Chapter 54: Who Are These Idiots?
MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 54:
“Hmm…” Dash rubbed her chin.
“What?” Matteo asked as he looked up from his lunch. Dash blinked.
“Oh! Nothing…” she shook her head. “I’m just trying to figure something out.”
Not being one to pry, Matteo went back to his food. He knew Dash would tell him if she wanted him to know anyway.
Dash refocused on a table in the mess hall that was on the other side of the aisle and three rows down. Specifically, she was focusing on the inhabitants.
Very dark blue, gold eyed, super flirt stallion who blends into every wall and floor in the halls of the compound…
Giant, overgrown, light blue, muscle-head stallion who tends to not look where he’s walking…
Big, light brown stallion, oversized wings with a unique pattern with a sly grin as if he’s always up to something silly…
Besides knowing that the light brown stallion was Bliss’ husband (after she broke him in the training room for being a doof), she had yet to figure anything out about them. She had seen the giant blue stallion with Autumn Rain often… assuming they were a thing since she often had to playfully push him away for being so huggy with her.
She was set on observing them and figuring out who they were or what they were around for, but she was at the end of her rope. She had to ask either Silver or Soarin about them.
Dash perked up when she saw Surprise bouncing by. She stopped when she saw the three stallions and smiled happily.
“HEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!” she exclaimed as she zipped up between the large blue stallion and the brown stallion. She put them both in gentle headlocks. “Long time, no talk guys! How’ve you been?!” she asked cheerfully.
Dash watched with interest as the stallions began talking to Surprise. So they definitely had to be Wonderbolts. Surprise treated them like they were acquaintances. She did it to almost everypony she met, but they were conversing, probably talking about what they had been up to, so it wasn’t like she just met them.
TWO of them were conversing with Surprise actually… the blue and brown stallion. The dark stallion on the blue’s right was staring up at Surprise with an incredibly dreamy look in his eyes. He was blushing so hard his dark face turned bright red and by the way he was looking at her, Dash was surprised hearts weren’t floating out of his head. It was an interesting switch from the flirty nature he had exhibited before.
Dash lifted an eyebrow as she watched him pick up the salt shaker… but sprinkle it into his water instead of on his mashed potatoes because he was too busy paying attention to Surprise.
“Hey! How about you?!” Surprise slung herself around while holding onto the giant stallion’s neck before plopping down next to the dark stallion. He just kept staring with the goofy love-stricken grin on his face. When he didn’t reply, Surprise blinked at him a few times before ruffling his mane. “You’re silly!” she smiled before lifting off and going on her way.
Dash kept watching as Surprise left, but before she could make any other observations, her view was blocked by a certain green and blue freak science experiment who decided to sit across from her beside Matteo.
“WHY HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Twister said in a voice that sounded helium infused as his pupils grew and shrank. Dash flattened her ears and eyes as she looked at him. Matteo just kept eating as if to avoid confrontation. “Ah! The love! You two spoil me with so much of it!” Twister puckered his lips and made smoothing noises towards Matteo. Matteo grabbed a piece of broccoli off his plate and stuck it in Twister’s mouth.
Dash snickered at first, but then watched with a mix of horror and disgust as Twister swallowed the piece of broccoli whole, then put his hoof to one nostril and blew hard out of the other one, causing a blueberry to fire out of his nose and onto his tray beside his plate that had a mountain of mashed potatoes on it.
A single blueberry.
“That was… gross…” Dash commented, not bothering to ask HOW he did it.
“Sooooooooooooooo…” Twister began as he ducked behind his mountain of mashed potatoes and slowly peeked around at Dash. “What have my favorite pony and favorite not-pony been up to on their free day?” he asked while smiling creepily at Dash. Dash looked up at him with her flat expression again, but blinked when she saw the blueberry had become a strawberry.
“We…” Matteo began to answer, but paused when he saw the strawberry on Twister’s tray. “We were in the gym. Weight training…” he tried to take Twister seriously, but it was kind of hard when Twister’s idea of ‘looking at Matteo’ was wearing a pair of glasses with spring loaded googly eyes, a nose, and mustache on the back of his head. Dash and Matteo glanced at each other again and Dash just shrugged. They both look back and flinched when they saw the strawberry had turned into a pear.
“Uh…” Dash tried to move the conversation along. She was aware that Matteo was interested in Twister as a high caliber recruit and worth their effort. “Where were you this morning?” she asked.
“Commandeering the gravy boat!” Twister held up a gravy boat from the buffet counter above him before dumping the entire contents over the top of his head. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…” he sighed creepily as the gravy trickled through his mane, over his ears, past his eyes and over his nose.
“Um…” Matteo looked down at Twister, thoroughly disturbed, but before he could say anything else, Twister placed the empty gravy boat on his head like a hat and slammed his face down into the mashed potatoes. Dash and Matteo looked away while shielding themselves, expecting potatoes to fly everywhere, but they blinked and looked back to see they had actually cushioned Twister’s face plant.
And the pear was now a grapefruit.
Dash looked at Matteo. Matteo looked back at her. They both just shook their heads and kept eating their food.
“Have you seen Squall at all since breakfast?” Dash asked Matteo while ignoring Twister. She could hear him snickering from inside his mashed potatoes, but she didn’t let it distract her. “I didn’t see him in the gym or anything,” she thought out loud.
“I don’t know where he was before,” Matteo spoke up. “But he came into the gym about five minutes after you left,” Matteo explained, catching Dash’s attention. “He destroyed one of the stand-up punching bags and was kicked out by Pec Bounce right after.”
“Oh…” Dash blinked. “Was that what all the yelling was about? I could hear it from all the way in the locker room.”
“HAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!” Twister pulled his head back up. Dash and Matteo both jumped and looked towards him. His face had a big mashed potato beard that made him look like Santa.
And the grapefruit at some point became a pineapple.
Twister stuffed his face right back into the potatoes and said no more.
“Probably…” Matteo nodded, continuing the conversation despite Twister’s absurd randomness. “He was acting strange last night too.”
“Heh…” Dash smiled. “You had your back turned at breakfast… he was walking towards us and backing away. He did it at least four times,” she chuckled. Matteo blinked and scoffed.
“You mean to tell me he was actually considering sitting with us on his own accord? You’re better at making friends than I thought!” Matteo exaggerated as Dash rolled her eyes.
“No, it looked like he would sooner take a crap in the middle of the mess hall,” she waved her hoof out. “But he was looking at us a lot.”
“I must say!” Twister suddenly spoke up. “My sexiness has that effect on ALL ponies!”
Dash and Matteo looked over to him. The mashed potatoes were completely gone from his plate and from around his face. His head was also completely clean of gravy, but he still wore the empty gravy boat atop his head. He sat upright and pounded his chest with pride while holding his nose in the air.
And the pineapple was now a watermelon.
Dash groaned and tapped her head lightly against the table once before looking back up at Twister.
“Right… I’m sure that’s it Twister…” she said with a defeated tone. There was only so much randomness she could ignore. Out of the corner of her eye Dash saw Twister’s hoof reach out and rap her once on the head. “Ow!” Dash yelped and looked up. Twister was all the way across the table, but she saw him stop moving his arm as if he had hit her without moving from his spot.
“NO,” his left eye shrank three sizes and his right grew five. His eyebrow popped off his head and lifted a few feet above him. “I’M JUST GETTING STARTED,” he stated as he grabbed the gravy boat off his head… it was suddenly filled with gravy again. He scooped up the watermelon with his free hoof and slammed it onto his plate before pouring ALL of the gravy over it.
Matteo opened his beak to speak while holding a single talon in the air, but stopped when Dash cleared her throat. Matteo glanced at Dash and saw her just shake her head subtly as if warning him not to even bother. So he didn’t.
