//------------------------------//
// Chapter 186: Baby Steps 
// Story: Piercing the Heavens 
// by Calm Wind 
//------------------------------//

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 186: Baby Steps





“Ready?” Dash asked as she placed a hoof on Soarin’s arm. Soarin stared down and swallowed, nodding nervously.

“Yeah,” he said with some hesitation.

“Okay, slowly now…” Dash gave his arm a light squeeze.

Soarin shuddered and grunted as he slowly lifted his other hoof and took a single step forward. 





Fan art by: Lazzari


The moment his hoof touched down, his body jittered and a few sputtering sparks emitted from around his body.

“Ow…” Soarin winced, exhaling and lightly sweating.

“Did it hurt?” Dash gritted her teeth, looking up into Soarin’s uncomfortable expression. 

“A little bit…” he admitted while glancing down at her. “Got a sharp dizzy spell the moment my hoof touched down but… didn’t last,” he explained as he took a deep breath.

“Keep going?” Dash asked as she leaned in to press her shoulder into his arm.

“Yeah… I can keep going…”

Discord and Luna were standing off to the side near the pillars by the chamber entrance. This was the second time they had allowed Soarin to attempt some movement in his new form and while he was faring better than the first time, he still struggled to get anywhere and couldn’t do so without Dash perpetually in contact with him. Soarin was determined, but watching a grown stallion have to relearn how to walk wasn’t very heartening.

“This is hard to watch…” Luna said quietly towards Discord.

“Hrmph…” Discord grunted. Luna glanced at him quickly, he looked angry at something, but she ignored it.

“To see a being of such power struggle with something so little, don’t you agree?” she went on.

“Hrmph…” Discord grunted again. Luna scrunched her mouth slightly, but didn’t look at him.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to just—?”

“YES, Lulu,” Discord cut her off sharply. “And don’t make me say it again!”

Luna flinched in surprise, taken aback. She stared at him, perplexed.

“What?” Discord snarled at her when he caught her eyes.

“N…nothing…” Luna furrowed her brow and looked back towards Soarin and Dash.

“Try another?” Dash asked. Soarin quickly nodded.

“Yeah, just let me…” Soarin trailed off as he took a third step, but this time was more careful about the movement and how hard he put his hoof down. As it touched, he winced, but didn’t grunt. “Okay… there…” he said with a loud breath. “That wasn’t as bad as the first two.”

“You got this,” Dash smiled and rubbed her hoof up and down his arm. “Just keep going slowly.”

“Heh…” Soarin suddenly chuckled. “Who would’ve thought I’d find myself learning to walk again? After this, I’m NEVER going to take my legs for granted…”

“Hey…” Dash stepped forward a little without letting go of his arm. She reached a hoof up and made a grabbing motion with it. Soarin lowered his head down, assuming that’s what she wanted as she placed her free hoof on his cheek. “You’re a friggin’ lead squad Wonderbolt. I think you’ll get this down quicker than you think,” she gave his cheek a little playful nudge. “Come on, again.”

Luna glanced at Discord again as Soarin continued his slow steps. Her eyes scanned his face all over as it remained stuck in a put off position. 





She quickly looked away as Discord’s eyes darted to her, but it wasn’t fast enough.

“Out with it,” he said bluntly. Luna rolled her eyes and sighed.

“You’ve been in a mood,” she said as she looked at him with a frustrated expression. Discord’s eyes went wide for a brief moment, but he quickly reverted and snorted loudly.

“You can blame—”

“Sombra,” Luna cut him off. Discord twitched and he turned to her, lifting an eyebrow.

“Well?” Luna tipped her head, furrowing her brow more. “Are we wrong?”

“As a matter of fact, you are,” Discord snorted. “You can blame your sister for it.”

Luna’s eyes grew and blinked several times.

“What? Our… sister?” she asked as if she had misheard him.

“Yes, your sister,” Discord repeated with a loud grunt. “She needs to get OFF my case.”

Luna had no idea what to say. She just stared at him curiously. Discord puttered his lips and shook his head before turning his back to her.

“Me and my big mouth… Now you’re going to nag me too.”

“…about?” Luna asked reflexively.

“See?” Discord threw one of his arms up and sighed. “You know what? No. I have things to do, keep an eye on them, will you?”

“What?” Luna flinched. “But you said not to let them do anything without—”

Discord snapped his fingers and vanished into thin air.

“…you.” Luna finished as she slowly looked over to Dash and Soarin. Both of them were staring at her as Luna’s face went blank.

“Oh, can you smell that?” Sombra’s voice suddenly came from Soarin, causing him to wince as his eyes flashed blue. “The air in this room is suddenly much fresher.”

“Hey!” Soarin reached up and pressed a hoof to the side of his head. “WHAT DID I SAY about talking right now?!”

“Sombra, you’re disrupting his focus…” Celestia’s voice came through very quietly.

“T’was worth it,” Sombra concluded in a much softer tone.

“Uuuuuh…” Dash pointed to where Discord was previously standing. “Didn’t he say something about us not doing anything unless he was around?”

“He did…” Luna said plainly with a nod.

“Whatever, we don’t need him,” Soarin spoke up. “I feel fine.”

Soarin took another step, surprising Dash as she quickly moved with him to stay close.

“Ooo…” Soarin winced a little, then shook his head out. “This is getting easier with every step, and Dash is keeping it all stable.”

“Just… please…” Luna gritted her teeth. “We implore you, be very careful. We cannot contain any outbursts without Discord’s assistance.”

“Relax,” Soarin scoffed. “I’m tired of relying on Discord for everything,” he said as he took two more steps, rather quickly. “I can’t get anywhere with him always forcing me to go slowly. I didn’t get anywhere in my life going easy on myself, so why should I believe that’ll work now?” He took three more steps, Dash kept up with a trot as Soarin’s large stride outpaced her.

“Soarin, not so fast!” Dash urged him, but Soarin shrugged. 

“It’s nothing, I’m getting used to this alreaaaaaaoooooohhh…” he came to an abrupt halt as he got really dizzy all of a sudden.

“Whoa, whoa, HEY!” Dash grabbed his arm with booth hooves and Luna froze like a statue. “Soarin!” she growled and furrowed her brow.

“Crap… hold on…” Soarin teetered and wobbled as he slowly lowered himself down to the ground. “Dammit…” he cursed as he lay on his stomach. “So much for how long it took me to stand up…”

“No one to blame but yourself there, bucko…” Dash scolded him as she made her way in front of him, running her hoof along his shoulder to his neck as she did. Soarin’s aura shuddered a little, but remained calm, no sparks flying from it.

“I’m fine, I’m fine…” Soarin assured her while taking a few steady breaths. “I just… gah… gotta stay down for a moment.”

Luna turned away and quietly released a large breath she had been holding onto for several seconds, placing a hoof over her chest as her heart beat quickly. She wasn’t confident at all that she’d be able to handle anything going wrong without Discord and Soarin nearly just gave her a heart attack.

“Princess Luna.”

“EGADS!” Luna nearly jumped to the ceiling as a crystal guard was suddenly standing before her.

“Er… Princess?” the guard blinked as Luna slammed her mouth shut and blushed in embarrassment. 

“We are… ahem… yes, what is it?” She frantically tried to level herself out and remain dignified. 

“Princess Twilight has requested your presence,” the guard reported with a polite bow.

Luna blinked, quickly looking around as if to remind herself that she was the only god there… not including Soarin, of course. And Discord was…

“Ahem…” she cleared her throat and shook her head. “Apologies, but we must decline. We cannot leave Soarin unattended at this—”

“Go on, Luna,” Celestia’s voice came from Soarin. Soarin winced reflexively, but Celestia was keeping her voice down enough for it not to bother him. “If he remains at rest until you return, Rainbow Dash is all that’s needed to keep the power at rest. Please go see what my student needs.”

Luna did not look thrilled at the idea, but she swallowed and nodded.

“Very well…” she said reluctantly. “But if Discord yells at us, it was your idea. We shall return.” She turned back to the guard. “Please lead the way,” she instructed before following the guard out. 

Soarin waited for the door to close behind Luna before glancing up at his horn.

“I’m honestly surprised you’re okay with this,” he spoke. There was no reply. “Celestia, I’m talking to you.”

“Oh, apologies,” Celestia’s voice came quietly from him. Soarin’s eyes twitched slightly, but she was keeping her voice down. “I’m trying my best to not speak so you can focus.”

“I know and I appreciate that, unlike…” Soarin stopped himself. A quiet low hum came from Sombra. “Yes, I know, I stopped because I knew you’d say something.”

“Honestly,” Celestia continued. “I’d prefer having at least one of them present, but… I know you must be exhausted with this whole process by now. I firmly believe being at rest harbors no danger by now so… enjoy a little break. Once Discord left, I knew it wouldn’t be hard to convince my sister it was fine. Twilight has good timing, no?”

