• Published 3rd Jun 2014
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Piercing the Heavens - Calm Wind



Sequel to Flying Sky-High. A lot has happened, but now Rainbow Dash finally has a chance to fulfill her dream and become a Wonderbolt. As the process begins, will her relationship with Soarin be a blessing? Or will it be a curse?

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Chapter 61: Creating Stronger Bonds

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 61:


It became clear for Dash very quickly that nothing is simple when it comes to being a Wonderbolt. Their tendency to recruit and employ very unique and different ponies made for an interesting learning experience. Whenever Dash thought she had one of them figured out, something new would come along.

Those who were always angry seemed to be troubled. Those who seemed extra hardened had a soft side. Those who seemed unbreakable snapped at specific things. Those who were tiny could explode with quite a bang. And of course… those who seemed really weird were actually five times weirder.

After the halfway point of the recruit training, Dash felt like she was finally starting to understand all her new friends on a deeper level, coming close to an understanding like she had with her friends back home… who she missed dearly, but she knew were constantly cheering her on in spirit.

Despite some of the scuffles and run-ins that occurred at the midway point, things began running smoothly again with the difficulty of the drills and training sessions steadily increasing. Soarin’s magic seemed to finally be under control as well, so that was another major thing Dash didn’t have to worry about.

However… the fact that things were going smoothly actually worried Dash. After how strange things got during the tryouts before her recruit training… she couldn’t help but wonder if Silver had something hidden up his sleeve that he was going to pull on them when they least expected it.

If there was one thing she learned about the Wonderbolts… it was that nothing was simple. With four weeks passed since the midway point and only one week and two cycles left to go, Dash was certain that something was going to be sprung on them. And when it was, would she and the others be ready for it?

Eight days in the cycle left… at least that’s what their schedule said. She found she wasn’t even trusting that. Either way, she would definitely know soon enough.


“Sleeping on a train isn’t fun…” Soarin sighed as the lead squad entered the front doors of the compound with Squad three, ten, seventeen, and twenty in tow.

“You slept? I sure as hell didn’t…” Fleetfoot groaned as she walked right over to one of the couches and plopped down on it. Spitfire turned to Soarin and Air Mach, assuming Fleetfoot would hear her from the couch.

“Do whatever you’ve gotta do today, we’ll have a short meeting later tonight and then take tomorrow off…” she paused and clapped her hooves together twice to grab the attention of the rest of the squads. “That goes for all of you! Get some rest and we’ll pick up our normal schedule the day after tomorrow! No silly injuries now, get some rest!” she relayed to the rest of the Wonderbolts.

“I never knew Appleloosa was so far away…” Air Mach groaned as he set his bag down and sat right on the floor to take a brief rest.

Soarin chuckled at the tired state of his squad mates. He didn’t blame them. Not only did they have an intense show of mixed racing and performances, the only train available direct from Appleloosa to Canterlot left the night right after the show and arrived in the morning. It was a bit of a bumpy ride as well, heavy rain and wind made the cars sway a little more than usual, making it hard to sleep.

Fleetfoot was already napping on the lobby couch, Spitfire was hiding the fact that she was completely drained, and Air Mach’s usual gusto was subdued by his own fatigue. They all got a good laugh from Air Mach during the train ride because he insisted on riding on the roof again even though it was pouring rain. He ended up entering the reserved sleeping car they had an hour later, completely drenched and looking miserable. Fleetfoot got her share of giggles from it, that was for sure.

Soarin himself didn’t sleep that well, but he was used to broken sleep by now. As much as having control of his magic allowed him to sleep better, it still woke him up every once in a while. Needless to say, he still felt a bit stiff and sore. Riding on a train with sore muscles didn’t help recovery much.

As the rest of the squads began to shuffle around lazily, Soarin glanced up at the clock above the mail counter. The orange pegasus behind the counter was moving to and fro, gathering mail for any of the Wonderbolts that decided to check their mail before crashing for a few hours.

The clock read 10:00 AM.

Soarin’s curiosity instantly overpowered his desire to rest. He had time, so why not go watch a recruit training session? He already thought about doing so on his day off tomorrow, but why not get a head start? They had formation and obstacle course training this morning. He was eager to see Dash and the rest of these amazing new recruits in action, especially since it was nearing the end of the training cycles, and their new recruit squad would be chosen soon.

“Where you off to, bro?” Air Mach asked as Soarin began walking.

“Thought about checking out the recruits… wanna come?” Soarin offered. Air Mach forced himself off the ground.

“Why not? I hear these recruits have got some serious skill!” he found his usual enthusiasm despite his body saying no.

Soarin nodded and the two made their way to the front desk. They checked the schedule for the day to see where Silver had reserved training time, and once clarified, they headed down the west hallway towards the auxiliary gym.


“As soon as they’re done, you all better be in the air in less than a second or you can be sure I’ll break each of you in half!” Silver hissed in Dash’s face as Matteo, Squall, Twister and Little Star stood with her. They were organized in the arrow formation and standing at the ground starting line of the… rather insane obstacle course above.

All they had to do was complete the course while staying in whatever formation Silver put them in at the start. In their case, it was the arrow. If they got separated or knocked out of formation during the course, they had three seconds to correct it or else they would be ordered to land and had fifty wing-ups.

It didn’t sound too bad at first… but they were the fourth group of five waiting to go through the course. The first two both didn’t make it far at all and the third was currently going…

The course was… insane. That was putting it lightly. It was a course Silver pulled directly from his own personal training arsenal. It was clear how Silver toughened himself up throughout his career because… just… what?

Dash gulped as she looked the course over. It set up in a long straight line across all four sections of the auxiliary gym, with a large U-turn at the far end and returning along the opposite wall. It reminded Dash of the tryouts when they flew in a straight line and tested turning ability… only this time there were an incredible amount of automated obstacles in the way.

There were at least ten large pendulums from the start to the end of both straight-aways with multiple pistons littered everywhere facing up, down, left, and right. The pistons were built to fire randomly, and the pendulums changed speeds randomly, so there was no set way to navigate through the gauntlet, it all had to be on the fly and reaction based.

