Piercing the Heavens

by Calm Wind

Chapter 75: Downtime

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 75:

“Come on in Storm,” Dash smiled as she motioned into the barracks. “We’re just setting up,” she added as Storm walked in and saw Matteo pushing some extra chairs towards the space that was now clear of anything office related.

“Wasn’t this your office?” Storm asked curiously.

“Moved it to the instructor room, felt like we needed more space,” she answered as Star placed a few books on her chair for a booster seat and sat down on them. Dash looked around as Storm approached the table and was greeted by Matteo. Twister was already at the head of the table, wearing a card dealer visor and holding a huge, fake cigar in his mouth.

Dash looked over to see Squall sitting alone on his bed, looking away from them all as he pretended to dig through his nightstand beside his bed. Dash was about to go ask him to play too, but before she could, Storm approached her again.

“So… what are we playing?” he asked her. Dash glanced over at Twister as he started shuffling a deck of cards in as many different ways as possible, doing most of them while staring directly at Little Star and making funny faces, making her laugh as the cards flew about in his hooves.

“We’re playing—”

“—Nine-ball? Or traditional?” Fire Streak asked as he tapped the pool cue against the table. Soarin looked towards the table and tipped his head as he thought about it.

“Nine-ball sounds fun. Haven’t played that in a while,” Soarin nodded as Fire reached down and pulled out the wooden diamond instead of the triangle.

It had been a while since Soarin found time to go to the recreation/break room on the third floor. It was located right behind the top of the stairs if one followed the path that wrapped around it instead of going left or right to the Wonderbolt Quarters. It was a large, wide open room directly above a large complex of offices on the floor below. It was filled with multiple forms of group entertainment, such as a pool table, a ping pong table, an air hockey table, a card game table, multiple comfortable couches and chairs as well as a kitchen area that was kept stocked by whatever ponies brought in.

Most of the time it was hard to see more than three or four ponies in there at once during normal training hours, but after dinner it was common to have the room packed with at least fifteen to twenty at a time. A lot of elite squad members were currently present. Enough to make the place feel full, but not crowded. Soarin and Fire Streak had just claimed the pool table after squad nine finished with it.

As they organized the pool balls and chalked up the cues, Misty Fly walked up and tapped Fire on the shoulder. She pointed at both of them, then at herself and a cue before winking. That was Misty’s well-known way of saying ‘I’ve got next.’

Fire glanced at Soarin and both of them chuckled.

“Well,” Soarin shrugged. “Whoever wins this game is losing to Misty next,” he joked.

“My strategy for playing pool against Misty…” Fire began as he removed the diamond around the pool balls. “Is to go first, and pray to Celestia I sink a ball every shot,” he laughed as he set the diamond down and placed the cue ball on the opposite end of the table. Soarin nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, as soon as she gets a turn, it’s all over,” he said as he watched Fire take the first shot. The cue struck the one ball in front and scattered the balls all about the table, but none of them went in.

“See?” Fire sighed. “If I were playing Misty, I might as well put down the cue right now.”

“Somepony has to beat her someday,” Soarin chuckled as he moved to line up his first shot, but right before he leaned over the table he stopped and blinked. “Wait,” he smirked as he saw Fire looking away and grinning. “But you aren’t worried about me? You sly bastard, what are you—”

“—Doing over here Squall?” Dash asked as she approached his bed. Squall didn’t look at her. “You’ve been rummaging through your nightstand for the past five minutes. I know you’re just trying to ignore us.

“Hmph,” Squall huffed as he shut the drawer but remained facing away.

“C’mon, grump rump,” Dash grabbed his tail in her mouth and started pulling on it. “Don’t be a party pooper!” she said, her voice muffled with his tail in her mouth. As soon as Squall felt the tug and started moving, he grasped his mattress and anchored himself down. Dash let go of his tail and scrunched her face. “Squall, really?” she motioned over to the table where Storm, Matteo, Star, and Twister were all sitting and conversing. “We’re not gonna play with you brooding over here the whole time.”

