CRAP?!” he angrily grumbled. “I paid all those bits for this cheap ass piece of…” he trailed off, closing the booklet and turning it over. The word ‘IKEA’ was printed on the back in big black letters. “Really? We already used this gag, come on!”

“You know, Twister…” Star spoke up as she swam over to him. “You go through a whole lot of trouble to do things that end up being completely pointless.”

“Young LADY!” Twister turned and picked her up out of the water, all the wood sank and vanished under the water. “Whatever are you doing?! You can’t go swimming without your water wings!” he exclaimed with worry as she flattened her brow.

“Twister, I know how to—”

Twister swung her around and shoved her into a single large water wing that was twice her size, stuffing her body down until her wings were pinned back and only her head and arms poked out.

“What the…?!” She tried to wiggle free but she was firmly stuck.

“That’s better,” Twister nodded contently. “You go have fun now!” he gave her a gentle push and she started floating away from them.

“HEY!” she yelled, wiggling her arms to no avail as the next wave cycle started up gently. “Guys, help!” she pleaded.

“Should we help her?” Thunderlane asked Dash. Dash stared towards Little Star floating into the next round of waves, but Twister was furiously paddling after her on a makeshift raft, suddenly looking very ragged and disheveled like a shipwrecked cast away.

“WILSON, NO!” he yelled as she chased after Star.

“Nah, she’ll be fine,” Dash shrugged. “Let’s get back to the other pool while we can.”

“Agreed,” Matteo quickly nodded while pulling the dart off his beak.

The three of them made a quick and discreet exit, leaving Star to handle Twister as they jumped back into the nearby section of the main pool and got settled in.

It took a moment for Dash to realize how… quiet it was. The Wonderbolts had apparently moved somewhere else?

Her ears turned as she picked up several familiar voices. She glanced up towards the section of the lazy river visible from below on the fake mountainside.

“Ah, there they are…” Dash chuckled.

The Wonderbolts were all grouped together on several inner tubes, linked up and moving much faster than the current was flowing while hooting and hollering and holding up assorted inflatable pool toys they had either found or stolen from nearby stands. High Winds was at the back of the group, using her powerful wings to propel them along with Air Mach standing on the front of the tubes, pointing forward triumphantly. They were knocking aside anypony that got in their way, and every time they left Dash’s view, she knew where they were based on which lifeguard blew their whistle at them.

“I fit in the water slides, by the way,” Matteo’s voice caught Dash’s attention as she turned to see Thunderlane eyeing him carefully.

“Oh? Prove it!” Thunderlane smirked at him.

“Very well,” Matteo accepted the challenge and the two waded off towards the waterslides.

“Final approach! Extend the runway!” Air Mach’s voice pulled Dash’s attention back to the Wonderbolts. They came shooting out of the exit of the river and rushing along through the center of the pool, High Winds just letting them coast instead of powering them anymore. They eventually came to a halt in the center of the pool, and the moment they stopped it devolved into chaos, several of them grabbing each other and yanking or tugging them off their tubes into the water while laughing.

Dash leaned forward, her instincts telling her to join the rough housing, but she hesitated again, sitting back as she remembered she was trying to be careful. They had a week, the chances of them going to the pool again was more than guaranteed. Instead, she wondered about her absent squad member, glancing about the pool again despite knowing that the chances of him being there were practically zero.

But as she started looking around, her eyes unexpectedly landed on another dark and broody pegasus.

Descent was sitting one row of chairs back from the edge of the pool underneath an umbrella with Lightning Dust sitting next to him.

“Huh… right, I forgot he was here,” Dash said to herself as she dropped into the inner tube and started floating it in their direction.

Lightning Dust perked up and waved towards Dash as she approached, ditched her tube and lifted herself out of the water. Descent locked eyes with her as she came around the chairs, but only for a moment before snorting, staring forward, and flattening his brow. Dash lifted an eyebrow and snickered.

“Yeesh, Descent. Settle down. Don’t have too much fun or anything,” she said sarcastically as she sat down beside Dust’s chair.

“Hrm…” Descent grunted and turned his head further away. Dash blinked and looked at Dust. Dust shrugged and sighed.

“Don’t bother,” she said while shaking her head. “He’s been like this all morning.”

“What’s the hold up?” Dash asked, looking back at Descent. “We’re here to relax.”

“I’m fine,” Descent replied instantly, sharply turning his back to them. He flinched as his eyes landed on a family walking by. A mother, a father, and two fillies pulling their parents along while giggling. Descent scrunched up his face and turned to face forward again. He looked extremely uncomfortable.

“What in the world is making you so stiff in a place like this?” Dash asked.

“I’m fine,” Descent repeated.

“See?” Dust sighed and leaned back, shaking her head again.

“Wow,” Dash huffed. “Lighten up a little.”

“I’M FINE!” Descent yelled while shooting a glare at her. His eyes widened and he looked around as several other guests glanced in his direction. He stiffened and quickly looked down, gritting his teeth. “Frggghhhhhnnnnn…” he grumbled while slumping back and crossing his arms. Dash and Dust just stared at one another, at a loss.

“Okay…” they all perked up as Fleetfoot suddenly vaulted over the chair beside Descent and flopped down on it in a sultry pose complete with her hip and flank popped up. “What’s Mr. Battlescar McHarumphGrump brooding about over here?” she asked in a somewhat silly tone. Descent’s eyes twitched and he sharply turned to look at her. He immediately saw the way she had positioned her body and grunted angrily.

“Buzz off, hussy,” he hissed.

“Ooo… sharp tongue,” Fleetfoot cooed while sticking out her tongue. “Sounds like you need to relax! Want some help?” she asked while slowly sliding a hoof up her flank to the curve of her waist. “I’m pretty good at helping with that. I can act like I have a stick up my ass like Starry too if that’s your thing.”

“Fleet, don’t…” Dust nervously lifted a hoof towards her as she brought up Starry Skies.

“What?” Fleetfoot giggled. “Isn’t that what he likes?”

“Leave her out of this,” Descent growled while shooting her a harsh glare.

“You keep giving me reasons to bring her up,” Fleetfoot shifted to lay on her stomach, keeping her head turned towards him while resting her chin on her hooves and bouncing her eyebrows.

“You clearly don't understand the relationship between us,” he added, his tone growing harsher by the word.

“You suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure about that?” Fleetfoot teased.

Dash stood up from her spot, made her way around and sat down on Fleetfoot’s chair directly in front of her.

“Hey!”

Dash leaned back and pinned Fleetfoot to the chair.

“Alright, if you want to talk straight, talk to me,” Dash suggested as Fleetfoot wiggled behind her. “Is Starry the reason you can’t relax?”

Descent stared at her, but didn’t say anything.

“Well?” Dash pressed a little. “Want to fend her off or not?” Dash asked while making a slight head motion behind her.

Descent glanced between Dash and Fleetfoot. Dash was holding a serious expression while Fleetfoot was peeking out around Dash’s plot, biting her lip and still bouncing her eyebrows.

“No,” he said with a grunt. “It’s not her.”

“That’s a big fat lie. YEEP!” Fleetfoot squeaked as Dash leaned back harder and dug her elbow into Fleetfoot’s side.

“Then what is it?” Dash asked as Descent looked away from her. She looked at him carefully and decided to follow his line of sight. Eventually she saw the family that passed them just a few moments ago. The mother and father had settled in and the fillies were both charging for the pool, jumping in while laughing.

Dash perked up when she thought she might have just put two and two together but… her ears folded back. She didn’t want to bring him up but… she was legitimately curious.

“Is it Storm?” she asked.

“No,” Descent denied, looking elsewhere.

“I bet—” Fleetfoot was instantly muffled as Dash shoved a hoof into her mouth and her cheeks puffed up.

“I already asked that,” Dust cut in. “He’s being a closed book.”

Dash eyed Descent carefully as he kept his gaze averted.

