• 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 80: The View From Behind the Goggles

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 80:


“Ladies and gentlestallions! Please take your seats! The Wonderbolts are ready to go and will begin the show shortly!”

The stallion over the speaker system called out as thousands of pegasi filed into the arena and took their seats. Cloudsdale’s flight stadium was enormous, not quite as large as Canterlot’s or Manehatten’s, but since Cloudsdale was populated entirely by pegasi, it was normal for ninety-nine percent of the city to show up, as well as any other pegasi that would travel to see them. It was needless to say that the vast majority of their fans were pegasi, so shows in Cloudsdale were always one of their most profitable events.

The arena infield was a large, circular area seventy-five yards in diameter with five decks of spectator seating that wrapped around the circumference and had thirty rows per deck. Above the fifth deck were multiple spectator boxes as well as a large penthouse box where the Wonderbolts would be holding a reception later for VIP’s along with seeing the kids again. It was definitely an impressive piece of architecture, but granted, it was much easier to form and build with enchanted clouds than it was to build with traditional brick, mortar, and carpentry.

Despite the incredibly large amount of seats available, the arena was SOLD OUT… which only testified to how important shows in Cloudsdale were towards making bits. It wasn’t even a full show. They only had two squads performing followed by a game between them. The show would last roughly an hour, maybe a little more. This was something that had Rainbow Dash in complete awe as she poked her head out to see the crowd.

“This is insane…” Dash said as she looked back and forth at the thousands of pegasi that were present and taking their seats. A few spotted Dash in the tunnel and began cheering. When Dash realized they were cheering at her, she yelped and stepped back in. She put a hoof over her heart and took a deep breath.

“This is why I love performing in Cloudsdale,” Soarin suddenly spoke from behind her, causing Dash to jump straight up in the air and almost hit the ceiling. “Somepony’s a little high strung!” he said with a chuckle.

“Well, duh, you snuck up on me!” Dash pouted as she floated back down. Soarin chuckled as he glanced out into the crowd. Dash looked him over, taking in what she saw. He was acting casual and relaxed, but his eyes were focused like she had seen earlier. It looked like he had found his balance and was ready to get out there and give everypony a show.

Soarin stepped past Dash and took two steps out. The crowd roared when they spotted him standing in the doorway of the tunnel. Soarin gave a few waves before turning and walking back. Dash lifted an eyebrow as he approached her again. “Show off,” she giggled while jabbing him in the chest.

“Like I said, I love performing in Cloudsdale,” he nodded. “This is a very small show, only two squad performances and a pick-up game of wing-ball, but we still sold out. Cloudsdale has the largest concentration of our fans by far,” Soarin looked down and hopped up and down on the cushy cloud floor. “And it’s the safest arena too, the ground of the arena is only partially enchanted, making it like one, big, natural safety mat.” he added with a smile.

“I don’t know how you seem so relaxed,” Dash said as she glanced out at the crowd. “I felt nervous looking at them, and I’m not even performing today.”

“You sound a lot like Storm, there,” Soarin said while poking her shoulder. “I’ve been doing this for a while, I’ve gotten used to it. Lemme tell you, the first time I performed, I was shaking so hard I was surprised I got my wings to work.”

“Worried about the Shadowbolt at all?” Dash suddenly asked. Soarin blinked, not expecting it, but patted her on the back.

“A little, but that’s why we have you guys here,” he said with encouragement. “We’ve got a job to do right now… to entertain all of our loyal fans. We’ll let you worry about it.”

“What if it interrupts the show?” Dash thought out loud. It would definitely be strange and cause a bit of an uproar if the Wonderbolts abandoned a crowd mid-show. She was also thinking about the kids who earned the opportunity to see a show in comfort and meet the Wonderbolts themselves. Soarin sighed as he thought over Dash’s question as he turned and started walking back through the tunnel, quickly stepping onto the hardened, enchanted cloud floor. He made a head motion, indicating for her to follow. Dash followed close behind. Soarin remained silent for a moment, their hooves against the floor being the only sound that echoed about the tunnel.

“I’m going to be completely honest with you,” he suddenly began. “I don’t think the Shadowbolt, if he’s even still around, will show up during the show itself. And if he is there, you will not see him.”

“What makes you say that?” Dash asked. “Anything will help Soarin, I need to know more about them,” she added. She had gotten the basic information, but based on their reactions to the Shadowbolt in the blimp, that didn’t seem like the typical behavior.

“Up until the encounter yesterday, the Shadowbolts have been very discreet. All of our reports and the one I chased in Manehatten were spotted sneaking around before they were pursued. There are thousands of ponies in the stands. Who knows? All of the Shadowbolts we’ve seen could be in this crowd, but there’s no way in hell we’re going to find them.”

“But what about this guy that flew right up to our window and taunted us?” Dash recalled the blimp incident. It didn’t seem to line up. Soarin shook his head.

“That’s what made me change my mind,” he said with a nod as they made it halfway back to the waiting area. “I thought Spitfire’s plan was… for lack of a better word, stupid. No offense to you guys, but the situation here was unfavorable in spotting one pony amongst the thousands that would attend, especially with how subtle they have been. Yesterday made me think a little differently. I have no idea what the Shadowbolt’s thought process was, or if he was being a complete dumbass and not doing what he was supposed to, but if he’s willing to be brash and more forward than his comrades then the plan is reasonable. Better safe than sorry, I guess. And if it does interrupt our show, I will personally pay for the kids to come to another show. I’m not gonna let them miss out.”

“You sure you can focus on the show?” Dash’s ears flopped down as Soarin unloaded everything on his mind.

“Dash,” Soarin stopped her before they moved into the waiting room. “I used to fly entire shows while fighting back the urge to punch Rapidfire in the face for whatever mare he used the night before. I can handle this,” he said with a wink. “I’ll be fine, worry about how you are going to direct your part of Spitfire’s plan, and the fly-by before the show starts.”

Dash froze and her pupils shrank.

“Fly… by…?” she repeated slowly. Soarin stopped and looked at her curiously.

“Spitfire hasn’t…?” Soarin paused and rolled his eyes. “I guess you’ll know soon enough…” he said sarcastically as they entered the waiting room.

“There you two are,” Spitfire said as they returned. “Get lined up, let’s go,” she said as she pointed to the rest of the Wonderbolts and the recruits getting their things together.

Dash felt a wave of dread rush over her as she approached her squad. They were all wearing their Wonderbolt flight suits and looking confused. As they should have been, Dash only had hers on because she met with the kids. She thought they were only going to wear them later at the reception. Had they been ordered to suit up? Soarin said a fly-by… did that mean…

“Recruits, listen up!” Spitfire’s voice caused Dash to instantly turn around and stand attention so fast that she almost smashed her head against Spitfire’s. Spitfire pulled her head back slightly and blinked. “Whoa there, Captain,” she said as Dash swallowed and nodded.

“Sorry, ma’am!” she yelled. Spitfire lifted an eyebrow before looking at all the recruits.

“Listen carefully, before the show begins, I will go out and address the crowd. When I do, I will be announcing that we have acquired new recruits. When I do, I want you five to fly out in an arrow formation and fly three laps around the arena level with the third deck. I will announce each of your names and where you are from.”

Dash could almost hear the nerves behind her as Spitfire spoke. This was sudden… they had to actually go out in the arena in a formation and fly around? That wasn’t too hard, but there were so many spectators watching!

“This is a Wonderbolt tradition,” Spitfire continued. “We like to keep our fans connected with us and what they can expect from us. Part of this is showing them our new recruits, those who will perform for them in the future. Normally, we wouldn’t do this in a small show, but we’re in Cloudsdale, and there’s no such thing as a small show in Cloudsdale, so I decided to go ahead and do it now. Are we all clear?” she asked, looking at all of them. Dash stole a glance back.

Matteo was completely unaffected. Dash began to wonder if he even had nerves.

Little Star’s eyes were wide. She didn’t look as nervous as she looked surprised.

Twister was being Twister.

Squall looked absolutely terrified, which came as a relief for Dash, as bad as that sounded. She was relieved that she wasn’t the only one who felt anxious about it, but it also didn’t surprise her. Squall wasn’t the social type, so being seen and talked about by so many seemed like something he wasn’t too fond of. But really, he had to see it coming eventually. He was a Wonderbolt for crying out loud. Perhaps he was just nervous like Dash was, taken by surprise by this and not feeling ready to go out in front of a crowd. It’s not like they had a choice. Spitfire’s word was law.

“Yes, ma’am!” they all replied with varying pitches and tones.

“Good, now…” Spitfire flattened her brow and stepped around Dash, getting into Twister’s face. “Twister, it would be nice if you told me where you are actually from so I can properly announce you,” she demanded, not flinching as she stood face to face with his usual creepy sneer.

“Somewhere between the chicken and the egg… BUT WHICH ONE CAME FIRST?!” Twister reared back, tipped over, and fell on his back.

“Hmph…” Spitfire grunted. “Fine, I’ll just say your name…” Spitfire didn’t even try to fight him. She just turned moved back to the front of the line, knowing full well she wouldn’t get any straight answers from him.

Dash glanced at Twister as he began log rolling in a circle around all of them. She remembered the forms they had to fill out before each phase of their recruitment. Twister most likely didn’t answer any of them seriously and Spitfire didn’t have a problem with it?

“Get in line, you silly goose…” Little Star grabbed Twister and pumped her little wings to pick up his limp body and place him between her and Matteo.

Apparently not. Of course it only made Dash wonder where Twister was actually from. His little stories he kept pulling her into did little to actually tell her any specifics about his past. It was all about his experiences and how he came to be who he was.

