//------------------------------//
// Chapter 86: Insecured 
// Story: Piercing the Heavens 
// by Calm Wind 
//------------------------------//

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
(This Chapter was edited by Lucky424)

Chapter 86: Insecured





“Thanks for letting me in on this, Fleet,” Dash smiled as Fleetfoot led her into Bliss’ training room.

“You were such a good sport yesterday!” Fleetfoot grinned. “So you deserve it. Besides, with how weird things have been getting lately, I bet you could use a good massage.”

“You’ve got that right…” Dash nodded as she and Fleetfoot walked towards the trainer tables. 

Bliss’ training room was being ‘refitted’ as they moved in. Multiple mares from the Smooth Hoof Spa in Canterlot’s high class district were moving about, setting up special head rests and cushions on the tables to make them more comfortable. 

Spitfire, Blaze, High Winds, Surprise, and Misty Fly were all already there and waiting eagerly for the spa mares to be ready for them.

Bliss herself was kicked back in her chair at her desk near the entrance. It looked like she was enjoying the lighter training hours. It definitely made her job a lot easier for the time being… unless of course some of the Wonderbolts were using the free time for something stupid or over the top…





“Is that all of us?” Soarin looked around the infield of the outdoor flight arena as he fastened the head-piece of his training armor. Wave Chill looked around beside him, also wearing a set of training armor.

“Storm, Silver, Lightning, Air Mach…” he named them off as he saw them, all close by and checking their armor. “Wait, where’s Fire Streak?”

“Oh, he’ll be here,” Soarin chuckled as he picked up a volley ball. “I know he wouldn’t miss this.”





“Just hop up here, please,” a white unicorn mare with a long blonde mane tied back in a ponytail pointed to the table in front of Dash.

Dash did as she was told and climbed up onto the table, lying flat on her stomach and resting her chin on her forearms. For a moment she didn’t recognize the trainer table. It felt much more comfortable with whatever surface the spa mares had draped over it.

She watched as the spa pony went around and got everything ready. If it were a year or so ago, Dash would’ve felt nervous. She had gotten less afraid of spa treatment over time, and after experiencing some amazing massages from Soarin, it was hard to ever turn one down.

Not to mention it also felt great to be included in a relaxing activity with the top elite mares from squad one, two, and three. Dash would have been outside her mind to turn down something like this, even if it was something other than massages.

They were set up on the first seven tables in the training room. Blaze, High Winds, Fleetfoot, and Dash were on the right side and Misty Fly, Surprise, and Spitfire were on the left.

“I can’t wait to see those pictures!” Fleetfoot spoke up from the table beside Dash.

“Oo!” Surprise cut in across from them. “Didja get the silly ones too?” she asked eagerly.

“We’re actually gonna get those?” Dash chuckled while glancing at Fleetfoot. 

“Yep!” Fleetfoot winked. “I slipped Photo Finish two hundred extra bits to get those sent to us. There was no way I was letting those get erased!”

“Yay!” Surprise cheered while bouncing and throwing her hooves out.

“Please lay flat,” Surprise’s masseuse asked her quietly.

“Oopsie! Sorry!” Surprise giggled and plopped back down. 

“Let’s begin,” A tall, yellow unicorn mare with a poofy red mane said to all of them as she walked up to Spitfire’s bed. The mare really stood out among them. Dash watched as all of the mares moved into position immediately. The tall mare had to be the head masseuse from the spa.

“Oh…” Dash was expecting it… but it felt so good immediately as her designated masseuse began gently applying pressure on her back at all the right places. It was only the initial compressions, barely pressing down, but it felt good. “Oooooohh…” Dash moaned contently as she felt her body relax at the gentle touch. “Wow… thirty seconds and you’ve got me melting… you’re good…” Dash complimented as the mare giggled. 

“Why thank you,” she said as she continued to make the soft back and forth motions across all the stiff spots between the muscles on Dash’s back and near her wings. “I’ve always enjoyed working with athletes,” said the mare as she reached the base of Dash’s tail and began moving back up. “It’s a lot easier to find the muscles and knots,” she said while leaning down and smiling at Dash. “You have a very impressive body, by the way.”

“Heh, thanks…” Dash blushed lightly, still a little bashful about getting praise about her body.

“Hey… Dash,” Fleetfoot whispered. 

“Huuuuh?” Dash slowly turned her head towards Fleetfoot, slurring a little as the spa mare continued to work magic on her stiff back muscles. Fleetfoot pointed at Spitfire across from them.

“Watch this, it’s about to start,” she said with a quiet giggle. Dash glanced across at Spitfire as the tall mare began working her hooves around Spitfire’s back.

“What’s about to—?”

“Hrrrmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnn…” Spitfire suddenly released a low, long hum. 

“What the?” Dash blinked as Fleetfoot and the rest of the mares began giggling. 

“Ooooohhhh… aaaarrrrr… aaaahhhhhh ... eeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooowwooooowowww…” Spitfire moaned, groaned, squeaked, and made all sorts of interesting noises while face down in the head pillow. 

“Holy…” Dash snickered. “Wow…”

“That’s Gentle Press working her magic!” Fleetfoot giggled. “Spitfire already has a pretty sensitive body. Mixed with the best masseuse in Equestria… we get quite a show.”

“Aaaiieeeee oooooohhh aaaaaaaaayiayiayiayia…” Spitfire continued to make the strange noises as Gentle Press moved up and down. “WHOO!” Spitfire suddenly flinched and her wings flared outward. But Gentle Press’ magic came to life the instant they did and forced them back down to Spitfire’s body as if Press was ready for it.

“Relax and be still,” Press said to Spitfire as she continued to work.

“Whoa!” Dash’s attention was drawn back to her own body as her masseuse began giving her a little more pressure and really beginning the massage. “Oh damn… yesssss, thanks for inviting me Fleeeet…” Dash began slurring her words again as she lay her head down and sighed contently.

“Don’t mention—oo!” Fleetfoot’s ears stood up and she glanced back at her masseuse. “Careful there, I don’t want them all knowing my sensitive spots!” Fleetfoot joked as she looked back at Dash. Dash slowly shook her head back and forth.