“Huh… you read my mind,” Soarin chuckled. 

“About time,” Dash huffed as she laid down in front of him and nestled her side into his large chest. “It would be nice to have some more time without those two staring at us constantly.” 

“You can say that again…” Soarin slowly moved an arm around Dash and pressed her lightly into him as he lowered his neck down to drape it over her back.

There was a barely audible breath taken by Sombra that was quickly snuffed out as if somepony was covering his mouth, followed by quiet muffled grumbling. Neither Soarin nor Dash noticed.

“Hmmm… you make a good pillow…” Soarin said lazily as he let the full weight of his head press down over her back.

“Oof!”  Dash grunted and rolled onto her side. “H… heavy…” she chuckled as she reached an arm up and pushed up on his chin. “Careful ya giant… I’m literally pillow sized to you now.”

“Hey, you’re strong, don’t act like you can’t lift my head off you whenever you want,” Soarin joked as he purposely nuzzled into her back, making her giggle.

“Ahaha, hey! That tickles!” she shook lightly as his ear and mane brushed into her stomach. “WHOA!” she flinched and arched her neck back as the tip of Soarin’s horn nearly poked into her cheek. “Just watch that thing on your head…”

“Oh, sorry,” Soarin stopped and pulled back a little. “Still not used to having this.”

“I mean… you had the fake one before,” Dash pointed out as she pushed herself further into his chest to shift the weight of his head into a more comfortable spot.

“It’s bigger and longer now,” Soarin explained, making Dash snicker.

“And I’m glad nopony walked in right before you said that,” she joked as Soarin snorted and couldn’t hold back a smirk.

“Speaking of lifting…” Soarin shifted. “How has the super-duper secret training with Silver been going?” he asked in a humorous tone. 

“Pff…” Dash rolled her eyes. “You joke but, Spitfire sure likes to treat it that way,” she shrugged. “We haven’t gotten very far into it yet, but… with Silver in charge you can probably guess how it’s been.”

“Hard-nosed, no nonsense, no rest, and getting yelled at a lot?” Soarin immediately guessed.

“Pretty much,” Dash chuckled. “But, for real, it’s been something. Super intense and… working our asses off three times a day with the recovery sessions mixed in? It’s weird, like I feel exhausted now and then, but more up here…” she tapped a hoof to her head. “The hardest part so far has been keeping mentally tough… physically?” She rotated her shoulders a bit. “The crystal dew baths really do speed up recovery, we couldn’t train like this otherwise. The results Spitfire, Wave, and Fleetfoot showed off don’t lie though… I’m pretty psyched to see myself at the end of this too.”

“So am I,” Soarin said with a very specific tone that Dash picked up on quickly.

“Oh, I’m sure you are,” she snickered while flipping a hoof past his cheek. “Hell, I don’t even know what to expect… even without the dew baths I’ve been more ‘charged up’ thanks to… you know…” she pointed back and forth between them. “All that god energy with that part of me still in you thingy. That mixed with this training?”

“Something tells me Spitfire considered that already,” Soarin chimed in.

“She did, actually…” Dash confirmed.

“Figured,” Soarin nodded. “She’s not one to pass up opportunities.”

“Almost scary to think about, maybe I’ll be even more badass than you by the end of it,” Dash nudged him. “Watch out, I’m gonna break your lifting records!”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves now,” Soarin shot right back jokingly as the two shared a good chuckle. But then Soarin sighed, quite heavily. Dash perked up, but she didn’t have to ask. “I envy you Dash… and the rest.”

“Huh?”

“I’d have killed to get another chance to train under Silver… except I’m stuck here dealing with this while the rest of you have all the fun.”

“The rest of… oh,” Dash blinked, she heard what he said, but something else came to mind.

“What’s up?” Soarin asked as he glanced down at her.

“Oh, sorry… I heard you, but… made me think of something Silver put me up to,” she explained.

“Oh?” Soarin blinked curiously.

“He… well he didn’t flat out say it, but he suggested that I try to learn more about all the Wonderbolts,” she explained. “Laced with his usual way of prodding me just the right way to make me motivated to do something, you know how he is.”

“Saying something without saying something and motivating you without being direct? Nah, totally isn’t Silver,” Soarin chuckled, Dash sharing the laugh.

“Really though… he suggested that I’d be a leader someday, regardless of my rank. I kind of get that with how I’m leading my own squad already, but…”

“You DO remember that he chose YOU to train personally, right?” Soarin bopped his nose gently against the top of her head. “You know as well as I do that Silver doesn’t spout bullshit.”

They both went silent for a moment.

“About things like this at least,” Soarin added as Dash giggled and pressed her back into him.

“I’m glad you said it before I had to,” she snickered as she slumped down a bit, feeling very comfortable against him. “Anyway… Fire Streak bailed in the middle of one drill. He didn’t pace himself, so I get it, but… Silver didn’t tear into him, he spoke to him personally and the next run, Fire pushed through even though he didn’t pace himself again. I heard the whole thing and Silver used Fire’s own motivations to… well… motivate him. After that, Silver encouraged me to dig a little deeper and get to know the top tiers better. Learn what motivates them all, what scares them, what their goals are… stuff like that.”

“Sounds like he’s trying to make you into the next him,” Soarin suggested.

“Pff, yeah right. I could never…” she slowly trailed off as she actually thought about it.

“You know I’m right,” Soarin chuckled, giving her a light squeeze.

“Oh stop…” Dash sounded slightly flustered. “That’s…” 

“The great, tough talking Rainbow Dash, defeated by the mere mention of someday replacing the most badass Wonderbolt of them all,” Soarin joked, then started jittering his hooves against her body. “And by tickling too.”

“Ah! Hahaha! STOP!” Dash grabbed his arm and pouted at him. “You’re the worst!”

“I’m the worst, but I’m right,” he winked. 

“Hrmmm…” Dash hummed as she lifted his big arm and rested her chin on it. “I guess I also just don’t like thinking of the Wonderbolts without him.”

Soarin blinked as she spoke, noticing the shift in tone. That made more sense than anything else. He quickly changed the subject.

“So…” he gave her another gentle squeeze. “How long ago was that?”

“A few days ago,” Dash answered, tipping her head into his arm. 

“Have you…?”

Dash nodded as Soarin trailed off.

“Already have. Three of them and it was interesting… I got my first chance a few days ago and I can’t believe who I ended up starting with…”





“And time!” Silver’s voice boomed, followed by the clanging and clattering of weights hitting racks and bouncing off the rubber floor of the gym. Several gasps and heavy breaths filled the room as the Wonderbolts rolled over, stepped back, or sat up from the gym equipment. “Good work! Now get up! STAND UP!” Silver yelled as he walked among the disheveled Wonderbolts. Some were up and leaning on the wall or equipment, but a few were sitting or flat on the ground. “OFF THE GROUND!” he yelled at High Winds.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…” High Winds weakly replied as she slowly rolled over and pushed herself up. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh…” she continued as she moved over to lean against the wall.

“HEY!” Silver yelled towards Squall sitting on a bench. “This ain’t a bus stop! On your hooves!”

Squall offered no retort as he tipped forward and nearly fell flat as he tried to get on his hooves, Dash reached out and caught him.

“Do I still have a body? I can’t feel it…” he said with a loud grunt as Dash helped him stay up.

“I’ll let you know after I find mine…” Dash agreed as both of them stumbled over to Matteo and leaned against him. 

“Ow…” Matteo twitched as the two propped against him, but complained no more as the three watched Silver yell at everypony who wasn’t up and moving about.

“I guarantee you all that it’ll hurt much less later if you get off your asses and move around! First off, to keep that blood flowing! Get a jumpstart on recovery! Second and more importantly, I WON’T reposition your cutie marks to between your ass cheeks if you do! Consider your options carefully! Unless your name is Lightning Streak! His mark already disappeared into his ass long ago!”

“Huh? When did that happen?” Lightning Streak groggily looked back at his flank.

“Holy shit, he actually checked,” Silver said in a more casual tone as several chuckles and snickers came from the group. “Spitfire, Wave Chill, Fleetfoot, help me out here.”

Silver made a head motion to the three of them as they made their way over. Having already tackled the weightlifting portion of the new training during the trial run, they often fared better than the rest at the end of the long intense gym sessions. They followed Silver over to a large refrigerator that had clearly been wheeled in and plugged into the wall as it stood out from everything else along with the fold-up table standing beside it.

Silver opened the fridge… and a bright light shone from inside, the sound of angels singing filled the room as mist ejected from the inside. Silver’s three helpers stopped in their tracks and everypony else looked over as the heavenly music played.