The first two groups didn’t even make it to the curve at the end on their first attempt.

However the third… had just rounded the turn and was heading back through the second straight-away. They were in the flying in the delta formation… with Thunderlane at the lead position with the bat pony mare lined up behind him and the three silly ponies bringing up the three positions spread in the rear. Thunderlane was doing a great job guiding them, and they were all doing a great job keeping up. They had been knocked out of formation three times, but they were all glancing blows and each time shifted right back in place.

“Alright Thunderlane!” Dash cheered as the third group dodged and weaved through the crazy course. The second straight-away was even more densely packed than the first. The group was clearly struggling to keep steady, their formation buckling every couple of seconds, but they were managing… at least until they hit the halfway point.

“AH!” Thunderlane grunted as a piston shot up from below, the pad on the end of it punching him right in the gut.

He was sent up out of formation, but his group quickly reacted, moving upward to stick with him as he regained his balance. Unfortunately the blow had come very close to knocking the wind out of him. He felt a little dizzy and was having trouble flying straight. The group was forced to scatter as a pendulum swung by right through their formation. The bat mare got hit and was sent way off course. The three ponies bringing up the read were forced apart and fell behind.

“Get back! RGH!” Thunderlane cringed as he grabbed his stomach. “Back in Delta!” He yelled to them.

Dash mentally counted in her head as they struggled to get back in formation.

1… 2… 3…

They still hadn’t regained the delta form.

“Come on! We can make it!” Thunderlane yelled as he slowed down to allow them to get back in place.

Dash glanced at Silver. It had been at least six seconds. The previous two groups were on the ground seconds after the three-count. Silver had stepped forward and had opened his mouth, but he stopped and stepped back while keeping his eyes on Thunderlane.

“Delta! Delta! YES!” Thunderlane exclaimed as they all moved back into place. “Keep it up! We’re almost—”

Less than ten yards from the finish line, piston fired out from the right and struck Thunderlane across the face. With his forward momentum unchanged, he careened off course and into an uncontrollable spiral as he fell at an angle towards the padded floor.

Air Mach and Soarin were stepping through the doors right as Thunderlane began to fall. Soarin was immediately distracted by the course set up, failing to notice the black projectile falling towards him. Soarin’s eye widened as he identified the course setup.

“He’s running them through one of his—OOF!” Soarin was cut off as Thunderlane crashed right into him, knocking Air Mach aside as the two tumbled into a heap on the floor.

“Oooo!” Dash cringed along with the rest. She was worried about both Thunderlane and Soarin but she remembered Silver’s orders. She and her group were to take off right after the other group fin—

“Hold for a moment,” Silver quickly tapped Dash on the shoulder before lifting off and gliding towards the crash site.

“Whoa… nice to see you too Thunderlane…” Soarin chuckled as he shook his head out and got to his hooves before examining Thunderlane.

“Ow…” Thunderlane said simply in response as Silver landed near him. He and Soarin reached down to help Thunderlane to his hooves. “Damn… I almost had it.”

“That was a great effort, son…” Silver complimented as Thunderlane finally managed to stand. Soarin couldn’t help but smile at the look of surprise that crept onto Thunderlane’s face as Silver praised his run through the course. “You missed the reformation time by three extra seconds, but I let it go. You fought to keep your squad under control. That’s what I like to see,” Silver nodded.

“Thank you, sir…” Thunderlane forced out, still feeling a little short on breath from the blow to the stomach. He slumped a little as if he wanted to sit down, but Silver hoisted him back up.

“What? Took a hit or two and now you’re down? We’ve got one more run per group after the next, you’re not gonna disappoint me after that fantastic run are you?!” Silver shouted.

Thunderlane shook his head out and set his hooves.

“No, sir!” he yelled out despite his voice feeling sluggish.

“Good! Now get your ass back over to your group!” he gave Thunderlane a light push. Thunderlane forced his wings out and lifted off towards his current wingmates. Silver flash a smirk at Soarin, who nodded back before Silver followed right behind.

“Kid was doing alright, huh?” Air Mach stepped back up beside Soarin as the two walked in to get a better view. “Too bad we missed it… what were you saying about this course before?” he asked as they found a nice spot by the finish line and sat down. Soarin shook his head.

“This is one of Silver’s personal death-traps… a.k.a., one of his training courses,” Soarin explained.

“All of the elites in the top three squads get a hooffull of personally designed training courses for their use and anypony else who wishes to use them… have you commissioned Rivet for yours yet?” Soarin asked. Air Mach shook his head.

“The little dude is hard to corner. Every time I try to talk to him he runs off,” Air Mach shrugged.

“Talk or yell tales of your stallion prowess?” Soarin asked with a chuckle.

“I can’t address a fellow stallion without them!” Air Mach pounded his chest.

“No wonder!” Soarin laughed as he shook his head. “You gotta catch him sometime in his lab, it’s one of the few places you can get a few words out of him… anyway,” Soarin looked back up. “All of Silver’s courses are known for being incredibly brutal and impossible to get through without a few new bruises. It speaks for how the old guy toughened himself up so much over the years, but of all the courses built, his are used the least.”

“That sounds like a challenge!” Air Mach rubbed his hooves together as he eyed the starting line.

“Nopony will try to stop you, but don’t say we didn’t warn you!” Soarin smirked as he too looked towards the starting line. Silver was approaching the forth group that consisted of Dash and all the recruits Silver mentioned, save for Thunderlane who had just flown. They arrived just in time to see this spectacle, Soarin was expecting a show.

“GO! GO! GO!” Silver yelled.

Dash and her wingmates launched from their spot. Dash kept her acceleration and speed manageable, knowing well that only Squall and Twister could keep up with her usual takeoff. She had to compensate a little for Matteo and Little Star. Once they got moving, both of them would adjust and fall right in.

They flew in the arrow formation with Dash in lead, Matteo to her right with Twister in the next position over, and Squall to her left with Little Star in the far left. They managed to keep the formation perfectly balanced as they approached the start of the obstacles.