“Ready up!” Spitfire yelled to the Wonderbolts as she pulled the mask portion of her flight suit up and over her head. Dash gulped as she looked at the rest of the elites, her eyes stopped on Soarin as he forced his suit mask further forward to fit the horn through the extra hole cut in it and then fitted his goggles into place.

“Oh gosh…” Dash’s body felt all tingly as she looked back at her squad. They were following the elites, putting on their masks and goggles.

Dash quickly forgot about anything else and frantically put on her mask and goggles, focusing on the fact that she would soon be out in front of thousands of pegasi, flying in formation as Spitfire talked about them. She hoped nothing would go wrong… which was a ridiculous thought because they were just FLYING IN A LARGE CIRCLE, but again… so many ponies.

“Okay, let’s get out there!” Spitfire called out as she pushed the door open and started trotting. The elites followed right behind. Dash started up with jittery steps, following right behind Storm, who brought up the rear of the elites.

They were moving through the tunnel much faster than Dash wanted to, but as she did, she found herself putting many things into perspective. She didn’t know what exactly sparked the thought. Maybe it was become no words were spoken as they moved. The line turned into two lines side by side, the squads walking two by two. Dash was walking beside Squall, with Star and Twister behind her and Matteo bringing up the rear.

It was something about the silent march towards the end of the tunnel. Something that felt… really cool. It made her think about the brighter side of what was about to happen as opposed to how nervous she was.

They were in Cloudsdale, the city she was born in. There was bound to be more than a few hundred ponies she had met and known at different times throughout her life ranging from classmates to teachers, sports teammates to coaches. For all she knew, her family, both close and extended might be here! It was short notice for her and her squad. She didn’t have time to let them know. But attending Wonderbolt shows was almost a routine in Cloudsdale… even the nosebleed seats were fought over at times. Just to be there and being a part of a great piece of pegasus culture meant something.

The thought of hundreds of ponies from her past suddenly witnessing her achievement made her feel giddy as opposed to nervous, but there was even more to it.

Walking in line with Wonderbolts through a tunnel leading to the arena, wearing the flight suit with the rest of them… The steady, even, synchronous clip-clopping of their hooves against the floor as they moved… It sent shivers down her spine. She was really a part of it now. She was really a Wonderbolt. This was why Spitfire wanted them to experience it. This is what they did. This was how it all worked from their perspective. Dash almost felt like crying, because all of her hard work and effort had paid off.

She had been named a Wonderbolt, but now she felt like a Wonderbolt. She was one of them. It was an incredible feeling that nopony would ever be able to take away from her.

They stepped off the hard floor onto the softer cloud surface and came to a halt right before the end of the tunnel, the sound of the crowd pouring in as Spitfire stepped in front and turned to them.

“Recruits, get up here!” Spitfire ordered. The elites all stood aside, allowing Dash, Squall, Star, Twister, and Matteo to step forward and stand before Spitfire. “I’m heading out to address the crowd. When I say ‘let’s hear it for recruit squad Foxtrot,’ that’s your cue to take off. I’ll be hovering level with the second spectator deck, make sure you are lined up with the third before you start flying around. Alright?”

“Yes, ma’am!” only four of them replied, but Spitfire didn’t notice.

“Let’s do this!” Spitfire clapped her hooves together. The rest of the elites gave out short whoops and cheers as Spitfire turned and walked towards the tunnel opening.

Spitfire hadn’t noticed, but Dash sure did. One voice was absent from acknowledging Spitfire’s orders. She turned around and noticed Squall sitting slightly further back than the rest of them. Star blinked as she saw Dash looking back and turned as well. Squall was looking down at the floor, he was gritting his teeth, taking sharp breaths, shivering, and sweating.

“Squall?” Dash asked as she stepped past Matteo. Matteo watched her go by and turned to look at Squall as well. “Squall, relax,” Dash quickly said as she quickly said. She was going to ask if something was wrong, but honestly, that was given with his body language. She stepped towards him and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Squall, look at me…” Dash ordered, but Squall didn’t look. She sighed and contemplated what to do.

Before Dash could say anything else, Spitfire took off from the tunnel and flew out into the arena. The roar that erupted from the crowd was so loud that the whole building shook.

“Whoa…” Star commented as she stared out towards the crowd. They could see Spitfire from the tunnel, she flew up, waving around at the crowd as she made her way up and eventually disappeared from their site.

“W-w-w-we’re… about to g-go out th-there…” Squall suddenly stuttered, drawing Dash and Star’s attention back. “S-so… so many ponies…” he added as he continued to shiver and look down. Dash glanced back to the elites. They were all focused on watching Spitfire, who was still waving and waiting for the crowd to die down. All except for Storm, who was staring towards Squall, watching as he suddenly broke down into his anxious state.

“Squall,” Dash turned back. “Get a hold of yourself…” she said, trying to sound soft and stern. “We’ve gotta fly out there soon, we need you with us.”

Squall just shook his head. Star hovered up and grabbed his shoulder with her little hooves.

“Squall, you’re not going out there alone! You’re going with us! I’m nervous too, but please, I don’t want to go out there without you!” she pleaded.

Again, Squall just shook his head.

“Squall, she’s right, we need all of us here,” Dash tried to encourage him. “We made it through training together, so we can make it through this together too.”

“That’s right!” Star exclaimed as she hovered around and rested her hooves on his other shoulder. “We’re all friends now! We have to—”

“STOP CODDLING HIM!” Dash and Star flinched and froze. They turned their heads towards Matteo who was looking over his shoulder and glaring at them. Matteo’s eyes shifted to Squall, who was still looking down. He snorted and moved his eyes back to Dash and Star. “If he wants to be a coward, let him be a coward! Softening him up won’t do a thing. He has to face his fears himself or not face them at all. If he wants to forget everything he’s gone through in the past months and disregard the honor he’s earned… let him. It’s his loss. I’m flying out there with or without him.”

Dash and Star stared at Matteo as he turned back and shook his body out, cracking his neck as if eagerly awaiting the chance to fly out in front of the crowd.

“Ladies and gentlestallions!” Spitfire’s voice echoed throughout the stadium. “Welcome to Cloudsdale Arena!” she called out, earning another roar of cheers from the crowd.

Dash and Star looked back at Squall.

“We have a fun show for everypony today!” Spitfire continued.

Dash thought over everything Matteo had just said. She didn’t want to agree with him. But… he was right. They couldn’t baby Squall or sweet talk him into following them. After all… Squall wanted to be taken seriously, right? That was something he had to earn just as much as he wanted it.

“Star, leave him…” Dash said while turning her back to Squall.

“What?!” Star’s jaw dropped as she looked from Squall to Dash.

“We have two crowd favorite routines being performed by the lead squad and squad seven!” Spitfire continued outside.

“You heard me, leave him,” Dash repeated.

“But…” Star looked back at Squall.

“That’s an order!” Dash snapped at Star, causing her to flinch. Star bit her lip, looking back and forth between them before squeezing Squall’s shoulder once.

“I’m sorry…” she whispered to him before letting go and hovering after Dash.

Squall’s ears turned up as Star apologized and he looked up at Dash, Star, and Matteo moved away from him. They approached Twister, who had been doing ridiculous, ineffective pre-flight stretches by the tunnel exit since they arrived.

“After the routines, we will split into two teams and play a high speed game of wing-ball for your enjoyment! You haven’t seen sports until you’ve seen them played by Wonderbolts!” Spitfire rallied the crowd as more cheers erupted.

Squall flinched as another pony came into view. He looked up and stared directly into the eyes of Storm Front. Storm said nothing, he only glared at Squall. Squall looked right back into his eyes, at first doing nothing but staring. But the more he looked at Storm glaring at him the more he felt… angry. His expression changed from mortified to a scrunched-faced glare. Squall looked back towards his squad, then back at Storm.

“Well?” Storm spoke up. “Are you going to let them go without you?”

“Shut the hell up!” Squall hissed at Storm before standing up, fixing his eyes towards the end of the tunnel and slowly walking towards the recruits. Storm waited until Squall could no longer see him, before he exhaled and chuckled. He turned and walked back towards the elites, stepping up next to Soarin. Soarin glanced at Storm as he came back.

“Well done,” Soarin said, making Storm flinch. Storm looked towards Soarin, blinking.

“You saw?” Storm huffed. “Don’t get me wrong, I did it for them,” Storm pointed towards the recruit squad.

When Squall joined up with the rest of the recruits, Dash and Star both turned and greeted him energetically. Twister hopped up on his back and ruffled Squall’s mane roughly, but Squall didn’t do anything to retaliate. He acknowledged Dash and Star with nods and glanced up at Matteo. He locked eyes with the griffon briefly before the two focused on the tunnel exit.

“In addition we have a treat for you all today!” Spitfire continued.

“Yeah, I know you hate his guts,” Soarin smirked. “But don’t lie to me, I know you wanted to help him too,” Soarin nudged him. Storm remained silent. “A month ago… that was you,” Soarin added while pointing at Squall. "Nevrous and afraid. Now here you are, doing whatever you can to help and encourage others to be their best… you’re definitely a Wonderbolt, Storm,” Soarin finished as he focused on the recruit Squad again. Storm just smiled.

“We have brought along with us... the newest squad of our recruits! Fresh out of our training and ready for all of Equestria to see!” Spitfire called out.

“Ready guys?” Dash looked between all of them.

“Always,” Matteo replied simply.

“You betcha!” Star smiled while glancing up at Squall, clearly happy he joined them.

“Hmph…” Squall grunted, glancing down at Star as she smiled up at him.

“My body has been ready for longer than you can imagine!” Twister said as he bounced his eyebrows, his goggles shifted on and off of his eyes as he did.

“Music to my ears, guys!” Dash acknowledged them, feeling very revved up with everything falling into place. “We’ll take off side by side and shift right into the arrow formation!”