“Okay then,” Dash nodded. “Act like I don’t have a nosy rabble-rouser pinned behind me for a second…” Dash flinched and pulled her hoof out of Fleetfoot’s mouth as she started licking it. “Spitfire invited you here to relax, right? I’m surprised she got you to agree—”

“I didn’t.”

Dash pulled back for a second and held up her hoof while blinking.

“Okay, I’m surprised she managed to drag you here against your will,” she corrected. “But now that you are, what is keeping you from loosening up? Be honest, I’m legitimately curious.”

Descent looked at her for a long time while completely avoiding eye contact with Fleetfoot. Eventually he turned and started slowly scanning the entire area around him until his eyes eventually landed on Lightning Dust. He let out a long sigh, scrunching up his face as he slid down and slumped against his chair.

“I’ve…” he hesitated, his tone very quiet. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Dash lifted an eyebrow, staying silent for a second with the others as she tried to wrap her head around what he just said. But then realization hit her.

“Oh…” she leaned back. “Oooooooooooh…”

“There, are you happy?” Descent grumbled with a snort.

“Huh…” Fleetfoot broke her silence, Dash glancing at her to see the trickery gone from her face as she clearly put it together as well.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve told you about my youth at some point,” Descent kept his tone hushed. “You think I’ve ever been to a family resort before?” He flattened his brow. “I… don’t know what to do here.”

Dash quickly looked towards Dust. She looked surprised as well, but she had to be thinking the same thing as her. She had lived a civilian life before joining the Shadowbolts, but Descent? He never knew his family, abandoned as a colt on the streets of Canterlot, scavenging and surviving with Nightshade and Starry Skies until they joined the Shadowbolts. Aside from the situation that led to Storm Front, the greater majority of his life had been nothing but battle and mercenary work.

It was incredibly odd to see Descent so uncomfortable, especially considering where they were on top of it.

“Well…” Dash tipped her head slightly. “Then why not…” she motioned towards the pool. “Get out there and give it a try?”

Descent blinked and looked towards the pool.

“Alright fluffy, can you fit in this slide?” Thunderlane motioned towards a smaller tube slide clearly designed with colts and fillies in mind.

“Absolutely not,” Matteo admitted outright, but Twister suddenly appeared behind him and grabbed him by the crest.

“Not with that attitude!” he shouted, yanking Matteo down and stuffing him face first into the slide. Matteo squawked as he got halfway in before getting stuck. Twister stood behind him with a giant croquet mallet. “FIRE ONE!” He wound up and struck Matteo’s butt with it, forcing him into the slide. The slide vibrated violently and shook with a loud BANG when he reached the bottom before oozing out the other side and dropping into the water ungracefully.

Descent’s face contorted slightly as he looked towards the rowdy group of Wonderbolts nearby.

“HEY LADIES!” Lightning Streak yelled out, he had a kiddie inner tube that he somehow got over his body around his waist and he was riding on top of the large inflatable banana they had been carrying around with his thighs clenched tightly around it, waving the front end of it towards a bunch of Wonderbolt mares. “WANNA PEEL MY BANANA?!”

“I… no…” Descent’s face twitched awkwardly. “I’m fine right here.”

“Ooooooh no. No no no.” Fleetfoot forced herself up, nudging Dash away from her. She moved right over to Descent and grabbed his arm. “You are not spending a week at a fancy resort and sitting around while we have fun.”

“Stop it,” Descent grunted, trying to pull his arm back, but Fleetfoot held tight.

“No. You’re coming out here and that’s final,” Fleetfoot demanded.

“You can’t force me,” Descent held steady as Fleetfoot yanked at his arm.

“Dash! Dust! Help me out here!” Fleetfoot called to the other two. “We gotta move this lump of grump into the pool!”

Dash and Dust smirked at one another, quickly getting up and joining Fleetfoot in grabbing Descent and pulling him off his chair.

“Hey! Enough!” he yelled as he tried to resist. “Cut it out!” he yelled as he realized he couldn’t hold them back. Perhaps normally he’d be able to hold the three mares back, but one of the three was making use of some newly acquired strength. As they drew near the edge of the pool, Descent turned his attention to Lightning Dust. “Dust, stop!” he urged. But she didn’t listen.

They put him at the edge of the pool, and with one mighty heave, they threw him in with a big splash.

“Blah!” Descent grunted as he came up, sitting with the water at neck level and narrowing his eyes into an angered glare.

“Woo!” Fleetfoot hooted as she jumped in next to him and splashed water all over him, Dust and Dash following right behind. They all came up laughing and splashing water towards Descent as he sat still and huffed.

“Well? Are you all happy now?” Descent gruffly asked.

“Nope!” Fleetfoot leaned towards him. “Not until you start enjoying yourself!”

“Well that certainly isn’t happening right now,” Descent grumbled. He flinched as Fleetfoot reached a hoof out and booped his nose.

“That’s because you’re still being a grouch! Loosen up!” she giggled.

“Hey guys, have any of you seen…?” Spitfire suddenly walked by the edge of the pool and trailed off as Descent turned and stared at her wide eyed. Spitfire’s face instantly scrunched up and she failed to stifle a few breathy chuckles.

“WHAT?” Descent hissed sharply at her with a glare.

“Nothing, nothing…” Spitfire kept chuckling while waving a hoof and gathering herself. “Have any of you seen Wave Chill anywhere?”

“Oooooo?” Fleetfoot cooed towards her, but stopped abruptly and blinked, looking over towards the rest of the Wonderbolts. “Actually that’s a good question… I didn’t even notice he wasn’t with us.” Her ears flopped down and she pouted. “That’s depressing. Has he really been away from us so long?”

“Hmmm…” Spitfire hummed while scanning around.

“I saw him leave towards the south building from the lobby,” Descent suddenly spoke up. Spitfire sharply turned back to him for a moment.

“Uhhhh…” she turned towards the lobby and held a hoof towards it, turned to face north, then swept her arm around to point south. “That’s where… huh… why is he…?” she thought out loud.

“Go, go, GO!” Fleetfoot cut her off and made pushing motions towards her. “Go find him! We’ll handle this sourpuss!” she encouraged happily. But she didn’t even have to say it, Spitfire had already turned and left.

“Can I get out of the water now?” Descent grumbled as he started wading towards the pool’s edge.

“Oh no you don’t!” Fleetfoot giggled, grabbing him and holding him in place. “You’re going to come over here and play!”

“I don’t ‘play.’ I’m not a child,” Descent huffed.

“Tell that to Misty Fly,” Fleetfoot argued while pointing towards Misty as she beat Lightning over the head with the banana he had between his legs moments ago. “No excuses, Hot Stuff, time to let loose.”

But regardless, Descent still resisted, bracing himself against the bottom of the pool.

Fleetfoot eventually stopped and let go of him, making a hoof motion for Dash and Dust to stop by swiping a hoof across her neck.

“Okay, how about this?” she suddenly sounded serious, catching Descent’s attention. “You know who’s over there right now? There’s at least one Wonderbolt I bet you want to go have fun with.”

Descent just stared, but then his eyes widened slightly. Dash caught on too, biting her lower lip and holding her breath. She’d let Fleetfoot handle this.

“Yeah that’s right, you know who I’m talking about,” Fleetfoot crossed her arms and tipped her head. “Dont’cha, daddy?”

“Oh…” Lightning Dust perked up as she scanned the crowd and saw Storm among the Wonderbolts gathering around and putting together teams for water basketball on the other side of the pool.

“Your son’s right over there, he’s having fun,” Fleetfoot made a head motion towards the group. “Never had a chance to do family stuff? Well, now’s your chance.”

Descent kept staring towards storm, his face twitching uncomfortably. He blew air through his nostrils and glanced down.

“I… suppose…”

“Great!” Fleetfoot cheered happily. “C’mon! Let’s go!”

“Hey! Stop pulling me!” Descent growled as Fleetfoot and Dust started pulling him along. Dash stayed behind, seeking out her inner tube to bring over and watch. But she only moved it a few inches before she stopped and stared.