Trusting her wingmates to follow, Dash fixed her eyes down the straight-away and mapped out a path in her head, figuring out how close she could fly by each one without compromising her wingmates. At the same time, she figured they could easily adjust if need be for a second or two, but she didn’t want to force them to react. She was leading, so she had to make the best flight path choice for all of them.

With her best guess of a clean path set, they entered the obstacles. The pendulums swung by, picking up and slowing down periodically, but Dash made small adjustments in speed accordingly as they moved. The flight path remained, doing her best to pass safely out of the range of the pistons without coming into contact with one of the pendulums. However, even with this safe flight path in mind, they were forced near some of the pistons.

“Ah!” Little Star yelped as she and Squall were forced to break off due to one of the pistons firing from below. Trusting their abilities, Dash didn’t adjust her course, and within a second, the two were back in place.

Dash gave them a brief glance, which was a critical blunder in her plan. Taking her eyes off her path for that one instant caused her to miss a sharp change in speed in one of the incoming pendulums.

“DASH!” Matteo yelled, alerting her just in time.

Dash’s head snapped back forward and she veered hard to the left. She ran right into Squall, forcing him and Little Star out of formation again, only now Matteo and Twister were forced away as well.

Dash was certain that if she managed to just get upright it would already be too late to fix the formation.

At least that’s what she thought… until Squall reached out and grabbed her hoof, instantly stopping her tumble and instantly recovering her flight. She quickly looked up as Squall pulled her back over, but Little Star was already thrown far ahead of them, struggling to stop due to being pushed so hard after the formation break.

But then a lout POW of Matteo’s Air Burst technique sounded out and he zipped over to Little Star while holding Twister by the top of his head. Matteo reached out and grabbed Star with his free talons, stabilizing her.

“Squall!” Dash yelled as Squall nodded and pulled her towards Matteo. Within three seconds they came back together and retook their position, luckily not colliding with any other obstacles in the process. “Now turn!” Dash yelled as they cleared the last obstacle and headed into the wide U-turn.

“WOW!” Soarin chuckled as he nearly fell backwards. “Did you see that?!” he pointed as Air Mach nodded.

“Class-A recovery! Working together with a purpose! I like it!” Air Mach grinned as he flicked the tip of his large sunglasses.

Soarin slowly shook his head. That was a clear scatter in the formation with all members flying in different directions… it was incredibly difficult to recover quickly from a situation like that. The lead squad practiced a “scramble-recovery” often… but even they had trouble recovering in less than four seconds. The way the recruits used and helped each other to recover in way that seemed instinctive… Maneuvers like that took connections that could only be formed by bonds like friendship and camaraderie… knowing the others will come to your aid and being able to read and tell what another would do without even a look.

Had Dash already formed a great friendship with these other incredible recruits? Honestly… he wouldn’t be surprised at all. She could do that.

“Keep it going! Keep it going! On me!” Dash yelled as the group rounded the curve and hit the second straightaway with their formation steady. Again, Dash used the precious seconds she had before entering the cacophony of moving obstacles to map out a possible flight path. Again, she watched how the traps were moving and tried to see how she could fly a safe route while giving the wide formation enough room to maneuver.

Just one problem…

There was no safe route. In fact, there wasn’t even a safe route for one flyer to squeeze through, let alone five. Dash could now see why Thunderlane’s run went from looking like a finish to a crash landing so quickly!

From down below, Silver tapped his hoof on the ground. His eyes were trained on Dash and he whispered to himself.

“C’mon Rainbow Dash… C’mon… I know you can see it…” he said as he lightly grinded his teeth together.

Dash had less than a second to make a choice. She would have to pick a path… but none of them seemed like the right choice! The formation was too wide, even wider than it should be to compensate for Matteo’s size! There’s no way their formation would make it through this! Because…

Dash’s eyes widened.

It was the wrong formation!

“SHIFT! PLUS FORMATION!” Dash yelled. She spun around, grabbing Matteo’s arm. She could see the look of confusion on his face, but as soon as he felt her tug on him, he reached back and grabbed Twister. Matteo shifted into the middle and pulled Twister up beside him. Little Star didn’t even think about it. As soon as she heard Dash say it, she used her hovering prowess to quickly shift herself behind Matteo and Squall, with a quick glance followed, filling in the spot. To Matteo’s left. With the plus formation in place, the four on the outsides tucked into Matteo to condense the formation and squeeze through the first few obstacles in their path.

“Yes!” Silver pumped his hoof in satisfaction as they made the shift. The groups were ordered to stay in a certain formation… but that did not mean they couldn’t briefly use the others as long as they shifted back quickly. He was going to explain that after the first run-through of all the groups… but he put his faith in Dash figuring it out… and she did not disappoint!

“Shift back! Delta!” Dash yelled as soon as they had some breathing room. They were all back in place quickly, less than three seconds after their shift to the condensed plus.

It worked, it worked and they pulled it off. Dash was now confident they would heed her orders.

“X!” she yelled as they neared another set that was blocked by crossing pistons and pendulums. As she hoped… the group quickly shifted with her in the center, the others at two, four, eight, and ten o’clock. “Expand and penetrate!” she yelled. The recruits shifted out to fit through the small openings among the traps. “ARROW!” Dash yelled as soon as they passed and they were back in formation before she could finish the word.

Dash’s confidence soared. Just one more group of obstacles to pass.

Then something unexpected happened. Four crossing pistons fired… and jammed. Stuck in the out position and condensing the area even more than it already was with the swinging pendulums. Dash was more than certain that wasn’t supposed to happen. The pistons were even making a weird whirring and buzzing sound.

“That’s not right…” Silver stepped forward and blinked. The pistons were malfunctioning. “DROP! DROP OUT!” he yelled towards the recruits, but they were too far away to hear him.

Dash eyed the predicament carefully. Again, she had little time… what was she supposed to do? There was no formation that would fit through, even if they scattered… there was only one opening…

One path…

Time for a little improvising!

“Line up! Single file! Behind me! NOW! NOW! NOW!” Dash barked back and forth. The others glanced between each other. “DAMMIT! NOW!” Dash yelled as the obstacles were less than fifteen yards away.