Ten seconds later, Silver pressed the pause button on a tape player and smacked the fridge with his cane. The music stopped and the bright light flickered and turned off at the same time. 

“Shake time! Get ‘em while they’re unappetizing!” Silver yelled out as a few groans came from the Wonderbolts.

“What the hell was all that?” Spitfire asked, lifting an eyebrow. 

“Dramatic effect,” Silver said casually. Spitfire just kept looking at him funny. “I was bored.” He added.

“Why is the mist still gushing out of it?” Fleetfoot asked while hesitantly inching towards the fridge as if it might be rigged with something else.

Silver scrunched his face up as he glared at the fridge. He turned and reached an arm into it… way farther than he should have been able to.

“C’mere you son of a…” he yanked his arm out and pulled Twister out of the fridge. Mist was billowing out of his ears. “Did you eat my fog machine, Numbnuts?!” Silver yelled. Twister only opened his mouth and a cloud of mist crashed into Silver’s face. “Hey Fatbody! Catch!” Silver yelled as he swung around and chucked Twister towards Dash’s squad, specifically Matteo. 

As he screamed over the Wonderbolts with a trail of mist behind him, Twister suddenly changed course to hit Thunderlane and knock him over before bouncing back towards Matteo and disappearing into Matteo’s fur.

“How did I know that was going to happen…?” Thunderlane sighed as he slowly sat up and mist began to rise from all over Matteo’s body.

“I don’t even try to stop him anymore,” Matteo said with a huff as mist began seeping out of his fur and into the air.

“Everypony grab your shakes and get to your tubs!” Silver yelled. As Wave, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot began passing out the shaker bottles conveniently labeled with each of their names. Dash tightened her lips around her teeth as Fleetfoot approached and held hers out to her.

“Trust me, I agree…” Fleetfoot nodded and stuck her tongue out. 

“Tastes like tree bark and packing peanuts…” Dash groaned as she popped open the lid and stared at the brownish grey… chunky looking liquid. 

“Apparently it’s chocolate flavor,” Fleetfoot shrugged.

“Blaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Little Star tipped her head back. “This could not be FURTHER FROM CHOCOLATE!” she yelled before she started chugging while glaring at the ceiling.

“Well… if it’s for the recovery…” Dash sighed, knowing what was in it and what it was for. They were going to need every bit of carbs, calories, and protein for their bodies to keep up with all the punishment, and for the crystal dew to have the maximum recovery effect.

With everypony slamming down the tastiest shakes in Equestria, Silver funneled them out of the gym and towards the back hallways where they had all the tubs set up in several rooms near their designated meeting room. In reality they had just turned all the yoga and group exercise rooms into their own personal setup.

“Hmrph!” Dash grunted as a huge chunk in her shake slammed into the back of her throat. She stopped in her tracks and grunted as she rapped a hoof against her chest. “Blargh… god that was gross…” she sputtered as she blinked and noticed she had fallen behind the rest as they all started turning into the rooms with the tubs. 

She picked up the pace to follow, only to find the room with her squad had all the tubs taken. She moved over to the next room… and the next… and all the tubs were being climbed into already. They were using metal chest high tubs that were smaller than the Crystal Palace infirmary tubs, so there was no sharing… and Star was already stuck with Twister. 

“Crap…” Dash huffed. There were only two tubs left. When they were setting up the place, they ended up having to keep two tubs separate due to only so many fitting in each room. So every time they went for the recovery tubs… two of them ended up being separated from the other three groups. It was no big deal, but Dash had made a mental note to avoid being caught in that situation… yet here she was. 

She glanced at the door a few paces away. She could hear the sound of sloshing as whoever else got separated climbed into their tub inside. 

“Please don’t be Storm…” Dash whispered to herself. “Please don’t be Storm… Please don’t be Storm… Please don’t be Storm… Please don’t be Storm… Please don’t be Storm… Please don’t be—”

She turned into the room.

“Whoahooooo, whatup babe?”

Dash stared blankly into the room… at Lightning Streak reclined in the tub beside the last empty one. 

“Yo, wanna share? These things got plenty’o space if you can fit next to my hardware,” he bounced his eyebrows.

“Actually this is worse,” Dash said to herself as she sighed, rolled her eyes, and made her way towards her own tub.

“Is that a no?” Lightning chuckled.

“You tell me, buddy,” Dash shot him a flat look as she lowered herself into the dew and immediately felt the tingling effects against her fur.

“Well you never actually said no,” Lightning winked at her and leaned back with a smarmy look on his face.

“PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF…”

They both looked over to the door to see Silver standing right outside the doorway. 

“HA! Best of luck, soldier!” Silver banged his cane against the door frame before moving on.

Lightning leaned forward and rested an arm on the front of his tub.

“Think he was talking to me or you?” he kept up his tone. Dash just gave him an unamused look.

“Knowing how often he jams your own hoof in your mouth, I think we know the answer to that.”

“Hey, you never know,” Lightning turned to the side and lazily waved a hoof in the air. “Silver and I are more in tune with each other than you’d think. It’s a stallion thing, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Look me in the eye and see how much I think you’re full of shit,” Dash casually shot right back.

“Ha… man… you’re just as harsh as he is,” Lightning chuckled.

“And I find it hilarious that you still flirt with me,” Dash pointed at him. “You’d think by now—”

“Yo, captain obvious, no shit,” Lightning laughed and leaned back into his tub. “Soarin’s your man, I ain’t blind and you two rub yourselves on each other every chance you get,” he winked. “Gotta keep playin’ the game though. Being a stud ain’t something I can turn off,” he said while brushing a hoof through the fur on his chest.

“OH I’m SURE…” Dash groaned, rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hold back a snort or two.

“Babe, I heard that,” Lightning snickered. “You get me.”

“No I really don’t,” Dash shrugged. “But fine, you got me with that one.”

“Heh…” Lightning nodded before sighing and leaning back to soak up to his neck.

Dash did the same, but as she sank in, something hit her… something the two just said in exchange.

‘You get me.’

‘No I really don’t.’

Dash blinked… and slowly reached a hoof up to press it to her temples. 

She couldn’t believe she was about to start the whole thing with LIGHTNING of all ponies.

“Hey, Lightning,” Dash leaned forward, trying her hardest to dread any impending regret.. “Let’s change that.”

“Er, change what?” Lightning blinked, stopping himself from sinking all the way into his tub.

“Get any ideas out of your head before I say any of this,” Dash pointed. “But you’re one of the first Wonderbolts I got to spend actual time with outside of the lead squad. So…”

“Whoops,” Lightning smirked. “Sorry, already getting ideas.”

“STOP,” Dash growled as Lightning chuckled. 

“I kid, babe, go on,” he chuckled as he waved a hoof at her.

“Why do you do what you do? What keeps up that act for you?” she asked.

“This is a little out of nowhere,” Lightning lifted an eyebrow. 

“Just answer the question,” Dash snorted while flattening her brow.

“Dunno what to tell ya,” Lightning shrugged. “I just like to have fun. I don’t have to worry about putting on airs or keeping up appearances with the Bolts and I love it.”

Dash blinked, her ears perking up.

“I’ve just gotten used to being able to swing my ass around for shits and giggles. Everypony knows me here and nopony has to figure me out. Shit, it would suck if that wasn’t the case. That’s something I love about being a part of the force, we all get each other. I can be a jackass without them hating me and it makes life more fun. You gotta really understand your friends, you know? You gotta know they can let you be who you are. Good thing too, cause someone’s gotta balance out how hard my bro keeps his asscheeks clenched at all times, heh.”

Dash listened carefully as he kept going, taking mental notes. ‘Understanding one another’ stood out to her… because she recalled more than once in the past, Lightning getting along with Surprise well because he ‘got her’ more than some of the others. 

“If you can’t be yourself around your best buds, it’s no better than being alone, ya know?” Lightning added, leaning back in his tub and exhaling loudly. “Damn, that’s a thought that scares me. Being alone.”

Dash’s ears perked up again.

“I just couldn’t be me if I was alone. Being me is all I’ve done over these years as a Bolt. Hell, I’d get arrested for acting the way I do anywhere else, heh…” Lightning chuckled weakly, but cringed, the thought visibly bothering him. “Ugh… shit, I can’t even think about it. Let’s not talk about that.”

“I see…” Dash tipped her head. Being alone scared Lightning? Though it seemed his definition of alone was broader than the word itself. He felt as if lacking his friends’ understanding was no better than being alone… because he couldn’t be himself. And if he couldn’t be himself, then what would he be? Dash pretty much knew him as the ‘tactless flirt’ to a humorous degree. If that was stripped away from him, he’d basically be an entirely different pony. Not even Silver would be able to poke fun at him the way he does ruthlessly. She never considered just how wrong it would feel if he suddenly was just, normal. And the thought scared him too.