“Ah forget it…” Dash smirked. Pushing the tube aside and breaking into a full swim to get over and join. She’d just be careful.

“Hey guys!” Fleetfoot yelled as she drew near. “We got another player!”

Descent stiffened as several Wonderbolts looked in his direction.

“Whoaaaa, hey! Now we’re talkin’!” Air Mach yelled out, coming by and jabbing Descent on the arm.

Descent blinked and stared blankly as the general greeting he got was pretty much similar to Air Mach.

They all just… went with it.

“Dad!” Storm yelled as he waded over, quickly catching Descent’s attention as Fleetfoot to team up. “You’re gonna play with us?”

“I… yes,” Descent answered calmly, still not sure how to act. But Storm barely seemed to care, he looked extremely happy and excited to see him out there.

“Hey! My dad’s on our team!” Storm explained as he pulled Descent over to Macho Savage, Air Mach, and Lead Runner.

“We get the mercenary? NOICE!” Air Mach clapped his hooves together. “Hear that Savage? We’re about to kick some major ass!”

“Oh YEAAAAAAAAAH! The Madness is REAL!” Macho shouted and flexed hard.

Descent lifted an eyebrow as the two hooted and hollered.

“Don’t worry, hun,” Lead Runner slid up beside him. “This is perfectly normal!” he said with a wink as Descent slowly tipped away from them.

“The plan is to use them as bait,” Storm whispered to Descent with a snicker. “They make good distractions, we’ll be scoring hoops easy.”

“What… exactly are we playing again?” Descent asked.

“Basketball,” Storm nodded with a smile. Descent stared blankly.

“Er…”

“Oh dear, daddy doesn’t get out much, does he?” Lead Runner hummed.

“Doesn’t matter if ya don’t know the game!” Macho trudged over and kissed his arm. “So long as the BEAT GOES ON! YEAH!” he posed without actually explaining anything.

“It’s a five on five game where we pass this ball around and try to throw it through one of those hoops,” Storm quickly explained, seeming to completely disregard that Descent had no idea what basketball was.

“Hm, easy enough.”

“Whose ass we kickin’ first?!” Air Mach exclaimed as they all moved towards the others.

“Y’ain’t kicking it!” Lightning came forward with Blaze, High Winds, and two other Wonderbolt stallions. “You’ll be kissing it when we’re done with you!” Lightning turned his flank towards them and spanked his plot.

“Reeeeeeally, eh?” Air Mach tipped his glasses down and bounced his eyebrows towards Blaze and High Winds.

“His fucking ass, not mine!” Blaze angrily pointed at Lightning and did a quick take at Winds before clutching her around the neck. “And only I’m allowed to kiss hers! Back the fuck off!”

“Promises, promises…” High Winds said sleepily as Blaze tightened her grip on her.

Descent remained silent, his lips and eyelids twitching.

“You okay, Dad?” Storm asked with a chuckle as they moved towards one of the hoops.

“This is… normal?” he asked weakly as Lightning and Air Mach continued to jawbone one another. Storm looked out to see Blaze hissing like a cat at Air Mach as he bounced his eyebrows at her and High Winds again while puckering his lips.

“More than you’d think,” Storm shrugged. “C’mon, get over here.”

“I…” Descent’s eyes darted back and forth, noticing that he had his back to the basket. “I thought we had to get the ball in the hoop?”

“We’re on defense,” Storm pointed at Lightning holding the ball with his team all facing the hoop. “We gotta get the ball back first.”

“Oh. I can do that,” Descent nodded, his gaze sharpening and cracking his hooves as Lightning’s team started coming towards them. Storm blinked as Descent started rushing through the water towards Lightning. Lightning saw Descent coming and turned his body, holding the ball away.

“Oh, wait, Dad!” Storm gritted his teeth. “You can’t—”

“OOF!” Lightning grunted loudly as Descent punched him right in the gut. Lightning exhaled and fell face first into the water while dropping the ball.

Everypony froze as Descent reached over and grabbed the ball. He turned and launched it at the hoop, throwing it way too hard and causing it just to bounce roughly off the backboard back into the water.

“Hm, a bit too hard…” Descent said to himself, but then blinked and froze when he saw everypony frozen and staring at him… except for Blaze, who was laughing her ass off.

“Bro… for real…?” Lightning gasped as he rose from the water, clutching his stomach.

“What?” Descent asked, completely oblivious.

“It’s a game, dude… not a death match…”

Descent tipped his head to the side curiously, quickly looking back at Storm to see him wincing a little.

“Buddy!” Air Mach reached over and pulled Descent aside. “Pal!” he added hooking an arm over Descent’s shoulders, causing him to recline in disgust. “I like your moxie! But, hey… let’s not kill the other team, got it?”

“More rules…?” Descent asked, scrunching his face.

“Yeah, uh… Dad…” Storm chuckled as he came over. “That was a little too much. Aggressive defense is good, but… you don’t have to, like, attack them. Just get in their way.”

“Hey, hey…” Lightning caught his breath and grabbed the ball. “A little full contact makes this more fun, but… just do it without the punching and kicking.”

“Yeah,” Air Mach nodded. “So more like… THIS!” He suddenly lunged at Lightning and tackled him.

“WHOA, SHIT!” Lighting started keeling over. “Lesbo 2! Go long!” he yelled, chucking the ball in High Winds’ direction. She leapt up and caught the ball, but Lead Runner shifted over and reached up, curling his arm around hers as she came down with it.

“Give it here, hun bun!” he cooed, but Blaze grabbed him around the chest.

“OFF!” Blaze demanded, pulling Lead Runner off of Winds.

“I got this…” High Winds turned and shifted forward a little before aiming at the hoop. With both hooves on the ball, she shot it towards the hoop. But the moment it left her hoof, Macho Savage leapt in and swatted it away.

“TOWER OF POWER!” he yelled as he dove at the ball and snatched it out of the water. “TOO SWEET TO BE SOUR!” he chanted as he flung it back out towards Air Mach.

“Woo! Good work Savage!” he turned his back as Lightning tried to grab it, throwing his wings out to push him off.

“Like that,” Storm pointed as Descent stared.

“I see… so…”

“You can get rough, just don’t kill anypony,” Storm smiled. “Just have fun.”

“Alright…” Descent flattened his brow and snorted. “I’ll try.”

“C’mon, let’s get in the fray!” Storm laughed as he dragged Descent in to join the game.

The game continued without any more… incidents. Descent seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly, keeping in mind that he could get physical as long as it was in more of a playful manner and not the hard-knocks combat he was used to.

After a few chances on both offense and defense he had gotten down, passing, shooting, and defending with the rest of them. He loosened up too, the competition helping him relax as he played the game with the Wonderbolts. Soon, he was throwing a little shade of his own, jawboning a little with the opposing team and exchanging hoof bumps with Storm and his other teammates as they executed good plays. The sight of Storm having fun also seemed to put him at ease. If Storm was enjoying having him there with them, then it was worth it to him.

“Take the shot! Take it!” Lightning goaded Descent. Descent was squared up, quite a distance from the basket. “C’mon tough guy! Make it rain from downtown! You won’t do it!” he waved his arms up and down, splashing the water.

Descent glanced to his left and quickly whipped the ball towards Storm, moving closer to the basket.

“Aw, I knew you didn’t have the—” Lightning started taunting as he backed off, but Storm caught the ball and instantly launched it right back to Descent. “Whoa!” Lightning tried to stop himself, but he was falling back.

Descent locked his eyes on the basket, and put a soft touch on it as he shot the ball with a high arc. The ball seamlessly swished through the net.

“Care to finish that statement?” Descent said with a smirk as Lightning just stared with his jaw open.

“THAT’S GAME! HELL YEAH!” Air Mach cheered and made his way over to Blaze and High Winds. “Alright ladies, pucker up!” he taunted while turning his plot towards them and wiggling it.

“Ew! Fuck off!” Blaze yelled.

But High Winds, instead of saying anything, grabbed air Mach by the tail and simultaneously yanked him down while thrusting a leg up… RIGHT between his legs.