“These ponies are just as good as Aloe and Lotus, maybe even better…” she commented in her dazed state.

“Who and who now?” Blaze asked from a few beds down. Dash looked up, past Fleetfoot and High Winds, who was already fast asleep under the comfort of the massage.

“Oh!” Fleetfoot blinked as she turned her head around towards Blaze. “She’s talking about these two ponies that run a whole spa in Ponyville!” Fleetfoot recalled with excitement.

“There’s a SPA in a small town like Ponyville? Ooo…” Blaze asked while visibly enjoying her massage. 

“Yeah, and those ponies had me begging for full service the moment they started. They did everything themselves and made it all so comfortable. It was like heaven on earth. Their massages were almost as good as these too. It was a pleasant surprise in such a little town. Oh yeah… right there… yeeeeah…” Fleetfoot trailed off, shivering with delight as her masseuse worked around her shoulders. 

Dash was having a hard time concentrating on anything with how relaxed she felt, but it didn’t stop her from enjoying the fun sight of all the top elite mares and their different reactions to the massages. Fleetfoot looked incredibly content and was biting her bottom lip. High Winds was still fast asleep. Blaze was twitching and saying things that made it a little awkward for her masseuse, but that was Blaze for you. Misty Fly was smiling and lying still, completely enjoying herself. Surprise…

“Hehehehe!” Surprise bounced up and down on her stomach as her masseuse sighed.

“Miss Surprise… please… you must lay still,” she asked.

“Sorry!” Surprise chimed in. “It just tickles a little! Hehe!”

Far and away though, the most amusing sight was…

“Graaaawwwwwwddddddd ooooooooaaaaahhhhh oooohhhhhhh yeeessssss…” Spitfire continued to moan and groan with so many different tones and pitches it was like Gentle Press had turned her into a musical instrument. 

“Hah!” Blaze suddenly scoffed, grabbing their attention. “I think we need to sign up Wave for some massage lessons from Press. It would totally get him sex for all eternity,” she smirked, causing giggles from around the room, both the Wonderbolts (who were awake and could hear) and from the massage mares. The mention of Wave Chill got Dash thinking.

“Hey… Fleet…” her words were drawn out for a moment until she found the means to focus. “Ever invite the stallions to these?” she asked out of curiosity. It took a moment for Fleetfoot to register the question.

“Oh, yeah, sometimes. At least I invite the ones who will behave themselves. I’m not letting Lightning Streak near any mares that will touch him,” she flattened her brow. “Trust me, it would end poorly.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Dash chuckled.

“I asked Soarin if he wanted to join us today,” Fleetfoot continued. “But…” she paused and rolled her eyes. “They were already planning on playing their favorite testosterone game today.”

“Game…?” Dash tipped her head slightly.





“There he is!” Lightning Streak called out as Fire flew towards them and landed. “I thought Misty was busy, you mean you actually have a life outside of her?” Lightning joked as he tossed a set of training armor towards Fire. Fire caught it and stopped dead in his tracks as he put his brother’s words together.

“Oh, I see what you did there… and yes, as a matter a fact I am the captain of our squad, dear brother,” Fire reminded him as he began fastening his armor. “I was actually cleaning up a few loose ends from our squad budget… you know… that you caused, so I wouldn’t complain.”

“I’m not complaining at all bro, it’s great to have a personal maid-brother to clean up for me, hah!” Lightning Streak guffawed as Fire lifted an eyebrow.

“Oh, I am most DEFINITELY going to enjoy this right now…” he said as he tightened the buckles on the headgear. 

“YO!” Lightning yelled past Wave and Silver to Soarin. “My bro’s here! Let’s get started!”

“Awesome!” Soarin yelled as he checked his armor one more time and picked up the volley ball again.

“So… um…”

Soarin looked up to see Storm approach.

“What’s up?” Soarin smiled as he tossed the ball to Storm. 

“Thanks for letting me play a game with you guys, what are we playing though? Wing-Ball?” Storm asked as he glanced at the ball in his hooves and then his armor. “Do you guys usually wear armor when you play it outside of shows?”

“Oh,” Soarin chuckled, stepped over, and draped an arm over Storm’s shoulder. “We’re not playing Wing-ball… in fact, I wouldn’t recommend being the one that starts with the ball,” Soarin winked at him. Storm blinked and quickly dropped the ball, not quite sure what Soarin meant. “We’re playing a much simpler game…” Soarin smirked.





“Kill-the-stallion-with-the-ball?” Dash repeated back to Fleetfoot while flattening her brow and staring with amused disbelief. 

“Mmhmm…” Fleetfoot nodded.

“That… sounds…” Dash was trying to put words to it. Fleetfoot did it for her.

“Like something a bunch of stallions would come up with. I’ve heard it’s been a once-a-month tradition among the top elite Wonderbolt stallions since back even before Blazetail,” Fleetfoot giggled. “Yeah… it’s dumb… but it’s also funny because it’s the one game they can get Silver Lining and Fire Streak to play with them.”

“I can only imagine the rules…” Dash rolled her eyes as she and the rest of the Wonderbolt mares turned over on their backs per the request of the spa mares. 

“It’s pretty simple actually,” Blaze spoke up. “They put on training armor, grab a ball of any kind, go outside to the flight arena and beat the shit out of each other,” she put bluntly. 

“There’s more to it than that,” Fleetfoot smirked. “As the name implies, whoever has the ball is the target, and the rest of the stallions playing have to go and basically hit or tackle him as hard as they can. The stallion with the ball has to hold it for as long as he can, but if he feels pressured or can’t get away, he tosses it to somepony else.”

“Uh…” Dash blinked. “How do you win?” she asked as she watched her masseuse come around the table and readied to start again.

“You don’t!” Surprise giggled. “It’s literally just a bunch of pointless roughhousing, but it’s tons of fun to watch!”

“Yeah,” Fleetfoot agreed. “I mean, think about it…”





Lightning streak dove down and caught the ball as it fell, before pulling up into a glide.

“Woo! Catch me if you can bros—OOOF!!!!” he was intercepted and lucky that he wasn’t broken in half as Fire Streak came screaming in from the opposite direction and tackled him as hard as he could. Lighting coughed up the ball, but instead of going after it Fire drove his brother all the way to the ground.