“I don’t…” Squall started, but the rest came out as quiet gibberish.

“What?” Dash blinked, tipping her head to the side and adjusting her ears to listen.

“I…dunnohowtoplay…” Squall repeated. It was slightly clearer, but she still couldn’t make it out.

“Dude, enunciate,” Dash flattened her brow. Squall sighed and took a deep breath.

“I don’t know how to play poker,” he finally said clearly. Dash blinked as registered what he said. “I don’t want to get laughed at,” he added with a grunt. Dash just stared at him for a moment before letting a snort escape. She quickly put a hoof over her mouth, realizing Squall had JUST said he didn’t want to be laughed at. Squall shot her a glare, but she quickly swallowed the laugh and shook her head.

“Neither does Star,” she said as she pointed. Storm is teaching her right now. Squall glanced over to see Storm showing Star different card combinations. “Plus, we’re playing Badlands Hold ‘em. It’s the easiest version of poker. C’mon, Storm can show you too,” Dash encouraged.

“Oh great…” Squall rolled his eyes at the thought. Dash flattened her ears.

“Or… if you insist on continuing your grudge with him… I can show you,” she suggested.

“Hey! He does it too!” Squall made sure to point out. Dash shook her head.

“You’re both idiots. I didn’t single you out there, now get your ass over here already, we’re waiting for—”

“—The right shot, but I’m just not getting any favors here…” Soarin groaned as he looked at the current configuration of the pool balls. In nine-ball, the first rule was that you had to hit the lowest number ball on the table first with the cue ball. He could knock any of the balls into the holes as long as he hit the current lowest ball first. Soarin was having bad luck though. Every time his turn came up he did not have a clear shot at the lowest ball.

He walked in a circle around the table, tapping the rubber butt of the cue lightly against the floor as he contemplated what to do. The four-ball was the lowest on the table, but the eight and nine-balls were side by side, effectively creating a wall between the cue ball and four-ball.

Soarin felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Misty behind him, who had been watching them play. She pointed at the cue ball with her wing, and then took one of her hooves and made an arcing motion over the other. Soarin blinked and glanced at Fire.

“She says to jump it over the two balls in the way,” Fire chuckled. Soarin looked back at Misty and let his ear flop down.

“What’s the best way to say I’m a failure at this compared to her?” Soarin sighed as he looked at the cue ball. “Well, it’s not like I can do anything else…” he said as he lined up behind the cue ball and thought about how he would do it. Misty suggested he skip the ball over the barrier. He would have to strike the cue ball low to cause it to jump. It was an advanced pool technique and he wasn’t sure he could do it. It took just the right amount of control. If he hit it too softly, it was stay on the ground and run right into the barrier… if he hit it too hard he might knock somepony’s teeth out with a sudden projectile in the form of a cue ball.

Soarin lined up his cue and took aim, pointing it low as he tried to measure how hard to hit it. He took a deep breath and struck the ball.

“Whoa!” Fire yelped and ducked as the cue ball shot off the table and flew right over his head. About five yards from the table, Lightning Streak had picked a horrible time to turn over on the couch he was laying down on. The cue ball hit him square in the gut as he was taking a deep breath.

“HOOOO DAMN!” he yelled as he exhaled and grabbed his stomach, curling up and rolling off the couch onto the floor.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!” Blaze burst out laughing from the ping pong table as she saw Lightning roll off the couch. The ping pong ball bounced off her chest and rolled against the net as High Winds looked over from the other side.

“Sorry!” Soarin cringed as he walked over to retrieve the cue ball rolling across the floor.

“If I could stand up right now…” Lightning’s voice was all raspy. “I would kick you in the face, bro.”

“Oh, come on,” Soarin rolled his eyes. “You’ve taken harder hits from half the mares in the compound," he said while reaching down and patting Lightning on the head.