“I REGRET NOTHING!” Twister yelled before tossing the gravy boat aside and headbutting the gravy covered watermelon so hard that his head breached the outer skin and rind, effectively lodging his whole head into the watermelon. He let his arms fall and dangle off the table.
“SO!” Dash clapped her hooves to get Matteo’s attention back from staring wide eyed at Twister. “We may actually be getting through to Squall. He’s a dick and a creep, but with the right approach I think—” Dash perked up as she looked past Twister’s motionless watermelon head. “Speak of the devil…” Dash blinked.
Matteo turned and looked up the aisle to see Squall hesitantly walking among the tables as if looking for a place to sit. He glanced back at Dash.
“Perfect opportunity?” Matteo asked while shrugging. Dash kept watching Squall as he slowly approached due to stopping often. He looked like he was browsing for an empty table, but the mess hall was fairly packed for peak lunch hours.
“Hey, you lost kid?”
Dash glanced over to the left of Squall. The light brown stallion and light blue stallion were both looking at him. Squall suddenly snorted and growled at them before sharply turning away and continuing on. The two stallions glanced at each other.
“The hell was that?” The light blue one said while looking towards Squall, slightly confused.
“Well,” Dash nodded. “He’s not gonna sit anywhere else, might as well try,” she stood up from her spot and began waving her hooves. “Squall!” she called out. Matteo turned and looked too to at least show acknowledgement.
Squall flinched and his ears stood up when he heard his name. He glanced over towards Dash and Matteo, giving them a curious look. Dash kept waving and pointed a hoof to the spot next to her.
“Come sit with us!” she added.
There was a visible change in Squall’s expression when Dash offered. Matteo smirked. Squall looked like he couldn’t believe he was being offered a place to sit.
Squall stood still for another few seconds before taking one step towards them and pausing again.
“Come on…” Dash said quietly only within earshot of Matteo. “You can do it… just start walking towards us…”
Squall finally took another step, and then finally started walking, in fact he quickened to a trot as he approached. It looked like they may get some trust out of him after—
Suddenly something came out from one of the rows. Neither Squall nor the others saw what it was in time. It crashed into Squall’s legs and he couldn’t catch himself due to holding his tray. He fell into a heap on the floor, his tray and food crashing with him as he landed face first.
“Oh! Oh damn…” Dash winced as she and Matteo both watched.
Squall quickly stood up and looked around as all the ponies sitting around had stopped and were staring at him. He looked around frantically, slightly covered with mashed potatoes, gravy, and broccoli. A few ‘Ooooo’s came from the other Wonderbolts, but among them were a couple of laughs. He gritted his teeth started breathing heavily, hissing through his teeth and nose.
Suddenly his tray beneath him shuffled and pushed aside. Dash leaned over to see what was happening.
Rivet stood up from beneath Squall’s tray. He was slightly damp from water pouring on him. He quickly shook himself off briefly and turned to Squall with worry.
“Oh… I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you coming! I didn’t mean to run into you, honest, I was just… eep!” Rivet squeaked after quickly trying to apologize. Squall was glaring angrily down at him. Rivet froze and began shivering as Squall stood up sharply while never removing his harsh glare from the little stallion.
“WHAT THE HELL?!” Squall belted down into Rivet’s face. Rivet immediately contorted his whole body to make it as small and low to the ground as possible. His eyes were so wide they almost covered the entirety of his little face. “HOW ABOUT YOU WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING?!” Squall leaned down, nearly pressing his face to Rivet’s.
“I-I-I-I-Uuuuhhhhh…!” Rivet stuttered as Squall kept looming over him.
“Shit…” Dash quickly slid out of her seat and started moving towards them, Matteo turned to get up as well.
Last time somepony ran into Squall, they got punched in the gut… apparently Squall really disliked other ponies not watching where they were going.
“YOU LITTLE TURD! I OUGHTTA SMASH YOU FLAT!” Squall yelled as Rivet shut his eyes and pushed his hooves over his ears. Dash was ready to pick up the pace and pull Squall away. Matteo was up and moving as well…
But before they got there… a new shadow loomed over Squall, and a pair of large, light blue hooves firmly stomped down to the left and right of Rivet.
“Excuse me…” a voice came from above Squall. He flinched and looked up… directly into a light blue chest. He blinked and looked further up into a pair of dark blue eyes glaring down at him. “Do you have a problem with my little bro?”
Dash and Matteo paused halfway to Squall. The giant, light blue stallion was standing over Rivet like a protective monolith, completely negating any harsh presence Squall had moments ago. However, Squall proved his stubbornness by not backing down. He didn’t say anything immediately, but he held firm in the shadow of the big stallion before him.
Squall, showing another dumbass display of no fear, glared up at the large pony.
“Your ‘little bro’ better watch where the hell he’s going!” Squall snarled. The blue stallion’s eyes narrowing as he spoke. “Getting in the way of ponies that could squash him like a little bug! The little shit pile should feel lucky I didn’t step on him!” the instant he finished, the blue stallion stepped forward, butting heads with Squall and pushing him a few feet back. Rivet yelped as the blue pony’s hooves thundered against the ground. He held perfectly still now with the blue pony standing completely over him.
“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL HIM?!” the blue stallion bared his teeth. Squall didn’t back down, despite the one he was facing down almost looked like he could squash him like a bug.
Art by: Sweet Isolation
Almost everything had stopped in the mess hall and all eyes were on Squall and the blue stallion. Dash and Matteo scanned the observers and both were surprised most of them ignored or watched with a look of worry. In fact, a few nearby picked up their trays and moved. Dash saw the Streak twins and Surprise sitting nearby. They were all looking, but only Fire Streak showed signs of getting up in case something happened. Surprise and Lightning sat still.
Rivet’s eyes darted between Squall and the big pony standing over him. He quickly, but quietly shuffled along the ground, moving through the blue stallion’s back legs until he was behind him. But then a light brown hoof reached out and stopped him.
“Whoa there, what’s going on here?” the light brown stallion stepped up beside the blue, gently pushing Rivet forward with him despite Rivet’s clear desire to get away.
“This guy was—” the blue stallion tried to speak up, but he got instantly cut off by Squall.
“BACK OFF ASSCLOWN!” Squall yelled directly in the brown stallion’s face.
Something was wrong. Dash could see it and she wondered if Matteo could see it too. Squall had shown misplaced fits of bravery very often in the past week and a half, most of the time lashing out at Silver, ending in him being yelled at. But here, Squall didn’t look like he had any confidence. His yelling was harsh, but sounded a little desperate.
“Uh…” the light brown stallion blinked as he pulled his head back slightly.
“I’M SICK AND TIRED OF PONIES THINKING THEY CAN JUST WALTZ AROUND ME AND DO WHAT THEY WANT! NO ONE TAKES ME SERIOUSLY! BACK THE HELL OFF!” Squall yelled with his voice coming close to cracking more than once. The brown stallion glanced at the blue. The blue stallion shrugged.
“Wow!” the brown stallion blinked and chuckled. “Somepony DEFINITELY fell out of bed this morning! You have a top bunk? Did you land on your head?” the brown pony fired back instantly, not missing a beat. Squall went from pissed to FURIOUS faster than a mare turning down Lightning Streak.
“FUCK YOU! I’LL KICK YOUR ASS I SWEAR I WILL! DON’T TRY ME!” Squall yelled, nearly foaming at the edges of his mouth as he stepped up to the brown pony, who unlike the blue stallion was about the same size as Squall.
“PFFFF!!!!” the brown stallion pressed his teeth against his bottom lip trying to stifle a laugh. “Wooooohoohoo!” he comically hooted as he took a step back, turned away from Squall and pointed a hoof at him. “Everypony watch out! We’ve got ourselves a BADASS over here!”
“GrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRGH!!!!!” Squall growled fiercely. He looked like he was ready to leap at the brown stallion. Rivet quickly retreated below the blue stallion again. It was the closest safe haven he could find.
“Squall!” Dash quickly leapt towards him, grabbing him by the shoulders right as he tried to jump at the brown stallion. Dash struggled to hold him back, slowly giving ground as the brown stallion just smirked at Squall. Dash was about to lose her grip on Squall, but Matteo stepped up, reached out one arm and grabbed Squall’s opposite shoulder, stopping him completely in place. The blue stallion instantly fixed his eyes on Matteo, almost as if he didn’t see Squall anymore. Matteo looked back at him briefly with curiosity, but quickly focused back at Squall as he tried to rip free of Matteo’s grip.
Suddenly the dark blue pony popped his head over the other shoulder of the large stallion.
“What’s going on over—” he fixed his eyes on Dash and blinked. About half a second later he zipped down beside the large stallion and smirked. “Heyyyyyy! It’s Rainbowlicious!” he pointed at Dash while running his other hoof through his mane suavely.
Dash scrunched her face and flattened her brow as she leaned back slightly. Her focus quickly returned as Squall tried to thrash again, but with Matteo anchoring him down, he wasn’t going anywhere. The brown stallion rolled his eyes at the dark pony, but with a grin on his face. He reached forward and pulled the dark pony back, putting him in a friendly headlock.
“Hey… aren’t these the new recruits?” he asked the dark pony.
“Yeah, I think—” the dark pony began but—
“They are,” the large pony stated, still staring at Matteo. Matteo had noticed and was now interested at what the pony, who was almost as big as him, found so fascinating about him.
“I thought I recognized them…” the brown pony released the dark pony from the headlock unexpectedly. The dark pony fell to the ground with a grunt, but was up and standing in front of Dash again before she could blink.
“So!” he winked at her. “How about you and me go have a nice night of dinner, a movie, and bed—
“I’LL KILL YOU!” Squall yelled suddenly towards the brown pony, making the dark pony jump in surprise. The brown pony looked at him like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing… and not in a serious way.
“You wanna fight me that bad, huh?” he snickered. “Kid… you’ve gotta calm down before you hurt yourself… or I do… by accident…”
“I MEAN IT!” Squall belted again, the same shakiness present in his voice.
Dash got fed up and grabbed him around the neck.
“SQUALL!” she yelled directly into his ear. “GET A DAMN GRIP! No fighting outside the battle dome, remember?!” she tried to remind him, but he didn’t seem to care.
The brown pony’s ears perked up as Dash spoke.
“Hey wait a minute… we have the battle dome reserved right after lunch, don’t we?” he turned to the giant blue pony. The blue pony didn’t answer. He and Matteo had locked eyes. Matteo was trying to figure out what the blue pony wanted, but it almost seemed like the blue pony was trying to intimidate him… and if he wasn’t, he was trying to test him.
The brown pony cleared his throat, but the blue pony still didn’t look at him.
“Calm!” he yelled while jabbing the blue pony in the side. The large stallion flinched, blinked and looked at the brown stallion. “You reserved the battle dome for us, right?”
“Yeah… we have it for the next two hours…” the blue stallion replied before looking right back at Matteo. The light brown pony smiled and looked right back at Squall.
“Well then! You wanna kill me that bad, kid? Then how about we solve this dispute in the battle dome? Or are you all bark and no bite?” he lifted an eyebrow, not knowing just how sore of a spot he verbally jabbed. Squall lurched forward towards the stallion, growling like a feral beast. The lurch was so sudden that even Matteo had to tighten his grip on him. That phrase was an instant fight starter for Squall.
“Squall. Calm down.” Matteo spoke down to him. Squall stopped briefly but then thrashed again. “I SAID… CALM. DOWN,” Matteo repeated with an extra amount of quiet force in his voice. “You have no chance if you charge at him mindlessly,” Matteo stated as Squall stopped trying to rip free. Squall didn’t calm down at all, but he at least stopped moving about.
Squall glared at the brown pony.
“Lead the way asshole! I’ll destroy you!” Squall hissed. Matteo let go of him. Dash’s eyes widened for a moment, but when Squall didn’t move, she relaxed and gingerly let him go as well. The brown stallion turned and started heading for the exit. Squall started following him.
“Wait! Squall!” Dash hesitated as she watched them near the exit. She quickly turned back to Matteo. “Matteo, should we—”
“You,” the large pony cut Dash off. She turned and looked at him… but he wasn’t looking at her, he was looking at Matteo. Matteo narrowed his eyes at the large stallion.
“You’ve been eyeing me since I walked over. What do you want?” Matteo asked, getting straight to the point. The blue stallion had in fact been staring at Matteo since he came forth to restrain Squall.
“You’re that griffon I’ve been seeing around… and breaking all the records in the gym…” he pointed out as a smirk curled on his lips.
“So what if I am?” Matteo proceeded carefully.
“We have the battle dome reserved… fight me,” the blue stallion suddenly demanded. Dash’s eyes widened and she glanced at Matteo, but Matteo’s expression did not change.
“I have no reason to,” Matteo put flatly. “Griffons do not fight those—”
“—who ask for it… I’m aware,” the blue stallion finished for him. Matteo’s eyes widened slightly, out of surprise. This pony knew griffon culture. “Then I’ll give you one,” the blue pony stepped forward.
Rivet looked up and around quickly once his cover had moved. He got up and tried to sneak away, but he ran directly into the dark pony. Dash glanced at the two as Rivet squeaked in surprise, and then she leaned back slightly when she saw the dark pony was looking at her with bedroom eyes and bouncing his eyebrows. Dash folded her ears back and glared at him.
“I have a coltfriend,” Dash said flatly. She saw the dark pony flinch, but his expression remained. He quickly ran a hoof through his mane and pointed his other hoof at her.
“You look like the kind of mare that could use two!” he tried to save… but Dash only gave him a more disgusted look.
“What are you do—BRAWCK!” Matteo suddenly squawked. Dash quickly looked back to see the blue stallion standing beside Matteo, and holding one of Matteo’s back feathers from his wing. Dash blinked and looked between the two. The blue pony held the black feather up towards Matteo’s face with a smirk. Matteo’s eyes were fixed on him with a look of surprise.
“I formally challenge you to a duel,” the blue pony said while opening one of his own large wings and holding it out towards Matteo. “Do you accept? Or are you a coward?” he added. Matteo’s expression immediately went back to stoic. He reached up with his talons, grabbed a feather on the blue stallion’s wing and plucked it. The stallion winced very slightly, but his smile turned into a grin.
“I accept your challenge,” Matteo held the blue feather up. The two crossed their arms while holding the feathers up, and then let them go at the same time. They glared directly into each other’s eyes. It was an intimidating sight, the large stallion standing at beak level of the massive griffon. The two feathers softly floated to the floor and landed side by side. “Lead the way.”
Dash kept looking between the two as the blue pony turned and started walking.
“Swift,” he suddenly said as he grabbed the dark pony by the shoulder. “C’mon,” he said simply as he began dragging him along.
“Wait, I have to come too?” he protested.
“Yes,” the big stallion said plainly as he dragged him.
“Fine… hold on let me finish my water…” the dark pony reached for his glass of water and downed the whole glass, only to gag and spit it all back out. “WHO PUT SALT IN MY WATER?!”
Dash was incredibly confused, but became alarmed when she saw Matteo start following the blue pony.
“Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Hold on! Matteo, what are you doing?!” Dash jumped forward. Matteo stopped and looked down at her.