Dash had to admit… his answer made her see him a little differently. That had to be exactly what Silver was talking about.

“So enough about me, how about you?” Lightning suddenly leaned forward. “I opened my heart to you, babe. Are we lovers now?”

“Oh god,” Dash shuddered. “You were doing so well and then you blew it!”

“Ha!” Lightning leaned back, a little too hard. “Whoa!” he fell all the way into his tub with a loud SPLOOSH. He came up with his mane slicked down all over his face. “Is this the part where you kiss me while I can’t see you?”

“If you want to kiss my hoof coming at your face at high velocity, sure,” Dash said with a flat look.

“Heh, brutal…”





Later that day at our next gym session, I got another answer unexpectedly… and I swear I’m not doing this in any particular order to get certain ones out of the way.

“HRMPH!” Dash grunted as she pushed forward, the handles of the chest press machine grinding into her hooves. She held it for a second before pumping out another rep, then another, then another. 

“THREE!” Silver yelled out. “TWO… ONE!” he finished his countdown, several clangs sounding out in the gym as everypony dropped their final rep. “NEXT STATION! MOVE IT!”

Dash bounced off the seat, shifting over to a similar machine that was more upright for shoulders. But she came to a halt as Air Mach remained on it, pushing out more.

“HA! HA! HA! WAHAHA!” he grunted and laughed. 

“Hey, come on, move it!” Dash growled at him.

“I ain’t done here!” Air Mach stated proudly.

“HEY!” Silver’s voice boomed towards them. “Don’t make me say it again, Slapdick! Move to the next fucking station!”

“HA! NOT TILL I’VE CONQUERED THE ENEMY THAT IS MY BURNING DELTS!” Air Mach yelled out.

“Whoa!” Dash stepped back as Silver nudged past her, grabbed Air Mach and pulled him off the machine.

“Fuck’s sake, the shit I deal with, get your dumbass to the next station I swear to Celestia I’m gonna beat the fuck oughtta you before the day is over…” Silver grumbled in a barely coherent collection of words. Air Mach was still grinning as Silver threw him on the ground, wound up, and swung his cane right into Air Mach’s plot. “Now GIT!”

“WOOOO HOOO I LOVE ME EXTRA PAIN!” Air Mach yelled out as he bounced to the next station.

Silver rolled his eye and shook his head as Dash chuckled and sat on the machine. Air Mach seemed to be the only one with enough energy to ham it up while everypony else focused. Twister was one thing, but Air Mach was very much capable of focusing on the work and Silver was working overtime to get him to do so.

“THREE!” Silver called out. Dash quickly placed her hooves on the handles. She winced as the slight present stiffness from the rest of the work out made the motion harder than usual. “TWO! ONE! GO!” Silver yelled out.

“HUP!” Dash grunted as she pushed up on the handles, but they only lifted an inch before slamming back down. “ACK!” she gasped, before glancing at the weight stack. It was set way higher than she could lift. “Son of a…” she snorted as she quickly moved the pin up several stacks. Somehow she doubted Air Mach was getting quality reps with the weight set that high. She glanced up to see Silver staring at her and quickly got back to it, pushing the weight up and down.

“Steady pace!” Silver yelled out as he moved past her. “Push! Push! No half-assing it and no slacking!” He chanted as he hobbled around the gym, passing by each Wonderbolt as they pushed through their reps at their stations. It was all upper body work tonight, with several stations set up with three push movements followed by three pull movements around the whole set up. “I want you all to visualize!” Silver went on as he moved. “The weight you are pushing right now is the only opponent you have! If you don’t give it your all, your opponent will defeat you!” He made it all the way around, turned and started walking back among the grunts and gasps of the Wonderbolts and the creaks and clanks of the machines and weights. “I don’t know about you, but I never got under a weight thinking to myself ‘oh man, this shit’s gonna crush me…’ hell no!” Silver rapped his cane against the bench Wave Chill was one, pushing some seriously heavy dumbbells at an incline. He got down into Wave’s face. “I got under every weight thinking I was a GODDAMN GORILLA and I could do ANYTHING I put my mind to!” He disengaged from Wave and made his way past High Winds as she hit a soft wall in the middle of her cable rows and started slowing down in her reps. “Don’t give out on me High Winds!” Silver leaned down and rapped his cane against the pole of the machine, very close to where Fire Streak was doing pulldowns, causing him to flinch and lean slightly. “I guarantee that if I was still young and full of pent-up sexual energy like Fire Streak, you wouldn’t be half-assing it in the presence of my big-dick TESTOSTERONE pulling this weight faster than you!”

“The hell does that even—?”

“TALK IS CHEAP! LIFT THE DAMN WEIGHT!” Silver cut her off as a few snorts and chuckles came from around the room. He turned and kept moving, making his way back towards Dash. “Work hard! Push hard! Don’t just lift the weight, DEFEAT the weight and…” Silver trailed off for a second. “Luna’s ass cheeks alive, I’m starting to sound like Air Mach. Be right back, I have to go kill myself!”

Several clangs rang out as more than half the bolts burst out laughing.

“HEY! YOU’VE GOT TWENTY MORE SECONDS! HAHA I MADE A FUNNY! NOW PUSH! PUSH!” he yelled as everypony instantly got back to it. Silver approached Dash, moving by her as he checked his stopwatch. “THREE! TWO! ONE! TIME! MOVE STATION!”

Dash exhaled and brought her last rep all the way down, clangs and clatters ringing out as she hopped off the machine and rotated her shoulders to stay loose as she made her way over to the dumbbell rows, but…

“AHHA! AHHA! AHAAAAAA! YEAH!” Air Mach shouted out as he kept going, swinging the weight up and down with his left arm.

“Seriously…?” Dash furrowed her brow.

“WHAT. THE. FUCK. DID I JUST SAY TO YOU, ASSCLOWN?!” Silver pushed past Dash again, and slammed his cane down on the pad of the bench right in front of Air Mach’s face, but Air Mach didn’t budge, he just sneered and stared at Silver over the rims of his pointy glasses. 

“Sorry! Can’t hear ya! Too busy beating the shit out of my opponent!” Air Mach shouted right back. 

Without a second of hesitation, Silver thrust his cane down, pressing it over the dumbbell in Air Mach’s hoof and preventing him from doing another rep. 

“MOVE. STATION.” He growled, but Air Mach kept his grip on the dumbbell, his smile growing wider.

“Oh, what’s this? The great Animak’s opponent has an ally?!” he tightened his grip on the dumbbell. “Stack the odds on me all you want! I WON’T LOSE!”

At this point, everypony else had stopped moving and was watching the staredown as Air Mach struggled to pull the weight against Silver’s strength. It didn’t matter that Silver was half the functioning hardass he used to be, he was still THE hardass. 

“Don’t make me say it again, Chucklenuts,” Silver threatened.

“Air Mach, quit grandstanding!” Spitfire yelled from across the gym.

“YOU KEEP YOUR TRAP CLOSED OVER THERE!” Silver shouted, causing Spitfire to flinch hard and freeze as several others held completely still. “I’ll count to three, and if you don’t drop the weight I’ll drop you,” Silver snarled.

“You challenging me?” Air Mach’s sneer turned somewhat maniacal. “Joke’s on you, I’ve been WAITING for this day!”

Silver narrowed his eyes.

“Three.” Silver suddenly reached out, grabbing Air Mach by the neck with his good arm and swatted his wrist with his cane. Air Mach grunted, dropping the weight as Silver swung his cane under Air Mach and lifted him up from below, using leverage to swing him over his back towards the gym floor. Air Mach put out his hooves, his two back legs bracing as the rest of him hit the ground, he threw Silver’s cane off of him, and wound up a punch.

“AIR MACH!” Spitfire yelled out as she and several others took a few steps forward. 

Silver had plenty of time to dodge… but he stayed put, taking Air Mach’s hoof directly to the face on purpose. The force shifted him back an inch, but he grabbed Air Mach’s arm, twisted it back, and put all of his weight into him, wrestling him to the ground and putting all of his weight down on top of him.

“GAH!” Air Mach gasped as his chin pressed to the floor and Silver pulled his arm back awkwardly. Everypony stopped as Silver subdued him, even Spitfire holding still, not sure what to do. Dash had not budged, knowing better than to get in Silver’s way.

“How do you feel now, PUNK?!” Silver yelled as he put continued pressure into Air Mach’s back. “Was it worth it? HUH?!”

“You bet… your ass it was! Hahaha!” Air Mach guffawed.

“Every day you convince me more and more that you have a death wish!” Silver piled on, pressing harder into his back.