“Lowest of blows, bro…” Lightning wheezed as he rolled over again.

“Let him writhe,” Fire snorted. “It will do him some good.”

“Heh,” Soarin snickered as Fire showed so much brotherly love. “Well, you get to set the cue ball now,” he handed the ball to Fire. “And you have a straight shot from the four to the nine… at least I—”

“—Don’t care, just sit down,” Dash motioned to the chair between her and Storm. Squall glared at Storm, who gave him a flat look in return before Squall swallowed his pride and sat down in between them. Squall and Storm continued to glare at each other for a moment before Star tapped her hooves on the table.

“Colts,” she said sternly, getting both of them to look at her. “Behave and play nice.”

“You,” Dash said to Squall as she grabbed his chin and force him to look at her instead of scowling at Star. “Pay attention,” she ordered as she pulled the deck of cards over from Twister. “It’s easy. Two cards are dealt face down to each player and then five cards are placed face-up by the dealer. You have to make card combinations with your two cards and the cards on the table. You can check, bet, raise or fold after each deal. If you want to stay in, you have to match whatever the current bet is. If you don’t like it, fold.”

Squall stared at her blankly. Star spoke up from across the table.

“Just watch a couple of rounds, that’s what I’m doing too,” she suggested as Twister leaned over to Squall.

“Have a cheat sheet!” he said cheerfully as he slipped a piece of paper with all the card combinations on it towards Squall before reaching to the center of the table and dividing up the stacks of chips between him, Dash, Storm, and Matteo. “White are ten, blue are fifty, red are a hundred!” he said as he gave them all twenty of each chip. “Big bird is big blind!” Twister motioned to Matteo. “Twenty.”

Matteo grabbed two white chips and tossed them in the center. Storm, being to the right of Matteo, tossed in ten for the small blind. Dash leaned over to Squall.

“Every round, there are two forced bets, big and small. It’s to keep players from never playing and holding onto their chips.”

Twister passed the fake cigar from one side of his mouth to the other before flipping two cards to each of them. Dash picked reached down and tipped her cards up subtly to see what she had. The ace of clubs and the six of diamonds. Squall watched her carefully as Dash grabbed two white chips and pitched them in.

“I’m in,” she said as Twister, and Storm pitched in as well to match the blind. Twister put three cards out on the table. Six of hearts, eight of clubs, and jack of spades. Luck was smiling on her. The first play and she had a pair of sixes. She could work with this.

“Check,” said Matteo, tapping his talons on the table.

“Check,” Storm tossed a white chip into the center to meet Matteo’s blind.

“Raise fifty,” Dash said calmly as she tossed a blue chip into the center.

“Playing rough already?” Storm chuckled.

“I LIKE it rough!” Twister snickered as all three of them matched her bet. Twister put a fourth card down.

The six of spades! Dash had three of a kind. Definitely luck right out of the gate.

“Raise a hundred,” Matteo bet instantly, throwing a red chip in. Dash blinked as eyes went to Storm.

“Bah… fold,” he sighed as he pushed his cards away from him. Dash looked towards Matteo curiously. Was he Bluffing? It was hard to tell, Matteo was pretty good at keeping a straight face 90% of the time she was around him. A natural poker face. She wasn’t going to back down though, she had a good hand.

“I’m not scared of you, Feathers,” Dash taunted as she tossed in a red chip.

“You should be,” he fired back, keeping his face perfectly still.

“I scare myself sometimes!” Twister snickered as he tossed in a red chip. “Last card!” he called out as he suddenly had two fake cigars in his mouth. He turned over the last card. Nine of spades. It did nothing for Dash, but she still had three of a kind.

“Two hundred,” Matteo tossed two red chips into the center.

“The game is ahoof!” Twister said, now with three fake cigars as he matched the bet. Dash glanced at Matteo again. He was being awfully confident.

“I see your bet,” she smirked. “And raise you a hundred more.”