“I am proud to introduce these new additions to our ranks!” Spitfire called out while turning and looking down at the tunnel.

Dash glanced back at Soarin as her squad readied to fly. Soarin nodded and mouthed, ‘be proud.’

Dash flashed him a confident smile before looking back forward and setting her hooves firmly. She was about to go out there, and the whole crowd was going to see her.

“Let’s hear it for…” Spitfire began.

The only regret that Dash had at that moment…

Was that Silver Lining wasn’t there to see it.

“Recruit squad Foxtrot!” Spitfire called out.

“Go!” Dash yelled.

She pushed off and took to the air, Squall and Star on her right, Twister and Matteo to her left. They emerged from the tunnel and within seconds were nearly deafened by the roar of the crowd. It was a mixed noise of cheers, and a few sounds of awe, probably because of Matteo.

They rose up and as they did, Dash took in the view of thousands of spectators looking towards them from all directions. Her heart began to beat like crazy in her chest, but it was from an incredible rush of excitement that filled her chest as they rose up higher than Spitfire and ceased their ascent once they reached the third deck level.

Spitfire continued as they shifted into the arrow formation seamlessly and began a slow circle around the stadium.

“Check them out, Cloudsdale!” Spitfire yelled while motioning to the recruits. “First we have… the tiny pony with a big heart! Little Star from Whinneyapolis!”

Star squealed delightfully as she fluttered her wings, allowing her to turn around and wave giddily while keeping pace with the rest.

“An impressive martial artist you’ll never want to cross! Hailing from the Crystal Empire… Squall!” Spitfire called next.

Squall just grunted. Dash glanced back at him without breaking formation.

“Squall, wave at the fans,” she said.

“Ngh…” Squall groaned.

“Squall, that’s an order,” Dash said with a chuckle.

“Nnnnnngggghhhhhh…” Squall groaned louder before giving a few waves and going right back to just flying.

“A silly pony who doesn’t give me straight answers when I ask him where he’s from! But he’s got some random, awesome moves! Twister!”

Twister laughed maniacally, breaking formation briefly to twist about in the air and blow kisses to the fans. Dash rose up and tugged him back into place by the tail.

“I’m sure you’re all looking at him, and hey, it’s hard not to cause he’s massive and just as strong as he looks! A unique recruit and our very first griffon Wonderbolt, all the way from the Griffon Kingdom, Matteo!” Spitfire announced.

Lots of oo’s and ah’s came amongst the cheers as Matteo looked left and right while waving to the fans, of course not breaking his serious glare even though he was enjoying himself.

“Last but not least!” Spitfire began. “A spunky mare with a colorful rainbow mane… a tough talking, rough playing mare… from Ponyville, but born and raised here in the city of Cloudsdale… Captain of recruit squad Foxtrot… Rainbow Dash!”

The crowd roared even louder than it had for the rest as Dash waved her arms happily at all the spectators. The reception she received was amazing! Hearing that one of Cloudsdale’s very own daughters had recently become a Wonderbolt electrified the crowd, it seemed.

“Let’s hear it for our newest Wonderbolts!” Spitfire rallied the crowd as squad Foxtrot began their third and final pass around the arena. They smiled and waved as the crowd cheered for them, soaking up the attention and newfound fame that came with being a part of the Wonderbolts. It was a bit overwhelming, but in a very positive way.

Dash glanced towards Spitfire after they finished their third round and saw her wave. Dash kept her eyes on Spitfire as she motioned back down to the tunnel. Dash nodded and saluted.

“Alright guys, time to let the elites do their thing. Full pitch left, head for the tunnel!” Dash ordered as they turned and descended.

Dash’s heart continued to beat furiously as they approached the tunnel, the goofiest of goofy smiles stuck to her face and showed no sign of leaving.

“Squad seven will be performing first!” Spitfire continued addressing the crowd. “Sit tight, Cloudsdale! They will be out shortly!”

Dash landed in the tunnel and immediately turned to look at her squad.

“THAT WAS SO COOL!” she exclaimed while bouncing up and down. Little Star quickly trotted up to Dash after landing and matched Dash’s bouncing.

“I KNOW!” she agreed happily as the two mares smiled like idiots at each other. Dash glanced at Matteo, who walked in casually as if completely unfazed, before looking at Squall, who exhaled sharply, as if relieved. She didn’t even bother looking at Twister. She knew what he would be doing.

“How did that feel?” Soarin asked as he stepped forward. There was an eager smirk on his face as if he wanted to hear Dash go crazy. Dash saw that very look, and shot him a snide grin.

“Eh, I’ve had bigger receptions,” she joked while waving her hoof at him. Her composure broke in an instant though. She set her hooves on the floor, bent down slightly, and her pupils grew two sizes. “Who the hell am I kidding?! That… was… SOAWESOME!” she almost squeaked.

Soarin couldn’t help but laugh as Dash’s smugness broke faster than he could reply. He could see just how giddy she was and he was loving it. He could remember his first dose of crowd applause and it was a moment he would never forget.

“Hey! Way to knock the crowd dead!” Fleetfoot exclaimed as she walked up and jabbed Dash in the shoulder. “I heard that cheer! Cloudsdale loves their home grown Wonderbolts, but damn! They really gave it up for you!” she complimented as Air Mach suddenly rushed up and leaned so heavily against her that she fell over.

“The great Animack acknowledges the crowd pleasing ability of the Rainbow Dash!” he said, and that was all he got to say before Fleetfoot got up and started yelling at him to no avail.

“I will admit,” Soarin began as he ignored the scuffle between Fleetfoot and Air Mach behind him. “That was quite a cheer, sounds like the fans are really proud of you, as are all of us,” Soarin said with a smile as Dash felt her cheeks heat up.

It was Soarin, she was so used to him by now that blushing wasn’t as frequent, but that didn’t stop him from being one of the top Wonderbolts and compliments like that from ponies like HIM made her blush regardless. She looked up at him but quickly saw that he wasn’t looking at her. She blinked and followed his eyes to Squall.

Dash locked onto Squall and noticed that he was walking directly at Storm. Dash’s instincts told her to move in and intercept before anything stupid could happen, but the look on Squall’s face was different. Storm was getting ready to take off and didn’t see Squall approach. Squall suddenly bumped into him deliberately. Actually, he nearly dropped his shoulder into Storm. Storm grunted in surprise and was forced to step back, but when he turned to look at Squall, Squall was already walking away.

“Huh?” Storm blinked in confusion, unsure what to make of what Squall just did, but Dash tipped her head and thought about it. Squall had weird ways of showing how he felt about things. He just went up and slightly rammed Storm without saying a word… perhaps that was his ‘unique’ way of showing thanks? Dash saw no other explanation, but it was hard to ‘explain’ Squall at all.

“Ready up guys, we’re on!” Point Dex shouted to squad seven, as Spitfire landed in the tunnel.

Dash watched as squad seven gathered near the entrance. She specifically watched Storm. He looked a little nervous, but more controlled than anything. He mentioned this was his fourth or fifth show, Dash couldn’t remember, but it looked like he was falling into place. He listened carefully to Dex and lined up without any sign of jitters or nerves before he and squad seven took off into the arena.

Dash stepped up beside Soarin to watch near the edge of the tunnel. She wanted to see everything for herself. She got a taste of the crowd, now she wanted to watch a show in progress right from the very tunnel they entered from.


Squad seven’s performance was amazing. A synchronized flight show that included many intense maneuvers that created some cool effects with smoke trails. As Spitfire had said, they were performing old ‘crowd favorite’ shows. Dash had never seen squad seven’s routine before, but it was definitely understandable why the crowd loved it.

What she wasn’t expecting was when the lead squad took the stage…


“Dash?” Little Star spoke up as Dash took a step forward and stared with wide eyes out into the arena. “What’s up?” Star tried asking again, but Dash was too focused.

“I… I know what they’re doing!” Dash exclaimed, not to answer Star, but just because the way the lead squad lined up on a cloud above the arena was familiar… very familiar.

All the spectators went silent as all the members of the lead squad except for Soarin tipped backwards and let themselves freefall. All watched in anticipation as they grew closer and closer to the cloud floor of the arena, their wings still pinned to their body. With a loud bang that resembled a thunderclap, all eyes looked back up to see Soarin fire from his spot using the Sonic Blastoff, causing the cloud to explode. Mere yards from the cloud, an air pocket built up and shattered around him in seconds and Soarin’s image became a blur. He began twisting as he approached his squadmates. The spinning and the speed created a small cyclone that expanded around him. The winds were fierce, forcing all the spectators to shield themselves as the winds whipped and whirled around the arena.

The cyclone expanded and engulfed Spitfire, Fleetfoot and Air Mach. The instant the cone overtook them, they all spread their wings and forced themselves opposite of the cyclonic winds. It made them appear to be flying in place. The reverse in the force caused the cyclone to implode on itself and the three other members were thrown in three different directions, streaking through the air. The reverse of the winds cushioned Soarin enough for him to land roughly, but safely on all four hooves on the clouds below. He fixed his eyes on Spitfire, who angled down as Air Mach and Fleetfoot angled up. His nostrils flared, his wings spread out sharply and he dug his hooves into the clouds.

Soarin bent his wings forward while leaning back. His muscles flexed and tensed as he gritted his teeth. In one fluid motion, he reached his front legs forward, planting them firmly in the ground. Then he brought his back legs up, as he drove them down, he pushed off his front legs, extending his body, and swinging his wings back. With this motion complete, he pushed hard off his back legs before the previous motions could carry him forward, executing a perfect Sonic Blastoff.