“HRK! HAAAAHAHA!” Air Mach just laughed harder. “Deathwish? Don’t underestimate me! I don’t fear death cause I ain’t ready to die! Animak has one fear! That someday no one will remember his name! So until I write my name in the anals of history… dying isn’t optional and I will fight EVERYPONY in my way… even you, sir.”

Silver’s expression went neutral, holding a slight glare as he stared down at Air Mach. 

“First of all, it’s ‘ANNALS’ of history,” Silver said calmly. “For fucks sake, that’s the fourth time you’ve said that? Get that right or else some might get some ideas.”

“Guh!” Air Mach grunted as Silver let go of his arm and got off of him, placing his cane back down and pushing himself back up. 

“Now up,” Silver ordered as Air Mach stood back up and stood confidently in front of Silver. “Use that dumbass energy of yours to hit the reps hard, but I swear on the heavy balls of Cerberus, STOP interrupting the station flow. You’re not the only one working out here so quit fooling around.”

“YES SIR!” Air Mach turned and made his way to the next station as if Silver hadn’t just beat the shit out of him.

“EVERYPONY BACK TO IT! GET READY!” Silver yelled out, catching a furrowed brow of Spitfire for a moment. “Something on my face, lady?!”

Spitfire flinched and swallowed.

“No sir!” she yelled and did as she was told.

But Dash was only half focused, she was staring at Air Mach as she made her way into position for her dumbbell rows, he was still hooting and hollering as he sat at the lat pulldown. Dash picked something out during all that… Air Mach, in his grandstanding, mentioned he fears being forgotten… maybe his reasons were a bit… outlandish, but it mattered to him.

“I saved you the trouble of talking to him yourself,” Silver’s voice suddenly came from behind her. Dash jumped in surprise as Silver gave her a hard pat on the shoulder. “You can thank me later,” he added as he moved by.

“Huh…?” Dash’s ears twitched and she blinked.

“THREE!” Silver yelled, glancing back at her and winking with a smirk. “TWO! ONE! LET’S GO!”





Last one was today, just a few hours ago. I wasn’t really expecting it.

“You were really killing it tonight, Spitty,” Fleetfoot giggled as Dash followed the ladies into the locker room. They spread out into the room, throwing down towels and sitting on the benches. “Give us a chance to keep up, will ya? Making us all look bad.” Fleetfoot went on, winking as Surprise and High Winds snickered nearby.

“How’s it any different than I’ve always worked out?” Spitfire asked, lifting an eyebrow as she tossed her towel into a hamper against the wall. “Okay… Maybe my max effort is a bit stronger now thanks to the training test run?”

Rainbow Dash exhaled and cracked her neck as she made her way past Spitfire, looking her body up and down as she tossed her own towel in the hamper. 

“You tell us, Muscles,” Dash joked, giving her a nudge. “You can’t outlift three of the stallions and act like it’s nothing.”

“That’s not fair to them,” Spitfire pouted at Dash. “Fire, Lightning, and Air Mach weren’t a part of the test training. I was already close to their numbers before, they’ll probably get ahead of me again by the end of this.”

“Dunno, Cap,” High Winds wound up her wing and spanked Spitfire, causing her to yelp. “Knowing how your body operates, if you keep going this hard you’ll leave your stallion in the dust again too.”

“Oh stop… Wave’s really doing well now, I’m not going to make it a competition,” Spitfire huffed.

“For all you know he might be into that!” Fleetfoot bounced her eyebrows and sneered. “I should ask the mattress at my Canterlot house that still has the imprint of his body in it.”

Spitfire scrunched up her mouth and puffed up her cheeks, blushing as she glared at Fleetfoot, the rest howling with laughter around her. Dash was sharing a good guffaw with the rest of them, but as they did, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. 

Blaze had just entered the locker room. Apparently she was lagging behind, but she had definitely been in the room long enough to catch some of what was being said and… she had no reaction to it whatsoever.

Dash blinked in surprise, tilting her head. Blaze kept moving past them towards the sinks. She didn’t even glance at any of them. It was far from normal for Blaze to pass up any chance to pile on her sister and joke about with Fleet-themed sexual teasing.

“Look, I’m not making it a competition,” Spitfire huffed, shaking her head as the rest continued to chortle. “I’d never do that to him intentionally, especially with how proud he is with his post-recovery bounce back.” She paused and gave them all a flat look. “And I want all of you to look me in the eye and tell me Silver wouldn’t notice if I didn’t give it my all.”

They all looked among themselves and casually shrugged and nodded.

“She’s got a point there,” Surprise giggled. As Misty trotted behind her towards the showers, playfully balancing her shampoo bottle on her nose as she made her way by them. “Hey, Misty’s got the right idea, it’s time to lather up!” Surprise cheered as she bounced after her.

“I’m not even gonna ask how she’s doing that without her legs screaming at her…” Little Star shook her head as she gave Dash a nudge. “You coming?”

Dash looked at her curiously.

“To… the showers? Are you waiting for me?” she chuckled. 

“Hey, you’re the one who knows… them,” Star gritted her teeth and glanced over as Spitfire made her way around the lockers and towards the showers.

“They aren’t going to cook you and eat you, Star…” Dash snickered, but then yelped as High Winds suddenly snapped her with a towel. 

“C’mon, Rainbow Cheeks, time to get wet,” she joked, yawning as she followed the rest. 

“Okay, I see what you mean,” Dash snorted as Star pouted at her. “Come on.” 

Dash threw her towel over her shoulder and the two made their way to the showers, but Dash came to a sudden stop before they got there. In the bathroom section of the locker room, Blaze was standing with her hooves on the counter, staring into the mirror in silence.

“Oh… shoot…” Star spoke up, causing Dash to look back at her. “Guess we’re waiting,” she pointed to all the shower heads being taken… except for one. 

“Do I hear hesitance?!” Fleetfoot suddenly poked her head around the corner. “Get in here shorty! Time for TEAM BUILDING!” she giggled while grabbing Star and yanking her into the showers. “You get to be the loofa!"

“AH! HELP! I DON’T WANNA BE A LOOFA!!!” she yelped as the rest of the mares burst out laughing, Dash admittedly included.

“Fleetfoot, leave her alone…” Spitfire sighed. 

“I can’t help it, she’s so tiny and adorable!” Fleetfoot chuckled.

“Star, come here…” Spitfire moved aside to give her the shower between her and Misty. “Use this one, I’ll keep the instigator at bay.”

Dash was trying not to laugh. Star was getting the full Wonderbolt experience for sure now. But since there were no showers left open, she had to wait.

“Anyone seen Blazey, btw?” High Winds spoke up.

“I’m surprised it took you that long to ask!” Fleetfoot snickered. “Humping the shower pole ain’t as satisfying, is it?!”

“I’m out here!” Blaze suddenly yelled from the bathroom, her tone sounding very off compared to usual. Both High Winds and Spitfire visibly reacted, while both Fleetfoot and Surprise clearly didn’t. And obviously, Misty continued to happily shake about as she washed up without a care in the world.

“The hell are you doing out there?!” Fleetfoot yelled in a silly tone. “There’s plenty of room between Winds and I!” 

“No, stop,” Spitfire quickly reached over and pushed a hoof down over her head.

“Ow! Wha…?” Fleetfoot looked at her quizzically.

“Yeah, it’s good, let her do her thing,” Winds added, yawning and coughing as water sprayed right into her mouth. “Gah… ew… shower water…”

“Huh…?” Fleetfoot blinked, glancing at Surprise. Surprise just shrugged. “Alright then…”

They all went about their business showering up, but Dash was still looking towards Blaze. She had never seen her like this before and it was very out of left field. Although… the thing that surprised her the most was probably that she didn’t drop an F-bomb when answering from the bathroom.

“Hmm…” Dash tipped her head and hummed as she wondered… and she had plenty of time to because Blaze didn’t move from the spot. She just kept staring in the mirror even after some of the others finished showering. 

High Winds was the first to finish, making her way out and directly to Blaze while draping her towel over herself. Dash tried to keep an eye on them as she made her way in, but she heard nothing, only saw Winds talking to her and Blaze nodding periodically. But it wasn’t long until Dash had to focus on her surroundings thanks to Fleetfoot intentionally smacking her plot against hers and saying she ‘marked’ her. 

Dash did her best to mind her own business while she finally got her turn to wash up, the others leaving one by one and Blaze eventually entering, same blank look on her face. Spitfire yanked a confused Fleetfoot out of the showers away from her, and once Misty was done and out, it was just her and Blaze left.

Blaze didn’t look at her, nor did she say anything. She just showered quietly.

