//------------------------------//
// A Slow Descent 
// Story: Rough Loops 
// by Sylpheed Dashstep 
//------------------------------//

Twilight Sparkle was enjoying the sun, her eyes closed and her focus drifting as she took in the sounds and the smell of the ocean. It was bright and mostly quiet, the sound of the waves crashing on the hull of the ship the only thing to break the silence.

"Hey Twi, umm, any chance you could help me out real quick?"

Twilight shifted from her lounging position on the poolside chair and turned to the source of the voice. After a moment of blank staring she used her magic to lift the sunglasses off the bridge of her snout and looked incredulously at her friend Rainbow Dash. "Do I even want to know why?"

Rainbow Dash at least had the sense to look ashamed as she stood there, a similar chair as Twilight's wrapped and bent around her frame. Her front left hoof was shoved through the plastic material of the seat and the metal had been twisted  and bent around her torso. "I mean it's a pretty funny story," Rainbow said with a blush.

Twilight sighed and used her hooves to rub her face in exhaustion as she huffed, "Dash, I don't think that destroying a chair is very good comedy. But yes, please do tell how you managed to destroy this chair in such a way that it has become one with you."

Dash looked at the chair and back at Twilight. "Any chance I could tell you after you get the chair off me? It's actually kind of uncomfortable." Twilight rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath as she used a spell to unwrap the chair from her friend, levitating the hunk of plastic and metal a few feet away and setting it on the deck by the pool. Dash took a deep breath and gave Twilight an appreciative look. "Alright so, let me set the scene for you. Me and Fluttershy were standing at the front of the ship-"

"The bow," Twilight interrupted.

"What?"

"It's called the bow. The front of the ship. The back is called the stern."

"Oh, right. Ship directions. Why can't they just be called the front and the back? It's not like they're really accomplishing anything by calling it something different. It's just the same thing but with-"

"Rainbow Dash, your story," Twilight interjected.

"Hey, you were the one who brought up dumb ship directions. But anyway, me and Fluttershy were standing at the bow of the ship and we she was just kinda watching me practice my stunts," Rainbow began explaining. "But I've never been out at sea really so I wasn't expecting the wind to be so strong and I kinda overestimated my wing power and I uhh... kinda fell really hard into a chair..."

Twilight had to hold back some laughter, trying not to shame her friend. "I figured you of all ponies would know about air currents. Especially considering that you're a pegasus," Twilight exclaimed.

Dash rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Twilight that's kinda racist don't you think. Just because I'm a pegasus doesn't mean that I know how air pressure and air currents work everywhere."

Twilight opened her mouth to argue the logistics of pegasi magic but just sighed and gave up, levitating the sunglasses back onto her snout and leaning back into her chair again. "Well I'm going to continue to enjoy my vacation away from all the stupid large disasters that threaten to destroy Equestria on a weekly basis. I will do that by resting in the sun."

"Laaaaaaaaame. Twi, there's so many things to do here and you're going to just waste it by sitting in a chair, which you can do at home," Rainbow emphasized. "There's a whole ship's worth of activities to enjoy, and you're going to spend all of it sitting in a chair by the pool."

Twilight used her magic to pull a book out from under her chair, "And I'm reading, can't forget that."

Dash moved closer to Twilight and used her wing to push the book down. "Twi, we're on vacation. Do something different for once. We have a whole cruise ship to ourselves! There's a pool, a dance floor, heck there's even a shuffleboard thing. I don't even like shuffleboard but it's at least something different! C'mon Twi, even Rarity is at least doing something different," Dash groaned.

Twilight paused before closing her book and standing up. "I suppose you have a point," she admitted. "Lead the way to fun then."

Dash perked up, her ears picking up and a smile breaking out on her face as she struck a pose that Twilight assumed was supposed to convey 'fun.' "All aboard the fun train then," Rainbow exclaimed, marching off and making train noises, Twilight following not too far behind.





"Twilight you have to bounce the ball to the other side of the net!"

"I am well aware of how to play Volleyball, Rainbow Dash," Twilight snapped, brushing her mane back in place as she picked herself up off the ground.

"Darling, I don't think that you're supposed to fight with your own teammate," Rarity called from the other side of the court.

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Why can't I use my magic again? Rarity is using hers, this feels like an unfair handicap."

Applejack scoffed, "Please sugar, we all know that if ya could use your fancy unicorn magic we'd be getting trampled over here. Besides, Rarity being on my team is enough of a handicap." The group of mares shared a laugh as Rarity uttered an indignant, 'Hey!' "Besides sugarcube, y'all are doin' just fine far as ah'm concerned. Score's just about tied as it is."