Soarin fired from his spot and careened along the cloud floor, the clouds flattening and splitting as he shot over them. He reached Spitfire as she flattened out right above the cloud floor. She reached her front legs up. Soarin hooked his hooves with hers as he passed by and pulled up fiercely into a loop. Halfway through the loop, he released her, the added speed pushing her to his speed. Spitfire smirked as she sharply struck two flint pads together on her back hooves, sparking a flame that erupted behind her and streaked from her body as a blazing trail of fire. Fleetfoot and Air Mach had been flying in loops, creating a tunnel with their smoke trails. Spitfire careened through the center, leaving a trail of flames in the middle of it.

Soarin put on the brakes, and slammed to the clouds once more. He executed the Sonic Blastoff again, rocketing like a loosed arrow towards Spitfire, directly into the trail of fire. The crowd gasped as he pulled off the daredevil tactic, but the flames blew aside, expanding into rings every few feet as he pulsed through the trail. He reached the tunnel and his speed caused the smoke to collapse inward as the fire expanded outward. The heat of the fire collided with the clouds of smoke, causing a chain reaction of a lightning bolt that traveled along the length behind Soarin. There was an immense crack of thunder behind him and he emerged from the smoke with a trail of lightning rising from and surrounding his body. Fleetfoot, Air Mach, and Spitfire all pushed dark clouds together to create a single, large dark cloud and together tossed it higher into the sky. Soarin went after it as it raised higher and higher, the lightning sparking and crackling as it trailed from him.

He collided head on into the cloud. The electricity spread throughout it and a lightning bolt jutted out, followed by a crack of thunder, and a light drizzle began to fall. A light, pleasant rain touched the faces of all the spectators gently as they stared in awe at the lead squad.

Soarin exploded from the back of the cloud and turned about, stopping beneath the rain. There was still some electricity coursing around him. He threw his wings and legs outward, forcing the energy out of his body with a few crackles and pops around him. The four Wonderbolts all slowly glided down and congregated on the ground.

They all removed their goggles and took a bow.

“Oh my gosh…” Dash said as she held a hoof to her heart.

That show… a crowd favorite? She was glad it was, because that show was special to her.

It was the show the lead squad performed in Ponyville a year ago. The first Wonderbolt show she saw up close and showed her just how hard she would have to work to match them… The show after which she and Soarin officially met and became friends.

Seeing the show again from the view of a Wonderbolt waiting for their turn was… well, Dash never thought she’d experience that feeling. Her smile grew even wider as the crowd erupted in enormous applause that shook the whole stadium, and the lead squad headed back toward the tunnel.

Soarin smiled as he flew beside his squadmates and came in for a landing. Dash’s face was beaming so much it was almost like she was guiding them in like a landing strip. Soarin landed and whipped his head back and forth, shaking droplets of rain from his mane.

“Look familiar?” Soarin asked Dash as he approached her. Her eyes were wide and she was bouncing. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Soarin chuckled as Dash’s squadmates kept looking at her quizzically.

“Look alive, Wonderbolts,” Spitfire chimed in before Dash could say anything. Spitfire walked in, shaking her mane dry as well. “We have a fifteen minute intermission, then the wing ball game. Use the bathroom, do whatever you’ve got to do now, because we’re going to be out there for an hour or so,” she explained and the rest of the elites nodded. Soarin turned back to Dash, but Spitfire stepped up.

“Dash,” Spitfire spoke first. Soarin shut his mouth and backed up, slightly frustrated. He knew Dash was giddy about seeing the old show and he wanted to talk to her about it, but Dash DID have an important job approaching. In effect, it was her first mission, so Soarin let Spitfire go in without protest or interruption. Dash herself quickly swallowed her excitement and cleared her throat.

“Ma’am?” Dash acknowledged her.

“We need eyes peeled in all directions at all times during this game. We will be completely distracted, so I hope I don’t have to remind you that we are relying on you and your squad to keep an eye out. Figure out and do what you must to keep surveillance efficient, but…” Spitfire sternly held her hoof up towards Dash. “Remember who we are dealing with. Take precautions to consider your squad’s safety as well. If the Shadowbolt appears, pursue, DON’T engage. If he fights, then fight back, but don’t instigate it. Just keep him busy until we can catch up and we’ll do the fighting, understand?”

Dash was about to reply robotically, but she stopped and tipped her head at Spitfire. She didn’t want her and the rest of squad Foxtrot to engage the Shadowbolt in combat? Did Spitfire forget that Dash fought Nightshade alongside Soarin? She was more capable than Spitfire was giving her credit for.

“But, Captain I—”

UNDERSTAND?!” Spitfire repeated while leaning forward and glaring into Dash’s face. Dash gritted her teeth and nodded.

“Loud and clear, ma’am,” Dash said while holding attention.

“Good, we’re counting on you guys,” Spitfire added as she turned and walked down the tunnel towards the waiting room. Soarin remained near Dash as the two watched Spitfire walk away. Fleetfoot stepped up in between them and glanced between Spitfire and Dash before shaking her head and glancing at Soarin.

“Something tells me you only partially removed the twenty yard metal pole stuck up her ass,” she said with a sigh. Soarin looked down and nodded.

“She calmed down, but Spitfire is Spitfire, you know that as well as I do,” he grunted in frustration. Fleetfoot started giggling, drawing Soarin’s attention.

“Where’s Wave Chill when you need him?” Fleetfoot said while forcing the giggles down. “I bet a chilled quickie would loosen her up a bit!”

“Fleet!” Soarin snorted loudly while bending down slightly. “Well, not like I don’t agree…”

“Exactly!” Fleet said with a wink before looking at Dash. She blinked as she looked Dash over. “Speaking of loosening up, you feeling alright?” she asked. Dash was looking straight down, looked very stiff, and didn’t seem very aware of what was going on directly around her at the moment. She was clearly in deep thought, she didn’t even snicker at Fleetfoot’s joke. “Dash?” Fleetfoot waved a hoof in front of Dash’s face.

“Huh?” Dash blinked and looked up into the eyes of Soarin and Fleetfoot, staring at her with concern. Soarin tipped his head slightly as he examined his mare.

“Thinking about your mission?” Soarin asked, hitting a bull’s-eye immediately.

“Yes,” Dash huffed as her tail whipped to the side once. “You know, just worried about screwing up… and the other things Spitfire just dropped on me as well,” she groaned as she rubbed her forehead with a hoof. “I thought I shook the nerves and now they’re all back.”

Indeed, she had a lot going through her head. She was a new recruit being trusted with an important mission. She had to keep her squadmates safe while also using an effective surveillance pattern. Everything by itself didn’t feel like much, but with them all stacked together, she felt a little overwhelmed. Soarin was about to comfort her, but Fleetfoot stepped up before he could. He scrunched his face and puffed his cheeks out because he got denied again, but perhaps outside encouragement would be more effective here. Dash had heard his encouragement hundreds of times by now, maybe even thousands.

“Hey,” Fleetfoot stepped up to Dash. “Hey,” she placed her hooves on Dash’s shoulders. “Hey, look at me,” Fleetfoot ordered as Dash blinked and looked directly at Fleetfoot. “Take a deep breath, relax, and focus. You will do FINE,” she stated strongly. “You’ve been through a lot of shit with us Dash, even though you’ve only just become a Wonderbolt, I don’t think I’d trust anypony else with this. You know the Shadowbolts well, so you’ve got my vote of confidence, ‘kay?” Fleetfoot winked. “I’m gonna have fun in this wing-ball game cause I know you’ve got our backs.”

Dash just stared for a moment before smiling. Leave it to Fleetfoot to brighten her mood.

“Thanks Fleet, I won’t let you down,” Dash said while nodding with confident eyes.

“Good!” Fleetfoot suddenly pulled her over towards Soarin. “Now you’ve got ten minutes to rub yourself all over the best princess here before we’re out there for an hour, don’t let me stop you! Spandex on spandex gives for nice, smooth encounters you know!” she giggled as she forced Dash’s face into Soarin’s chest and started shifting her up and down.

“Hey!” Soarin chuckled as Dash uttered muffled words of confusion against his flight suit. He grabbed Dash with his right arm and pulled her away. “Alright you, scram!” Soarin playfully shouted at Fleetfoot as his magic came to life. Fleetfoot turned and tried to escape, but Soarin shot a low powered beam of magic from the horn towards her that struck her right in the plot.

“YEEAI!” Fleetfoot yelped as she jumped and started galloping away while giggling.

“Blah!” Dash finally removed her mouth from Soarin’s chest. “Your suit tastes like rainwater and sweat…” she said as she let her tongue hang out in disgust.

“I don’t doubt that,” Soarin smirked as the two looked up and locked eyes. Fleet had just given Dash a great pep-talk, but Soarin refused to go without at least one word. “Fleet’s right, Dash. Spitfire’s just doing her job as our lead captain. If she wasn’t hard and stern, we wouldn’t be as great as we are,” he placed a hoof on her shoulder and gave it a gentle rub. “Just get out there and keep an eye out. I know you’ll do well.”

“You bet your ass, I will,” Dash smirked confidently at him. Soarin grinned.

“That’s what I wanna hear!” Soarin gave her a light jab. He glanced up and saw squad Foxtrot conversing with squad seven as they all headed towards the waiting rooms. “Come on,” he gave a head motion. “We’ve got to get ready.”

Dash nodded and followed beside Soarin as they moved back towards the waiting room for the brief break in between the show and the game. Dash began to focus as they moved. She had to think carefully and consider everything Spitfire had said. After all, she was in charge of this operation and responsible for the well-being of squad Foxtrot. She had to approach it carefully.


“Let’s go, Wonderbolts!” Spitfire called behind her as she approached the end of the tunnel. She gave one look at Dash in the back of the group and gave a nod before taking off. The crowd roared to life as Spitfire made her way out again. Soarin, Fleetfoot, and Air Mach stepped up, putting their goggles on as they readied their wings. Soarin looked back and flashed a smile at Dash before the three of them took off as well.