“Child’s play,” Matteo scoffed. “Make it five hundred,” he raised as he tossed in three red chips. Dash gulped, but kept her straight face up.

“Living a little dangerously, eh? I like it,” she added two red chips of her own.

“When in the Griffon Kingdom!” Twister shrugged and matched the bet, four cigars in his mouth.

Dash and Matteo stared each other down, but neither gave an inch.

“Turn ‘em over!” Twister said as he turned over his cars to show he had a pair of aces, pocket rockets. “Two pair!” he smiled as a fifth cigar extended out of his mouth. Dash scoffed.

“Better luck next time weirdo,” she turned her cards over. “Three of a kind! How do you like that, Matty?” Dash taunted as Matteo casually reached for his first card, flipping it over to reveal… the six of clubs. Dash’s eyes widened. Matteo had the last six, making his hand a three of a kind as well? Matteo reached for the other card and flipped it over… nine of clubs.

“Oh, look at that,” Matteo smirked.

“WHAT?!” Dash stood up and slammed her hooves on the table.

“Full house, sixes full of nines,” Matteo said as he chuckled quietly. He had won on the river, the last card turned over.

“You lucky bastard…” Dash shook her hoof at him while smirking.

“The cards don’t lie,” Matteo nodded as he reached forward and scooped all the chips towards him. Dash sat back down in her chair and shook her head.

“I oughtta punch you right across the beak for playing me like—”

“—I’m not even playing…” Fire sighed.

Misty walked by, smirked, and swiped her tail underneath his chin. Soarin laughed as Fire flinched and blushed. “And she’s taunting me now too!” Fire let his ears flop down as Misty casually leaned against the table, and took a shot that caused the cue ball to bounce off one ball and strike two others, sinking all three in different pockets.

“Misty plays a serious game of pool,” Soarin shook his head. “She’s pulling no punches, not even for you, eh?”

“Definitely not…” Fire agreed as Misty chipped the cue ball over the eight ball and knocking the three into the pocket behind it.

“I’ll leave you to your misery,” Soarin chuckled as he broke away to see what else was going on.

Blaze and High Winds were still hogging the ping pong table. They had been playing for the past half hour and chased away any who asked if they could play. Lightning Streak was back on the couch, but had shamelessly fallen asleep on his back with the latest Wonderbolt beach magazine draped over his face. On the other side of the room, Surprise was taking all challengers at the air hockey table.

“HA! VICTORY!” Surprise yelled and pointed at Fleetfoot.

“How did you even do that?!” Fleetfoot held her hooves out. “Seven scores in less than two minutes?”

“Trade secret,” Surprise said slyly as she ducked down, leaving only her eyes peeking above the table and looking back and forth with a shifty gaze.

“Why not?” Soarin chuckled as he walked over to the table. “Having trouble, Fleetybuns?”

“It’s like playing against a— what the hell did you just call me?!” Fleetfoot blinked as she pressed her nose to Soarin’s.

“Surprise! I’ll take you on!” Soarin instantly dodged question as he took Fleetfoot’s spot. The instant Soarin touched his hoof to the mallet the puck fired past him and landed in his goal with a loud PA-CHUNK. Soarin looked down and stared wide-eyed at his goal as Surprise blew on her hoof and slid her score counter from zero to one. “Uh…”

“Good luck, Princess McButtface,” Fleetfoot said while sticking her tongue out at Soarin.

“I can still do this!” Soarin pounded his chest confidently as he put the puck back on the table and hit it towards Surprise’s goal… only to have it fire directly back at him and land in his goal with another loud PA-CHUNK. “Oh, that’s just not right…” Soarin shook his head as Surprise bounced her eyebrows at him from across the table.

“One does not SIMPLY, out air hockey Surprise!” she taunted as she picked up her mallet and spun it on her hoof.