Dash’s curiosity was killing her at this point, but with the clearcut reactions from High Winds and Spitfire compared to the others… it had to be something very personal. But what? Blaze was literally yelling and swearing just a couple of hours ago like she always does. What happened between then and now? The only thing that had happened between was their last lifting session of the night after the most intense and inexplicably violent game of tag she had ever played thanks to Silver’s additional ‘rules’. Blaze was acting like her normal self during tag… especially when Fleetfoot pinned her down and started licking her ear. 

So… was it the lifting after? Dash was mostly zeroed in and focusing during it… all she could remember was that Blaze was paired up with Spitfire.

By the time the two of them finished showering, only a few of the other mares were still there. Blaze did not follow Dash out, staying in the shower area and wiping herself down with a towel far longer than needed. Dash moved by High Winds to her locker, noticing that High Winds was done and ready to leave, but staying put. 

Dash kept minding her own business, drying herself off at her leisure and keeping tabs on what was going on around her. The moment Spitfire left, practically dragging Fleetfoot out with her, Blaze finally emerged. High Winds was up and moving towards her before Dash could blink. She looked away, but kept an ear turned. 

Dash didn’t pick up much, but the few words she could make out were ‘okay?,’ ‘I’m fine,’ ‘is it…?’ ‘Yes, you know.’ ‘wait?’ ‘no… later’.

Dash ruffled up her mane in her towel, turning slightly and peeking out from it to see Winds giving Blaze a big hug. Blaze’s expression was hard to describe. She didn’t look sad, but she looked off. There was some emotion in it, but it was incredibly hard to read.

High Winds let go of her, and gave her a quick rub on the cheek with a hoof before turning and heading out. Dash was left curious and without answers… but then she suddenly realized she was stuck in an awkward situation. Blaze CLEARLY caught her looking right after High Winds left, the two of them were the last two in the locker room… and Blaze’s locker was right next to hers.

Dash felt put on the spot. If she hadn’t gotten caught staring she would have just kept quiet and gone about her business. But she had been seen… and now Blaze was drying off right next to her. She felt like there was no way to avoid it now.

“Hey, uh…” Dash suddenly spoke up before she could really figure out if it was a good idea. She mentally kicked herself as Blaze glanced at her.

“What?” Blaze asked, her tone slightly terse, but not entirely hostile. 

“Um…” Dash rubbed the back of her head. “You okay?” Dash awkwardly asked. “Er, sorry…” she quickly turned away. “It’s none of my business.” She frantically tried to damage control as Blaze released a long, heavy sigh. 

“It’s fine,” Blaze shrugged. “I’m just being… stupid.” She said as she dug through her locker.

Dash blinked in surprise… and proceeded to stare curiously at Blaze without really realizing she was doing so for several seconds. She opened her mouth several times, intending to speak, but kept shutting it before anything could come out.

“Okay, you can stop it,” Blaze looked at her flatly. 

“I’m…” Dash quickly turned away. But she took a deep breath and exhaled, gathering herself. “It’s none of my business. Sorry about staring.” She awkwardly repeated.

“Don’t be, this is all me,” Blaze shook her head. “At least you noticed. Fleet can be a real unobservant bitch sometimes.”

Dash flinched, not sure what to say. 

“But it’s not like I say anything to her about it so… fggrrrrgh…” Blaze dug her head into her towel. “And now you’re gonna wanna know about it. Why do I do this to myself?”

By now Dash was utterly shocked that Blaze had gone this long without swearing… a particular comment about Fleetfoot notwithstanding. But… Blaze was clearly not aiming any ire at her personally.

“Well… I’ll be honest with you,” Dash began as she tossed her shower towel into the hamper and shut her locker. “I’m curious and… also worried,” she paused as Blaze glanced slightly in her direction. “I mean… I could tell something was a little off as soon as you walked in. It’s not every day you aren’t… well… the loudest one in the room.”

“Heh… ain’t that the truth…” Blaze sat down on the bench down the center of the lockers. “Hell, that’s the funny part about it all, isn’t it? I gotta be loud or…” she trailed off.

“Or…?”

“Guess I’m talking now, aren’t I?” Blaze groaned, rubbing one hoof through her mane. 

“Look, you don’t—”

“Can it, Dash,” Blaze cut her off. “I need to get this off my chest, you’re right here, and you had the absolute balls to try and go behind my sister’s orders and keep a secret plan that would’ve probably gone smoothly if you weren’t ratted out… so I know I can trust you to not go blabbing to the others about my problems.” She paused and looked into the blank stare of Dash. “What? You don’t think I trust you at this point?”

“I’m getting mixed messages here,” Dash chuckled. Blaze blinked, her eyes darting back and forth as she replayed the words in her head, she groaned and snorted. 

“YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!” she belted, pulling her towel over her head.





“No, no, please…” Dash inched forward. “I know what you meant, so…”

“Do you have any siblings, Dash?” Blaze asked, slightly muffled by her towel before she slipped her nose and mouth out, keeping her eyes and head covered.

“Siblings?” Dash stopped moving and blinked. 

“Brother, sister, you know those family members we both love and hate to tolerate and the like?” Blaze kept talking with just her nose poking out of the towel. Dash rolled her eyes at the sarcasm, but shook her head.

“No… I’m an only child.”

“Hrm…” Blaze exhaled through her nostrils as the towel slowly slipped off the back of her head and down to her shoulders, leaving her mane frizzy as she looked down, looking both disheveled and distraught. “You might not know much where I’m coming from then, but… eh, whatever…” she blew a puff of air upward to bounce a loose strand of her mane out of her face. “Wanna know what really sucks? Being related to Spitfire.”

Dash flinched slightly. She wasn’t expecting that, but the way Blaze said it was clearly missing some context.

“Look, you know we aren’t entirely related… we are half-sisters with different dads, but… that doesn’t stop her from being my family and… she casts one hell of a shadow. A REALLY BIG shadow…” Blaze slowly looked at her. “You get where I’m going with this?”

Dash swallowed and nodded, slowly moving to also sit on the bench, sensing this could take a few minutes.

“Put me and her side by side, fucks sake if I wasn’t missing the one extra color in my mane, I might as well be a baby version of her. She’s better than me at everything, by A LOT. And do I have any hope of ever being on her level? Fuck no. I’m not even close. She’s way more than I’ll ever be. Look, I know I’ve earned my rank in the Wonderbolts, but it’s still hard, you know? When a pony that’s almost a carbon copy of you is better, faster, bigger, and stro—I mean come on, have you SEEN how buff she is?!”

“Very often, yes…” Dash chuckled lightly as Blaze’s words were slowly shifting from depressed to ranting. The biggest tell was the sudden return of the cursing. 

“She could squat THREE of me for crying out loud! Maybe four! I have a hard enough time pushing Windy’s fat butt off of me the morning after a rough night! How am I supposed to compare? EVER?”

“Um…” Dash blinked.

“Don’t answer that… fucking a…” Blaze sighed. “Because I know the answer already. There’s nothing I can really do about any of it. We may both look like our mom, but clearly what we got from our Dads was different. I’m not a freak-monster-athlete-battle-warrior-princess-fuck-whatever like she is… but it still gets to me sometimes… you know?”

Dash just stared, knowing there really wasn’t anything she could add, but Blaze looked like she preferred that and just kept talking.

“Like, I know my own rank in the Wonderbolts is nothing to scoff at, I’m a commander in the second highest squad of the entire force… my squad captain was mother fucking Silver Lining. I’ve earned my keep… but…” Blaze pouted and looked down. “My older sis is the youngest lead captain in the history of the force…and lives up to that title and then some every moment. She’s not perfect, but she’s a damn beast so she doesn’t have to be, she can make mistakes and it won’t change the fact that she’s the best of the best day in and day out. Normally this doesn’t bother me all that much, but all this group training we’ve been doing? I’ve had a front row seat to how much better she is than me twenty four seven. And today I was her partner when we hit the weights and watched her put up numbers the stallions would be proud of while I’m doing my best just to stay ahead of Surprise.”

Blaze grabbed her towel and threw it back over her head, yanking it to flatten down her mane and released a muffled growl.

“I can be a real stupid moron sometimes, Dash…” she said with a sigh.

Dash looked Blaze up and down. It was interesting to hear this because it was somewhat similar to when she had her heart to heart with Fleetfoot not so long ago. Being in Spitfire’s shadow was the common denominator, but the context of the reasoning differed.

“I don’t think so…” Dash finally spoke up as Blaze slowly slid the towel far enough to reveal her eyes. “I don’t have a family like yours but… I can understand the feeling of being overshadowed. I’ll tell you what, Blaze… I thought I was the SHIT before I really got to know the Wonderbolts. It wasn’t until I got to spend some actual time with Soarin and he showed me what he could do that it really hit me. I was nothing, at least not by comparison. Watching Spitfire and Fleetfoot just piled that feeling on and then I had my free training day… you know where I’m going with this. I can’t speak for your personal feelings, but when it comes to looking up and seeing how far ahead some are? I’m right there with ya.”