“Fire’s not gonna pass up a chance to hit Lightning as hard as he can,” Fleetfoot giggled. Dash lifted an eyebrow and smirked.

“That actually does sound pretty fun to watch… hopefully he doesn’t kill him by accident,” Dash chuckled.

“Well, they’re wearing Rivet’s training armor,” Blaze spoke up as she leaned her head way back on her pillow. “I doubt any of them will even bruise.”

“Ready?” Dash’s masseuse suddenly asked. Dash looked up and saw her waiting to begin on Dash’s front.

“Oh, by all means, don’t even have to ask,” Dash nodded to her.

She took a deep breath and relaxed as her masseuse began on her arms first. As the soothing compressions made their way up and down her arm, her thoughts turned towards the stallions again. Fire enjoyed it because he could clock Lightning? She bet Silver felt the same way. She could almost picture him giving Air Mach a few hits he wouldn’t forget anytime soon.





“Whoa!” Soarin pitched up and did a barrel roll to just barely dodge an incoming strike from Wave Chill. 

He thought he was in the clear for a moment, but he yelped as Storm, Fire, and Lightning came at him from different directions. His only avenue of escape was back towards Wave Chill, so instead, he tossed the ball away from him, and dove down, barely avoiding the hits and shifting the attention of the three towards the ball as it fell towards the ground.

Air Mach shot past all three of them and snatched the ball out of the air.

“Ha! Victory for the stallionliest stallion of all stallions! And—”

Silver shot up from below and swung his arm upward, completely clothes lining him. Air Mach flipped backwards uncontrollably as he kept moving forward, the ball flying upward from his hooves. Silver grabbed Air Mach by the arm, swung him around and tossed him into Lightning Streak as he tried to make a move for the ball. The two tumbled to the ground as Silver reached up and snatched the ball out of the air.

Soarin had regained flight and was shooting towards Silver, but Silver didn’t budge.

“Getting a little cocky, Silver?” Soarin jeered as he approached

“Nope,” Silver replied as he casually tossed the ball towards Soarin. 

“Huh?” Soarin put on the breaks and caught the ball, but as soon as he had his hooves on it... “GAH!” Soarin grunted as Silver shot forward and tackled him HARD.





Dash couldn’t help but worry a little about Silver and the state of his body, but he had more than proven to be able to hold his own regardless. If she had never found him on the floor of his room a couple days ago, she would have never known or guessed that his body was so broken down. He did a great job of showing and possibly feeling no pain.

“Ooooh, maaaaan…” Dash sighed as her masseuse worked her magic. She had never had a full body massage before. Rarity usually ordered the short, back-only massages for them back in Ponyville, and at this point when she was with Soarin, she’d be trying to pin him down.

The mare moved her hooves up and around Dash’s chest, hitting all the edges around it to loosen up the joints and untie the knots. Dash did her best to hold in a moan as the mare worked over the front of her shoulders, before coming around and repeating the motions on the other side of her chest. All the training, weight lifting and constantly flying had done more of a number on her body than she thought, but the perfect time to learn about where her muscles were knotted was when they were being relieved. The problem solved itself. 

She owed Fleetfoot for this, big time. She felt like she needed this more than anypony, especially with the extra training she had been doing with Silver.

“Ahhhhhhh, ooooooh, mmmmmm….” 

Dash snorted quietly. She also had to thank Fleetfoot for the comedy show across from them. Who knew that Spitfire had such a sensitive body? Well… she bet Wave knew.

“So Dash,” Fleetfoot suddenly spoke up. “What’s Soarin like in bed?”

Dash’s eyes widened and her wings shot out from beneath her, completely slipping free from being compressed between her back and the table. Her right wing jabbed her masseuse in the gut and knocked her over with a yelp.

All the mares, spa and Wonderbolt, all turned and looked towards Dash as the mare slowly pulled herself back up.

“My goodness…” the mare giggled as she stood up.

“Uh… sorry,” Dash grinned sheepishly before turning her head back towards the Wonderbolts. Fleetfoot, Blaze, and Surprise were all staring at her eagerly. “UM!” Dash bit her lip.

“Yeah! Tell us!” Blaze encouraged. “Is he good?” she asked as Fleetfoot gave her a confused look. “Is he a marathon runner or is he a two pump chump? He’s gotta be good… you’ve been with him long enough. I bet he ruts you ha—”

“Blazey,” Fleetfoot snickered. “Why the hell do you care?”

“Hey, a mare can be curious,” Blaze did her best to shrug from her back with one arm being worked on by her masseuse. “Plus, Windy is OUT,” she pointed to High Winds. She was still asleep, and her masseuse had just finally managed to get her to flip over on her back.

“Flip over again please,” Dash’s masseuse asked as the rest did the same with their Wonderbolts, except for High Winds, who had just been flipped on her back and Spitfire, who seemed to be getting some extra treatment from Gentle Press. For some reason, Dash hoped that while they were all turning back onto their stomachs, the others would forget about the question, but as soon as they were all on their stomachs again, they were still staring at her.

“Uh…” Dash stalled again.

“C’mon Dashie!” Surprise giggled. “Give us the info!” 

Misty Fly looked up and saw Dash looking nervous along with the rest looking interested while staring at her. She reached over and poked Surprise. Surprise turned to Misty and blinked as Misty gave a few simple hoof motions.

“Oh! Hehe!” Surprise giggled as she made a few back. Misty’s eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly in surprise before she turned towards Dash, looking just as interested.

“Oh, come on…” Dash’s ears flopped down. Even Misty Fly? She wasn’t getting out of this one. If not for getting a second helping of a relaxing back massage, Dash would have been completely stiff under the sudden pressure to answer such a personal question. But then again… they were all mares in the room… and it was pretty cool to have some casual ‘mare talk’ with the top elites, so she went for it, even though it felt a little awkward.

“Um… he’s…”





“Ha!” Soarin slipped by Storm and ducked under Fire Streak. “Come on guys! I’ve had the ball for almost five minutes here!” he taunted as Lightning and Air Mach panted, trying to keep up. “Whoa!” Soarin pitched up to avoid Silver.