A group wide flinch followed by a long drawn out ‘oooooooooooooo…’ rang out. Every stallion both shuddered and covered themselves as Air Mach’s voice screeched several octaves higher. He keeled over, and floated face down on the surface of the water, bubbles and a waterlogged scream coming from near his head.

“Aw, did my leg kiss too hard?” High Winds pressed her hoof over his head and forced him down into the water, his body sinking with it. Once the initial shock faded, it all fell into laughter, every one of them getting a chuckle out of it as Air Mach felt the pain he brought upon himself.

Storm glanced towards Descent, a wide grin growing on his face as he saw his father laughing along with the rest of them. Descent was having fun… and he got to spend time with his dad. Storm didn’t know how much he needed it, and apparently Descent didn’t know either.

But as the Wonderbolts dispersed to take a quick breather, Descent suddenly froze, his eyes grew wide and he exhaled as if he had lost all his breath. Without a word, Descent turned his back and started baking his way towards the edge of the pool.

“Dad?” Storm called to him, but Descent kept going. Storm quickly followed behind, catching up as Descent reached the poolside, turned, and rested his back against the wall, and slumped a little, staring down at his distorted reflection in the water. “Dad! What’s up?” Storm asked as he caught up and looked Descent over carefully. “You okay?”

“I don’t know…” Descent quietly replied as he pressed a hoof to his chest. Storm tipped his head curiously. He knew there was no way Descent had overexerted himself playing a game of water basketball. “I guess… It just…” he suddenly spoke again, pausing for a moment. “Caught me off guard.”

“The game?” Storm asked, still confused.

“Not just the game… them,” Descent looked up towards the Wonderbolts. “I’ve never done anything like that before. I’m not sure how it makes me feel. It feels good, but… for some reason I feel bad too.”

Storm tried to wade through the words coming out of Descent’s mouth, but he eventually felt like he was thinking too hard.

“It sounds like you had a good time, Dad. That’s all.”

“Really?” Descent grunted, furrowing his brow. “Is it really that simple?” he asked aloud as he stared towards the Wonderbolts again. “Has my life really been so devoid of joy? All I did was play a game with some acquaintances… They welcomed me like I had been there all along… why does that feel so odd to me? Should it?”

Storm smiled weakly, turning and planting his back against the wall next to Descent.

“Welcome to normal life, Dad,” Storm said while giving him a nudge.

Descent stared at him for a short while before looking back at the Wonderbolts, slowly shaking his head.

“So this is… fun. This is the kind of thing you experience every day with them…”

“Yep,” Storm nodded. Descent released a long, drawn out sigh.

“I always throw around the word ‘family’ to describe the Shadowbolts, but… it looks like I really don’t know what the word means beyond being comrades in arms.”

“Aw, c’mon, don’t sell yourself short like that,” Storm jabbed Descent in the shoulder. “That’s just as much a part of it. You care about the Shadowbolts right?”

“They are everything to me… the only thing really,” Descent said without hesitation.

“Then you do understand it, this…” Storm motioned out towards the Wonderbolts, pausing as several silly interactions caught their eye. “Is just a part of it you’re not used to.” Storm smiled. “And I’m glad I got to watch you experience it for the first time… I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile like that before. After all you’ve done for me, it feels good to help you for a change.”

Descent looked at Storm and slowly cracked a smile, reaching up and ruffling Storm’s mane without saying anything else. But as he turned back, his eyes landed on the family he saw earlier. They were enjoying themselves at the poolside, the two fillies being held up in the water with foam bubbles as the mother and father splashed along with them. His smile faded and he sighed.

“I’m sorry that I could never give you a normal life and childhood…” he suddenly said. Storm blinked in surprise before following Descent’s eyes over to the family. The two of them sat silently and watched as the family laughed and played. Storm slowly glanced towards Descent, noticing a subtle look of regret in his eyes.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Storm assured him, returning his eyes to the family. “I know that Mom never accepted things… or you and me.”

“Which is partially my fault too,” Descent cut in, but Storm quickly continued.

“I don’t think it would have made a difference if you were there, really,” Storm admitted, but he quickly reached out when he saw Descent flinch. “Hey, hey, but… look… circumstances aside, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if the two of you never ran into each other. And regardless of how she treated it all, you did your best to come and see me, take time to be with me and make sure I turned out alright even though you never had a father figure to do the same for you. That says something about you, whether you realize it or not, especially for me as your son.”

Descent stared at Storm, looking into his eyes quietly as he spoke.

“Don’t let Mom bring you down. The two of you made your choices when it came to me. Which one do you think left an impression?”

Descent’s eyes widened a little as Storm shook his head.

“I’m not going to suddenly ask the two of you to kiss and make up and come home and get along. I know that’s never gonna happen. But you didn’t screw up. You couldn’t have been better to me.”

“Hmmm…” Descent hummed, letting his head tip a little as his lips curled into a smile. “Thanks… I needed to hear that.”

They both leaned back, relaxing as some hustle and bustle among the Wonderbolts carried out. It looked like new teams were being drawn for the next round of games, but there was a bit of a silly tug of war going on between team captains.

Storm lifted his neck slightly, seeing Fleetfoot get out of the pool and trot off somewhere, but the moment he looked back towards the Wonderbolts, his eyes locked with Rainbow Dash’s.

She had stopped while wading around to help pick teams and stared at Storm for a moment. Storm stiffened, gritting his teeth. Descent perked up, noticing the two of them, and catching a brief glare from Dash before she sharply turned and moved elsewhere.

Storm released a heavy sigh and sank into the water until it was at his chin.

“Alright,” Descent huffed. “Could you explain what’s going on between the two of you?”

“Huh?” Storm blinked, glancing up at him weakly.

“She did the same thing to you earlier, I saw it,” Descent explained. “Why?”

“She’s still angry at me for ratting her out to Spitfire,” Storm explained. “She’s been giving me the cold shoulder for the past two weeks.”

“The past two…?!” Descent started, his ears standing up before trailing off and flattening his brow as he searched the crowd for Rainbow Dash. “Hold on, has she said why?”

“No… I mean, I don’t think she has to?” Storm rubbed the back of his head. “I’m guessing it’s just because I ‘double-crossed’ her or something but…”

“But…?”

“I don’t know,” Storm sighed. “I mean, what was I supposed to do?” he asked, sounding frustrated. “It’s not like I told on her out of spite. I thought what she was doing was wrong and felt my involvement would jeopardize what I had earned! And… I mean, come on. It ended up working in her favor anyway!” Storm just started rambling. “I don’t know, I just hate this. I’ve tried to apologize but she won’t have it. Matteo and Squall keep glaring at me too. None of them were in my hooves there, how could they know how I felt?”

“Enough,” Descent placed a hoof over Storm’s head. “You did what you felt was right, yes?”

“Yeah…” Storm huffed. Descent growled as he found Dash in the crowd again.

“And despite that she’s…” he scrunched his face up. “And Spitfire…” he scrunched his face up more. “Of all the…”

“Dad?” Storm lifted an eyebrow as Descent snorted.

“Let me handle this,” Descent nodded firmly.

“No, Dad, I can—”

“No. This isn’t something she can hear from you. If she’s going to act this way when something is blatantly right in front of her, then I’ll give her something to ponder.”

“Hrm…” Storm hummed as he sat back up in the water, staring towards Dash.

“Come on,” Descent pushed off the wall and grabbed Storm by the shoulder. “Don’t think about her for now. I’ll take care of her next chance I get. For now let’s go rejoin the game. Who knows when we’ll be able to do this again?”

Storm smiled weakly, doing his best to push Dash from his mind as the two made their way back over.

---

“Hurf… Come on…” Wave Chill grimaced, his arms trembling. “Come on… come on!” he grunted as he slowly pushed up the dumbbells. “Dammit!” he yelled as he failed to get to the top of the rep and let his arms fall, tipping the dumbbells aside and letting them thump against the rubber floor mat. He sat up, huffing and puffing with sweat dripping down his face.