“Yeah…” Blaze replied quietly. “You know, what the fuck am I even complaining to you for? I’m a squad two commander whining to a recruit squad captain about being behind a superior, I bet I sound like a real asshole…”

“Everypony’s allowed to have goals, Blaze…” Dash chuckled. “And even the best of us will always have misgivings. Rank doesn’t decide that.”

Blaze stared at her blankly. 

“What?” Dash blinked.

“You really have spent a lot of time around Silver, huh?” Blaze huffed. “I swear I was waiting for his voice to come out of your mouth if you kept going.”

“Er…” Dash blushed slightly. She still wasn’t used to others comparing her to Silver… nor had she figured out how and why she kept getting that reaction.

“You know what…?” Blaze went on, turning back to look at the floor again. “There’s a bit of jealousy and envy… yeah… but I don’t think that’s really what gets me the most,” she slowly looked back at Dash. “I think… I’m scared.”

Dash’s ears twitched and stood up as Blaze tipped back on the bench, but balanced herself to avoid tipping over.

“Our family have been Wonderbolts for several generations… and even before the Wonderbolts existed, we were apparently all very successful in the military of… whatever the fuck was being put together by Celestia at the time. I don’t think we’ve had one gap anywhere, there’s always been at least one. Our mom was a high tier Wonderbolt… and Spitfire’s Dad was a top Tier… Squad Three under the Gold Squad and answered directly to Jet Stream, or was it Hurricane? I dunno, it was one of the Gold Squad members. Both of them retired with high honors… and many achievements. My Dad…? He’s probably drunk in a bar somewhere… I don’t even know if he has a job right now, but whatever, that’s not fucking important.” Blaze huffed. “Spitfire is the one… she’s the shining beacon of the family carrying on the legacy with the blood of two great Wonderbolts… I was a mistake, an accident. I’ve fought tooth and nail to get this far, but… will anything I do actually matter? Will I contribute anything...?”

Dash sat quietly and listened, Blaze returning to the tone she was in prior. Part of Dash wanted to bring up that she was a squad two Wonderbolt again, but… she wanted to hear everything Blaze had to say. She felt like this was a rare occasion.

“Sometimes I feel like I’ve got a lot of weight on my shoulders, Dash…” Blaze sighed. “A different kind of weight than what Spitfire carries. I feel like I need to do anything and everything... to keep myself from being swept under the rug. I want to leave my mark, I want to be standing right beside her… to have that respect she has, to not just be an asterisk in her shadow with a ‘oh huh there was some sister of hers in here somewhere too’ designation. I need to be a part of this… Even if all I can do is support her… fuck it, I’ll support her as hard as I can, I will DO IT. If I can’t be as good as her… I can sure as hell help her. I… something happens to me when Spitfire is in danger… this batshit amount of courage just explodes in me and I do things I probably wouldn’t do otherwise… I threw myself at fucking Nightshade for crying out loud… I watched everypony get fucked up by her and cowered like a little filly before Silver sent me back to get Spitfire. But once she was there, all it took was her losing the upper hoof for a moment for me to leap at her like a burning spider monkey… I’m that desperate Dash… I’m that obsessed with being a part of what she represents. I was scared shitless of Nightshade but didn’t give a flying FUCK when I saw Spitfire was in trouble. I could’ve gotten my head ripped off, I didn’t care…”

Blaze paused for a moment, then suddenly slammed her hoof on the bench.

“Sorry…” she apologized after Dash flinched. “It was either the bench or my own face and punching myself would’ve been pretty fucking stupid so…” Blaze whipped the towel off her head and took a long, deep breath. Dash just stared at her patiently until Blaze turned and locked eyes with her. “I probably just overwhelmed you with all the shit I just offloaded, didn’t I?”

“A… little bit, yeah…” Dash tried not to chuckle.

“Sorry,” Blaze apologized again.

“No, don’t apologize,” Dash quickly held a hoof out and pressed it to Blaze’s shoulder. “Like… that was some heavy stuff, I’m kind of shocked that you’d pour your heart out to me like that. Seems more like something you’d confide in… I dunno, High Winds for?”

“Windy’s heard this so many times by now I’m surprised she hasn’t left me yet,” Blaze puttered her lips. “I bet I annoy the shit out of her with it, frankly. So… I didn’t really want to bother her with it again.”

“Somehow I doubt she’d up and leave you for a personal problem, considering… how into each other you two are. I assume Spitfire is aware too…?” Dash asked, recalling the way she yanked Fleetfoot away before she left.

“Yeah… she is… which makes this all silly, huh?” Blaze mumbled. “I can’t hide it from her. Even if we butt heads now and again we are family, you know? She sees right through me and has known this for years. She’s smart though… she knows that she is the reason I feel this way and instead of getting into me about it or telling me to stop she tries to avoid the subject all together… leaves me alone to cool my fucking jets and stop being dumb… but she always comes back to make sure I’m okay eventually, she’ll do the same now too.”

“Stop calling it dumb,” Dash spoke up with a quiet huff. Blaze perked up and glanced at her. “Blaze, this is something important to you… it’s something you care about. Want to know what stuck out to me the most through all that? How much you want to help Spitfire. You do that because you care about her… maybe there are some other motives pushing you, but you can’t tell me that you charged Nightshade without any part of you being worried for her as your sister.”

Blaze looked down and took a long deep breath, sighing loudly. 

“You’ve got that right. Considering how fucked our family is, she’s the only one I’ve really got. Heh, isn’t it weird that I’m both worried about the family and calling it fucked less than a few minutes apart? Man, this is how my head works Dash…”

“But it pushes you forward,” Dash emphasized. “You know what you really want. The reasoning might get tied in a few knots sometimes, but you’ve got your mind set on the right thing.”

“You’re giving me too much credit…” Blaze snickered, giving Dash a flat, somewhat goofy look. 

“Heh, well…” Dash puckered her lips a little and glanced off to the side. “I’m looking at the positive side of it. Because that IS there and you can’t tell me it isn’t. I’m gonna give you credit for it and you’re gonna like it.” Dash gave her a playful jab. Blaze chuckled and playfully pushed Dash’s arm away.

“Well, I know you’re a stubborn bitch too so arguing with you ain’t gonna change anything, is it?” 

“You’re goddamn right.”

“Heh,” Blaze visibly relaxed, and finally cracked a genuine smile. “Thanks, Dash… I feel better already.”

“Glad I could—”

Dash froze as Blaze tipped towards her, hooked her by the neck and pulled her towards her, pressing her lips into Dash’s cheek.

“MMMMMMMWAH!” she goofily planted a very sloppy kiss on Dash’s cheek, practically bouncing off of her and tipping her head back, laughing lightly in the air. Dash turned bright red and stared at her blankly. “Soarin’s one lucky son of a bitch, you know that?” Blaze said, then paused and almost burst out laughing at Dash’s face. “Oh you can’t fucking convince me that’s the first time you’ve been kissed by a mare. You know Fleetfoot,” Blaze stood up and spanked Dash’s plot as she started making her way towards the exit.

“YIPE!” Dash yelped as she leaned forward and stumbled off the bench. 

“I’d bet a fuckload of bits she tried to make out with you when the two of you spooned after the hotel party,” she added, sticking her tongue out at Dash as she threw the locker room door open. “C’mon, let’s meet up with the others before they get any ideas, you know they will.” 

Dash angrily scrunched up her face, blushing harder.

“How the HELL does everypony know about that?!” she growled as she hurried after Blaze.





“You spooned with Fleetfoot?”

“Oh, COME ON!” Dash snorted, pressing both hooves against Soarin. “That's the first thing you have to say after all that? Frickin’ pervert,” she chuckled while poking her hooves into him several times.

“Hey, you’re the one that included it in the story,” Soarin shrugged, cracking a smirk. “I mean… My mare cuddling up in bed with the Wonderbolt poster girl? Sounds kind of hot.”

Soarin nearly burst out laughing as Dash gave him one hell of a ‘I’ll kill you’ look.

“Okay, okay, I’m joking,” Soarin chuckled while tipping his head down and bopping his nose to her forehead.

“ANYWAY…” Dash huffed. “I followed Blaze and we met up with the others for dinner… then I came here.” She finished, as Soarin lifted his head back up and stared off at the wall for a moment.

”Hmmm…” he hummed in thought.

“Didn’t know any of those things either?” Dash asked.

“I’ve known Lightning long enough, picked up that part about him a while ago. He’s a real ham, but he’s a great guy under all the bro talk. Air Mach doesn’t surprise me at all, he’s been saying things like that for years. Blaze is the one that surprised me.”

“Really?” Dash blinked. “With how close you and Spitfire are, I figured you knew a lot about Blaze too.”