“Damn, slippery, bastard…” Silver growled as he gave chase.





“He’s good,” Dash answered with a blank look on her face. 

“Just good?” Fleetfoot reached over and poked Dash in the arm. “I see that blush! He’s an animal, isn’t he? You lucky mare!”

“Uh… yeah,” Dash bit her lip but smiled, feeling a bit of confidence surface. Fleetfoot’s casual demeanor seemed to have that effect on her. “Heh, who am I kidding,” Dash chuckled. “He is the ‘Power Flyer’ after all,” Dash shrugged. “Let’s just say that’s not the only thing he’s ‘powerful’ at,” she said with a wink. “He likes to pin me…” Dash added as the mares listened intently. “And that’s against any surface. Sometimes he gets me way up high on the wall, while in floating in the air.”

“Whoooooooaaaaaahohoooo!” Fleetfoot hollered while giggling. Surprise got lost in laughter and Blaze’s eyes just widened. 

“Holy DAMN!” Blaze chuckled. “I’m gonna have to give our very own princess a little more credit!” she chuckled. 

Surprise quickly relayed the info to Misty, who blushed and covered her mouth before looking at Dash with a sassy expression.

Once she got it out she didn’t feel so awkward. Soarin would probably be mortified if he knew she was talking about his sexual performance, but mare talk stayed with the mares. Even the spa mares and Bliss had been paying attention and were joining in the amusement and interest.

“Well!” Fleetfoot giggled. “After how long he didn’t go near a mare for the ‘sake of his career’ I bet he has tons of pent up sexual aggression!” she joked, earning a round of laughter from all the mares. “Say… speaking of stallions I never would expect it from…” Fleetfoot glanced towards Misty Fly. “I’ve always wondered what kind of stallion Fire Streak really was, if you catch my drift,” Fleetfoot wiggled her eyebrows towards Surprise.

“Oo! I’ll ask!” she quickly looked towards Misty, who realized they were talking about her. Surprise made a few gestures. Misty Fly blinked and then smirked in a way few of them had ever seen. It almost looked… devilish, which was a strange thing to see upon Misty’s usually innocent face. She made a few motions in response to Surprise, followed by some rather rough motions, a few of which caused her hooves to clap together, ending by lifting her brow and grinning. “Whoa!” Surprise blinked.





Fire Streak dove from above and grabbed hold of Air Mach as he tried to get away.

“Whoa! Nice catch!” Air Mach said as he tried to shake free, but instead tossed the ball to Storm.

“Yikes!” Storm yelped as he caught the ball. Fire was already shooting towards him. Storm looked around and quickly passed the ball to Lightning. Fire changing directions to chase and as soon as Lightning had the ball, Fire rammed him in the chest.

“OOF!” Lightning grunted, the ball popping out of his hooves as he flew backwards. The ball landed in Fire’s hooves as Lightning quickly regained control of his flight a few yards away. “Damn bro! You’re going a little too serious don’t you—”

He was cut off as Fire streak chucked the ball at him and ricocheted it right off Lightning’s face.





“What did she say?” Blaze asked, just as curious as the rest.

“Well, I’m never looking at him the same way again! Hee hee!” Surprise giggled. “According to Misty… Fire gets very, very timid when she starts coming onto him… but she knows what he likes… and after a few minutes of teasing him in certain ways…” Surprise put her hooves to her face. “He turns into a RAVING lunatic! And Misty can’t stop him!” 

All the mares stared towards Surprise in shock.

“Oh, and she does it on purpose,” Surprise added. They all looked at Misty Fly, who upon seeing all eyes on her, just winked and stuck her tongue out. The mares all burst into giggles fits.

“Dang, Surprise is right,” Dash said out loud. “I can’t picture Fire… you know… turning into a feral sex beast.”

“Join the club,” Blaze said as she let her forehead hit the pillow. “I’m never going to get that image out of my head…” she looked back up and turned her head towards Spitfire as she continued to make weird noises. “You know who I really wanna know about?” Blaze chuckled. “How hard Spitfire breaks Wave every time they get alone. HEY! SIS! Pay attention!” she yelled.

“Mmmmmmmmmnnnngggghhrrrrrr…” Spitfire replied while moving one of her hooves, but got nowhere further as her tongue hung out of the side of her mouth.





“Yes! Got it!” Wave cheered as he got a hold of the ball, only to be completely blindsided by Silver a moment after and sent tumbling to the ground.





“Forget it Blazey,” Fleetfoot giggled. “We’re not gonna get anything out of Spitty while she’s being fondled,” Fleetfoot paused and glanced at Dash, but before she could say anything, her ears stood up and she smirked. “Say Blazey…” Fleetfoot spoke up again, earning a growl from Blaze for how much she was using the nickname. Her smirk grew as she glanced at High Winds.

Winds’ masseuse was busy pushing her over onto her stomach again. She was still completely out cold. Give a narcoleptic pony a relaxing atmosphere and it was checkmate. Fleetfoot pointed at her.

“Tell me,” she said while bouncing an eyebrow at Blaze. “How’s WINDY in bed? Eh?” the spa mares all stopped and looked towards Blaze. Blaze growled and gritted her teeth at Fleetfoot.

“That’s none of your FUCKING business, bitch!” Blaze lashed out suddenly.

“WHOA!” Fleetfoot reclined her neck slightly while scrunching her face for a moment. “Talk about a whip crack! That was some serious defense you put up there!” she teased while smirking.

“Yeah? Well, tough shit!” Blaze snapped. “That’s nopony’s business!”

They all flinched as High Winds suddenly released a long, loud yawn and looked up with sleepy eyes.

“Blaze prefers to be on the bottom,” High Winds began in a monotone. “She has five different sweet spots: Between her right shoulder joints, the base of her tail, where her mane ends on her neck, the spot right behind her left ear, and where the right side of her jaw meets her neck. She makes really cute noises, especially when I go for the sweet spots in that order. She’s got a low tolerance for foreplay and gets riled up very fast. She loves it when I’m extra rough with her and the way she shivers makes the tips of my ears all tingly.”