Twister grabbed Matteo’s back leg and Star did the same with Squall. Matteo glanced at Squall and made a very quick head motion back. Squall, with Little Star in tow, dropped back far enough for Matteo and Twister to fit between them and Dash. They were now in a perfect line. Dash, Matteo, Twister, Squall, and Star. One by one they passed through the small opening through the malfunctioning pistons.

“WHAT!? HAHAHA!!!!” Silver reared his head back laughing and stomping his hooves on the ground. “You’ve gotta be shitting me! Hahaha!!!!”

“Arrow!” Dash yelled with a huge smile on her face. The recruits reformed the arrow. She glanced back and forth as they went in for a landing… the rest seemed to share her enthusiasm, all looking relieved with a feeling of victory… even Squall.

“Did she… just make up that line formation?” Air Mach blinked and turned to Soarin. “Or is that a new one?” he asked with a wide smirk. Soarin grinned and shook his head.

“Nope!” Soarin chuckled. "I think she called that one on the spot! What a reaction!” Soarin had been hearing about Dash’s exploits, but he had yet to really sit down and watch her. She just pulled something worthy of an elite squad captain on the fly… what did they discover in Ponyville? Soarin had goose bumps just thinking about it.

“We did it!” Little Star sprung up and did loops in the air as soon as they all came to a complete stop.

“Phew!” Dash exhaled and plopped right down on the floor, holding a hoof over her heart. It was beating furiously from both nerves and from physical activity. She never thought changing the formation up would work… but it did… and then they all followed her orders to the end of it. It was an exhilarating feeling.

“That was well done, you have keen presence of mind,” Matteo commented from behind Dash. “I was certain we were going to fail.”

She looked back at him with a smile, but blinked in surprise as Twister stood atop Matteo’s head.

“WE DONE GOOD!” he called out as he slowly tipped off Matteo’s head and fell towards Dash with his arms outstretched before Matteo could shake him off.

“Yikes!” Dash squinted her eyes shut, waiting for Twister to fall on her, but—

“OOF!” Squall suddenly grunted. Dash opened her eyes and saw Twister on Squall’s back a few feet beside her. Twister had his arms wrapped around Squall’s neck and was nuzzling his mane.

“Gee-willickers aren’t we all such good friends!” Twister cooed as Squall visibly freaked out and tried shaking Twister off to no avail. Twister sat upright. His upper body remaining nearly stationary as Squall shook below him. “Quite brilliant Dashie!” he reached behind him and pulled out a top hat. “You’ve always got some tricks up your sleeve, eh?” he stuffed his hoof into the hat and—

“Wha—?!” Little Star yelped. Dash glanced towards her and saw she was gone. She turned back to Twister as he pulled Little Star out of the hat.

Art by: Noble Savage (Deviant art: thatdamntenpin)

“I have to step up my game!” Twister snickered as Star and Squall both glared at him. Twister looked back and forth between the two and sighed. “Tough crowd…”

“Rainbow Dash!” Silver’s voice boomed, cutting them all off. They all quickly turned to look towards their instructor. Twister shoved Little Star back into the hat, making her fall flat to the ground from above and he hopped off Squall’s back, smiling innocently. Silver didn’t even acknowledge Twister’s antics. He stared directly at Dash. “That was the most ridiculous stunt I have ever seen…” he said with a glare.

Dash gulped.

“S-sorry, sir!” she quickly replied, not sure if she had broken a rule. She technically didn’t follow orders completely… but shifting the formation seemed like the best way to get through. Her worry suddenly disappeared though when Silver smiled.

“Sorry?” Silver chuckled. “If you hadn’t shifted the formation I was going to explain for the second run how that was essential… but you figured it out. Clever mare…” Silver nodded as Dash blushed in embarrassment from praise. Silver seemed almost uncharacteristically happy. He must have really gotten a kick out of how she took control of the situation. “It was almost perfect…” he suddenly said. All the recruits perked up.

“Almost?” Matteo asked first. Silver shrugged.

“Took you four seconds to reform the arrow after shifting to the straight line…” Silver pointed out. “So good job, but too bad, you failed anyway,” he said while slowly raising his brow.

“Aw, WHAT?!” Star flopped onto her back as Dash’s ears flattened.

“Really?” she sighed in frustration as the rest reacted in their own way. Dash glanced back at Squall as he growled and stomped at the ground once.

If there was one thing the 99% successful run they just pulled off showed her… it was how far Squall had come. He cared about nothing but himself when they first met, but just now, he not only saved her from a nasty fall, but willingly worked together with the rest to make it through the course.

His little incident with Storm Front really knocked some sense into him… after Dash yelled at him and Silver quietly ran him through twenty five laps of high speed conditioning every night for the next three cycles, Squall’s attitude seemed to have faded… mostly. He seemed more aware of what he was doing and thinking more often before acting, which was something Dash lectured him about. Did he take her words to heart? She certainly didn’t expect that.

He also seemed a little more laid back and tolerant of antics. He clearly disliked Twister both sitting on him and nuzzling him jokingly, but after a few attempts to get rid of Twister, Squall stopped and went no further. This is the same pony that punched Thunderlane and yelled at a stallion half his size for just running into him.

Unfortunately, despite the shift in demeanor he was still a closed door when it came to anything personal. Whenever asked how he was doing, he replied ‘fine’ and whenever asked about his life he changed the subject or dodged the question. The strange thing was how he did it. Dash was having a hard time putting her hoof on it. Sometimes Squall seemed bitter when dodging the question… other times he seemed… embarrassed? She knew nothing about his life, but something caused him to be the way he was. She just couldn’t figure out what. The only way she’d find out was through him.

From off to the side, Soarin and Air Mach still sat, impatiently awaiting the second round of run-throughs. Soarin couldn’t stop staring at Dash. He just couldn’t get over it. How she could figure things out so quickly. Sure, she didn’t have a signature move of her own… she could copy the moves of others to an extent, but nothing beyond that. However, what she DID have… was an incredibly quick and analytical mind, one that could analyze and deduce a situation, even when flying at high speed. It was this same mind that allowed her to critically examine signature moves and reproduce them. He had to find her later and tell her how awesome she was.