Pinkie Pie spoke up from the sidelines, drawing the attention of everyone as she said, "I mean me and Fluttershy could swap in for Rarity and Twilight if they want to take a break. You girls have been going for a while now." She took a peek down at the counter in her lap and made a mark on the side that Applejack and Rarity were on, bringing the score to an even 10 points on each side. "Plus, Rainbow and Applejack haven't even broken a sweat so it'd be the perfect swap." Fluttershy muttered about not really wanting to play the game from beside Pinkie, to which she received a death glare from the pink mare.

The group all took a break and swapped places, Pinkie and Applejack taking up places on one side and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy taking up their spots on the other half of the court.  The game resumed and it looked like the new players were doing much better than Twilight and Rarity, the volley actually passing back and forth more evenly. Twilight and Rarity sat in comfortable silence, watching the game pass by. Twilight let a smile rest on her face as she watched contently, glad that her friends could enjoy themselves with no real worries for once.

"So, how is your vacation going dear? I hear that we'll be at our destination tomorrow. Ooh, I simply cannot wait to get there! I mean, an entire island all to ourselves," Rarity swooned, "can you believe it?"

"I'm not going to lie, I've spent most of it reading. Rainbow convinced me to come have 'fun'," Twilight groaned.

"Twilight! For shame, we have an entire cruise to ourselves and you've spent the week reading! I would be disappointed if it was anypony else but for you I shall settle on mildly upset and glad that Rainbow Dash has rectified this mistake," Rarity said with a dramatic shake of her head.

Twilight giggled, "I never would have thought that Rainbow would have your seal of approval. But, it is nice, being here with everypony. It's sad that Spike couldn't have come along."

"He's his own dragon dear, let him make his own decisions," Rarity tutted, marking a point on the board for Applejack's side. "If he told you he wanted to stay behind then he wanted to stay behind, no use fretting over it."

"I suppose," Twilight muttered, watching the ball go back and forth before being spiked by Rainbow Dash. Rarity marked another point as Twilight said, "You know that it's not just going to be us on the island right? There's like a whole resort's worth of staff, not to mention any extra help that Celestia made them hire."

"Oh yes but hush the details dear, you know what I meant when I said just us," Rarity said as she rolled her eyes. "Honestly Twilight, did you actually think that I really, actually believed that it'd just be us. That'd be silly." Rarity trailed off awkwardly with a laugh.

"Rarity."

"Yes dear?"

"Did you actually think they just left an entire resort empty for us?"

"Twilight that's insulting that you'd even think of such a thing," Rarity said indignantly. She quickly stood up, applauding as Rainbow Dash made another spike that sailed through Applejack's hooves. "Well now, I think that's quite enough of that, how about we all go take a break somewhere girls!" Applejack and Rainbow Dash both began arguing about how their game wasn't finished before going quiet as Rarity gave both of them a look that could surely have made a cockatrice freeze up. "I do believe that it's about dinner time anyway so why don't we go get some food."

"I'm down for some grub," Applejack agreed, the rest of the group murmuring their agreement as they all grouped up to go to the dining hall.





Twilight woke up late the next morning, somepony knocking on her door and announcing that they were going to be at the island in an hour or two. She groaned and rolled out of bed, taking a few minutes to shower and repack her belongings before making her way out to the deck of the ship. The sunglasses made their way back on her face as she arrived, giving her eyes cover from the blinding light of Celestia's sun. The rest of her friends were gathered on the deck, sans Pinkie Pie, chattering animatedly and gesturing at something in the distance. Twilight turned and took in the breathtaking site of the endless ocean surrounding a luscious green island, the sun bouncing off the waves and dazzling the purple unicorn.

"It looks really pretty huh," Pinkie Pie muttered from behind Twilight, causing Twilight to jump and shout. "Oh sorry, I guess I should have let you know I was there huh. Oopsie," she giggled.

Twilight took a moment to gather her breath before groaning, "You almost gave me a heart attack Pinkie!"

"I said oopsie Twilight! Honestly, you'd think that you actually had a heart attack or something," Pinkie said excitedly. "Wait, did you?"

Twilight held back a small laugh as she said, "No Pinkie, I'm fine, thank you though. So what do you plan on doing while we're here?"

Pinkie paused for a moment, her hoof on her chin, deep in thought before uttering, "It's a surprise."

"Well that's not very surprising honestly," Twilight scoffed, missing the indignant stare that Pinkie gave her. "Basically everything you do is a surprise Pinkie."

"I'll have you know Twilight Sparkle-" Pinkie began before being pausing as Fluttershy walked up to the two.

Fluttershy paused, realizing that Pinkie had just cut herself off, "Umm, I'm sorry if I interrupted you two. I just-"

Pinkie bounced back immediately, easing Fluttershy's worries with a smile. "Oh no, it's no problem Fluttershy! I was actually about to go talk to Rainbow Dash anyway," and with that she began to bounce away, pausing long enough to motion a hoof to her eyes and back to Twilight as she narrowed them.