“I must fight this stallion,” he stated.
“Silver is already gonna be pissed at Squall if he finds out!” Dash fumed. “I know you’re not stupid!”
“I’m also not a coward,” Matteo snorted. “He performed a formal rite of challenge within the griffon culture. To pluck a feather from a griffon’s wing is to humiliate them… but to do so, and then offer one from your own wing… is to challenge them. Had I not accepted, it would be dishonorable.”
“OH FOR CRAP’S SAKE!” Dash yelled as Matteo started walking again. “We’re not in the griffon kingdom!” she kept yelling, but Matteo kept walking. “You don’t have to stick with all the…” she grabbed Matteo’s lion tail in her mouth and pressed her hooves to the floor to try and stop him. “Grrrrrrrr!!!!!” She groaned in frustration as her hooves screeched along the floor. “Blah!” she spat out his tail and fell forward, face planting on the floor. She sat up and puffed her cheeks out, annoyed that her fellow recruits were being so… stupid. Sure, Silver said only to fight in the battle dome… but that was amongst themselves! These guys were clearly Wonderbolts, NOT recruits! Who knew what they were capable of?
Dash blinked and looked to her right. Twister was suddenly sitting on the floor beside her. He still had his head stuck in the watermelon, but he at some point had carved two eyeholes out.
Art by: CrystalMelody_kc
He turned and looked at her, blinking a few times to add to the effect of being a watermelon with eyes. Dash knew that silly endless grin of his was in there too.
Ignoring him, Dash glanced around. All of the other Wonderbolts had gone back about their business. Even squad three had sat back down. Clearly, nopony was going to go after them.
“Dammit! Twister!” she stood up and forced him up. She grabbed the watermelon and yanked it off his head.
“Yeeeeeeeeeeees?” he asked while making his eyebrows move like a wave in sync with one another. She pulled him up.
“We’re going after them,” she ordered. Before she could say anything else, he was sitting on her back.
“GO MY NOBLE STEED!!!!” he yelled out.
“Oh, HELL no!” Dash instantly reared back, knocking him off before lifting into the air, grabbing him by the shoulders and flying towards the exit, dragging his body across the floor with her.
Rivet was still sitting in the middle of the floor near where the trays had been dropped. He had heard the whole exchange, but he kept quiet in fear of attention being drawn to him. He shook his head out and looked around frantically, realizing what was about to happen.
“Oh no… oh no, oh no, oh no, they’re going to fight because of me!” Rivet got up and took two steps towards the exit, but stopped realizing there was probably little he could do to actually stop them from fighting. He spread his wings and hovered up into the air, scanning the whole mess hall. “Shine?! SHINE?! Has anypony seen Shine Struck?!”
Dash forced herself through the doors of the battle dome, tossing Twister in before setting down and trotting towards the inner arena.
Squall and Matteo were standing side by side, about ten yards from the center, the three stallions standing opposite of them, equal distance from the middle.
“HEY!” Dash yelled as she flew in. She glided all the way over and placed herself in front of her fellow recruits. “Guys! You are going to get in DEEP SHIT for this!” she yelled at them.
“Get out of my face!” Squall growled back at her. She was about to snap right back at him but Matteo shook his head.
“I cannot back down from a formal challenge, it would disgrace me,” he stated. Dash held her breath, trying her hardest not to explode.
“HEY! We fighting or what?!” The brown stallion yelled from across the inner circle.
“Rainbow Dash,” Matteo said her name. Dash exhaled and looked up at him. “Just stop interfering.”
“Matty, I just don’t want to get you guys in trouble with Silver again. I don’t care if you want to fight, but—”
“Just shut up and get out of my way!” Squall cut her off. Dash narrowed her eyes as tightly as she could while growling at Squall. She threw her wings and hooves out.
“You know what?! Forget it! I don’t care! Both of you go get your asses kicked!” Dash yelled out in frustration, moving around and walking a little ways away before sitting down beside Twister. She grumbled to herself as she kept her eyes locked on Squall and Matteo as they readied themselves. The blue and the brown stallion both stepped forward.
Dash quickly turned to Twister, but blinked. He wasn’t there. She rolled her eyes and turned to her other side, where he had suddenly appeared.
“Twister, listen up,” she spoke to him.
“I only listen down,” he said while turning his head upside down and grinning.
“Whatever! Look, if they get into trouble, I’m stepping in to help… I might need your help for that, okay?”
“No,” he nodded. Dash blinked and tipped her head. “I mean yes,” he corrected himself.
Dash let Twister’s silliness slide and refocused on the standoff before her. She squinted as she looked past the blue and brown stallion, barely making out the dark, smaller stallion sitting behind them. Why was he there? She saw the blue stallion drag him along. Dash decided it would be best to keep an eye on him as well.
“Well? Come on now!” the brown stallion beckoned Squall.
Squall didn’t wait a second longer. He spread his wings, let out a battle cry and leapt towards the brown stallion, pumping his wings as he shot along about a foot off the ground. He had his eyes locked on target and was already pulling his hooves back to strike.
The brown stallion smiled as Squall approached.
“Alley-oop?” he said as he glanced at the blue stallion. The blue stallion smirked and nodded. The brown stallion hopped up as the blue cupped his front hooves together. The brown stallion placed a back hoof in the blue’s.
“Going up!” the blue stallion yelled as he grunted and swung his whole body up while flinging his hooves into the air. The motion catapulted the brown stallion towards the ceiling. Squall’s eyes followed the brown stallion as he rose into the air.
“GRH!!” Squall slammed his hooves to the ground, angling himself up and following after his ascending opponent.
As soon as Matteo saw the blue stallion move, he latched his talons into the mat while spreading his wings. The blue stallion looked back down and focused on Matteo. He grinned with anticipation, spreading his wings as well. Matteo pumped his wings hard, pushing himself into the air and taking a slight dip into a glide towards the stallion. To his surprise, the stallion did not take off, he started cantering, then speeding up into a gallop with his wings spread out to his sides. Matteo narrowed his eyes as they closed the distance, feeling as if the lack of flight was a taunt.
But the instant before they collided, the stallion slammed his front hooves down so hard the BANG resonated throughout the battle dome. Matteo looked up in surprise as the stallion propelled himself up and over, slamming down behind Matteo, but KEPT galloping. Matteo grunted, folding his wings while turning around, reaching them out and pumping them down in a full hard swing to use his Air Burst.
A loud POW rang out as Matteo changed direction, flying after the grounded opponent. But… as he followed, the stallion’s gallop picked up speed… an incredible amount of speed.
“Whoa!” Dash yelped as she and Twister leapt out of the way as the large stallion came galloping by, his hooves thundering against the mat as he started reaching a speed that seemed impossible without flight. Dash shielded herself as Matteo shot by them as well, trying to keep up with the stallion. “How is he galloping that fast!?” Dash thought out loud as she blinked.
“RRRRRRRAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!” Squall’s voice rang out. Dash blinked and looked up into the air towards him.
Squall was trying… and failing miserably to land a hit on the brown stallion. But… the stallion wasn’t even flying, he was… freefalling?
“Whoops! Whoa! Oh! OH! Almost got me there!” The brown stallion taunted Squall as he made pass after pass. Squall was trying to knock him out of the air, but each time he tried, the stallion just twisted or shifted in the air ever so slightly, effortlessly dodging every attempt.
As they neared the ground, the stallion finally spread his enormous wings. Dash’s jaw dropped when she saw them. His wings weren’t just an odd two color scheme. They were also disproportionately HUGE for his body. They were as big as the blue stallion’s despite the brown stallion being smaller. He spun and used his built up speed from the fall to glide along the ground at an insane speed. Squall tried to take an angle and intercept, but as soon as he reached the stallion—
“Lookout!” he yelled as he turned aside and let Squall pass right by, hitting the mat really hard. The stallion pressed his hooves to Squall’s back and bounce back up, gliding all the way back up towards the ceiling.