Well… he already did that on a regular basis… but damn… damn he wanted to tell her especially right now after seeing it for himself. Dash was one hell of a mare… and he planned to make sure she always knew it.


Soarin poked his head into the mess hall. Lunch had only been open for five minutes, but he thought he saw Dash and some of the recruits go in already. There was almost nopony there yet, but as he thought, Dash was indeed in the mess hall with Squall, Matteo, and Twister. They already had their food and were moving to one of the first empty tables on the aisle.

There were only ten other Wonderbolts present, but Soarin knew it wouldn’t be long until the bulk of the force was rushing in. It looked like they were serving chicken soft tacos… Yeah, the mess hall was going to fill up fast.

As much as Soarin wanted to get himself one of the fresh tacos, one of the few things he ate outside of his usual strict diet, he wanted to get a chance to talk to Dash and the other guys about the amazing display they put on. Little Star seemed to be absent, unfortunately.

He walked towards them at a slightly quickened pace to avoid the incoming flow of Wonderbolts behind him. The news of the tacos traveled fast.

Dash blinked and looked up from her plate, spotting Soarin as he broke away from the large number of Wonderbolts pouring in. She instantly smiled and gave him an enthusiastic wave.

“Hey fellas,” Soarin greeted them casually as he reached the table. Squall and Matteo both flinched and quickly looked towards Soarin. Dash was just smiling and Twister… he suddenly had a thick flat moustache and his eyebrows were suddenly thicker as well with a pair of round glasses balanced on his nose.. He had the end of a taco in the corner of his mouth like a cigar… the other end was on fire. He bounced his eyebrows up and down as he blew puffs of smoke out the other side of his mouth.

Knowing well that Twister was basically a less stable, male version of Surprise, Soarin ignored him and first turned his attention towards Squall and Matteo.

“Commander?” Matteo addressed him.

“I prefer you just call me Soarin,” Soarin smiled before glancing at Dash. She was still smiling and clearly trying to restrain herself while around her fellow recruits. “I just wanted to let you guys know, that was an AMAZING show you put on with Silver’s training course!” he complimented them.

Dash glanced briefly at the other three. It was interesting to see their reactions to Soarin in person. Matteo had completely locked up, clearly following protocol for respecting a superior officer. Squall was… interesting. He looked at Soarin, but didn’t say anything or wear any expression. It was almost a blank stare. The fire on the end of Twister’s taco had traveled to his head and now his mane was on fire… right.

“We owe it mostly to Rainbow Dash,” Matteo motioned to her. “If she hadn’t started calling out formations, we’d have hit every one of those obstacles,” he explained. Dash waved a hoof at him.

“Aw, c’mon Matty, I didn’t do everything. Squall over here pulled me back into formation after that first mistake. If he didn’t do that, I’d have never gotten the chance!” she made sure to compliment Squall. Soarin turned to look at Squall, but as soon as he did, Squall looked away and down at his plate.

“That was an awesome assist on the recovery, Squall,” Soarin complimented him.

“T-thanks…” Squall said very quietly.

Dash chuckled as Soarin continued to speak to Squall. Squall looked so awkward, but Soarin didn’t let that faze him. She glanced out towards the cloud of ponies filling up the mess hall and her eye caught a group of ponies standing in line that she hadn’t seen in a while.

Squad zero.

Well… she saw Calm Wind and Playbitz. Calm was just a little smaller than Matteo so he was hard to miss, and Playbitz had the two toned wings along with being large. The two of them were easy to spot. Swift Justice was only visible because he was standing among other brightly colored ponies. After looking closer, Dash found Shine Struck walking slightly in front of them. She was on the left of Calm so Dash could only see the front of her, the three colors of her mane sticking out against her fur. While Playbitz and Swift were conversing about something, both Calm and Shine were laughing at something. Dash leaned a little further over to see what was so amusing.

Rivet was in front of them all… but he wasn’t in line alone. He had two pegasus mares to his left, both happily chatting with him. One was very light blue like Soarin with a long mane of a jagged dark blue and light blue pattern that hung down past her shoulders. The tips of her wings were a darker blue than the rest of her. The other was a light pink mare with a long blue mane that was neatly braided and curled around the left side of her neck and down in front of her chest.

Rivet’s eyes were darting back and forth between the two as he nervously nodded, clearly not quite sure what to do or say as the two mares, who were both a head taller than him, kept talking to him casually. Calm and Shine were doing their best not laugh out loud as Rivet tried to keep up with the two ladies.

Art by: Noble Savage (Deviant art: thatdamntenpin)

It looked like Fleetfoot wasn’t the only mare who enjoyed the little stallion. She could imagine his small build and stature made many mares find him rather adorable, and the shy nature on top of that just added to it.

Dash turned back to Soarin as he finally finished trying to get a conversation out of Squall.

Soarin took one look at Twister. His head was now encased in a block of ice instead of fire. He still had the taco in his mouth. Soarin shook his head.

“That looks pretty cold,” he commented with a smirk before turning to Matteo.

“So I’ve heard from Dash that you were turned away from the Sky Wings…” he started. Matteo took a deep breath and sighed.

“Yes… that is correct,” he replied. As the conversation began, unbeknownst to Dash… Fleetfoot silently began rising up behind her with a mischievous grin on her face.

“I’m heavily confused as to why they would turn you away… unless of course it’s some sort of—,” Soarin paused briefly and glanced at Dash. Fleetfoot was standing behind her pointing at Dash while making hip thrusting motions. Soarin looked right back to Matteo. “Some sort of traditional thing?” Soarin finished his question as he glanced back at Dash. Fleetfoot hovered her head right beside Dash’s and gave a bedroom stare towards Soarin. She bounced her eyebrows and wiggled her plot back and forth.

Dash tipped her head curiously and turned as Soarin looked back to Matteo. Fleetfoot ducked down to the floor and luckily Dash didn’t look down.