"Right," Twilight muttered, "so! What'd you need Fluttershy?"

"Nothing really, it was just really loud over there so I came over here for a bit of quiet," Fluttershy said with a small smile. She sat next to Twilight and looked out over the water. "It's really pretty out here huh," she said as Twilight sat next to her.

"It really is," Twilight said, in awe of the deep blue ocean surrounding them. "I never imagined how much nothing there would be. It's really something."

"It's comforting. But also terrifying. One one hoof you don't have all these ponies that come with the panic of everyday life, but on the other hoof, there's absolutely nothing out here."

"Well at least we're on a resort so we won't be entirely stranded in the middle of nowhere."

The two were silent after that, simply enjoying the sounds of the ocean and their other friends not too far off, being entirely too loud.





After the boat had docked the group began disembarking, making their way onto the pier connecting to the very large resort off in the distance. Twilight made it off first, followed by Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy followed not too far behind, chattering to Applejack. Next was Rarity, toting a ridiculous number of bags behind her, struggling and muttering about a concierge as she huffed and puffed.

Rainbow Dash was the last to come down and Twilight turned to watch, the rest of the group continuing on together. Suddenly Rainbow paused, a strange look coming over her features, like confusion. After a moment her face scrunched up and her legs buckled, almost collapsing and struggling to keep her balance. Twilight took a step forward, opening her mouth to call out, before watching as Rainbow straightened up. Her face was still scrunched up in pain and she looked up, making eye contact with Twilight. She opened her mouth to say something before her eyes rolled up in her head and she tumbled head over heels down the ramp. Twilight could hear the conversation behind her stop and she rushed forward to the bottom of the gangplank, catching Rainbow Dash as she reached the bottom.

The rest of the group scrambled around Twilight and Rainbow as Twilight held her, calling out her name. After a minute Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, taking in the sight of her friends above her. She opened her mouth before closing it again, her eyes searching the group again, stopping on Twilight and staring at her pleadingly. She seemed on the edge of tears before pulling herself together and putting a smile on her face.

"I know I'm awesome and all but what'd I do to attract a crowd this time," she joked, struggling her way out of Twilight's hooves and onto her own. "C'mon everypony, let's get to the resort."

She brushed off everypony's inquiries as they set off for the resort, saying that she'd just tripped.  Twilight walked at the back of the group, watching as the five of her friends held a conversation. She laughed along with them when Rarity sighed dramatically and left her luggage on the dock, muttering that she'd send someone back for it. She piped in every once in a while when somepony directed a comment at her. But she couldn't take her eyes off of Rainbow the entire walk. She couldn't forget the image of Rainbow's face scrunched up in pain, her eyes rolling into her head. She kept watching as Rainbow's features dropped when she didn't think anypony was watching. Something was different, the smile didn't seem right, the laugh didn't sound real. Her eyes looked so sad when they met Twilight's. They looked scared. Twilight didn't know what to make of it.

So she kept quiet.

The group made it to the grand front doors of the resort with no real fanfare. The doors were open, a banner welcoming the group to the resort.

"'Welcome Heroes of Equestria'," Rarity read, "you would think that they would be here to greet us. You did say that there's staff here, right Twilight?"

"Celestia said that she'd told them to fully staff the resort. Maybe they just didn't think that a grand greeting was necessary," Twilight piped in.

"It's certainly not very hospitable," Applejack added.

"Well I guess let's head on in and see how the rest of the experience is," Twilight muttered, pushing her way to the front of the group and leading them inside. Twilight gave a sigh of relief as she felt air conditioning wash over her, making her way into the lobby of the resort. Her eyes wandered over a large sign, muttering the name of the resort, "Tempus Volat, Time Flies."

"It sure does," Rainbow murmured, almost silent.

Twilight gave Rainbow a confused look before moving further into the lobby, reaching a reception desk. There was nopony behind it but Twilight saw a bell on the desk and she reached her hoof up to ring it. Before she could make contact with the bell she heard a crackle come from a speaker in the ceiling above her.

"Heeeeelllooooooo everypony, and welcome to Tempus Volat," a stallion shouted in to the microphone. The voice paused and Twilight heard a small beep, followed by an explosion in the distance, "your final destination!"

The group turned around and looked back out the front doors, following the sound of the explosion. Off in the distance was a large cloud of smoke and fire. "I think that was our ride home girls," Twilight stuttered out. In her peripheral, Twilight saw Rainbow Dash glaring up at the speaker in the ceiling, a look on her face that Twilight didn't think she'd ever seen. It looked like raw fury, and it scared Twilight to her core.

"One more time," Rainbow muttered, just low enough so that only Twilight heard it.