“STOP MESSING AROUND AND FIGHT!!!” Squall demanded as he forced himself up off the mat and took back to the air after the stallion.
“Maaaaaaaake meeeeeeee!” the stallion yelled down comically as he rose to the ceiling again.
A loud THUMP-THUMP THUMP-THUMP THUMP-THUMP made Dash’s ears stand up she looked to her right to see a light blue blur pass right in front of her followed by Matteo streaking by. She fell back from the powerful wake of the two massive fighters firing by. The blue pony was still galloping, but going EVEN FASTER! Matteo was actually falling way behind.
Then out of nowhere, the stallion struck a single front hoof to the mat while swinging his other arm around. He launched himself into the air while using the swing to pitch hard to the right. All of his built up galloping speed transferred to his flight and he circled around quick enough to head right towards Matteo. The two pulled back as they approached one another, ready to strike head on.
“Oh god…” Dash gritted her teeth as the two closed in.
They threw their punches at the exact same time, their arms crossing, heavily striking one another on the cheek. However, Matteo’s arms were longer, so it looked like the blue stallion received a much heavier blow. In fact, while Matteo kept moving perfectly forward, the stallion’s body was forced into an awkward turn.
For a moment it seemed like Matteo was going to have the advantage on this first exchange, but Dash watched in awe as the stallion used the motion caused by Matteo’s blow to swing his other hoof all the way around and deliver a heavy hammer strike to Matteo’s back.
“GAH!!!!” Matteo cried out as the blow forced him straight to the mat below, his large body bouncing more than once as his speed forced him to tumble before stopping.
Even though he had punished Matteo for getting the stronger first strike, the blue stallion was still not in control of his flight and ended up crashing to mat roughly as well. The two both quickly stood up and faced each other.
“YEAH! THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!!!!!” the stallion hooted before cracking his neck and starting into a gallop again right towards Matteo. Matteo was clearly a little slower to get up.
Dash was already worried. These guys were clearly higher ranking Wonderbolts of some kind. Squall and Matteo had not picked good fights.
Matteo shook his head out and grunted as he fixed his eyes on the stallion charging towards him. Matteo did NOT take flight. He decided to meet the stallion head on. He broke into a sprint, looking to clash head on again.
However as the two approached, Matteo put up both arms as if he wanted to grab the stallion. The stallion reached by putting up both his hooves. The two came together roughly, hooves to talons, creating a standoff contest of strength.
Art by: foxenawolf
The pressed with all their might, but for the moment it seemed like they were deadlocked. There was no way the stallion was as strong as Matteo… he was a griffon and bigger than him!
“AH!” Dash ducked as the brown stallion zoomed directly over head before pitching back up again. She looked back up for a moment only to duck again as Squall followed right behind.
“RAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!” Squall roared as he turned up and followed.
“You should REALLY get that temper under control!” the brown stallion jeered as he slowed up near the ceiling again. Squall rose up, perfectly level, and threw a punch, but the stallion shifted right, grabbed his arm and threw him over his back and downward. The stallion folded his wings up and let himself freefall towards Squall. Squall quickly regained his flight, gave himself a little space and began throwing punches and kicks at the stallion as they fell. But the stallion was just too nimble in a freefall state. Every punch was smoothly dodged, every kick cleanly blocked.
“Now you see me…” the stallion tapped a hoof against one of Squall’s missed punches and rolled across Squall’s back and shoulders, putting himself behind him. “And now you don’t!” he pressed his hooves down on Squall’s shoulders, causing him to drop out of flight and slam hard against the ground again. “You should really keep track of how close the ground is!” the stallion chuckled as he leveled out and pitched upward. Squall shakily stood up and forced himself after him, clearly not understanding just how slim his chances of winning were.
Dash was beginning to contemplate intervening as she glanced back down at the dark stallion. He was still sitting well off to the side. If he tried anything funny, Dash was stepping in regardless.
“Hahaha!” the blue stallion laughed. Dash glanced down to see he and Matteo had still not moved. “You're damn strong!” he complimented Matteo as it seemed neither could move the other.
Matteo said nothing. He just kept his eyes locked on his opponent in front of him. But then he growled and snorted… and pushed forward.
“Whoa!” the stallion grunted and smiled wider as Matteo began taking steps with his back legs. The stallion’s hooves began to grind against the mat, ripping and tearing at it as he was pushed. “WOW! You're REALLY strong!” the stallion seemed to be enjoying the competition despite Matteo proving to be stronger than him. Dash watched as Matteo ended up pushing the stallion a good twenty yards back. But then the Stallion suddenly shifted his body and flattened his back with his shoulders up and square. “But…” he chuckled as Matteo looked down in confusion. He could no longer move the stallion. “Can you…!” the stallion pushed with his whole body, using a slight hip and body thrust with each push to maximize the power. Matteo grunted as his back paws slid slightly. “Use that strength…!” Dash watched with awe as the stallion’s large muscles flexed and tense with each push, veins bulging from his arms, legs, and chest as he forced his strength towards Matteo. “Effectively!?” he sneered as Matteo struggled against the powerful motions of the stallion.
Matteo was clearly stronger, but even with his claws on his back paws latched into the mat, he could not counter the pushes. Ripping and tearing noises screeching from the mat as his claws dug in and split the surface. Matteo was pushed all the way back to where they started.
“I guess not!” the stallion grinned as he suddenly shifted his body again. He took an even lower body position and drove his back hooves into the ground while forcing the rest of his body upward. At first Matteo was wondering what he was doing, but then his eyes widened when he felt his body rise up? He didn’t have time to re-anchor his claws in the mat, or shift the direction of his strength. The stallion used his own strength and the opposite motion of Matteo’s to LIFT MATTEO UP IN THE AIR, and swing him all the way over.
“ARGH!!!!” Matteo shouted helplessly as his massive bulk was pulled in an arc over the stallion, and slammed back-first to the ground behind him. Matteo grunted in pain as he landed square on his back. The stallion had fallen as well, but only from the motion of the attack.
“Damn! You’re heavy too!” the stallion pointed out. Matteo quickly rolled over and pushed off the ground, trying to create some distance, but the stallion had already begun galloping at him again.
“Rggghh!!!!” Dash growled looking back up at Squall.
“Noogie, noogie, noogie, noogie!” the brown stallion taunted as he held Squall in a headlock and gave him a rough noogie on the head as they fell towards the mat. Squall was glaring at him intensely, teeth bared and snarling, but he didn’t intimidate the stallion in the slightest.
Art by: foxenawolf
“Aaaaaaaaaand STICK THE LANDING!” he yelled as he let go of Squall. Squall crashed hard against the mat AGAIN.
“Urgh…” Squall groaned as he struggled to stand. He refused to go down. It wasn’t doing him much good though.
“Man, you are a stubborn one!” the stallion commented as he flew backwards across the ground before flying towards the ceiling. There was definitely a pattern. The stallion seemed to like freefalling, and whenever he was in such a state of falling he was untouchable. Squall couldn’t seem to get that through his head.
That was it.
Dash had stood around long enough.
“Twister! Let’s go!” she looked back
“Way ahead of ya!” Twister was already a few yards ahead of her. Dash didn’t even think, she just followed right behind, moving towards Squall since Matteo seemed to still be holding his own.
However, before they could get within ten yards of Squall, something swept in front of them and knocked Twister directly to the mat. Twister bounced several times.
“Oo! Ee! Ow! Oh!” he grunted as he rolled back upright and stood ready. Dash came to an immediate halt and looked around.