“You would be correct,” Matteo nodded to Soarin. “I was rejected due to my size. I cause a misalignment in their standard formation, so they couldn’t…” as he spoke Soarin glanced towards Dash again. Fleetfoot was beside Dash, just outside her peripheral vision. Leaning in close to Dash while puckering her lips and making kissing motions. “…I came here so my training wouldn’t go to waste… Commander?” Matteo narrowed his eyes slightly as if Soarin wasn’t paying attention.

Soarin looked back at him quickly, blinked and shook his head.

“Oh! Sorry, no, I heard what you said… just… one moment,” he nodded before pumping his wings down, lifting up and floating over the table before slamming down behind Dash.

“HEE HEE!” Fleetfoot giggled as she darted away from Dash and sharply turned the corner into the aisle…

Unfortunately… she didn’t look before swinging around into the main aisle of the mess hall. Rivet was walking by with his tray of food with squad zero close behind.

Fleetfoot’s hoof swung around as she made the turn… and it crashed right into Rivet’s face, making a sweeping motion across his eyes after impact.

“AAHHHH!!!!!!” Rivet cried out, keeping a hold of his tray, but instantly dropping down. Nothing spilled, but he laid the tray flat on the floor and quickly reached up. It looked like something fell out of his eyes as he put his hooves to his face.

All eyes turned to him. Dash and the recruits all looked quickly. Twister even cut his shenanigans and peered out around Matteo. Soarin cringed when he saw how Fleetfoot’s hoof connected. That had to hurt. Now Soarin felt bad for chasing Fleetfoot…

But how he felt paled in comparison Fleetfoot. Upon seeing who she hit and how she hit him. Fleetfoot released the LOUDEST gasp Soarin had ever heard. Squad zero was already looking for a place to set their trays down to help their friend, but the tables around them were all full. They ended up heading towards the recruit table to dump their trays.

OH MY GOD!” Fleetfoot quickly stepped up to him as squad zero scrambled to get their hooves free. “Rivet! Oh god! Are you okay?!” she frantically asked while crouching down to him.

Rivet looked up, his eyes were red and puffy as he squinted. It looked like it hurt a lot… but then he started blinking and looking in every direction.

“My… my contacts! I lost my contact lenses!” he started pressing his hooves to the floor, but only a moment after they went back to his face as he groaned in pain.

Soarin quickly stepped out, knowing what was about to happen.

Rivet did not like situations he could not control... especially when he felt he was in danger or unable to protect himself in some way. He never had a negative reaction to Fleetfoot chasing him because he knew all she would do was forcefully cuddle him. However, in circumstances such as: face in a lot of pain and can’t see… Rivet was going to have a panic attack.

He was already breathing more rapidly.

“Rivet!” Calm yelled as he pushed by Soarin with Shine close behind. They crouched down to help, but before they could, Rivet reached out for anything close by. He grabbed Fleetfoot’s arm and pulled himself into her, clutching her arm tightly while shaking and breathing heavily.

“Found his contacts!” Swift called out from the floor. Playbitz looked up from the floor and turned to Swift but stuck out his tongue.

“I don’t think he’s gonna want to put those back in…” he commented as Swift held up the lenses. They were stained with salsa. They had fallen from Rivet’s eyes directly onto his taco plate.

Calm and Shine turned back to Rivet and Fleetfoot. Fleetfoot felt absolutely CRUSHED. She could feel Rivet shaking and how heavily he was breathing… and it was her fault. She quickly reached down and hugged him tightly.

“I’m so stupid!” she berated himself. “I’m sorry!” she desperately apologized as she hugged him tighter. Soarin trotted up to them as he looked between them and squad zero.

“We should get him to Bliss to make sure his eyes are okay… and then get him a new pair of lenses,” Soarin suggested. Calm instantly stepped up.

“Here, let me take him to—”

“No!” Fleetfoot cut him off as she looked up and shook her head, her eyes showing faint signs of tears in the corner. “This was my fault! I’ll take him!” she stated as she gently lifted Rivet and rose up into the air while gently cradling him in his arms. He clung to her body as she glided above all of the tables and right to the exit.

Soarin took a deep breath and exhaled as he watched them leave. Rivet was the assertive word of law in his workshop with an iron hoof… but outside of those walls became so sheepish and fragile. Soarin was glad he had befriended squad zero because he felt Rivet needed strong friends to hold him up and keep him safe… but freak accidents can happen. Soarin was just happy that Fleetfoot immediately took responsibility and took care of him.

Things quickly returned to normal and everypony went back to eating.

Soarin glanced at Dash and approached her. She looked worried as he approached.

“Don’t worry,” he spoke directly to her. “Fleet’ll make sure he’s alright,” he winked.

“That’s what you to get for rough housing,” Dash crossed her hooves and lifted her brow. Soarin smirked.

“So you’re okay with Fleetfoot making kissing and hip thrusting motions towards your ear?” he shrugged. Dash blinked.

“Wait, THAT’S what she was doing?!”

“Yep!” Soarin chuckled.

“Okay, fine. You were protecting me. Dash rolled her eyes with a smile.

They both suddenly looked at the rest of the table to see squad zero surrounding the table. They all stopped when trying to gather their trays, realizing who they had bumped into while distracted by Rivet. Awkward glances were being exchanged between the recruits and the special force squad that beat them up a few weeks ago.

However, Shine Struck… was looking directly at Soarin and Dash.

“Guys,” Shine suddenly spoke. “Let’s sit right here,” she said as she plopped down in the spot right next to Dash. After a few more uncomfortable looks. Calm, Playbitz, and Swift all sat down as well. Soarin examined the situation and decided to let it happen. He leaned down to Dash and lightly nuzzled her ear.

“I’m gonna get some food now… have fun with your… friends,” he joked as she shivered from the touch of his nose against the tip of her ear.

“Okay, I’ll see you around,” she smiled back while brushing a hoof against his shoulder. Shine sighed subtly to herself as she watched the short goodbye. Dash didn’t hear it, but Soarin did.

He didn’t think it was a good idea to leave a pony that had a crush on him next to his marefriend… but he had a feeling Dash would work it out.

Soarin made his way towards the food line and quickly found exactly where to step in. Storm Front had just walked in, so Soarin took a spot right behind.

“Hey, Storm!” Soarin cheerfully greeted.