Everypony just stared wide-eyed in silence at High Winds as she yawned loudly and set her head back down. Blaze had her head face down on her pillow. Her hooves were pressed over her head, and she was making several muffled groaning noises into the pillow.

“Well…” Dash spoke up. “That was educational.”

“That sounded kind of hot actually,” Fleetfoot giggled. Dash blinked and lifted an eyebrow at Fleetfoot.

“Wha—EEEEYAI!!!” Dash’s wings suddenly flared out and she knocked over her masseuse again, drawing all eyes once more. The masseuse had been working around her wings… and Dash had quite a soft spot there that Soarin was a fan of using against her.

“That’s quite a wing reflex you’ve got there,” her masseuse giggled as she pulled herself up again.

“Speaking of sweet spots…” Fleetfoot giggled as Dash blushed lightly. Blaze suddenly growled and looked up from her pillow towards Fleetfoot.

“Hey FLEETEY,” she sharply called to her. Fleetfoot sighed sarcastically.

“Yes?” she said while turning her head towards Blaze and giving her a smarmy look. However, Blaze shot a similar look right back. 

“How about you tell us how LIGHTNING STREAK is in bed, huh?” she sneered.

Fleetfoot’s confident expression instantly faded to one of shock for a moment before turning into a glare. Surprise gasped and covered her mouth and Dash’s eyes widened.

“How the hell should I know?!” Fleetfoot grumbled in response as she looked straight down at the table. “I was blackout drunk…” she added with a huff.

“He was so good you don’t remember? Pound you so hard you have memory loss?” Blaze guffawed and smacked her hoof against her table. Surprise held a hoof towards Blaze.

“Um… Blaze… that’s enough…” Surprise tried to stop her. Fleetfoot scoffed.

“HA! Yeah right! I don’t remember, but I doubt he was HALF as good as some of the guys around here I’d much rather spend a night of fun with!”





“HUUUAAAAAAACHOOOO!!!!” Lightning Streak sneezed as he and shook his head out before catching the ball out of the air and putting a hoof up to his nose. “Who… sinuses are actin’ up…” 

He turned around and was immediately triple tackled by Soarin, Storm, and Wave all at once.





“Oh? Like who?” Blaze’s smirk grew wider by the second.

“A few…” Fleetfoot looked away from her and pouted.

“Names?” Blaze prodded. “Come one Fleet we’re all sharing stuff here!”

“It’s hard to decide! Alright?” Fleetfoot said with an audible change in her tone of voice. “I don’t wanna start naming them off… I don’t want to sound like a whore…” she said with her voice nearly cascading to a wail. 

“HA! I thought—ACK!” Blaze suddenly had her head forced down to the table by a green magic aura. Dash looked over and saw Bliss at her desk with her magic alight, shaking her head as Blaze as she prevented her from saying more.

“I just…” Fleetfoot mumble quietly in Dash’s direction. “I don’t know what I want sometimes…”

All eyes had turned to Fleetfoot and almost everything had stopped except for Gentle Press and Spitfire’s strange moaning and groaning. Dash looked up and quickly waved her hooves out in a ‘carry on’ sort of motion. 

The rest of the session was devoid of any talking, the mood having been effectively killed. But at least they still got to enjoy their massages.





“You need a shower,” Dash joked as she walked side by side with Soarin. Soarin looked himself over.

“It got a little muddy out there, but I’m hungry. Food first,” he chuckled. 

The mares had all gone to watch the end of the ‘kill-the-stallion-with-the-ball’ game after the spa mares finished with them. They only got to see the last five minutes but it was hilarious to watch Silver purposely throw the ball to Lightning and clock him right after five times in a row without him catching on. 

Dash was now walking towards the back entrance to the lobby with Soarin and Storm, following close behind Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Air Mach. Spitfire was staying quiet, embarrassed that Dash had heard all her weird massage noises, and Fleetfoot… needless to say she wasn’t in a very good mood. Soarin had asked about Fleetfoot, but Dash, respecting a fellow mare’s privacy, told him not to worry about it. 

With information closed off about Fleetfoot, Soarin broke away to talk to Spitfire instead, giving Dash an opportunity to talk to Storm.

“So did you enjoy killing your fellow elites?” she joked as she shifted beside him.

“I didn’t know that was the game until we started,” Storm chuckled. “I thought I was gonna die for sure. Captain Silver and Commander Soarin diving at me at the same time? No thanks! Passing the ball to Commander Wave!” Storm said in a gung ho voice that made Dash giggle. 

“Yeah, I probably would have just curled up if I saw that,” she joked back. She took note that Storm looked very thrilled, at least that was the word she could use to describe it. He always looked so depressed when talking about his times trying to fit in with the Wonderbolt elites, but some casual bro-tackling it looked like he was starting to feel like part of the team. That was good, he deserved it.

“How was the intense massage?” Storm joked, having heard about it from Soarin. Dash chuckled and shook her head. 

“I’m surprised I’m not a liquid right now,” she stuck out an arm and wiggled it about.

“That good, huh?”

“Good and more,” Dash nodded.

“Where’s the rest of Foxtrot?” Storm asked. Dash smiled while pointing across the yard at the outer wall of the weight room.

“I sent them to Pec Bounce a while back, who knows if they’re still in there,” she said as she smiled wider. Storm picked up on it.

“Something tells me that was a fun conversation,” he smirked. 

“Yeah, Squall doesn’t like Pec Bounce very much, thinks he yells too much.”

“That’s all Pec Bounce does,” Storm snickered at the thought of Squall getting all grumpy in the gym.

“NO! I mean, no sorry, I’m fine…” Spitfire suddenly blurted out ahead of them.

“Wonder what they’re talking about?” Storm thought out loud. Dash looked ahead and saw Soarin smirking. She instantly guessed it had something to do with her massage.

“What, you’re not gonna tell me anything about it?” Soarin chuckled as Spitfire puffed her cheeks out.

“It was good, okay? Relaxing and all that… stuff, okay? Stop asking,” Spitfire tried to dodge the question as Soarin laughed.