“Good luck,” Storm said to Dash with a smile before he walked up beside squad seven and they took off as well.

Dash barely heard or saw any of it, because she was as ready as she was going to be, and raring to brief her squad. She turned to Matteo, Squall, Star, and Twister. All of them were already looking at her as if anticipating it. They were all aware of what was being asked of them, and it seemed the little fly-by before the show had given them a much needed, all around confidence boost.

Perhaps… that’s exactly why Spitfire had them do it.

“Okay, listen up,” Dash began. “You all know what we’ve been asked to do, we’re to get out there and survey the arena as the elite squads appear to be distracted by their game. Our main target, should he show himself, is the Shadowbolt we saw in the blimp yesterday. However, if we happen to see another pony wearing the headband and goggles, the same rules apply, Matteo gives the eagle cry and we pursue until the elites catch up. Now, as for how we’re going to survey the area, this is my plan,” she paused, looking specifically at Matteo.

“The Shadowbolts are dangerous, so I’m worried about us flying around alone. Because of this we will break into two pairs,” she said as she kept looking at Matteo. Squall blinked and looked around.

“But there are—”

“Five of us, I know,” Dash finished for him. "This is not an insult to anypony here, but the only one I have absolutely no worries about being ambushed is Matteo,” she said while turning and facing Matteo directly. “As a griffon, he already has sharper sight and hearing than we do, so I trust he’ll be able to warn us before anything bad happens to him, should he come under attack,” Dash glanced at Squall who looked peeved. “Swallow your pride, Squall,” Dash quickly remarked. “You do realize I’m including MYSELF in the vulnerable category?”

“Hmph,” Squall grunted as Dash continued.

“Plus, I want Matteo up as high as he possibly can be. Either perched or circling, I don’t care. I just need you at a high altitude vantage point where you can use your eagle eyes. Sound good?” Dash asked Matteo, who nodded in response.

“A fine plan,” he agreed.

“Good,” Dash nodded, the rest of us will be split into pairs. Two of us will fly circles around the upper decks. The other two will fly around the lower decks. “Twister and Little Star? You two will have the lower decks. Squall and I will circle around the upper.”

“What? But…” Squall suddenly chimed in. All eyes landed on him. He slammed his mouth shut and blinked with wide eyes. His pupils darted around, catching all four other sets of eyes.

“Got an objection, Squall?” Dash asked curiously.

“Um…” he glanced at all of them again, glancing at Little Star twice. “No…” he finished with a huff. Dash lifted an eyebrow before shrugging and looking back at all of them. They all refocused on her, except for Squall who stole a glance at Little Star. Something that Dash noticed clearly, but let it be. They had a job to do.

“Sounds like we have everything squared away then,” she nodded. “Oh, and,” Dash spoke up once more and pointed at all of them. “If anypony besides Matteo sees a Shadowbolt, look up at him and…” Dash blinked. “And… uh…” she looked at Matteo. “What signal should we give you?”

“Signal?” Matteo reached a talon up and brushed it under the tip of his beak. “Hmm…”

“Flail our arms legs and hooves like a maniac?” Twister suddenly broke his silence and suggested. Dash and Matteo glanced at each other. Dash shrugged.

“Would that work? I mean, what else would stand out?” she chuckled.

“That would be fine…” Matteo nodded before glaring at Twister. “As long as you don’t do it to mess with me,” he snorted at Twister.

“WOULDN’T DREAM OF IT!” Twister snickered, but Dash quickly pressed her hoof hard against him.

“Please be serious about this, Twister,” she said sternly. “Go wild later, right now we need to buckle down and do this right,” she demanded. Twister was nodding excessively with a strange smile before she even got halfway through her sentence. “Alright everypony, last thing… if we end up chasing a Shadowbolt, DON’T engage them, just chase. Only fight if they attack us first. This is a direct order from Spitfire, we are to buy time for the elites to come in and take control of the situation. Understand?” Dash said in a similar manner to Spitfire’s. They all nodded in response, so Dash had no need to repeat.

“Good,” Dash turned and pushed her flight goggles down. “Looks like they are about to start… squad Foxtrot, let’s fly!” Dash gave the order. The rest put down their goggles, they all spread their wings, and they took off into the arena, quickly pitching upward to stay out of the crowd’s focus.

Art by: eveyannie

Their first mission was underway.


“I’m open! I’m open!” Fleetfoot yelled while dodging Lead Runner and waving her hooves. Storm looked towards her while cradling a volley ball in his right wing. He was floating upward and about to start falling. He whipped his body around, ready to fire the ball off his wing, but as soon as he let it go, Air Mach shot upward while twisting his body.

“PAH!” Air Mach yelled out as his wing whipped around and swatted the ball downward. Spitfire zipped along below and pumped her wing hard to propel herself upward as she snatched the ball from its fall in her left wing.

“Shoot!” Fleetfoot growled as she came around and went after Spitfire. Using her superior speed, Fleetfoot slowly caught up to Spitfire, who floated with a little difficulty towards the floating, circular, seven foot wide goal. “Gotcha!” Fleetfoot yelled triumphantly as she reached for Spitfire’s leg, but right before she could grab, Lead Runner propelled from below and rammed his body into Fleet, knocking her off course.

“Sorry, hun!” he joked as he disrupted her balance.

Spitfire fixed her eyes on the goal and the goalkeeper. She spun around six times before launching the ball as hard as she could and re-catching the air with her wings. The ball zipped through the air at blinding speeds, but as it neared the upper right corner of the goal…

“NOPE!” Soarin shot up, reached out one of his large wings, and snatched the ball right out of the air, turning with it and firing it back down the playing field towards Fleetfoot, who was already going long. A loud roar of excitement erupted from the crowd as Soarin pulled off the skilled maneuver followed by clapping and cheering.

“RGH!” Spitfire snorted in frustration as Soarin bounced his eyebrows at her. “One of these days, I’m scoring on your ass!” Spitfire hissed at him before she turned and rejoined the game before Fleetfoot could score on Macho Savage… again.

“In your dreams, Spitster!” Soarin yelled towards her as she flew off.


“Hmmm…” Dash mumbled to herself as she stole a brief glance at the game below. She loved wing-ball, it was one of her favorite sports.

Wing-ball was played with two team of four to eight players a time. It was kind of like airborne version of soccer, played using the wings and a volley ball. The point of the game was to score on the floating circular goals that were about seven feet wide that was guarded by a goalkeeper. One was only allowed to use their wings to hold onto the ball, which made it difficult to fly or glide when in possession of it. This forced teams to work together and pass the ball frequently if they wanted to advance it towards the other goal quickly and efficiently.

Just as with dodge ball, wing-ball looked so much more intense and fast paced when played by the Wonderbolts. Dash almost couldn’t see the ball when Spitfire whipped it at Soarin, but it looked like Soarin was well known for being an impenetrable goalkeeper. Fleetfoot could get down the field for long passes quickly due to her speed, and Air Mach was good at getting in your face and deflecting passes.

Due to Soarin’s masterful goalkeeping, the team of Soarin, Fleetfoot, Storm Front, and Point Dex was ahead two to… three to nothing since Fleetfoot just scored on Macho Savage again. They probably would be up by more, but Point Dex was a bit of dead weight. He didn’t seem like the sporting type, and spent more time camping the defensive end of the field instead of pressing forward with Fleetfoot and Storm. Yet even there, he completely whiffed when trying to stop Spitfire more than once.

Dash shook her head out and tapped her hooves against her head as she refocused on the crowd and scanning every inch of the upper decks. As much as she wanted to play wing-ball, she had to remain focused on their task.

She glanced up towards the top of the stadium. Matteo had perched up on one of the beams that held the light fixtures, which was definitely the highest point possible. He was looking back and forth, keeping an eye on everything with his eagle vision.

Dash looked down to see Little Star and Twister flying around the lower decks in the opposite direction that she and Squall were flying.

Dash nodded contently. With Matteo keeping a literal bird’s-eye view and a general outlook from above, and with the rest of them combing specific areas… if there was a Shadowbolt hiding somewhere here, they’d find it. Dash had a knack for spotting specific things down below, and she was sure the rest of the ponies in her squad were the same.

“Come at me, bro!” Fleetfoot yelled as she shot up past Dash and Squall, the ball tucked in her wing as she blew raspberries at Air Mach giving chase.

“THE BRO IS COMING AT YA!” Air Mach yelled as Fleetfoot arced and dropped back down, Air Mach pursuing.

Dash and Squall both blinked and watched them fall. It was really hard not to watch the wing-ball game though because the Wonderbolts made EVERYTHING ten times as awesome.

Dash sighed and went back to scanning their area. As they made another pass and Twister and Star passed beneath them, Dash noticed Squall watch the lower group pass before resuming his surveillance. Dash smirked as she kept looking around. She hadn’t forgotten his reaction after she decided on who was flying with who.

“I haven’t seen anything yet…” Dash began casually. “What about you, Squall?” she asked as they continued to glide side by side.

“Ngh…” Squall grunted. Dash lifted an eyebrow at him.

“Is that a yes or a—?” she asked.

“No,” Squall said quickly and flatly. Dash folded her ears back and huffed as Squall continued to look around, but not at her. But she’d get him back in a moment. She just wanted a brief silence to sink in before…

“So you wanted to fly with Star, huh? What’s wrong with me?” she smirked slightly as she looked back and forth. She glanced at Squall as he stiffened and lost his flight balance for a moment. He quickly caught the air with his wings again and looked towards Dash sharply.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” he growled at her. Dash blinked at the sharp response. That was one of the most passionate responses he had gotten out of her in a long time.