“I can do this! I swear!” Soarin snorted as Fleetfoot was struggling to stay standing while laughing. Soarin put the puck on the table and took a moment to focus on Surprise, he’d figure out her secret.

He hit the puck towards her slower this time. She instantly shifted, wound up and smacked it back towards Soarin. He anticipated it and swung his mallet out to the side to divert the puck, but he accidentally swiped too far, slamming the puck between the mallet and the edge of the table. The puck flew off the table and soared across the room, flying like a frisbee over the ping pong table, towards the couches… and hitting Lightning Streak in the forehead THE EXACT MOMENT the magazine slid off his face.

“AUGH! MOTHER FFFFFFFFFFF…” he shouted as he grabbed his face and rolled off the couch and onto the floor again.

“PAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Blaze lost it again as Lightning rolled back and forth on the floor.

“Talk about a bad night…” High Winds yawned as the ping pong ball lightly tapped against her nose.

“Wow, again…” Soarin cringed. “Sorry Lightning! You okay?” Soarin called from across the room.

“THIS IS MY NIGHTMARE!” Lightning yelled from the floor.

“Oh, suck it up…” Fire sighed from the chair beside the couch, from which he sat with his pool cue, watching Misty win again.

“I got a spare puck right here! OOPS!” Surprise yelped as multiple pucks fell out of her wings and clattered to the floor. Soarin looked over to her and blinked.

“You carry air hockey pucks around?” he asked her quizzically. She shrugged.

“You never know when you’re gonna find an air hockey table!” she said as she put down a puck. Soarin got ready to block but…

PA-CHUNK

“God—”

“—Dammit…” Dash pushed her cards in. “Got nothing again.”

She had had no luck with the cards after her first hoof. Which sucked, considering she was beaten by Matteo’s luck with that hoof. She glanced over at Squall as he kept looking between the cards and the cheat sheet Twister had given him. He was struggling, but at least he was trying. This was why Dash dragged him over to play, she wanted some squad bonding, inviting Storm as well because he was one of them, even if he had earned a high rank quickly.

Had she left Squall over in his space, it would have singled him out. She didn’t want any loners on her squad. Because hey, friendship is magic after all. As for the other newcomer to the game… Star seemed to be little lady luck. She wasn’t being very ambitious with the betting, but she seemed to continuously get good cards.

“Turn ‘em over!” Twister said as they all showed their cards, except for Matteo who had also folded.

“Two pair,” Storm showed.

“Three of a kind!” Twister put down his pair of aces beside the ace in the middle. Storm blinked and looked towards Twister.

“How have you been getting pocket rockets every single time?” he asked.

“DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT,” Twister said as a sixth cigar appeared in his mouth and two popped out of his ears.

“Full house!” Star exclaimed happily as she showed her cards and Matteo rolled his eyes.

“That’s exactly why I folded,” he said as Star suddenly pulled her cards towards her and glared up at Matteo.

“Hey! Are you peeking?!” she accused him. Matteo shook his head.

“You bounce in your seat when you have good cards,” he explained. Star blinked and hid her face behind the cards sheepishly.

“Oh… hehe, I didn’t realize that.”

Dash found it amusing that they had Star, who lacked a poker face, sitting next to the big, living poker face.

“What do you have, Squall?” Star asked across the table.

“Uh… nothing I think,” he put his cards down. Dash flattened her ears.

“If you had nothing you shouldn’t have…” Dash trailed off as she looked at his cards, then at the cards in the center, her eyes growing wider. “Squall, you have a straight,” Dash said while chuckling.

“Is that good?” Squall asked as he looked at the cheat sheet. “Oh… it is.”

“Awwwww…” Star whined as she pushed her cards back over to Twister, now with seven cigars.

“I don’t think you can fit any more cigars in your mouth,” Dash said to him as she rolled her eyes.

“I’ll be the judge of that!” Twister said with a muffled voice as he added an eighth.

“Those are some good cards,” Storm spoke up. Dash looked towards him and subtly bit her lip when she saw Storm was talking to Squall.