“You have me way too curious Spitfire!” he joked as he glanced forward at Fleetfoot, who had gone a little ways ahead of them. Air Mach had tried to catch up to her, but nothing he said seemed to get any of her attention. “By the way, what’s up with Fleet?” he asked quietly as he glanced back at Dash briefly. “Dash wouldn’t tell me why she’s being so… mopey.”

“I actually don’t know,” Spitfire admitted. Soarin blinked and tipped his head. “What?” she scrunched her face.

“How could you not know? You were in the same room,” Soarin asked in confusion.

“I was…” Spitfire blushed. “Heavily preoccupied by my massage…”

“Hmm…” Soarin looked up to see Fleetfoot and Air Mach step through the back doors into the lobby.

“Soarin, just forget about it, and whatever she’s thinking about, I’d rather she forget about it too,” Spitfire suddenly said sternly, re-catching his attention. “The massage was my last little treat. It’s time to get serious about things again.”

“Oh boy…” Soarin rolled his eyes.

“Soarin, just humor me alright?” she continued. “I don’t mind some of the relaxation we’ve had here over the past couple of days. Even though there have been no sightings and incidents, I still have a lot of reports to file and other things to look into in hopes of uncovering this whole new Shadowbolt dilemma,” they stepped through the doors, holding them open for Dash and Storm as the two caught up. “I’ve made changes and preparations already with the patrols and the extra security postings, but there are some things I want to go through before—” she ran directly into Air Mach’s plot. “What the—?!” 

“Whoa!” Soarin hopped to the side to avoid crashing into Fleetfoot. The two were standing still, only a few paces into the lobby. Dash and Storm both flinched before coming to an abrupt halt as well.

“Guys?” Spitfire stepped around to Air Mach’s side. “Why did you…” she trailed off and paused, realizing they were staring wide eyed with their jaws dropped at something. Not even Air Mach’s glasses could conceal the shock in his expression. 

Spitfire quickly turned and looked as Soarin, Dash, and Storm did the same from behind. They too, all gasped as they stared towards the mail counter, where the masseuse ponies were leaving with all of their equipment… however…

“Man, check out all these HOT mares!”

The orange mail pony behind the counter just stared blankly at the pony leaning against the counter, slowly backing away. He flinched when the pony turned and looked at him. 

“I tell ya, I know exactly how to make a mare get weak in the knees. There are few who can withstand my endless charisma and…” 

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Spitfire exclaimed from across the lobby.

The pony leaning against the counter who was talking to the mail pony and flirting with the spa mares… was the red stallion with a slicked back, white mane that fended off squad two during the Cloudsdale encounter, complete with the new Shadowbolt flight suit missing the mask, and wearing the red goggles and headband with tassels. The mail counter was roughly ten yards away from the closest security posting, leaving absolutely no idea how he could have possibly gotten in.

The stallion turned and looked towards the lead squad as he heard Spitfire shout. He smirked and waved a hoof in the air.

“HEYA GUYS!” he yelled out in a cocky tone while chuckling. “Your security REALLY sucks!”

Dash and Storm both yelped as Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot, and Air Mach all leapt into the air without a word and pumped their wings hard. The four sped towards the mail counter as the mail pony ducked for cover. Soarin clearly didn’t want to risk using the Sonic Blastoff inside the lobby, so the first to draw near was Fleetfoot with her incredible speed.

“Heh!” the stallion scoffed as Fleetfoot drew back her arm to deliver a punch. He reached his arm up to block it, but…

“Fleetfoot! Look out!” Spitfire yelled as she spotted a small, grey sphere in the stallion’s hoof. But it was too late. 

Fleetfoot threw the punch, and as the stallion blocked it, the sphere got crushed between their hooves and a giant puff of smoke exploded outward, engulfing all of them. The four Wonderbolts grunted and yelped as they got tangled in the smoke and lost track of where they were.

Dash and Storm were still standing back, watching the scene unfold. As soon as the cloud of smoke erupted, Storm leapt forward, spreading his wings and taking flight. Dash glanced around for a moment before shaking her head out and following right behind him. 

The stallion emerged from the cloud and shot towards the windows above the front doors, way out of the reach of the earth pony security guards that were charging towards the commotion.

“Oh no you don’t!” Storm yelled as he angled towards the wall extending over the entrance to east hallway and executed his Surface Tap technique, propelling him from the wall towards the stallion and closing the distance fast.

“Try me, kid!” the stallion sneered as Storm shot towards him. Right as Storm was within striking distance, the stallion did an impossibly quick change of direction, causing Storm to fly right over his head and crash into the windows, thankfully without enough force to shatter it, instead just bouncing off.

The stallion glanced to his left to see Dash approaching.

“Gah, gotta get moving!” the stallion stated as Dash drew in.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Dash yelled as she reached for him.

“You think so, huh?” the stallion jeered as he began making many small turns and shifts. “Seeya!” he yelled as he made a sharp shift, and suddenly fired towards the windows at an alarming speed from a dead stop. He moved so fast that his mane left a blurred white streak behind him as he smashed into the large windows over the entrance and went right through them, shattering a large portion of it. 

“Rgh!” Dash shielded herself as the shards of glass began to fall, but a gust of wind battered her from the side, forcing all the glass flying towards her to change direction and fall safely to the floor.

“After him!” Storm yelled to Dash as he appeared at her side.

“Right!” she nodded as the two shot out the window towards the escaping stallion.

“WOOHOO!” the stallion yelled, before making another nearly impossible shift, angling straight upward and out of their sight. 

“Whoa!” Dash and Storm both threw out their wings to stop their momentum before turning around and looking in every direction above them. “Wh…what?” Dash blinked as she and Storm looked down, around, and then back up again.

The stallion was gone… just like that. Even if they figured out which way he went, with the sporadic speeds he was moving at, it would be impossible to catch him now.

Dash and Storm glanced at each other for a moment, both speechless about what just happened even though they both wondered very much what it meant. They descended back through the broken window into the lobby in silence, arriving just in time for the smoke to clear and for the lead squad to recover.

“WHERE IS HE?!” Spitfire demanded, yelling towards Dash and Storm. They both froze as they landed, backing away slightly as Spitfire directed her anger towards them. 