“Whoa!” Dash chuckled. “Never mind… never mind…” she kept giggling to herself with a sneer.

“Answer me,” Squall suddenly demanded.

“Excuse me?” Dash blinked and looked back towards him.

“You heard me…” Squall growled at her. Dash rolled her eyes.

“Squall, I was just teasing you,” she said calmly. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just wanted to see how you’d react.”

“But…” Squall suddenly blushed and gritted his teeth.

“Having a preference of one pony over another is perfectly fine Squall, there’s nothing wrong with that. Star’s a little sweetheart, I can see how you might like being around her,” Dash said as she continued to survey the area.

“Mrrrrggggnnhgghhghghgggggrrrrrrrr…” Squall released a long, loud grumble. Dash snickered, holding in a laugh the best she could. Squall couldn’t hide it forever. He cared about them, he really did. He was finally beginning to return some of the friendliness they had shown him despite his lack of positive response. Dash was getting a little bit of a guilty pleasure watching Squall flail to understand why he cared, but it was new to him. He’d warm up to it more and more over time. They just had to keep treating him with respect. That was what he sought after all.

“Just keep up the surveillance,” Dash chuckled as she noticed Squall looking down and blushing in embarrassment. “I promise I won’t tell anypony you have a heart,” she said with a chuckle. Squall’s head shot up and he glared at her. She looked back with a smile. His ears flopped down, realizing she was just teasing again, grumbled and went back to looking around.


It was a good thing that they had done so many endurance drills with Silver… because the game went on for an hour. Spitfire’s team managed to rework their defense and stopped Fleetfoot from scoring after her fifth goal. But they never got a ball past Soarin, he was too good in the goal.

Both during the halfway break and right as the game ended, Spitfire looked up towards Dash… and alas, Dash could only shrug.

Because despite their elaborate plan to keep the crowd and all edges of the arena under constant watch, there was absolutely no sign of the Shadowbolt.

Dash and the rest of squad Foxtrot saw nothing out of the ordinary. Something that was a possible outcome, but with how much trust Spitfire had placed in her, Dash began to worry she may have slipped up. It didn’t help that Spitfire sounded frustrated upon Dash reporting to her in the tunnel, and the fact that she turned Dash away and said she would get her report after they made their way up to the VIP penthouse and made their appearance.

Dash began to worry that she had screwed up.


“Hey kids! Told ya we’d be back!” Fleetfoot exclaimed as she was the first through the door into the penthouse spectator box, her goggles and mask removed. The kids all cheered as Fleetfoot hopped in and instantly gathered around her, smiling. Soarin was behind her, but nearly run over by Spitfire as he tried to enter. Spitfire quickly stepped around Soarin and made a quick right and moved towards some of the other important VIP guests that had been invited to the penthouse post-show.

Soarin chuckled and shook his head at how quickly Spitfire avoided the kids, using the guise of having more important guests to attend to. Sure, the mayor of Cloudsdale was there, a few high ups from some of their sponsors, and some upper class Cloudsdale citizens… but she was using it as an excuse to avoid the kids, she couldn’t fool Soarin.

More power to her, Soarin was much more interested in inspiring youth than he was in answering generally stupid questions. It was like a miniature version of the Grand Galloping Gala with most of their VIPs. Plus, he wanted to avoid talking about the fake horn, and after Swift Gale didn’t say a word about it, Soarin was much more interested in mingling with the children like Fleet, although he didn’t know if he was going to get a chance. The Wonderbolts were still slowly filing into the room and Fleetfoot already had the kids smiling, giggling, and even climbing on her back.

Soarin simply removed his goggles and mask and stood nearby with a friendly smile on his face. A couple of the kids approached him and said hi, but were quickly drawn back in by Fleetfoot.

With a brief moment, Soarin looked around the penthouse box. It wasn’t the first time he had been in it, having had many shows in Cloudsdale. It was a wide open room with a ten foot ceiling that had a few cloud pillars placed about to give it a ‘fancy’ look. There were tables and comfortable chairs along the walls and a large balcony with a few cushioned bleacher seats that looked out into the arena. They had some food set out for them in the center of the room this time, but it wasn’t anything Soarin would call a meal. Little snacks for the kids on one table and on another a buffet set up with some fruit, veggies, and little sandwiches that looked like fish or chicken. Soarin felt like just waiting for dinner later instead of loading up on catered food.

“FOOD!” Air Mach shouted as he galloped past Soarin with Macho Savage close behind.

“THE MADNESS IS ALWAYS HUNGRY!” Savage yelled as they ran past and started scarfing down the little sandwiches.

“Hey, hey, kids, don’t look at them,” Fleetfoot spoke up. Soarin glanced over and saw Fleetfoot diverting their attention away from Air Mach and Macho Savage being slobs. “Those ponies are dummies,” she said while rolling her eyes. Soarin smiled as he watched Fleetfoot effortlessly handle the kids, and then turned to see Point Dex and Lead Runner enter as well. Both were quickly approached by the VIPs, drawing them away. Storm was right behind them, but left alone upon entry. He looked around, removed, his headgear, and started lingering. Soarin was about to go to him, but was interrupted.

“Soawin?”

Soarin’s ears perked up. He happily looked down at Swift Gale, standing before him while bouncing again. Soarin gave him a big smile and a pat on the shoulder.

“Hey Gale!” Soarin nodded, his casual use of Gale’s name making the colt smile so wide it looked like his face might break. Soarin noticed that once again, Gale was the only one that broke away to talk to him. There was nothing wrong with Fleetfoot being the center of attention with the kids, but Soarin envied her ability to instantly be the favorite and draw all the attention. He liked kids as much as she did, but she had an edge on him on the instantaneous charisma. “Did you like the show?” Soarin asked, Gale’s bubbly demeanor making Soarin melt by the second.

“Ya! It was so awesome!” he cheered happily while hopping up and down.

“What was your favorite part?” Soarin asked while sitting down and giving Gale his full attention.

“Wing-ball!” he replied with gusto as he crouched down and flapped his wings twice. “I wish I could pway that good!” he said with admiration. “You were da best goawkeeper ever!”

“Haha, thanks buddy! Playing goalkeeper is my favorite!” Soarin kept talking casually. He glanced up at Gale’s mother standing nearby. She looked so happy to see Gale having the time of his life. Soarin smiled and waved at her while pointing down at Gale and mouthing the words ‘cute kid’ as Gale kept hopping up and down while telling Soarin all about how much he loved wing-ball.

Soarin looked up in a brief break in the moment to spot Storm still lingering. He decided to do something about it.

“Hey, Storm!” Soarin called over, getting Storm’s attention. “Come meet my little buddy here!” he waved. Storm looked down at Gale and smiled, remembering the scene he saw before the show started. He didn’t want to interrupt the little reunion Dash and Soarin had with Gale earlier, but now looked like a great time to get involved. It was probably the only way he’d get involved too, since Gale was the only kid not attached to Fleetfoot.

“What’s up?” Storm said as he removed his mask and goggles, smiling down at Gale. Gale’s eyes shifted to Storm and widened as if he didn’t expect to have two Wonderbolts giving him attention. Soarin draped an arm over Storm’s shoulder and pointed to him with the opposite hoof.

“Gale, this is my buddy, Storm Front,” Soarin began with a slight smirk, planning to blatantly embarrass Storm in a harmless way. “They didn’t announce him with the others, but he’s actually a new Wonderbolt too! He worked so hard that he was let right into one of the best squads! Isn’t that awesome?” Soarin was clearly hamming it up for Gale.

“WHOA!” Gale’s jaw dropped and he took a step towards Storm. “That’s so cool! Awmost as cool as Soawin!” he exclaimed. Soarin had to hold in the laughter as Storm snickered, blushed and let his ears flop down, looking at Soarin and clearly noticing how hard Soarin was holding it in. Kids say the best things so innocently.

“I doubt I’ll ever be as cool as Soarin here,” Storm said while gigving Soarin a nudge before focusing on Gale again. “But I’ll try! Always try your hardest, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, give it your all,” Storm said as he bent down and winked at Gale.

“Yes Siwr!” Gale did a sloppy salute and almost lost his balance as he did it.

Soarin observed Storm as being pretty good with kids as well. It didn’t surprise him, since Storm always talked about his father and how hard his father tried for him. He was sure Storm tried to emulate that every day of his life.

Soarin looked up as he heard a bunch of tiny gasps followed by scampering. Squad Foxtrot had arrived and were making their way into the penthouse box, looking around and taking in the surroundings. Soarin looked over by Fleetfoot to see them all hiding behind her and peeking out around and beneath her legs, staring directly at Matteo as he trudged by. He paid no mind to the kids being afraid to him as if he expected it to happen. Some of the kids were staring wide eyed at him, others looked scared.

Squall quickly found a corner to brood in, looking like something was on his mind. Star and Twister went for the food, but Dash walked right by Soarin and out to the balcony overlooking the arena. Something looked wrong, Dash looked worried. Soarin’s instincts kicked in, seeing his mare in distress so he looked down and patted Gale on the shoulder.

“Hey Gale, I’ll be right back, I gotta check up on my other friend,” he said with a smile before tapping Storm on the shoulder. “Ask Storm about when he tried out for the Wonderbolts,” Soarin suggested, looking for a way to keep Gale occupied while he went to check on Dash.

“Oh, that’s an interesting story…” Storm began, Gale’s eyes locked on him, eagerly awaiting story time with a Wonderbolt.

With the situation secure, Soarin quickly stepped away and trotted towards the balcony. His eyes locked on Dash as she sat down on one of the seats and released a heavy sigh as Soarin approached.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you look like something’s bothering you,” Soarin began as he reached her. She flinched, but kept looking away. “And I hate when something’s bothering you, what’s up Dashie?” he asked as he came around in front and sat down in the seat beside her.