“Sorry, no entry permitted!” the dark pony appeared in front of them, descending from above. The mat was grey, but everything else in the area was dark blue. It was hard to see him, but Dash could tell he was there. She immediately rose up slightly to see him fully.
“Out of my way!” Dash yelled at him. The dark pony shrugged and shook his head.
“No can do, hot stuff! They told me to keep you guys from interfering. So… I ain’t gonna let you guys interfere!” he stated very confidently.
“Twister! Go!” Dash yelled over the stallion’s shoulder. Twister instantly turned and headed for Squall, but he got roughly five feet further before the stallion somehow zipped in front of him and pushed him down to the mat again. Dash took the chance, dropping down and quickly executing the motions for the sonic blastoff. She fired from the spot… but as soon as she did, she found herself completely turned around and heading in the opposite direction. “WHAT THE?!” she tried to stop, but moving her wings caused the wind resistance to swat her down. She ended up bouncing against the mat just as Twister had. She rolled to a stop, but quickly stood back up, only to have Twister come flying out of nowhere and slam right into her. The two tumbled into a pony pile before they both rolled off and stood up, staring as the faint trace of the dark pony and his bright yellow eyes.
“Hate to be the bearer of bad news you two… but you gotta get past me if you wanna get to them… and that ain’t happening,” he nodded and smiled, his teeth visible, but the rest of his head barely.
“Then I guess we’re just gonna have to beat your ass!” Dash growled, thoroughly pissed that this stallion was getting in the way of her helping her fellow recruits.
“Ooo… that’s harsh…” the stallion winced.
“Two against one! There’s no way you can beat us at the same time!” Dash stomped her hooves. The stallion laughed heartily.
“You are hilarious… well… go ahead! Give me your best shot!” he beckoned them.
“Twister! Get behind him! We’ll go from both sides!”
“Way ahead of ya!” Twister called from the other side of the dark stallion.
“GO!” Dash yelled to him. The two shot towards the stallion, pulling back their hooves to punch.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE!” the stallion jeered while spinning as they drew near.
“Whoa!!!” Dash didn’t even see the stallion make a move, she just suddenly found herself shooting up into the air. Twister threw his punch, but it somehow turned around and he punched himself in the face.
Dash flailed, failing to regain control of herself before plopping to the ground. Twister whiplashed back from his own hoof clocking him between the eyes. Dash was up and flying at him again, holding her hoof out as if purposely telegraphing her attack. The stallion chuckled, bringing both hooves up and easily stopping Dash’s blow. Dash pressed down, almost forcing the stallion to keep his grip on her.
“Twister! Now!” she yelled. Twister was up and flying at the stallion as Dash tried to hold his hooves in place.
“Oh, PLEASE!” the stallion snickered, extending his wings and slamming one down over Twister’s head, putting Twister's face first to the mat.
Art by: foxenawolf
He spun Dash around and aimed her low as he flung her into Twister, causing two to roll back again into a pile of each other.
“I have no chance, huh? I’m actually feeling pretty good!” the dark stallion hopped back and forth on his back legs while holding his hooves up and jabbing them forward in a mocking manner.
“Dammit!” Dash threw Twister off of her in frustration, got up and fired towards the stallion. The stallion leapt into the air, pumping his wings to gain altitude. Dash could barely see him, but his eyes helped her at least get an idea of where he was. Twister was up and right behind her shortly.
The two stopped as the stallion’s eyes ceased the ascent and they began throwing quick punches and kicks. However, no matter how many times they tried, they either got blocked, deflected, or hit absolutely nothing. As much as this was frustrating Dash, she couldn’t help but notice the stallion wasn’t attacking them at all. He was purely using defense and turning their own attacks against them.
All three of these stallions had incredibly unique styles of combat, the likes of which seemed extremely unconventional and used physical and skillful attributes not usually seen within the range of pegasus combat.
Galloping…
Falling…
Pure defense…
And they were… untamed. They were encouraging combat. They didn’t seem disciplined or trained like the Wonderbolts. It was almost like they were doing things naturally.
“ARGH!” Dash grutned as she found herself tumbling towards the ground, despite being sure she was just about to hit the stallion. She stopped herself mid fall and looked back up, but again Twister was thrown directly into her and the two were sent to the ground. They both quickly stood up again, but—
“Gotcha!” the dark stallion’s voice came from in between them. Before either Twister or Dash could move, the stallion had them both in headlocks, one under each arm.
“Shit!” Dash cursed as she tried to struggle, but the stallion lowered them just enough to the ground that Dash couldn’t get full power or leverage from her limbs. She and Twister were both stuck. It seemed like even Twister’s reality bending antics couldn’t get him out of this one.
Dash looked on with worry.
“WHA-PAH!” the brown stallion yelled as he drove Squall to the floor for the tenth time at least. Squall twitched and struggled to move, but he was finally down for the count it seemed.
“ARGH!”
Dash looked over to see Matteo sent crashing to the ground. He rolled and slammed against the wall at the edge of the arena, the blue stallion landing a good ways away.
Both Squall and Matteo were down. That was it, they were finished and Dash hoped they would stay down… but…
“CITIZEN’S ELBOW!” the brown stallion yelled from above as he began dropping towards Squall with his elbow primed to deliver a crushing blow.
“NO!” Dash tried to struggle, but she couldn’t get free. She looked over towards Matteo. The blue stallion was galloping towards him, picking up speed as if intending to smash Matteo into the wall. “DAMMIT!” Dash thrashed harder and harder.
“Whoa there! You’re feisty!” the dark pony commented as Dash failed to get free. “Hey, they picked the fight not us, it’s their own fault that—”
Before he could finish…
Two pegasi suddenly fired over the top of them, one heading straight for the brown stallion, the other moving to intercept the blue.
Right before the brown stallion could land the crushing elbow into Squall’s back, the newcomer rammed him in the side so hard that he was sent flying away from Squall, tumbling to a stop on the mat.
Dash blinked and gasped as she saw the new pony hovering over Squall.
“Misty Fly?!” Dash exclaimed as she saw Misty turn to look over Squall. Dash diverted her gaze just in time to see the second pony catch up to the large blue stallion. “Silver!?” she exclaimed, recognizing Silver Lining as he roped his arms around the blue stallion’s neck.
“Wha—?” the stallion looked up as Silver suddenly yanked his WHOLE MASSIVE BODY off course and wrestled him to the ground. The two fell to the mat and slid off course, slamming into the wall right beside Matteo. Silver held the stallion down, and kept him down.
Dash blinked as she looked between Misty and Silver.
“Uh oh…” the dark stallion gulped, suddenly sounding a little nervous.
“A-HEM!!!!!!!” a new voice came from behind them. the dark stallion turned around, with Dash and Twister still in the headlocks. Dash looked up to see Rivet standing behind them, with a new pony standing beside him. It was a thistle colored mare, with a three toned mane of dark blue, light blue, and yellow. Her eyes were yellow with orangish pupils. She looked much younger than the other three stallions and was fairly small, almost as small as Rivet. She threw her wings out and yelled at the top of her lungs.
“SWIFT JUSTICE! PLAYBITZ! CALM WIND! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!” she belted towards the three stallions.
Art by: foxenawolf and the little faces by: Scootafail
Rivet yelped and shied away, ducking as her wings flared out and hoping not to get caught in her anger. The three stallions all looked towards her with a look comparable to a young colt getting caught stealing cookies from the kitchen.
Dash was so confused her brain hurt. A fourth pony? Wait a second…
The brown stallion looked up into the glaring eyes of Misty Fly. He blinked, grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, obviously aware that nothing he could say would matter for more reasons than Misty being deaf.