“Hey!” Soarin stepped over and gripped Spitfire’s shoulder. “Cool it Spitfire,” he tried to calm her down, but she shook his hoof off. She looked towards Storm and Dash with a glare.

“Well?” she questioned. Dash and Storm glanced at each other, before looking back at Spitfire and both shaking their heads gently. Spitfire’s eyes widened as she looked up at the broken window, and then down at the security team that was surveying the damage and trying to figure out what happened. She turned around and saw multiple Wonderbolts entering the lobby from both hallways, including squad two and three, running in after hearing the loud crash of the window being shattered. 

“That…” Spitfire gritted her teeth. “Tears it!” she turned sharply to the approaching squads. “SILVER! FIRE! Get over here NOW!” Spitfire commanded, causing the two captains to pick up their pace from a trot to a gallop. 

“What…” Dash walked up behind Soarin. “What just happened here?”

“I wish I could begin to say…” Soarin shook his head as he watched Fire and Silver approach Spitfire. 

It made absolutely no sense. Soarin couldn’t make heads or tails of it. There was absolutely no point to what he just saw. In all the other encounters, it seemed like they were being observed from afar. Even in Cloudsdale it felt like a botched surveillance mission by the Shadowbolts… this time…

“The Shadowbolt came right in… as if he wanted us to see him…” Soarin said to himself.

“Huh?” Dash glanced up at Soarin. He shook his head.

“Sorry… just thinking aloud…”

But why… why would a Shadowbolt suddenly show up like that with no regard to secrecy? Was it a taunt? A test? Some kind of game they were playing?

‘Your security really sucks…’ the stallion said before the brief chase. Why would they expose such a weakness and then do nothing? They weren’t under attack right now. The Shadowbolt was clearly there alone. The way Soarin knew the Shadowbolts, they would have exploited a weakness like that. Maybe not Descent, but he saw plenty of types that would do such a thing when he was a prisoner in the Shadowbolt mobile compound.

It was almost as if… it was… a warning? But for what and why? Were the Shadowbolts so confident that they wanted the Wonderbolt compound to be under total lockdown before making their move?

Whatever it was, Soarin definitely agreed with Spitfire. The time for relaxing was over. They had doubled security and patrols and a Shadowbolt walked right in, unseen. 

The proof was in the pudding… they were too relaxed. It was time to buckle down.

“Listen up and help me out here!” Spitfire addressed Silver and Fire as they stood attention. “Fire,” she pointed at him first. “Go to the offices and tell them to cancel all shows until further notice, start sending out refunds and waivers for free tickets to our first show whenever we start them up again.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Fire immediately saluted without question and turned to head for the second floor.

“Whoa, hold on a second…” Soarin started moving towards Spitfire.

“Silver!” Spitfire pointed to him. “I need you to…” she trailed off as she saw Soarin approaching her. “Ah, wait,” she held her hoof out and turned to Soarin.

“Spitfire I don’t think we need to—”

“Shut up and listen to me, Soarin,” she said sternly. Soarin shut his mouth and forced himself to listen. Why? Because there wasn’t an ounce of force or paranoia in Spitfire’s voice. Whenever Spitfire was giving orders calmly, he knew she meant business.  He would swallow his pride, and listen. Spitfire looked him dead in the eye and took a deep breath.

“Go to Rivet’s workshop… and inform squad zero that, until further notice, I want them prepped and ready at all times for combat.”

A silence brewed between the two of them for a moment as Soarin’s eyes widened slightly. 

So she was finally pulling out the stop.

Spitfire turned away from Soarin and faced Silver, lifting an eyebrow as she saw Silver giving her a look that screamed of disapproval. It was hard to miss and it wasn’t the first time Spitfire had seen it. In fact, it was a face he made often whenever the subject of squad zero came up.

“Have something to say to me Silver?” Spitfire asked while holding herself strong in front of Silver.

“No, ma’am,” Silver said immediately, but the look on his face remained. “What are your orders?” he asked.

“I want you to get a hold of our security shift roster and triple the security staff, tell them we’ll pay lots of overtime, just get all available security guards on site NOW! And hire several more if you have the chance!” 

“Yes, ma’am!” Silver turned and headed for the second floor as well.

Spitfire took one glance at Soarin before she followed behind Silver, most likely heading to her office to make the emergency announcement over the P.A. system. Soarin glanced back at Fleetfoot, Air Mach, Dash, and Storm. They all looked confused. For different reasons, perhaps, but the sight of Air Mach not goofing off and actually looking genuinely worried was not a pleasant thing. As if even he of all ponies realized just how vulnerable they might be. 

Soarin turned to walk towards the west wing, but he stopped when he heard a galloping noise behind him. 

“Soarin!” Dash’s voice caught his ears. He turned and looked back at her as she approached from behind. “Um… What should I do?” she asked. Soarin blinked, curious as to why she asked, but then he thought about the situation. A lot of things just happened all at once. Spitfire gave out orders to the top elite captains and just ran off without giving a word to the rest of them. Dash looked confused, and a confused recruit sought direction, so he gladly gave her some.

“Dash,” he turned and placed a hoof gently on her shoulder. “Let us handle some things and you’ll get orders soon. For now, just go get some food in the mess hall, gather up your squad, and return to the barracks. You’ll know what to do next soon,” he looked up as he finished. “Perfect timing, there they are,” he pointed. Dash looked up to see Squall, Little Star, and Matteo entering the lobby and looking in from the east hallway. “Go on, I have a job to do,” Soarin smiled at her. “They need their captain.”

“O-okay…” Dash nodded before breaking off and heading for her Squad. Soarin watched her as she joined up. “Where’s Twister?” Dash asked. The three present members looked around. 

“What? He was here a moment ago…” Matteo scratched his head as Dash groaned.

"Whatever, he'll show up eventually, just listen up for a moment..." Dash grunted in frustration as she began explaining what happened.

Soarin turned back and focused on the west hallway as he started walking.