Dash shook her head before knocking her hooves twice against her forehead.

“I totally messed up…” she sighed.

“Messed up what?” Soarin blinked in confusion. Dash pointed out to the now empty arena, only a few janitors were walking around and picking up trash left behind by the spectators.

“Spitfire put me on surveillance duty… and if the Shadowbolt was there, we missed him…” Dash explained.

“Uh…” Soarin lifted an eyebrow. “How exactly is that screwing up? Dash, we told you to look out for anything, and five pairs of eyes saw nothing out of the ordinary. That hardly sounds like messing up,” Soarin chuckled.

“I know,” Dash pouted. “Still feels like it though… stupid Shadowbolts…” she growled.

“Pfff…” Soarin couldn’t hold it in. He thought something was wrong when he followed her out, he really did, but Dash was just being Dash. Always aiming higher even when performing at her best. They weren’t even sure they’d find a Shadowbolt hiding in the crowd, but since Dash didn’t find one, she felt like she screwed up. “C’mon Miss Colorful Grump,” Soarin got up and pulled her up.

“No,” she demanded as she tried to sit back down.

“Yes,” Soarin said casually as he prevented her from sitting and dragged her along. “We have guests, we have to smile at the kids, and give bullshit answers to the other VIPs and their questions. C’mon, Wonderbolt, this is part of your job too,” he joked as Dash sighed and gave in.

They walked back in together just as Fleetfoot gathered up the kids and began walking them around the penthouse. Gale had finally joined with the rest as well.

“Let’s all go meet our new Wonderbolts!” Fleetfoot said while smiling at them, carrying two of them on her back and one on each extended wing as the rest followed beside her. She turned towards Dash first. “I see a rainbow! Look!” Fleetfoot said as she guided the kids towards Dash. “This is Rainbow Dash! The captain of the recruit squad Foxtrot!” Fleetfoot kept her voice full of energy, resonating with the excitement of the kids both on the floor and riding on her.

Dash quickly smiled, forgetting her ‘troubles’ as Fleetfoot led the kids to her.

“Hiya!” Dash waved to the kids. A few of them said ‘hi’ back in unison, but the rest stared nervously or in awe.

“Dashie here is awesome because she can copy moves on sight!” Fleetfoot explained to the kids. “You’ve all seen Soarin’s super duper fast start, right?” she asked, earning fast, little nods. “Rainbow Dash here can do it too! She can also do everything the rest of her squad does and probably more. Pretty cool, huh?”

Lots of ‘ooos’ and ‘whoas’ came from the colts and fillies.

“I really like your mane!” one of the fillies exclaimed in a high squeaky voice out of nowhere. Dash didn’t even see which one of them said it.

“Thank you!” Dash smiled. She felt inclined to say something else, especially since Fleetfoot had just hyped her up. “You kids are all winners from the Canterlot Junior Flyers Meet right? You’re all pretty awesome too!” she said with a wink and a nod. It had a clear positive effect, the little faces lighting up at the compliment. Soarin smiled as well, glad that Dash had loosened up quickly and positively encouraging little pegasi that could very well be Wonderbolts someday.

“Oh my gosh!” Little Star suddenly floated over to the kids. “They are all so cute!” she exclaimed as the kids all looked towards her with curiosity. Fleetfoot giggled and crouched down so the kids on her back could get a better view of Star as she fawned over them.

“This is Little Star! Don’t let her size fool you, she’s older than me!” Fleetfoot explained, earning a brief pout from Star. “She made the Wonderbolts through hard work and dedication! She didn’t care that she was small, in fact, she tried out eight times and finally made it!”

Dash watched with a smile as Star was surrounded by colts and fillies that were not that much smaller than her. Two of them actually were her size. The kids were definitely fascinated with her.

“EEK!” one of the fillies suddenly squeaked and the rest backed away, save for one brown colt as Twister appeared behind Star with his usual sneer. Star glared at Twister, but the brown colt just stared at him wide eyed. Twister looked down at the colt, flattening himself to the floor and inching himself towards him.

“Hey kid, quick! Who’s you’re favorite Wonderbolt?” Twister asked the colt. The colt blinked and looked down.

“Uhhhhhhhhh…” the colt pondered. “Spitfire,” he decided.

Twister suddenly reached behind his back and pulled out four, deflated, long balloons. One blue, one yellow, one light orange, and one dark orange. He bounced his eyebrows before bringing all four to his mouth and inflating them all in a single breath. He reached down and moved his hooves so fast that it looked like a blurry mess.

“HA—oops!” Twister looked down and saw that his hooves were bound in blue, yellow, and orange balloon hoofcuffs. “Whoopsie!” he snickered before his hooves became a blur again. “TADAH!” he held out a balloon pony that had the colors of Spitfire wearing her Wonderbolt uniform and gave it to the colt. The colt’s eyes brightened as he held the balloon Spitfire in his hoof, followed by happy laughter and a big smile.

“This is Twister,” Fleetfoot giggled. “He is a very, VERY silly pony.”

“Anypony else want a balloon Wonderbolt?” Twister asked with a crazy face, as he pulled out a bag of long balloons and dumped them out on the floor.

“Me! Me! Me!” all the kids flocked from Fleetfoot and gathered around Twister as they began naming off their favorite Wonderbolts. Twister got started immediately, filling each request quickly with his apparent skill in balloon animal crafting.

As Twister occupied the kids, Fleetfoot looked around before trotting up to Dash.

“Hey, where’s Squall?” Fleetfoot asked. Dash snorted and held back a snicker.

“I doubt introducing Squall to the kids is a good idea…” Dash commented as she looked up and around. “He’s way over there… being Squall,” Dash pointed to the far corner of the penthouse box. Fleetfoot looked up to see Squall sitting along and looking like he was grumbling to himself.

“Ehh…” Fleetfoot lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah, I don’t think the kids need that. That just leaves the big fella!” she beamed as she looked towards Matteo, who sitting by the food table, eating one of the turkey sandwiches.

“You sure that’s a good idea either?” Dash said with some sarcasm as she looked up towards Matteo. “He’s pretty intimidating.”

“Watch me work, Dashie!” Fleetfoot winked as she turned and gather up the kids again, who now each had a balloon figure of their favorite Wonderbolt, holding it either in their wings or balancing it on their back. “Wasn’t that nice of Twister?” Fleetfoot smiled at the kids. “What do we say to him now?” Fleetfoot turned them towards Twister.

“Thank you, Twister!” they all said in different pitches and paces. Twister gave a few bows before turning to Little Star and making a balloon animal of Squall, making her giggle.

“She’s going to take them to Matteo?” Soarin spoke up as he and Dash watched Fleetfoot.

“I don’t think that’s gonna end well,” Dash chuckled.

“I dunno…” Soarin smirked. “Fleet’s a clever one, I bet she’ll have them climbing on him in seconds!”

“And this…” Fleetfoot began as they passed into the shadow of Matteo. The kids all slowly came to a stop and looked up with wide eyes as Matteo turned and looked at them. “This is Matteo!” Fleetfoot exclaimed happily, but then frowned when the kids began huddling up to her or hiding behind her. She quickly looked down at them. “Aw, don’t be scared! He’s just a really big teddy bear!” Fleetfoot moved towards Matteo and floated up to him. Matteo watched her careful as she stopped at chest level.

“URFM!” Matteo grunted as Fleetfoot nestled her face into his chest and hugged him as far around as she could while smiling at the kids.

“See?” Fleetfoot lifted her brow as she continued to rub her cheek into Matteo’s thick fur and feathers.

“Commander…” Matteo whispered quietly while his eyes darted back and forth.

“This ain’t the Sky Wings, big boy. You’ve gotta have a public image for the fans,” she whispered back. Matteo glanced down and saw that the kids looked a little more relaxed after Fleetfoot’s random act of friendliness. Fleetfoot let go of him and hovered back down towards the kids as Matteo turned his body to face the kids.

“He’s came to join us all the way from the Griffon Kingdom! It’s a faraway place that’s much different than any pony city!” she smiled as the kids began looking way up at Matteo with curiosity. “Matty! You should tell them about the Griffon Kingdom!” she suggested. “Do you want to hear about the Griffon Kingdom?” Fleetfoot asked as she turned to the kids. They were all still fixed on Matteo, so the reaction was quiet, but they all slowly approached Matteo and sat down near him, some of them clutching their balloon Wonderbolts as if still unsure.

If there was one thing Matteo had, it was pride for his culture and homeland, so he didn’t waste a second once the kids showed interest.

“Where to begin…” Matteo thought. He obviously had to omit certain things to make it kid friendly. “Indeed the Griffon Kingdom is very far from here. It is a vast and wondrous kingdom of fierce warriors. The buildings and architecture are of an ancient and traditional style that has existed for thousands of years…”

Dash and Soarin watched as the colts and fillies sat gathered around Matteo and listened with great interest as he told them of his homeland. Fleetfoot even joined them, sitting down with the kids to listen with them.

“That is so adorable… Story time with Uncle Matty,” Dash smiled and snickered. Matteo was a father, so it was no surprise he knew how to entertain children, even if it was just a story. It was just really funny to watch Fleetfoot snuggle up to him to make him seem harmless.

“What did I tell ya?” Soarin grinned. “Fleet’s a clever one.”

“Rainbow Dash,” a voice suddenly caught their attention. Dash flinched as she heard the stern tone, knowing exactly who she was going to see as she turned.

“Yes, ma’am?” Dash replied as she turned and faced Spitfire. Soarin backed away, giving Dash space as Spitfire approached them. She had finally gotten away from the high end visitors and Soarin knew she was eager for Dash’s report… and that Dash was not feeling good about it.