He hunched over as he caught his breath, grabbing a towel beside him and wiping his face with it before tossing it aside in frustration. He slowly looked up into the mirror on the wall, staring at himself as his chest heaved in and out.

“This is…” he glanced down at the sixty pound dumbbells. “That was so hard… rgh…” he grumbled as he looked down at his hooves and squeezed them. “Come on!” he stood up and started pacing around, rotating his shoulders and cracking his neck. “That was only sixty!” he whipped his head around. “Four reps? Really?” He huffed and sat back down on the bench he exhaled loudly, rubbing his hooves to his temples. “Settle down… settle down… relax… you were out for a while… just…”

He glared down at the dumbbells. With a loud hissing breath he reached back down and hoisted them up, tipping back on the bench again.

“Come on!” he repeated, gritting his teeth and taking a heavy breath as he went for another set.

As he struggled, Spitfire quietly placed a hoof on the doorframe on the other side of the empty fitness center. She peeked out, watching Wave in between all the equipment strewn about, tipping her head curiously as he pushed out three reps before failing to get through the fourth. He let the weights drop out of his hooves and just laid on his back, his arms dangling down at his sides.

“Shit…” Wave said quietly as he stared up at the ceiling, his eyes fixed on the large fans overhead. “This is terrible…”

Spitfire put a hoof to her lips as she slowly pieced together what she was seeing. Why had he come here? Of all the places to go first at a fancy resort… he came to the gym?

Was he… testing himself? He had been out of commission for quite a while, after all.

“Damn!” Wave sat up quickly and started pacing around again for a few moments. Eventually he left the bench behind without putting the weights away and made his way over to a punching bag hanging near the stretching mat. He cracked his hooves and stood on his hind legs, giving it a few light punches before turning up the heat and boxing it at a high pace.

Spitfire hummed quietly to herself and furrowed her brow as she watched him exert himself. His pace didn’t last very long, his punches slowing down and his breaths becoming heavy quickly. But regardless he kept on, gritting his teeth and pushing on as sweat dripped from his face.

She wanted to rush in and tell him to stop. She told him before they left that she wanted him to take it easy… and that was just referring to any shenanigans. Yet here he was pushing himself in the gym.

But at the same time Spitfire began to wonder what his motives here were. Wave was, if nothing else, very dedicated and dutiful. She would confidently wager that he was less interested in relaxing and more interested in making sure he was still fit for duty. He didn’t take part in anything the rest of them had been put through upon reaching the empire, nor a good chunk of the action that got them there, so she could see how his mind was elsewhere compared to them.

But the frustration was clear and present. It was somewhat hard to watch him struggle.

“Haaaaa…” Wave’s hoof slipped off the punching bag and slumped down at his side. He wobbled backwards onto the large stretching mat and fell right to his plot, sitting down and hunching over as he caught his breath.

That was all she could take.

Spitfire stepped into the gym, making her way around the equipment. The rubber, cushioned floor mostly masked the noise of her hooves and Wave’s heavy panting likely made it impossible to hear her coming.

She reached the edge of the mat and stopped, staring at the back of his head as he heaved and grumbled to himself.

“Hey.”

Wave flinched and his ears stood up, quickly looking over his shoulder to see Spitfire standing right behind him. Though the look in his eyes hurt her… not personally, just… he looked angry. If what she just saw was any indication, he was angry with himself.

“Captain…” Wave said weakly as his ears flopped down. Spitfire gave him a pout. “Er… Spitfire, sorry…” he sighed, turning his head back and shaking it slowly. “Great… You’ve been here for a while, haven’t you?” he asked as he continued to breathe heavily.

“I…” Spitfire hesitated.

“What a subpar display for a top tier Wonderbolt…”

“Whoa, whoa, okay…” Spitfire walked around and sat down in front of him. “Stop that while you’re ahead.”

“Am I wrong…?” Wave asked, looking up at her with a flat expression. Spitfire returned the flat look, but refused to answer the question.

“This is a weird place to go first when we’ve got a whole resort to make use of,” she tried to shift the subject. Wave clearly noticed, but didn’t retort. He just sighed and looked away. “Are you gauging yourself?” she asked. She got no response, and wasn’t happy about it. “Wave, come on. It’s me,” she said in a slightly sharp tone. “It’s not like you to be like this.”

“Yeah… I was,” he said with a huff. “I’m…” he looked at himself in the mirror. “Further behind than I thought I’d be. It’s very discouraging,” he explained, clearly reluctant to do so. He glanced towards the dumbbells. “I mean… come on, I may not be the powerhouse commander Soarin is, but I know I’m strong enough to rep out sixties. I could barely get through four,” he shook his head and took a deep breath. “And I’m so winded already… I haven’t been in here long.”

He suddenly stood up and moved towards the mirror, standing right in front of it as Spitfire stood up as well. He examined himself closely, looking over his body and turning to view his arms, legs, and side. Spitfire made her way forward, standing beside him.

“And how much weight have I lost?” Wave groaned. “I’ve lost so much strength and muscle…” he made a nonchalant hoof motion towards her. “Hell, you look bigger than me right now…”

“Wave!” Spitfire caught his arm and clenched it. “Enough!” she demanded, giving him a worried look. His eyes widened when he saw her eyes and he looked away. “Why are you acting like any of it’s your fault? You spent weeks on a bed, infected by a condition that had you effectively immobilized and in constant pain, and were barely able to be fed anything that would help you maintain yourself as we worked to save you!”

Wave gritted his teeth, slowly sitting down as Spitfire held onto his arm.

“You think this suddenly takes away a rank or respect that you earned? I sure as hell didn’t think you would be in top shape right off the bat…” she gently placed his arm down. “You’ll get back to where you were, I believe it.”

“Will I, though…?” Wave suddenly asked, his voice rasping a little from his heavy breaths. Spitfire pulled back slightly and blinked, not sure what he meant. “It took me a very long time to get to where I was… If it were you, there’d be no doubt, but not all of us are as genetically gifted as you.” He motioned to her body again. “For most of us it took years of training to crawl our way to our strength and ability… and maintaining it through constant training and diet was key. I started working my butt off when I was a teenager… I’m hardly as young as I used to be, can I really get back to where I was? This decrease is… alarming.”

He looked up and was surprised to see Spitfire holding a very incredulous blank stare.

“Not young?” she repeated, tipping her brow. “Wave, seriously? Who are you, Silver? You’re twenty-six!” she threw her arms out. “Well within your prime! And you’re a stallion! You’ve got plenty of hormones still flowing to build up strength and muscle!”

“Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic,” Wave admitted, glancing away from her. “But it’s still… disheartening…” he hummed to himself as he clenched and relaxed a hoof. “I put a lot of work in to get where I was, to see a lot of it disappear hurts…”

Spitfire looked him over carefully, listening closely to the tone of his voice. Wave wasn’t one to exude pride or stubbornness like several other stallions in the force, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. She could tell this was personal for him. After all, a Wonderbolt’s body was like a temple. Sharp, refined, well taken care of, and routinely maintained for peak performance. For a Wonderbolt with Wave’s success and position, it had to sting to see some of that lost.

But was it all really lost?

“Here,” Spitfire suddenly stood up, making hoof motions.

“Huh?” Wave blinked.

“Up, come on,” she ordered as she kept rotating her arm. “On your hooves.”

Wave stared for a moment, but quickly did as he was told. He stood up and faced Spitfire as she shook her body out, cracked her wrists and neck, and took a few breaths.

“Come at me.” She beckoned, taking a slightly lowered stance.

“And do… what?” Wave asked curiously. Spitfire instantly snorted and her stance weakened for a second and she chuckled.

“Spar, you dope. Come on, give me your best!”

Wave didn’t say anything, in fact he just stood still, hesitating to do anything. Spitfire flattened her brow.

“You came here to test yourself out, didn’t you? What are you waiting for?” she asked. “Give me your best shot!”