“Hmm…” he quietly hummed in response. Squall had not said a word to Storm all night so far.

“You claimed Star was cheating two rounds ago,” Storm continued.

“Stop talking to me, dickwad,” Squall suddenly hissed at Storm. Storm flinched as all eyes turned to the two of them.

“Sheesh, are you capable of casual conversation?” Storm retorted.

“Guys…” Dash hovered a hoof towards Squall.

“Maybe I just don’t want to talk to YOU!” Squall growled. Storm threw his hooves out at his sides and looked at the rest of them.

“Are you all seeing this? What the hell did I do?” he appealed to them.

“Guys, stop!” Dash reached for Squall, but he pushed her hoof away. Squall pulled a hoof back to strike Storm. Storm saw him wind up and readied to fight back… but then Twister appeared between them with fifteen fake cigars shoved in his mouth.

“GENTLESTALLIONS?” he said before pulling the cigars out of his ears and shoving one in Storm’s mouth, the other in Squall’s. They both spat them out in disgust immediately since they tasted like earwax. By the time they looked back up, Star was hovering between them instead.

“That’s it. We’re separating you two,” she said sternly. “You,” she pointed at Storm. “Over there,” she pointed to her seat as Matteo removed the book booster seat and slid them across the table to Star.

“What did I do?” Storm tried defending himself.

“It takes two to tango, Storm,” Star said as she kept pointing. Storm looked at Dash, but Dash only shrugged.

“Fine…” Storm grunted, getting up and moving to sit next to Matteo as Star placed her books down on his seat and sat down beside Squall.

“Damn guys,” Dash shook her head as she looked between the two of them, glaring at each other from across the table. “Just can’t get along, can you—”

“—Gotta be kidding me! How do you do this?!” Soarin rested his chin on the air hockey table in defeat as Surprise bounced up and down happily.

“What can I say?!” Surprise reached behind and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. “I take all of my opponents…” she put the glasses on. “By surprise!”

“Yeeeeeeeahnoooooo…” Soarin put the mallet down. “I think five loses is where I’ll cut it off,” he admitted defeat as he stepped away from the table.

“Anypony else wanna piece o’ Surprise?!” Surprise beckoned the other ponies around her.

Soarin was having a rotten night in terms of winning. Losing to Fire Streak twice in pool, then getting his plot whooped in air hockey over and over again. Water sounded good.

Speaking of water, Wave Chill was… well… chilling in the kitchen area. The kitchen area was out in the open, with a bar that faced out towards everything else with a fridge and a few cabinets and a microwave oven behind it. Wave was sitting at the bar, taking a load off as he sipped a glass of cranberry juice.

“Not your night, sir?” Wave asked as Soarin approached and went for the fridge.

“Oh, you’ve been watching?” Soarin asked as he grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and sat down in the seat next to Wave, looking out at everything else.

“Besides Lightning, you’ve had the worst luck tonight, I could’ve told you that you would lose to Surprise though, sir,” he chuckled.

“Chiller, you’re calling me ‘sir’ again,” Soarin pointed out.

“Uh, sorry sir, I mean…” Wave let his head fall down against the table. “Sorry… the capt—, Spitfire is being very strict about me calling her by name. I guess I feel the urge to do it everywhere else because of that.”

“How have things been with you and Spitfire lately?” Soarin asked as he cracked open the water bottle and took a long, satisfying drink from it.

“Well, heh…” Wave paused. Soarin glanced at him to see Wave blushing. “Since the party everything’s been just like it used to be. With a little more…”

“Little more?” Soarin prodded while lifting an eyebrow snidely.

“Let’s just say… um… she still had a week of… mare times left after the party. I’ve had a bit of a sore back at the end of that week.”

“HEHEY!” Soarin reached over and gave Wave a hard jab to the shoulder. “Dayum Chiller! You dog! A whole week? I bet that was fun,” Soarin couldn’t stop laughing as Wave kept smiling like a dope.