“Ngh…” Storm groaned. Soarin blinked and leaned over to get a good look at his face. Storm looked exhausted.

“Spitfire is still flying you through extra conditioning?” Soarin chuckled.

“Yes…” Storm sighed while extending and folding his wings periodically to ease stiffness.

As if extra conditioning wasn’t bad enough, Storm had also been assigned to clean all the locker room bathrooms after training each day for the past few weeks. Spitfire even sent the janitorial staff on paid vacation so Storm could clean them all for them. Needless to say, Spitfire was merciless when it came to punishments for breaking prime rules. Soarin could remember all of his and Rapidfire’s punishments quite well… not that he wanted to.

“Well, this is good incentive not to lose your cool again… even if they hit a soft spot, alright?” Soarin nudged him.

“Definitely don’t have to tell me twice,” Storm shuddered.

Soarin nodded and stepped back into his place in line. He glanced back towards the table where squad zero, the recruits, and Dash were sitting.

Hopefully that was going alright…


“So…” Shine Struck finally broke the awkward silence between the two groups. “I… uh…” she struggled as Dash looked to her. The rest of the recruits were busy carefully eyeing the members of squad zero they fought. Except for Twister who was creepily right up in the face of Swift, who tried to back away, but each time Twister stayed tethered to him. “Guys!” she quickly turned to them instead. “We all wanted to do this right? Help me out!” she nervously pleaded. Playbitz stopped looking back at Squall and cleared his throat.

“I thought you wanted to start it?” he asked.

“Changed my mind,” Shine replied quickly. Playbitz shrugged and nodded.

“Alright… all of you…” he turned and looked at each of the recruits. “We’d like to apologize for… you know… going a little too far when we first met,” said Playbitz.

“Gee, thanks…” Squall grumbled.

“Squall!” Dash snapped at him. Squall flinched and huffed as he turned away. Dash looked back to Playbitz and to each squad member before nodding. “Don’t worry about it… we walked into it just as much as you instigated it… so we’re both at fault. Water under the bridge, we’re all Wonderbolts right?” Dash smiled.

“Mmhmm…” Calm agreed with a nod.

“Yep!” Swift agreed as Twister closed in again. Swift put up a hoof and pushed Twister away slowly. “Personal space, Smiley… You’re also blocking the view!” he smirked as he looked past Twister at Dash. Dash ignored him and continued.

“Right guys?” Dash asked as she looked between Matteo and Squall. Both did not look so amused. “Matty…” Dash flattened her brow as Matteo glared at Calm. “This isn’t a griffon dispute, let it go,” she suggested. Matteo closed his eyes and sighed.

“Very well…” Matteo snorted. Calm lifted an eyebrow from across the table.

“I do not believe I damaged your honor…” Calm spoke up, catching Matteo’s attention. “I didn’t hold back… I gave you everything I had. Isn’t it considered an honorable respect for one’s opponent if no punches are pulled?” he ended with a slight grin. Matteo blinked.

“Actually… that is true, however you invoked the rite of challenge… therefore it was a battle with honor at stake,” Matteo corrected him.

“Was it?” Calm continued. “The traditions apply to griffons… not ponies. I did it because I wanted to fight you… and I knew you would take the bait. As a pony, griffon traditions don’t apply to me… so if you think about it… all we did was fight. Griffon tradition does not apply to me,” Calm lifted his brow as he finished.

“But…” Matteo stopped and thought. “Well… that’s actually true,” he smiled slightly. “Your knowledge of our culture is commendable.”

“So tell me!” Calm quickly sensed the change in mood. “You're ridiculously strong! How much can you bench press?”

Dash quickly shifted her focus. As much as she liked working out and lifting weights that conversation was about to get very stallion.

“C’mon kid, I’m not that bad…” Playbitz chuckled while trying to converse with Squall. “Hey, I bet you wanted to give me two black eyes to match my scars, right?” he joked.

Squall let an amused snort slip.

“You DID! I knew it!” Playbitz chuckled as Squall held his breath, trying to sulk despite actually finding the comment funny.

“Um…” Swift looked at Twister uncomfortably as his head popped out from beneath the table beside Swift’s seat. “Are you going to actually eat?” he chuckled. Twister reached up really fast and stole a single carrot off Swift’s plate before diving back under the table. “HEY!” Swift tried to reach after him while laughing.

Well, it didn’t take long for the situation to turn light hearted. Dash turned and glanced at Shine. She was smiling at the situation as well, as if this was what both of them were looking for when the two groups met again.

“So you guys are a special force unit, right?” Dash spoke up as she went for one of her tacos. Shine nodded as she did the same.

“I assume they told you everything?” she asked. Dash nodded with a mouthful of taco.

“Mmhmm…” she swallowed. “I mean… these three kicked our flanks, if they didn’t explain I would’ve broken down Spitfire’s door and demanded an explanation!” Dash smiled confidently as Shine giggled. “So I hear you’re a martial artist…” Dash continued.

“Yep, Taekwondo,” she clarified.

It was interesting… Shine struggled to start the conversations… but once they started it seemed like she had no trouble getting into it.

“I also hear…” Dash smirked. “That you can copy abilities… that’s pretty neat, I guess…” Dash was purposely being a little smarmy, trying to build up to saying she could as well.

“Heh, yep! It’s true! I AM awesome!” Shine replied confidently. Dash couldn’t hold it in. She burst out laughing. “What?” Shine tipped her head and smiled.

“Sorry…” Dash managed to say in between chuckles. “This is just kind of weird,” she kept laughing.

“Oh? Do tell…” Shine asked with a smirk.

“Well, we’re kinda like… twins here,” Dash explained. “I can copy abilities too… and I was planning on saying I was awesome after revealing it! Because I am,” she added at the end while pounding her chest.

“This is an outrage, we can’t have two awesome ponies at this table!” Shine fake pouted.

“Bring it on!” Dash comically bit off a huge portion of a taco… only to start coughing because it was too much at once. The two shared a good laugh as Dash regained her breath. It seemed like Shine was like her in more ways than one… this was a great little encounter Dash and her friends were having… Silver may have voiced a great deal of disapproval of them… but that was mainly the professional and technical side of things. They weren’t bad ponies… in fact, they seemed pretty fun.