Wave swallowed and eventually nodded. Spitfire found it strange that he didn’t say a word, but it didn’t matter to her. He bent forward slightly into his own ready stance, signaling that he was complying.

Wave rushed forward, bringing up his hooves. Spitfire kept her eyes planted to his chest, looking to read his movements, but… she didn’t have to. He projected his attack so blatantly that she knew where he was going a full second before he threw the punch. She shifted aside and caught Wave by the arm, holding him in place. He didn’t throw another attack.

“Really?” Spitfire lifted her brow at him. Wave sighed.

“I told you… I’ve lost a lot,” he said as his ears fell.

“No,” Spitfire clenched his arm tightly. “Bullshit.” She furrowed her brow. “There’s a difference between being rusty and holding back.”

Wave’s eyes widened.

“You didn’t want to hit me,” Spitfire called him out and shook her head. “Better get serious, Wave. Because I am!” she suddenly yanked him forward, turning her back and heaved him right over her shoulder, slamming him to the soft mat.

“OOF!” he grunted, his back arching slightly as it smacked uncomfortably to the mat.

“UP!” Spitfire yanked him back up, letting go of him as he stumbled a few steps back. “Throw another weenie punch at me and I won’t aim for the mat next time!”

Wave rubbed the back of his neck, staring at Spitfire with wide eyes. But it seemed her point had been driven home. He exhaled, and wiggled his arms out before placing them back on the ground and locking a glare on her.

“Fine… here I come!” he shouted, a competitive tone in his voice as he rushed forward again.

Spitfire smiled as she examined his form and movements. He was coming at her faster and he didn’t project anything outright. In fact, he wasn’t throwing a punch at all, he charged right into her, the two grappling as they clashed. Spitfire’s hooves skidded a little, but she quickly stopped them both in place. Wave pushed off and began throwing quick jabs. Spitfire went fully defensive, brushing and knocking aside his punches. Her eyes darted about as she kept track of his movements. She had no problem doing so, but… he wasn’t making it easy. She knew his abilities well, as she did the rest of the bolts, but while there was a clear decrease in the power behind his attacks… his technique wasn’t showing any wear.

She grinned subtly as Waved pressed his attack, keeping her on the tips of her hooves as she did her best to control the movements, keeping them near the mats and away from other equipment. As it went on, Wave started to tire rather quickly. While she was barely breaking a sweat, he was panting fairly hard about a minute in.

So she decided to end it.

As Wave threw another punch, she purposely dropped her guard and braced herself. Wave’s hoof caught her right in the cheek. She grunted and stumbled backwards, but kept her hooves.

“Ah!” Wave immediately dropped his stance. “I’m sorry! I—”

“Gotcha!” Spitfire lunged forward and tackled Wave around the waist, throwing them both onto the stretching mat. As soon as they hit, Spitfire rolled and shifted her arms about, locking his arms behind his body and her legs around his, effectively pinning him in place.

“Ow… ow… ow…” he quietly uttered as he was stuck in the uncomfortable position. “You win… uncle…” he surrendered, even though she wasn’t waiting for it. Spitfire burst out laughing, releasing him as she rolled onto her back and kicked her legs.

“Wave, wow…” she kept giggling as she sat upright. “I can’t believe how quickly you folded up… I’ve been hit in the face before, you know.”

Wave sat up and pouted.

“Is it hard to believe I didn’t want to punch you in the face?” he asked.

“You’re such a sap,” Spitfire nudged him playfully. “But listen up and listen well,” she suddenly pointed sharply at him. “That was good.”

“It… was?” Wave blinked.

“You may have lost a little strength and endurance, but guess what?” She winked. “You haven’t lost a step technique-wise.”

Wave stared at her for a moment before looking down and shrugging.

“Well, I…” he smiled weakly. “I guess that counts for something, huh? Ahhhhhhhhhh…” he suddenly hunched forward, shuddering as he grabbed at his shoulder and neck.

“Wave?” Spitfire quickly leaned towards him.

“Ow…” he cringed. “Just… a stinger…”

“Oooo… I guess I did a bit much…?” Spitfire looked away awkwardly.

“No this… ah…” wave leaned back, lifting and dropping his shoulders. “This is just stiffness, I’ve been feeling it here and there since I was cured. How long was I in bed again?” he asked in jest as he rubbed his neck again.

“Where?” Spitfire shifted, moving herself behind him and gently placing her hooves on his back.

“Uh… Up around my neck and shoulders is the worst, there are some otherrrrrrrooooooooooo…” Wave suddenly shuddered as Spitfire began gently kneading her hooves around the base of his neck and traps. “Oooo… ah… oh…” he twitched a little.

“Right there?” Spitfire asked, snickering a little as Wave reacted to her touch.

“Yes, that… ahhhhhhh…” Wave shivered. “Not too hard, just…”

Spitfire softened her touch as she felt around the knots.

“Yes… perfect… haaaa…” Wave confirmed as he tipped forward slightly. “That feels good.”

“Where else?” Spitfire asked as she kept rolling her hooves into his shoulders.

“Around the wings…”

“Here?” She slid her hooves down to the base of his wings and felt around.

“Yeah, all around them… ooo…”

Spitfire chuckled as Wave continued to melt in her hooves.

“Wave… I don’t think you’re as far behind as you think. If you’re this stiff all over…” she said as she continued to massage his wing joints. “You could still be recovering.”

“I’d believe you, but…” Wave sighed. “It’s hard not to notice the muscle loss.”

“Wave, again,” Spitfire briefly stopped and gave him a soft pat on the head. “You are a stallion, and young. You’ll work that back before you know it. Everything else too.” She reassured him as she went back to massaging.

“I guess I’m more worried about the short run,” Wave said while shaking his head. “It’s not like I have all the time in the world, right? We could be back in combat at a moment’s notice…”

Spitfire perked up, her arms pausing as something hit her.

“Oh… OH!” she exclaimed. Wave glanced back at her, confused.

“What?” he asked.

“This is… oh, this is perfect!” she clapped her hooves together.

“Should I be worried?” Wave blinked awkwardly.

“No, not at all, in fact… well, let me explain,” she smiled as she put her hooves back on his body and kept kneading her hooves around. “It’s ironic that you mentioned a lack of time to train… because I’m in the middle of working on something that… if I’m right… might give us a way to significantly improve ourselves physically over a short amount of time.”

Wave stared.

“Pardon?” he lifted an eyebrow.

“I know, I know,” spitfire nodded. “It sounds too good to be true but… I may have found a way to make that a reality… within limits. I just need to run a few experiments after our week here at the resort before I consider it for the force, and…” she squeezed his shoulder. “I want you to help me see if it really works.”

“Now should I feel worried?” Wave chuckled.

“Not at all, in fact, if I’m right… and I really hope I am… we could get you right back to where you were and maybe even stronger, really quickly!”

“It does sound too good to be true…” Wave sighed, but shrugged. “But… if you say so.”

“It won’t just be you,” Spitfire let up on the massage and shifted around so they were facing one another. “I plan to test it on myself and Fleetfoot too,” she assured him. “It was just going to be Fleet and me at first, but… you’re now the perfect test subject. Plus, you’re a stallion…” she poked him in the chest. “I need an accurate idea of how it works for both genders considering physical, structural, recovery, and overall muscular differences.”

Wave blinked and looked her up and down.

“Why bring Fleet then if you’re doing it?” he asked with a slight smirk. Spitfire lifted her brow smugly.

“Because I don’t trust my body to give an accurate result. I put on muscle faster than some of the stallions do, come on. Blah blah blah, freak of nature and all that, yeah? I’ve heard that one a few times,” she stuck her tongue out at him. “She’s tiny and sleek. I can’t think of any other mare we have that’ll show more visible results. If we see it work on her and…” she poked him in the chest. “We slap everything you lost right back on you, then we might just have a one way ticket to catching the Shadowbolts completely off-guard next time we see them.” She finished with a nod.