So Spitfire was finally planning on unleashing squad zero… well, it was as good a time as any. They were trained specifically to fight the Shadowbolts and that’s what it looked like Spitfire wanted them to do. These Shadowbolts had been fighting differently, but it was clear the Wonderbolts couldn’t afford to pull any punches, especially with just how far ahead it always seemed they were. They knew everything and expected everything. 

A Shadowbolt just slipped by their security no problem. Could he have been a spy? Could he have been the one tipping off all the information? It seemed unlikely. He just exposed himself in the middle of the lobby. If he were trying to snoop around, he wouldn’t have just deliberately made it harder for himself to do so. That’s why Soarin couldn’t shake the thought that it had to be for something else. Why would they make such a brash move? There had to be a reason.

Soarin soon found himself in front of the basement stairs leading down to the research and development sector. He nodded to the security officers as he passed and right as he hit the first step the P.A. came to life.

“Attention, all Wonderbolt personnel,” Spitfire’s voice came over the loud speakers. “This is an emergency announcement. For anypony who was not just in the lobby, a Shadowbolt managed to infiltrate his way into the compound and casually make his way out without much resistance. Due to the ease of the security breach, the following measures will be taking effect.”

Soarin nodded and listened as he made his way down the flight of stairs.

“Until further notice, all shows are cancelled. The security staff will be tripling, don’t expect much privacy. All training facilities are going to be locked down until further notice. The medical facilities, recreational facilities, and of course, the mess hall will remain open. Effective immediately, all Wonderbolts are required to be wearing their flight suit and goggles at all times during the day, or to have them close by to quickly put it on should a need for combat or other organized actions arise.”

Soarin nodded again in agreement as he emerged in the basement hallway and made his way towards Rivet’s workshop as Spitfire continued.

“We are officially on full alert. Nopony gets in or out of the compound until further notice. That means all visitors will be turned away and all social events are postponed. Until we know the nature of what we face, expect these rules to be in effect twenty-four seven. That will be all.”

Soarin pushed open the door to Rivet’s workshop as the P.A. system shut off. He emerged in the large testing area and the first thing he saw was Calm Wind, Playbitz, Swift Justice, and Shine Struck all looking up at the speaker in the corner of the room. Rivet had just emerged from behind the reinforced glass of his workshop and pulled off his welding goggles.

“Did I just hear that correctly?” Rivet asked them as he stepped out. Soarin cleared his throat.

“Yes,” he spoke up. They all turned and looked at him. “Yes you did,” he repeated as he stepped towards them. 

Soarin examined each of them closely as he approached. There was a look of uncertainty on their faces and… Soarin didn’t blame them. This was a scenario they were unfamiliar with. They had trained freely and without worry for so long. It looked like they weren’t expecting something like this to ever happen.

Well… if something did happen, then this would be their test. This would be their chance to show if they could live up to the expectations of The Zero Project… if the experimental squad was truly a success or a failure… and the whole compound will finally see who was right. Spitfire… or Silver Lining.

“I don’t think I have to explain to you that we are in a situation right now,” Soarin began as they all listened. “There is a possibility of a conflict between us… and an enemy we know little about. I’m here right now…” he paused hoping that it wouldn’t shock them too much. “Because Spitfire wants all of you activated, ready, and able to engage in combat when the time comes. Understand?”

They all stared for a moment, clearly not sure what to say, but eventually Calm Wind cleared his throat. 

“Yes sir,” he nodded. “Guys, this is what we’ve been waiting for!” he tried to encourage them. “Right?” he looked down at Shine. Shine took a deep breath and nodded.

“Right, we’re ready,” she nodded, looking up at Playbitz and Swift. The two glanced at each other, then at Calm and Shine, and finally back to Soarin. 

“Yes, sir!” The two said in unison.

“Good,” Soarin nodded as he glanced at Rivet’s lab, a few of his assistants peering out to see what was going on. “Rivet, is everything in your lab secured? No secrets or gear exposed?” he looked down at Rivet. 

“Y-yes,” Rivet stepped out from behind Playbitz. “If anything happens, I’m locking me and my staff in until it’s safe. Nothing can get through the reinforced glass… trust me, Calm has crashed into it multiple times and there’s not even a crack.”

“Good to know,” Soarin chuckled. “Okay guys, remember to be—AH!” Soarin suddenly winced and put a hoof to his forehead. The horn suddenly flickered with a combination of blue and yellow light.

“S-Soarin? Sir?” Shine stepped towards him quickly as the rest stared at the horn, wide eyed. Soarin quickly put a hoof out and stopped Shine from getting any closer.

“No! Don’t… worry, this is a normal thing. Just be ready! I’ve gotta go…” Soarin turned sharply and nearly stumbled as he made his way to the door.

“Soarin?!” Shine called again, but Soarin closed the door quickly behind him.

“Rgh… dammit!” Soarin looked up and saw the faint lights dancing around the horn. “Not now! I don’t need this now!” he fumed to himself. It was nothing painful, the two magic auras just randomly decided to act up it seemed and it was causing him a headache, messing with his equilibrium. He stumbled past a few door in the basement hallway before realizing there was no way he was walking straight until he got it under control. 

Thankfully, most of the research staff was at the mess hall, so Soarin quickly ducked into a nearby office that was currently without its owner. He stumbled in and closed the door behind him, looking around and finding a comfortable chair that was in the corner. He plopped down in it and put both of his hooves to his forehead beside the horn.

“Calm down… Calm… Down…” Soarin spoke to the horn as he took deep breaths and tried to regain control. It was difficult, but he slowly got a hold of it and started a long process of concentration in order to force it all back into his head.

What Soarin was unaware of… was that a head was sticking out of the ceiling above him. The only head that was capable of doing do… Discord’s head. He watched Soarin from above until Soarin managed to calm the magic down before pulling his head back and appearing in the hallway outside the door.

“You better figure out how to keep that under control…” he grumbled to himself as he began floating down the empty hallway. “Because it’s up to ME to make sure everything works as it should,” he continued as he growled and shook his head. “Dammit Celestia… The things I do for you… you’re always finding ways to put me in a rough position…” he glanced back at the door. “Turn me back to stone for disobeying you if you must… but our plan B is NOT an option I’m willing to consider if I can help it.”

Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared.

---To Be Continued---