“Report,” Spitfire said simply. Dash took a deep breath and exhaled through her nose.

“I have nothing to report, ma’am. We kept the entire arena surveyed, but there was no sign of the Shadowbolt or anything out of the ordinary,” Dash explained while standing firm. Spitfire nodded as Dash spoke, a look of deep thought on her face as she began turning away. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” Dash quickly added instinctively.

Spitfire stopped in her tracks and looked back at Dash with an eyebrow raised.

“What are you apologizing for?” Spitfire asked.

“For not spotting the Shadowbolt,” Dash added with a completely straight face. Behind her, Soarin smacked his hoof against his face and shook his head, something Spitfire took note of as she replied.

“Dash, you followed my exact orders. I wanted you guys to keep a lookout, and you did so with an efficient method of two pairs watching different levels and a griffon with eagle vision up top. If you saw nothing, then there was nothing any of us would have seen,” Spitfire shook her head. “I guess we just scared him off beforehoof…” she paused and released a frustrated sigh. “If anything, it’s my fault for attacking him so fiercely. Anyway, good work, this will be a positive mark on your record.”

Dash blinked and stared blankly as Spitfire turned and walked back over to the VIPs to save their visitors from Air Mach and Macho Savage.

“See?” Soarin stepped up beside Dash and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You’re being sourpuss,” he said with a goofy tone. “Did I hear positive marks?” he released an over dramatic gasp. “OH NO! You’re such a failure! OOF!” he grunted as Dash elbowed him in the gut, leaving him wheezing and chuckling.

“Be happy I didn’t aim lower,” Dash said with an angry pout that quickly turned into a smirk. “I guess I’m just awesome even when things don’t work right!” she said while brushing her hoof against her chest.

“The smug is so thick I can taste it,” Soarin commented as he rubbed his stomach where Dash hit. “Oh, look at that…” Soarin pointed towards Matteo. Dash looked up and held her breath to keep a super girly noise from escaping her throat.

Matteo was still telling stories of the Griffon Kingdom and most of the kids had moved very close to listen. Some of them were lounging on their stomachs and Fleetfoot had two that were leaning against her as the stories continued.

“The big guy has more charisma than we give him credit for…” Dash cracked a smile as she spotted the parent of the children watching with smiles as Matteo told his stories.

“Forget about the Shadowbolt,” Soarin said as he watched as well. “We had our chance earlier and it was mishandled. You did your job and got to experience pre and post show activities. Just let it all sink in and enjoy it… we’ll worry about the Shadowbolts when we get back home.”

“I guess…” Dash looked around the penthouse, taking in her surroundings and thinking on the experiences she had had in the past few hours. Shadowbolt aside… it had been a really good day. Nothing could take that away. “No, you’re right,” she smiled up at Soarin. “This has been an AWESOME day.”


“Time to wrap it up Fleet,” Spitfire said as she passed by.

“Aw… already?” Fleetfoot pouted as she turned away from the colts and fillies. Spitfire stopped and looked back.

“The press is going to be here soon, and I don’t want the kids being caught up in all that,” Spitfire explained her reasoning. Fleetfoot’s pout disappeared and she blinked.

“Oh, right… that’s a good idea…” she quickly agreed before turning back to the kids. “Hey guys, I hate to say it, but it’s time to go,” she said with a frown. Just like the first meeting, a large collection of sad ‘awwwwwwwws’ came from the kids, but Fleetfoot quickly smiled at them. “But we have time for some pictures before you go!” she said as she spotted most of the parents carrying cameras.

“Fleet!” Spitfire growled at her, but Fleetfoot quickly turned and put a hoof to Spitfire’s mouth.

“Uhp, uhp, uhp!” she shook her head. “I don’t want to hear it, we are sending these kids off right. That means you too, so get over here,” Fleetfoot pulled Spitfire over.

“Fine…” Spitfire gave in as she was dragged along. Soarin and Dash chuckled as they followed behind.

Dash mainly sat on the side and watched as the lead squad took pictures with the kids. Spitfire eventually forced Air Mach over to join them. Dash even overheard Spitfire saying something around the lines of ‘if I have to do this, then so do you,’ but it quickly turned into Spitfire roughly nudging him whenever he struck a ridiculous pose.

It was just so cool to see the colts and fillies interact with the Wonderbolts. The way their eyes widened and filled with delight just by looking at their heroes. The way Fleetfoot made them laugh and smile so easily, the way Soarin gave words of wisdom, and the way Spitfire, even though she was uncomfortable, seemed to radiate influence through her status alone. Even Air Mach ended up having a positive effect, his silly mannerisms making the kids giggle.

But nothing made Dash smile as much as when she saw Gale get a picture alone with Soarin. Seeing Gale again had stirred many great memories. Watching Soarin be so kind to Gale in the diner half a year ago was one of the most charming things she had ever seen, and only made her fall even harder for him than she already had. Good times… good times indeed.

Eventually, the pictures were done and the kids had to leave, but before the security guard arrived, Gale made his way back over to Soarin. Soarin hated seeing the frown on Gale’s little face, but he kept his smile on.

“Looks like we’ve gotta say goodbye for now Gale,” Soarin said as he patted Gale on the shoulder. “I hope I get to see you again!” he said cheerfully, but Gale continued to look VERY sad.

Before Soarin could say anything else, Gale reached forward and hugged Soarin. His little arms couldn’t reach around Soarin’s midsection, but he tried. Soarin was startled for a moment, but quickly bent down and hugged Gale back.

“You’re da best, Soawin…” Gale said shakily before letting go and backing towards his mother while keeping his eyes on Soarin, tears dripping down his face. Soarin wanted to smile, but he couldn’t muster it. Gale clearly wanted to spend more time with him. Dash almost felt herself choking up. Gale really loved Soarin, it was almost like watching a little brother being forced to leave a big brother behind that he had looked up to all his life.

Fleetfoot walked over and casually passed by Soarin, leaning in as she moved.

“I talked to his mom,” Fleetfoot whispered, catching Soarin’s attention. “The kid knew he’d get to see you if he won something in the Flyers Meet. Practically spent every day working hard so he could win and be here.”

Soarin blinked and looked at Fleetfoot. She made a sharp head motion back towards Gale.

“Well? C’mon Mr. Pep-talk Extraordinaire! Say something!” she encouraged.

Soarin looked back towards Gale, who was clutching his mother’s arm tightly as they started moving towards the rest of the kids. Gale wanted to see him THAT much? Soarin wasn’t one who absorbed praise and attention the way Fleetfoot did, but… that was really touching. To know that a kid saw him as that much of a hero… held him in that high regard.

Soarin quickly looked down and thought about what else he could say… and as he looked down, his eyes landed on his goggles dangling around his neck. Soarin looked at his goggles for a moment before a wide smile made its way onto his face. He reached a hoof up to his goggles as he looked towards Gale.

“Gale!” Soarin called after them. Gale and his mother stopped and Gale turned to look at Soarin. Soarin pulled the goggles up from around his neck and all the way off his head. He shook his mane out and tossed the goggles towards Gale.

Gale’s eyes widened before he even caught the goggles in his hooves. His eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head when he looked down at Soarin’s goggles in his hooves. His tears immediately stopped and he looked up at Soarin with one of the strongest expressions of awe that Dash and Soarin had ever seen.

Soarin winked and pointed at Gale.

“Never stop working hard, little guy! I’ll see you next year when you win again!” Soarin exclaimed.

Gale looked between Soarin and the goggles multiple times before bouncing uncontrollably and quickly putting the goggles on. As soon as he let go of them, they dropped off his eyes and dangled around his neck. The strap was too big and the goggles themselves were almost bigger than his face but he laughed happily as Soarin’s goggles hung from his neck, nearly touching the floor below him. His little wings buzzed and he floated up in the air as he smiled delightfully.

“Tank you! Tank you! I wiwl win again next year!” Gale exclaimed as he clutched Soarin’s goggles against his chest. To Soarin, those goggles were one of many pairs he had back at the compound. He even had an extra pair in his bag back in the waiting room. But to an aspiring, young, hardcore fan… a pair of goggles that belonged to a lead squad Wonderbolt was an invaluable treasure.

Soarin waved as Gale walked backwards, refusing to look away from Soarin or stop waving until he and his mother were out the door with the others and out of sight.

Soarin felt so good. He was glad Fleetfoot revealed that last little bit to him, because Soarin and his new little friend were about to part with frowns. Now he was sure Gale wouldn’t stop smiling for months.

“Wha?” Soarin perked up as Dash bumped into him from his right.

“Excuse me, Commander ‘I’m not special,’ I didn’t see you there!” Dash joked with a giggle.

“Oh, cut that out…” Soarin chuckled as he opened his right wing and pushed Dash’s head down with it.

---To Be Continued---

Author's Note:

Dashie getting a taste of the Wonderbolt show life... and she'll never forget it.

Got some nostalgia here... replace cloud floor with ground and Air Mach with Rapidfire and you've got a scene i (shamelessly) pulled right from Head in the Clouds! :pinkiecrazy:

Isn't gale just adorable? the rest of the kids too! Twister sure was popular wit them!


But... Dash's patrol mission turned up nothing... did Spitfire's vicious pursuit really scare him off? I wonder... :ajsmug:


Wont be long before chapter 81 is out. it's literally 95% done :rainbowlaugh: Still has to go through the editing process and everything though. I will try to get it to Kestrel as soon as possible so we have the weekend to work on it.

Also i will be posting an art blog tomorrow, i apologize to all those who have given me art recently, i've been slacking on my art blogs and i hope to fix that >_<

Anyway, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! :eeyup:

I wanna play wing-ball.........

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