Wave didn’t say anything for a moment, but slowly smiled and looked her up and down.

“You looking at something…?” Spitfire smirked.

“Hmm… maybe…” Wave chuckled. “Sorry about moping,” he leaned back a little. “I didn’t doubt you when you promised to cure me and you came through. So… I guess I'm confident this idea of yours will work and I’m already over it.”

Spitfire’s smirk grew slightly as she leaned closer to him.

“You didn’t answer my question…” she hummed as she scooted herself up to him. Wave’s eyelids twitched for a second as he caught her vibes. He leaned forward and blatantly ran his eyes up and down her body.

“Just admiring the ‘freak genetics,’” he joked. Spitfire’s lips parted, revealing a grin.

“Here, take a closer look.” She closed the remaining space between them and rested her arms over the front of his shoulders. The two tipped over, Wave gently rolling onto his back as Spitfire lay on top of him.

“This sure took a turn…” Wave snickered as Spitfire bit her lip. “I should get down on myself more often if it ends with you on top of me.”

“Well? Don’t keep the ‘freak genetics’ waiting,” she said slyly as she traced a circle on his chest.

Wave waited no longer, sliding his hooves down back, down her flank, then back up her hips and over her waist. She shivered at his touch, releasing a quiet moan that was muffled by her teeth biting harder on her lip.

“I can’t tell which one of us needs this more,” Wave joked as he felt Spitfire’s body twitch against his. He flinched as she suddenly reached forward and grabbed his face.

“ME.” Spitfire pulled his head towards her as she dipped down and kissed him very hard, lips parting instantly as she forced her tongue into his mouth.

Wave let out a muffled chuckle as he slid his hoof behind her head and went with it. He sure as hell wasn’t going to stop her.

But after a moment, Spitfire suddenly perked up, pushed her hooves to the mat and bent upward, looking around frantically as she remained straddled over Wave’s waist.

“Spitfire?” Wave blinked, slightly disappointed.

“Phew, I…” Spitfire sighed in relief. “I almost forgot that we’re in a public area… nopony is here though, thank god…”

“Oh… right,” Wave snickered. “Probably should… do this somewhere more private, shouldn’t we?”

“Well,” Spitfire lowered herself back down to him. “For the moment… we’re alone… So we can still enjoy ourselves… a little bit.”

“Until Fleetfoot suddenly appears and ruins it, right?” Wave joked. Spitfire giggled.

“Shhhh, don’t say that or it will happen!” she joked, her eyes slowly sharpening back into the bedroom variety. “Hmmm, but let’s stay here a few more minutes… then you should come out and join the fun.”

“I’m okay with that…” Wave smiled as Spitfire leaned back down and the two locked lips again.

Neither were aware enough to notice the gym entrance open and close VERY subtly.

---

Fleetfoot slid against the wall just outside the gym doors. She sat down, put a hoof to her chest, and breathed out.

“Hoooooooooo, that was too close!” she said to herself in a hushed tone as she wiped sweat from her brow. But after a moment of rest she squeakily giggled and gently tapped her hooves together. “Celestia alive, they are SO… HORNY…” she snickered to herself. “This is going to be easy!” she cooed as she rubbed her hooves together.

She stood up and started trotting back towards the pool.

“Wonder what ‘experiment’ she was talking about though…”

---To Be Continued---

Author's Note:

Man it feels good to write this kind of thing again. Lots of fun, silly, and some heated moments! And a couple of things set into motion as we go here

Looks like Dash is goign to have more trouble with the new power than she thought... not that it was a BAD thing, but thats gotta be embarrassing And Dash, you wanted Twister back, so you get what's coming to you

For those who may not have understood the reference, Twister's sailor scene and the quotes are a reference to Moby Dick, a famous piece of classic literature written by Herman Melville. It's a story told from the view of a sailor named Ishmael about Captain Ahab, a man who has an insane obsession with hunting down a white whale who bit off his leg. But the second part when Heavy Metal music plays and Twister starts yelling is a reference to "Blood and Thunder" by Mastadon, a heavy metal piece inspired by the novel. And Twister's appearance in the picture is based on a frame from a VERY OLD comic (I first saw about 15 years ago in high school). This frame specifically:

I'd post the whole comic, but its graphic at the end. If you want to see it just look up "Mastodon blood and thunder comic" in google and you'll find it easily.

Ahhhh Descent... welcome to the Wonderbolts, enjoy your stay! Though you have to feel for the guy, living his life so seriously that just having a good time feels weird to him? What better group to help him out with this than the Bolts? Maybe he'll learn a thing or two... and get to spend some time with his son while he's at it.

The picture featuring Descent and Lightning Streak was half inspired by a commonly seen stillframe from the anime Kill-la-kill:

But obviously with Lightning Streak Shenanigans in place of the other character. Kill-la-kill was made by the same creators who made Gurren Lagann, whom Air Mach and Lead Runner are references to.

Poor Wave Chill... while its not surprising that he's a little behind, anyone who's ever worked hard on physical improvement will know what he's going through hurts. But it looks like Spitfire has found a perfect subject for the Male side of her 'experiment'. This is the second time she's brought it up, the other time to Dash, though it looks like she's doing some trial runs first before getting the rest involved.

In the mean time... go on you two, we all know you NEED it!

And is Fleetfoot ever the instigator or what?

Apologies for this one taking longer, obviously it ended up being longer, but i have specific 'blocks' of things happening while they are here at the resort and they need to stay together. There's more fun, drama, and heated moment on the way!

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!

Art in this chapter by: Foxenawolf

Comments

[coldsilverd]

Heh, good to see the Wonderbolts taking a load off. While I'm looking forward to getting back into action, it's nice to slow down for a bit. Plus, we still have Squall and Storm to deal with.

Hmm... though if Dash butts heads with Descent, I wonder who is stronger, what with the new strength Dash has?

[Wolven5]

The first part, the dream, it was funny, but... it also made me feel really sad

It's great the Wonderbolts are finally able to relax and unwind after all the hell they've been through, and I like how you addressed some of the issues they;re still having. It was also depressing to see Wave training and feeling down because of how his condition had adversely affected him even though it's gone and I'm honestly glad Storm is getting the cold shoulder from Dash and her squad. She put her trust in him and he betrayed that trust, but it still resulted from Spitfire's paranoia and distrust.

“I dunno, I think you just like my flank!” Soarin taunted as he turned to try and get away. “My biiiiiiiig godly plot!”

That was honestly my most favorite line in this chapter; it made me laugh but it also made me feel like crying a bit

[Destiny-brave-fire]

"He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it."

Great scene... Oh who am I kidding? Great chapter of silliness and laughter.

[UmbraEquinae]

Nice chapter!

[J3SS]

Thanks for depressing me with that first part. :,)

[WildStallion]

Honestly, I feel that Descent never thought of things from others perspectives and thinking about consequences. If he did he might’ve passed them off as something else.

[Frazikar]

“Until Fleetfoot suddenly appears and ruins it, right?”

Not if she's sma-art ...

[Midday Giggle]

I read this whole thing instead of paying attention to my Philosophy and my History online classes and it was WORTH IT

I WAS LAUGHING ALL THE WAY I HAD TO HIDE MY FACE FROM THE CAMERA Pretty sure my teachers noticed but said nothing EVERYTHING WAS GLORIOUS. I just downright guffawed at the "Wilson, no!" and had to turn off the camera because I was laughing so much

Well done Big Blue, this was exactly what the Wonderbolts (and us) were needing

[Calm Wind]

10389974
Dash has yet to discover a lot about what her connection to Soarin is now doing to her But one has to wonder if it will all be good 🤔

[Calm Wind]

10390112
Dash has some real heavy needs to be met, eh?

[Calm Wind]

10390134
I was going to just do the Mastodon song first, but when i got there i had to make more references to the novel. Some of the quotes from it played perfectly into Twister's efforts to derail scenes

[Calm Wind]

10390237
thanks!