“Don’t tell her I told you that, she’ll kill me,” Wave added with a chuckle.

“Oh man… how things change. No offense Chiller, but you were one of the last ponies here I expected to get so much flank… from the one and only Spitfire no less… I bet your stern soldier thing is all an act,” Soarin nudged him. “You wooed a spectacular mare, I bet you’re really an undercover player.”

“Stop,” Wave pushed him jokingly. “I’m just… lucky I guess.”

“Damn right, dude,” Soarin shook his head as he looked back out towards the rest of the break room.

His eyes landed on the couch area. Lightning Streak was back up and napping again, but on the couch across from him, Fire Streak was sitting in the corner of the couch, reading a magazine that he found on the table beside it. Soarin looked to the left and saw Misty putting away the pool cues after beating another opponent. When she finished, she looked around, her eyes landing on Fire on the couch. She smiled and walked around the pool table, approaching the couch from behind. She walked around and took the spot right beside Fire. He didn’t seem to notice her approach.

She shifted over to him and ducked underneath the magazine, popping up in between his arms and nestling herself into his chest. Fire flinched as first, but when he realized it was Misty he smiled and set the magazine down. She shifted slightly and yawned as Fire put an arm around her and rested his chin on her head.

Soarin looked to their left and saw Fleetfoot peeking over the other end of the couch, resting her arms on the arm of the couch, balancing her chin on her hooves, and smiling while she spied on the snuggling couple. Soarin rolled his eyes and shook his head at Fleetfoot, but then looked back towards Fire and Misty, finding he couldn’t take his eyes off of them as they rested comfortably together on the couch.

“Soarin?”

“Huh?” Soarin blinked and looked towards Wave.

“Did you hear me?” Wave asked while tipping his head slightly.

“Uh, no, sorry, was thinking about stuff. What did you say?” he asked.

“How have things been with you and Dash? Must be awesome to finally have her here, huh?” Wave repeated.

“Rainbow Dash—?”

“—I’ve had some chances to see him,” Dash said to Storm as they helped clean up the poker area. Twister decided to call for fifty-two card pickup after the last round.

“Some chances?” Storm repeated. “That sounded a little less than enthusiastic.”

“Well,” Dash tipped her head. “I dunno, it’s awesome and all—”

“—But I feel like we still barely see each other…” Soarin leaned back in his chair. “I mean we’ve had chances to be intimate… but besides the party—”

“—We haven’t had much of a chance to just… I guess… be a couple,” Dash sighed as she thought over her time in the compound. “So far I’ve been busy and there have been problems that we’ve—”

“—Overcome together,” Soarin explained as Wave listened. “But even now. I have my schedule and she has hers. I just wish I had more time—”

“—With him, you know?” Dash appealed to Storm. “Hell, you see him more than I do. All I want—”

“—Is for the two of us to have time for each other just as much as we have time to follow our dreams,” Soarin sighed. “You’re lucky Wave. You have Spitfire and—”

“—Misty has Fire Streak right there in her squad… but Soarin and I—”

“—We’re separated by rank. She’s a recruit and has a much different schedule. I was looking so forward to this but—”

“—He’s still out of my reach. At least that’s what it feels like…” Dash finished and looked at Storm.

“Well…” Storm said. “I guess I can feel you, because I’m disconnected from Derpy too, but we try. We make use of every moment we can get.

“Spitfire and I…” Wave shrugged. “We get our private time, but it’s a lot less than you’d think. She’s busy and we’re on separate Squads. We do what we can with what we get.”

“Making use of every moment…” Dash thought out loud.

“Do what you can with what you get…” Soarin repeated the words.

“Maybe…” Dash sighed.

“Maybe…” Soarin looked back towards Misty and Fire.

“We have to try a little harder for each other…”
“We have to try a little harder for each other…”

---To Be Continued---