Dash looked around, eager to talk to some of the others as well. She fixed her eyes on the giant sitting across from her own giant friend. She had seen Calm Wind in the gym more times than she could count… and usually with…

“So Calm… how often do you and Autumn Rain hit the gym together?”

Every member of squad zero instantly went silent and cringed while staring at Dash. Calm coughed and forcefully swallowed a large bit of food he was chewing on. His ears flopped down and his eyes filled with… sadness?

It only took a moment for Dash to put it together. Her eyes widened and she instantly threw her hooves over her mouth. Before she could say anything, Calm slowly got up from the table and stepped out into the aisle before walking towards the exit, dragging his hooves. Shine and Swift both quickly rose up.

“Wait! Wait…” Playbitz stood up. “Leave him be…” he said reluctantly as if forcing himself to stay put as well. Shine and Swift frowned, sitting back down and going back to their food.

“Oh god… I...” Dash stumbled over her words. “Did they…? I didn’t know… oh shoot…” she felt like she had just derailed a perfect social atmosphere.

“Don’t worry about it… you didn’t know…” Playbitz sighed. “Yeah… things didn’t quite work out between them. She ended it though so he’s been beating himself up about it being something he did wrong for the past few weeks.”

“Still, I’ll have to apologize later…” Dash felt terrible, even if it was an accident. She had recently had a little bit of self-induced heartbreak herself… she knew it was horrible feeling. Calm on the other hand... they were both Wonderbolts! They lived and worked in the same place! They most likely saw each other all the time! Just like how she and Soarin did during their little relationship rut… only for Calm… she definitely had to find him later.

“Speaking of relationships…” Shine suddenly spoke up, drawing Dash’s attention back to her.

“Yeah?” Dash asked, visibly upset.

“You’re…” Shine gulped. Whatever she was about to ask, it looked like she felt nervous to ask it. “You’re Soarin’s marefriend, right?”

Red alert.

Warning.

NO!

Dash was instantly reminded of something… all the times she saw Shine blush and smile around Soarin. How had she forgotten about that? As much as Dash had just connected with her… the last things she wanted was another Arctic Blast scenario. Shine was clearly not a dumb, bitchy, slut like Arctic… but the concept of fighting another mare over Soarin was not something she wanted to revisit.

“Y-yes…” Dash answered cautiously. She was waiting for it… waiting for Shine to say something how Soarin was her stallion.

“You’re… very lucky…” she smiled as her ears flopped down.

“Huh?” Dash blinked and tipped her head to the side. Shine glanced at her and smiled weakly.

“To have him… Soarin,” she clarified. “He’s such an amazing stallion and he’s all yours… how, does it feel?”

“Um…” Dash wasn’t sure what to say. She certainly wasn’t expecting that. Shine quickly put a hoof up and shook her head.

“No, don’t answer that, I’m getting ahead here…” she chuckled. “It’s just… I haven’t known him for very long, but he’s SUCH a sweet guy… not to mention he’s buff and handsome and always knows how to make everypony smile… I’ve kinda… had a crush on him since I got here…” she suddenly revealed.

“I don’t get it…” Dash suddenly cut in. “Why tell me this?” she asked. Shine shook her head.

“Dash… how could a mare not have a crush on him? Seriously!” she giggled. “But… don’t worry, he’s yours, not mine. He’s always talking about you… that’s how I recognized you after the little incident a few weeks ago… you fit all of his descriptions perfectly… down to every last feature,” Shine patted Dash on the shoulder. “It’s clear where his heart is… and if I really care about him, I would never get in the way of what he wants… I wouldn’t do that to him… or a great mare like you,” she ended with a smile before taking a deep breath, exhaling, and going back to her food.

The exact opposite of what Dash thought would happen… just happened.

Shine was enamored by Soarin… but she wasn’t a stallion stealer. She was reasonable and she acknowledged that Soarin loved somepony else. That sounded hard to do. Really hard to do. This situation made Dash think back to when she piled the truth harshly onto Arctic after she saw the kiss.

Dash couldn’t believe it… she found herself feeling… bad? Bad about what she did to Arctic? Even if it was an undesirable mare, the way Shine clearly just forced her heart to acknowledge the relationship of a stallion she wanted to be with… it seemed harsh.

Either way… Arctic was long gone. Shine… was much different. Dash couldn’t help but feel warm after such a selfless confession.

“Thanks, Shine…” Dash smiled back to her as she went to finish her food.

Art by: Noble Savage (Deviant art: thatdamntenpin)

Squad zero… they all seemed like the kind of ponies Dash could be good friends with. Maybe… Silver was being a little too harsh on them?

---To Be Continued---

Author's Note:

REMINDER: Ponies eat chicken and pork products in my universe... please don't gasp and point that out anymore. -_-

*HAPPY TIMES COME BACK*

(I should mention, the two mares talking to Rivet belong to CrystalMelody_kc (light blue) and CowgirlVk (pink) :eeyup:)

So! Fun chapter we have here! We've jumped forward to near the end of the training! I wonder what's in store these last cycles? Is Silver planning something? (duh) Can Dash trust the schedule? (most likely not!)

Ooooo Fleetfoot, you better watch where you're going... at least we know she has a caring side now though... Rivet's not just a little plushy... he's a friend, and she immediately took responsibility after accidentally hurting him.

Squad Zero and the recruits reunite! Perhaps they can get along despite their past scuffle... is Dash questioning Silver's judgement on them? She's seeing things for herself!

Shine respecting Soarin and Dash's relationship? Doesn't mean she doesnt like our sexy male protagonist though... i wonder how this is going to go between them, but hey! She's not the Arctic Blast type! So what could possibly go wrong?:twistnerd:

And... if anyone is wondering... the reason i included Calm's heartbreak... is because i wanted to physically acknowledge it... i didnt want to simply run from it. Autumn is still a part of this story, i can't change that. So this is the path i've chosen... don't worry about me, it was my choice and another way i'm coping with it all.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!

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