[Calm Wind]

10390240
Dashie needs her stallion NOW

[Calm Wind]

10390337
indeed, Descent may play the serious leader game, but there appears to be a lot of things on the outside he barely understands

[Calm Wind]

10390348
She barely got out of this one!

[Calm Wind]

10391086
hahaha am i getting you in trouble?

[Silentwoodfire]

Twister, don't forget that you have to auction off those fish later.

[Wolven5]

10391124
Absolutely, it's just becoming depressing of all this divine meddling and chaotic madness and psychotic bounty hunting that continues to keep them apart

Rainbow Dash is able to look her stallion in the face, but he's made to remain in an enchanted sleep so his new divine powers don't go out of control. it's like he may as well be in another world right now, and it's just not fair

[Calm Wind]

10391153
with tartar sauce

[Malory]

Really I'm surprised Storm doesn't come to the conclusion that even if he was right and things still worked out in Dash's favor that he still broke trust over something somewhat personal to her in favor of his own position. He's lost her trust entirely and the rest of her squad also paid for it. It's the principle of the thing: if he betrays you like that, even if things turned out well in the end, would you ever trust or even like him again?

Frankly if he can't figure out on his own that the very fact he did this makes him undesirable to be around then he really can't be forgiven at this junction.

With Dash and Spitfire it's more clear cut, but with Storm it's muddy personal territory.

[WildStallion]

10391132
Think that’s why I had this alternate universe thought that if anything happened to Soarin chances Dash might’ve just left not just the Wonderbolts but everything.

[Calm Wind]

10391333
One has to take into account the position he was put in though. While his betrayal may have struck a personal nerve, he was caught between a rock and a hard place. He had been given the opportunity/privilege to be an elite Wonderbolt and here he was suddenly put into a situation where he himself wasn't he understood what was going on and had two clear cut choices:

1. Dash

2. His superiors and his father (so he believed)

And because he didnt understand what was going on any better than the others, it alarmed him that Dash was plotting to circumvent the rest of the Wonderbolts... whom he wasn't willing to blatantly go against due to his position and how it was given to him. From here one can argue that orders should not be followed blindly and you shouldn't choose orders over friends, but in his mind, Dash was nuts for suggesting it. And then you also need to take into account that he believed this action would also go against his dad.

Was it the right choice? Obviously not, because Spitfire didn't have a clear plan of action. But when you think about where he was, his choice and the reason behind it becomes a little more clear. He hasn't earned (nor deserves) any sympathy from Dash, but lets be real, she's not even giving him a chance to apologize or have any sort of conversation about what happened.

Descent seems to see something she's missing. And it has to do with Spitfire. Perhaps the situation between Dash and Spitfire is different than Dash and Storm, but only on the personal level. If they are to face what lies ahead... differences will have to be settled.

I guess we shall find out how that goes

[05RainbowDash]

I have no words to describe what happened in the beginning, so no comment on that-

Aside from that, I absolutely loved the shenanigans it was really refreshing to read some good old wonderbolt antics after all that chaos and action.
And of course, we love to see Fleetfoot being an instigator and spying on Spitfire and Wave

[NyOs29]

Lighting Streak... I have no words on how that line is NOT you!!!

[Calm Wind]

10391711
I don't speak for Dashie's supercharged dreams

And of course, wherever tasty details lurk, we can expect Fleet to be nearby

[0PinkamenaDianePie0]

that dream was hilarious, i lost count of how many times i had to stop reading to laugh, but it also kind of made me a little sad
it's so good to see the Wonderbolts finally relax and take some weight of their shoulders. and fleetfoot just being fleetfoot

[05RainbowDash]

10391726
my friend and I could not stop laughing at "Dashie's supercharged dream" which resulted in us taking over an hour to read this chapter

[Sky Ash]

Why does it let you post a comment without writing anything!?

Real comment time:

I was just writing up this deep, psychological comment about how my opinion of Storm front has changed over time, from liking him to hating him and back to liking him again, (that is, before i erased it to start over and hit 'post comment' before putting more words down) when I realized it could be summed up to simply:

Damn I'm obsessed, and excellent work, and Storm's a great character, yadda, yadda.

FOR REAL THO I cannot wait to see how this next chapter goes, because I finally feel that Dash is in the wrong, and she needs to find closure with Storm about his whole 'betrayal'. Whatever kind of resolution it is.

Yeah THAT was my takeaway from this chapter, BUT I'LL READ IT AGAIN

oop never writing a long comment again cause Im a klutz

[jnzsblzs]

“OOF!” Lightning grunted loudly as Descent punched him right in the gut. Lightning exhaled and fell face first into the water while dropping the ball.

Honestly if the old timers are to be believed this is just some good honest play-off defence from around the early 1990-s

[Animak]

sweet

[Calm Wind]

10392428

[Calm Wind]

10392297

Channeling his inner Bill Laimbeer

[Calm Wind]

10391758
Glad you like Storm He's been a fun character to shape, one who appeared can do no wrong for a while, only to show flaw and weakness over time and prove that being a Wonderbolt takes more than just going by the book. There will be more to come

[jnzsblzs]

After all, a Wonderbolt’s body was like a temple.

Alright that's a fairly commonplace simile, and it does fit well in a lot of ways...

Sharp, refined, well taken care of, and routinely maintained for peak performance.

Okay I've been a catholic for a good chunk of my lifetime and I gotta tell you these are not really the first words that would have come to my mind when I'm thinking about churches.

[Halfdemonpyro]

Duuuude as soon as Twister started the speech I knew EXACTLY where you were going with it! Heck yeah man, bringin back those memories!

[Calm Wind]

10393522
my thought process planning this chapter was:

>Maybe i should add a wave pool, those are fun.
>...
>Moby Dick parody with Twister.
>FUND IT.

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

Dash moved to stop it before it began, but her eyes widened when Twister reached between his thighs and pulled out and (an) enormous artistically (anatomically) accurate plushy of Soarin that was twice his size and threw it onto the bed.

“Gilda and I took Teodora the (to) The Shells when she was three.”

[Calm Wind]

10395432
two of those need to be fixed, thanks. But i did not mean 'anatomically'. Artistically is correct, describing it as looking accurately like Soarin. The plushie does not have a horse dong

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

10395615

The plushie does not have a horse dong

[Lame Joke]

“HEY LADIES!” Lightning Streak yelled out, he had a kiddie inner tube that he somehow got over his body around his waist and he was riding on top of the large inflatable banana they had been carrying around with his thighs clenched tightly around it, waving the front end of it towards a bunch of Wonderbolt mares. “WANNA PEEL MY BANANA?!”

this is borderline creepy.

i seriously need to check fimfic more often lol

[Calm Wind]

10396185
Tact/decency and Lightning Streak have never gone hand in hand

[Calm Wind]

10398209
Thanks! Congrats on catching up and welcome to the ride im glad you enjoy it

[Guitarnoob]

Dude that mastodon reference has me so dang happy. I’m a complete metal head and the fact that you put the hole third verse and chorus is just awesome. Stay metal🤘 Ps the rest of the chapter was really good too.

[Calm Wind]

10399073
Couldn't resist Im not much of a metalhead, but I always appreciate i good tune no matter what the genre. Fits the crazed obsessions of captain Ahab well. Led to that hilarious old comic that leaves me in stitches every time. Fox has learned to not ask any questions when i send her references to draw Twister.

[jnzsblzs]

I wonder between the Silver's retirement from active duty, the mysterious crystal roiddust baths, Rainbow's sudden increase in power levels, and the obvious theatrical value, how soon will we see some Rainbow vs Spitfire sparring action?

“I, jnzsblzs, Being of Sound Mind and Body, Do Hereby Declare I would be Probably Enjoying that Fight Scene”

[Calm Wind]

10404619
one may wonder...

[Bright0Night]

10404641 so a weird thought popped into my head.
What's been going on with the home front. im sure ponies are hella confused no gods present and craziness.

[Calm Wind]

10412723
it was shown very briefly when Celestia's power seeped out, but otherwise... use your imagination