“Uh… can I get up now?” the blue stallion said to Silver, who was still holding the large pony down.
“No,” Silver put plainly as he sat still.
All incredibly skilled in their own way… but so wild and unrefined…
All immediately caving like caught children…
Misty and Silver downed them really quick…
And now this mare…
“Swift… DROP THEM!” the new mare ordered.
“Yes ma’am!” the dark stallion instantly let go of Dash and Twister, the two dropping to the ground. The dark stallion was back down on all fours and exaggerating a smile as the small mare moved towards him. “Well, uh… we were just—” before he could get any further, she reached up and clasped her hoof around one of his ears, she yanked his head down and began pulling him along. “OWOWOWOW!!!” the dark pony whined as she dragged him along by the ear.
Dash stood up and watched as Misty helped Squall get up and move towards them. Silver finally let the blue stallion go, but not before giving him a good kick to the side. Silver helped Matteo get up, but the griffon managed to limp on his own power, moving back towards them.
Dash looked towards the small mare as she rounded up the three stallions. Rivet followed close behind her, glancing back at the recruits once or twice as he did.
“You guys are terrible!” she started yelling at them. “Seriously! New recruits! You were beating on new recruits!” she sounded both disturbed and angry.
“Sorry…” they all replied in unison.
It was so strange to see a small, young mare who literally looked like she was no older than eighteen, berating three full grown stallions, two of which were much larger than her.
Dash’s ears stood up.
No…
She had been wondering for a while… if they really were a Wonderbolt squad… this little mare couldn’t possibly be… their CAPTAIN?!
“And really guys?! How many times do I have to tell you… if you’re gonna get into a fight, COME GET ME! I don’t want to miss out! That’s three times now! Seriously! Let me know, I wanna fight too!”
Or maybe not… there seemed to be no authority among them, despite how it seemed like they were afraid to anger the little mare.
Dash refocused as she heard Silver grumbling sharply to himself. Matteo, Squall, Twister, and Dash all stiffened, readying themselves for the fury of Silver that they were about to get…
But to their surprise, Silver only shook his head. He stopped by each recruit and looked them over. Matteo and Squall were beat up pretty bad all over. Twister had taken a few blows to the face, most of which were self inflicted due to the dark stallion’s strange tactics, but Dash got off easy, with nothing but a few bruises from rough landings… her right shoulder was a bit stiff though… in fact it felt a little swollen. She did get hit there all three times she collided with Twister.
“Come on,” Silver pointed towards the door calmly. “Go to Bliss,” he ordered before motioning for them to leave. Dash and Matteo glanced at each other as they all began following Silver and Misty Fly. Silver even held the door open for them as they started exiting one by one.
Dash glanced back as the group of five strange pegasi started moving towards the exit as well. She had to ask now.
“Instructor Silver!” Dash spoke up. Silver blinked and looked towards her. “Who… are these ponies?” she asked. Silver took one look at the ponies approaching, gritted his teeth and growled.
“A bunch of dumbass slap-dicks that I’m REALLY starting to get tired of…” he said harshly before leaving. Dash stepped out into the hallway before the door could close, but before moving towards the training room, she waited for the five ponies to emerge. She knew who Rivet was… but the other ponies’ names escaped her. She heard them all briefly, or at least the stallions’ names, but she didn’t remember them flat out. She stood aside and watched as the odd group trotted by, but before they all passed, the small mare stopped and looked at Dash.
Dash blinked and stared back into the yellow orangish eyes.
“Wait…” the mare blinked as she looked Dash over. “Are you… Rainbow Dash?” she asked suddenly. Dash blinked and nodded.
“Uh… yeah, why?” she asked, curious as to how this mare knew her. However, the mare flinched upon her assumption being clarified.
“Oh, um… n-nothing…” her voice sounded shaky. “Sorry about everything…” she bowed her head before quickly following after the guys.
Dash watched the mare carefully as she herself started walking. Dash caught up behind the rest of the recruits as they angled towards the training room, but she stopped when she looked into the lobby and saw the lead squad walking right in the front door, travel bags and all.
Including Soarin!
Dash was about to wave, but stopped when she saw the lead squad greet the strange ponies. Dash halted in place and watched carefully. Even Soarin knew about them?
Then she saw the small mare glance over at Soarin… and her face turned bright red with a blush.
What…
She waved at Soarin. Dash’s eyes locked on her stallion to analyze his response. Soarin merely gave a friendly grin in response and waved back… before he looked around and his eyes instantly landed on Dash. He looked like he was about to wave to her, but then saw the state of Squall and Matteo. Before Spitfire or Fleetfoot could ask him where he was going, Soarin had broken off and was trotting towards them.
“Skittles! Get in here!” Silver suddenly ordered. Dash jumped, quickly turning and entering the training room. She trotted up behind her fellow recruits, waiting patiently in line as Silver let the door close behind them. The instant after it clicked shut, it opened again and Soarin walked through, duffle bag still over his shoulder.
Dash smiled at him, but restrained herself from doing anything else to remain professional. However, Soarin rushed towards her, grabbed her by the shoulder, and looked her over carefully, noting her bruises and pulling hoof back quickly when touching her shoulder made her wince. He blinked and looked over the other recruits, seeing how beat up Matteo and Squall were in particular. He looked back at Dash, incredibly confused.
“First of all, hi…” he nodded to her. “But more importantly… what the heck happened to you guys?!” he asked quickly. Dash sighed.
“We got in a little scuffle…” she explained.
“With who!?” Soarin demanded. Dash put a hoof against his chest, silently signaling him to calm down.
“The guys you just greeted in the lobby,” Dash clarified with an unamused tone. Everything was put back in place… but they did all just get their asses handed to them.
Soarin’s expression instantly lightened and his eyes widened.
“Wait…” he let his ears flop down. “You fought… them?!” he asked as if he didn’t hear her correctly. Dash lifted an eyebrow.
“Yeah… and got messed up…” Dash admitted shamefully. Soarin suddenly clamped his mouth shut and puffed his cheeks out. Dash looked at him quizzically as he began to snicker.
Silver shot Soarin a glare for a moment before rolling his eyes.
“Oh… so I see you met Spitfire’s little experiment…” Soarin took a deep breath but kept chuckling a little.
“Spitfire’s experiment…?” Dash blinked. “Who the hell are they?” she demanded. Soarin glanced at Silver. Silver just scoffed. Soarin gave him an amused look and shrugged before turning back to Dash.
“You just had a run in… with Wonderbolt Squad Zero!”
---To Be Continued---
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FIRST!
Lemme read...
It didn't notify me that u updated while i was online
never mess with squad zero.
Well this was fun to read and now back to geometry. *sigh*
I had like NONTHING better to do so I started rereading some stuff and the update came!
I think I woke up everyone in the house from me screaming with excitement!!
Eh... So many pictures
And...
"Experiment". What comes into my mind is them being an experimented ponies that got powers cuz of potions like frankenstein....
But obviously thats not it.
Also... Squad Zero?
First squad ever? Only thing that i can think of.
Umm I'm going to say a firm maybe.
Wow. Squad zero. That was impressive. I can't wait to read the next chapter. Thanks for the update. I can't wait to see what squad zero's role is. That would be interesting to know. Good luck. Great job substituting in the other characters.
5225476 I feel your pain my friend, geometry wasn't great.
5225582
It isn't, especially when I have a test tomorrow. *double sigh*
5225595 A summary of how I feel on all math subjects;
nerd-age.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Jojo’s-Bizarre-Adventure-Episode-36-Polnareff-Manly-Tears.jpg
5225611
So true. Still my grade isn't as bad my Spanish 3 grade... Still I have my phone and Assassin's Creed Unity to compensate!