“Eh…” Soarin tipped his head and rubbed the back of his mane. “I mean… I do, but… I’ll be real, their family isn’t a subject that comes up often. I know some of the details, but they don’t like to talk about it for obvious reasons.”

“Right, different dads,” Dash nodded. “She mentioned some of it while she was talking to me, but I’m missing a lot of context.”

“It’s complicated,” Soarin shrugged. “I can tell you that between their mom and the two dads, there really wasn’t an innocent party in how the situation evolved… and led to Blaze. But I’m not really at liberty to talk about it, nor would they want me to. I always figured it’s just something they don’t really want to be a part of their lives, especially Blaze. That’s why it surprises me. Blaze is the last pony I’d expect to care about her family legacy. I always assumed she wanted to be as far away from it as possible, especially when it comes to Spitfire and what she’s capable of. She’s always been such a rebel so…”

“Seeing her in a whole new light huh?” Dash turned and rested her back against his stomach. “I never would have guessed either.”

“Hard to see through the curtain of swearing and the hail of F-bombs sometimes,” Soarin chuckled as he slipped an arm around her.

“Heh, that’s for sure,” Dash agreed as she hooked her arms over his and held it to her. “But now I can see why Silver pointed me in this direction. I feel like… I understand them much more now,” Dash paused and rolled her eyes. “Lightning and Blaze at least, Air Mach was pretty obvious all things considered. I’ll definitely have to figure out the rest…” Dash trailed off and her face went blank.

“What?”

“I just realized it’s gonna be a bit hard to get insight from Misty.”

“Could always ask Fire,” Soarin suggested.

“Probably,” Dash shrugged. “Though he’ll probably want to know why.”

“So who’s next?” Soarin asked, giving her a light squeeze.

Dash perked up as he asked, remaining quiet for a moment. She hadn’t really thought about doing them in any specific order, they were just sort of happening as she went. And right now… she was here.

“Actually…” she tipped her head up, pressing the top of her head into his fur. “I feel a little weird asking this, but… what about you? Is there anything you’re afraid of?” She asked. Soarin looked caught off guard, but she found herself giggling. “Oh yeah, as if anything could scare or surprise you at this point, right?” She kept giggling until she realized Soarin wasn’t answering. In fact, he appeared to be deep in thought.

“I’m afraid of losing you,” he suddenly answered, tightening his hold on her. Dash’s ears stood up and her face flushed a little bit, but she quickly smirked and snorted. 

“Oh stop that, I know you’ve got more on your mind than—”

“Dash, I’m serious,” Soarin cut her off, looking down at her with a stern look on his face. Dash squeaked and blinked several times, his stare smacking right into her as if it were a brick wall. Soarin sighed, looking off elsewhere in the room. “Maybe there were things that I was scared of before… I can actually think of several things, but… not anymore. Nothing scares me more than that. Yeah I know there’s that whole, if one of us dies, the other will too thing, but… that isn’t even a whisper in my head beside the pure thought of just… you being gone.”

“S…Soarin…?” Dash swallowed, her face getting brighter as she felt his gentle hold on her tighten a little more. 

“Dash, I literally cannot imagine my life… or my future without you being a part of it. After all we’ve been through together and how long you’ve stood right by my side regardless of how crazy it’s all gotten? Your life has gotten turned inside out and upside-down by me… and despite it all you’re still sitting here in my arms. Would I ever find that kind of dedication and devotion from somepony else? I doubt it. I’m lucky to have you… and that isn’t luck I’m willing to take for granted… EVER."

Dash thought she was going to melt into a puddle. Her eyes were wide and her head was tilted all the way back, watching as every word that left his lips added another butterfly in her stomach. Badass butterflies of course… that were fluttering… A LOT.

“And I know you’ll still be here with me when we finally get through all of—OW!” Soarin yelped as Dash suddenly flinched, lurched forward, gasped, and accidentally bit down on his arm.

“GAH! Hah… hooooo…” Dash wheezed “ahhhh…. I’m uh…” she felt incredibly hot. “S….Shit… I’m sorry, I…” She stuffed her face against his arm and released a muffled ‘merf’ into it.

“Are you okay?” Soarin asked, ignoring the weak sting on his arm and he looked at her curiously. 

“I… wow…” Dash shuddered, her fur bristling as she turned and looked up at Soarin with wide eyes and awkwardly twirled some of her mane with one of her hooves. “I think… uhm…” she stuttered. 

Soarin blinked, starting to lose composure slightly because Dash suddenly looked so damn flustered. He had no idea why, it was just super cute.

“You just did SOMETHING to me…” Dash finally squeaked out. “I… god I dunno, you’ve said stuff like that to me before, but for some reason it hit me REALLY hard that time and I… HMMMMPH!" she puffed her cheeks out and slammed her eyes shut.”

“Huh,” Soarin lifted an eyebrow. “I know you’ve been handling… some alicorn-specific urges with our connection and Celestia’s power but…”

“I guess it works on the… romantic side of things too,” Dash exhaled loudly and pressed a hoof to her chest as her heart fluttered vigorously. “That was INSANE, like… listening to you say all that just built something up that exploded in me or something… Lordy lord, who am I, Rarity? I don’t think I’ve ever had such a dainty girly girl reaction to something like that in my life…”

Soarin smirked.

“I dunno, maybe it had nothing to do with the connection,” the sarcasm in his voice was as clear as day as Dash flattened her brow and glanced up at him. “Maybe I just have that effect.”

“Oh STOP IT! You RUINED IT!” Dash giggled as she turned around and started rapping her hooves against his chest.

“Uh oh, I’m under attack!” Soarin chuckled as Dash’s small hooves bopped against him over and over again. The two burst out laughing, Dash leaning into him and Soarin leaning over, embracing as they shared a good laugh that lasted several seconds.

Eventually their laughter died down, but they remained pressed to one another.

Nothing was said between the two of them for several moments, as if they just wanted to stay there like that for a long time.

“Soarin…?”

“Yeah…?”

Dash slowly pushed back, looking up at Soarin and their eyes locking. 

“Do you really mean it?” she asked quietly. “You really want to be with me… forever?”

Soarin cracked a small smile, lifting his large hoof and gently running it up Dash’s cheek. 

“I don’t lie to you…” he said reassuringly, the two of them slowly inching their faces closer together. “And you know that.” 

They closed their eyes and tilted their heads, their lips growing closer…

“REMOVE thyself from me! What are you doing?!” Sombra’s voice suddenly blurted out from Soarin. The two of them flinched, Dash sputtering and leaning in, face crashing into Soarin as he grunted and pressed a hoof to his forehead.

“SOMBRA!!!!!!!!!!!!” Celestia yelled, for once not observing her tone of voice for Soarin’s sake. “What’s WRONG with you?! Why would you interrupt them?!”

“Me? What’s wrong with you?! Trying to rub thyself on me like that?! Had you kept your hooves to yourself I’d have kept mine words to myself!” 

“I LEANED on you! I did not RUB myself on you!”

Dash and Soarin pushed back from each other and looked each other in the eye, both of them flattening their brows in frustration.

“You’re kidding me… really, you two?” Soarin grumbled. “I was close to forgetting you two are squatting in my mind for a moment, I was that happy.”

“My apologies, Soarin,” Celestia spoke up. “I was enjoying your romantic moment together and Sombra felt the need to speak out because, heaven forbid, I touched him.”

“Touch? You grabbed my arm and tried to rest on me, that’s more than touching me!” Sombra barked back.

“Oh, that does it!” Celestia huffed. “Now you listen to me!”

“Ow! Hey! Stop that! Now she’s hitting me!” Sombra growled.

“Me touching you was no reason to interrupt a perfect intimate moment for the two of them. You should be ashamed of yourself!”

“Oh, now I’M the one with no shame?!”

“Don’t change the subject, buster! You could have dealt with it and not shouted out like…!”

Their voices merged together as they began bickering at each other. Soarin harrumphed and shook his head.

“So much for our privacy…” Soarin sighed. “How old are they? Bajillion year-olds and they’re arguing like kids…” Soarin blinked as Dash turned her back to him and leaned into his arm and stomach. “Hmm?” Soarin hummed, looking down at her as she nestled herself against him.

“Let ‘em argue,” Dash sighed. “I think they’re just jealous.” She paused, and tipped her head back to look up at him. A big smile crawled onto her face. “But hey, Soarin…?”

“Yeah?”

She pushed herself up and planted a gentle kiss on his lips.

“That sounds nice, I want that too,” she winked at him before getting even more comfortable against him, the arguing of Sombra and Celestia growing quieter. Soarin smiled right back, wrapping an arm around her.

“That’s all I wanted to hear.”

---To Be Continued---