5225507
We were doing the same. May have harped on the new update a bit more than we should have
But the excitement was justified! Oh SO MUCH WIN!!!
5225534
Eeeehhhhh I wouldn't say first squad. More of yeah and some cool and this and thatiness. I only say that cause I'm learning as you guys are!!!
@Calm Wind:
Well worth the wait and teasings! I'll also have you know that waiting and reading the new updates helps tremendiously with the wait time til the 24th.
5225595
Playbitz tips for school: Just before a test, eat some chocolate *or something as sweet if alergic or dont like chocolate* itll stimulate the brain and allow you to access stored information more easily.
5225633
My tips are :
1. Coffee or tea, lots of it
2. Candy
3. Getting slapped in the face, hard
3 is my favorite cuz' I got an A on my test after I asked my friend to do that.
5225640
Ouch! Though that may have helped me with a Macro Economics exam I didn't do so well a few years ago
I SMELL SPINOFF!!! Hopefully? Maybe? Who knows but the idea is intriguing.
5225647
Stimulates the brain, so it helps. I highly suggest it. Only downside is that you face cells.
5225649
*yelling as he waving the smells from the kitchen BACK to the kitchen*
CALM, THE SMELLS ARE GETTING INTENSE!!!! WE ADDED TOO MUCH CUMIN TO THE FOOD!!!!
5225659
the fruit kept growing!!! and it even started off as a NOT fruit!!1
I had to stop for a second to think what was bigger than a watermelon...
Just....Wow. Squad Zero is certainly something interesting. And no worries I think most of your readers understand your OCs aren't going to take over
And yes Twister is very weird indeed.
That fruit....I just....Wow.
Silver thinks like half the bolts are a pack of idiots
It's not a stretch to assume why
Lol the changing fruit. That made Hopscotch and me die laughing! It was awesome to see more of the Posse! They seem so cool!
5225822
Actually had to really think about that one. Pumpkin. Well, they can be but Watermelon seemed like the better choice.
Squall was only a few battle cries way from equaling one Dragonball Z episode
Dang I was literally brought to the edge of my seat while reading this, so much adrenaline....I want to go bowling now.
Someone pissed silver off a little didn't they... Calm... I'd watch your back if I were you...
Great fight, even if it ended with everything going a little too far... In my opinion of course...
No killing the recruits would be a good moral of this encounter.
When that mare who has no name did that blush and wave with Soarin', I thought: Gurl, don't even think about it.
OMG that last picture cracked me up so hard.
3
s ,a 
and a 
. Great chapter! Hilarious!
It's not incorrect per se, but I think the flow would be better with
She squinted as she looked past the blue and brown stallion, barely making out the dark, smaller stallion sitting behind them.
Same here
Matteo was clearly stronger, but even with his claws on his back paws latched into the mat, he could not counter the pushes.
And here
However, before they could get within ten yards of Squall, something swept in front of them and knocked Twister directly to the mat.
...and here
he nodded and smiled, his teeth visible, but the rest of his head barely.
Spitfire's experiment??? What did she grow them all in a lab? Nice to see them finally get some action as well, and to FINALLY see that asshat Squall get what he deserves! Perhaps now he won't be such a dickturd... no wait, he always will be.
...hold on, doesn't get on with anypony in the Wonderbolts... relative of a Shadowbolt?
And other baseless theory time; Squall is actually going to do a Rapidfire, ending up with the Shadowbolts!
Something told me those guys will make a bigger appearance.
Amazing Chapter. You boys need to be taken down a few notches though. LOL The power of us spider brained women when you cabnet brained boys get stuck in the 'fun' drawer. LOL I loved the chapter I now want to see somebody attempt to draw Twister with the Melon on his head... maybe I will That is so funny!!!
Great job. It is fun to insert oneself into a story.
Squad Zero... Loved it absolutely loved it. Can't wait to see their purpose. Now for Silver to deal with Dash's Lightning fear????
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Have they still not fixed that?
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I wonder what this "experiment" of Spitfire's is?
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Ouch
Well, i'm glad i provided a brief distraction 
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Haha am i getting you in trouble?
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No not quite...
As for "experiment" you'll know soon enough, but we aren't super enhanced ponies, that would be silly of me to suddenly include OP OC's... that would kill the story
They have a purpose thats relevant to the plot, and to Soarin and Dash 
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Couldn't resist, it was the perfect spot to use it as a failed save attempt
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Many new questions and more shall be answered going forward
Thanks for reading!
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Haha yep im keeping you guys in the dark
Can't give you anything (besides the pics) to make the experience the best it can be 
Not gonna lie, i had lots of fun writing Snarky PlayBitz... i purposely put him against Squall so people wouldn't think PB was an asshole... because Squall deserved ALL of it
Hang in there bro, the 24th is closing in
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Heh... heheh... well... haha wow... um... i have perceptive readers
Well i'd be lying if i said the five of us in the Posse didn't have something cool planned post Piercing the Heavens. My Wonderbolt world has gained quite a fan following, letting just end after this story would feel... wrong to me. but thats all im willing to say for now, you'll have to see in the future
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Hmmm... no... you'll see
And hahaha i know right? i LOVE coming up with the most RANDOM stuff to make Twister do
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Looks like it didn't take long for someone to put some pieces together
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I should've ended it with just a TREE growing out of the table
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When you look at a human brain in the 'electrical pathway' sence a woman's brain looks like a huge spiderweb. There is very little in each of the different sections but between the different sections there is a whole lot. Hence why we have trouble staying on topic.
Men's brains are the exact opposite. Under the same scan theirs look like a fileing cabinet. There are very few connections between the different sections but quite a bit within them. This helps them focus on the task they are doing but makes it very difficult to back out of what they are doing if they get in over their heads.
This is why Girls tend to be flighty. Bouncing from topic to topic to topic. Washing dishes, playing a game, talking on the phone, exc. And Boys can spend the entire day doing one thing over and over and over again.
Can a girl train themselves to focus... absolutely. Can a boy train their brain to change topics quickly, most definitely but it is hard to do.
Another huge difference is the fact that men can turn their brains off, Girls can't. A man can get stuck in his 'nothing drawer' with very little provication. (Battle, sex, tedus work (Plowing, running, weightlifting) exc.)
Women do have a nothing drawer but we can only stay in it for a second or two if that. Our brains are designed to take care of children and run a house. We jump from right brain to left brain front back middle quickly and efficiently.
I am training to be a therapist so I have studied the brain quite a bit. The differences between men and women brains fascinates me to no end. When I call a Man a 'drawer brain' Please don't take offence. I am quite awed by a man's ability to focus on a task for days at a time. And if you wish to call me a 'spider Brain' LOL I won't be offended either. It is who we are. We think quickly and randomly Actually I am flattered by it. Neither brain is superior but they are equal doing the job they need to do. Men to be able to work hard and women to take care of everything that is going on around them. This chapter is a wonderful example of it at work.
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i did everything i could to give them a grand spectacular entrance... but then also quickly bring them down from "perfect" status and have a mystery surrounding them so there was no "THESE ARE THE SAVIORS OF EVERYTHING" vibe
I just got nervous cause when i first included them i got one or two comments around the lines of "This isn't gonna turn into an OC story... is it?" I was, admittedly, biting my nails before opening the reviews, but so far the reception seems pretty posotive, i'm happy
And god i love writing Twister. I just put the weirdest stuff i can think up into what he's doing and it works because of how i've established him
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Haha this is a very good point
However it seems like he's a little extra frustrated at these "slap-dicks"
More to come as we go
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With Twister there is no limit to the Silly
And i'm glad you liked us
it was fun to finally put us in as more than just background comedy, we have a purpose now 
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Pumpkin actually would have been funnier for the face portion at the end of that scene...