Piercing the Heavens

by Calm Wind

Chapter 100 special: The Importance of Comfort

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind

Chapter 100: The Importance of Comfort

Placing their trust in the Renegades was something the Wonderbolts did carefully. They were expecting a respite, but the moment Descent and every last Renegade was out of the compound, Spitfire gave the order to prepare for another confrontation.

While she trusted Descent and the Renegades to stay true to their word and their claims, Spitfire refused to take a load off until a day had gone by without the Shadowbolts finding and attacking them.

As much as the Wonderbolts wanted to look around and look through the compound for personal items and such, they all fell in line and did what they had to do for defenses. Spitfire assigned security guards to stand guard at the end of the recruit barracks hallway to keep a close eye on their Shadowbolt prisoners despite Descent’s repeated assurance that they would not fight back without their crystals.

The Wonderbolts were tired and they were weakened, but they would stand and fight if need be.

But thankfully…

Descent’s claim held its weight.

The artificial blizzard raged outside. Snow fell in through the broken windows as several maintenance teams struggled to board them up or cover them. The Wonderbolts stood at the ready, despite the chilly bite of the cold air that rushed against them non-stop.

A whole day went by with them all on the edge of their hooves… and when Starry Skies made a stop at the compound to give them an update…

Her words filled the Wonderbolts with sweet, sweet relief.

They had the Shadowbolts thoroughly confused. While they had had small, short encounters, they had all been similar to the quick scrap and divert they had managed for months before the Wonderbolts were even aware of the new Shadowbolts. None of them were able to track or follow the Renegades, the blizzard thick and the winds strong enough to throw off anypony who did not know the general location of the compound. Starry assured them that no Shadowbolt had come within miles of the compound, due to the sheer expanse of their artificial blizzard, and they planned to keep it that way for as long as they needed.

As Starry flew back out into the strong, freezing winds of the blizzard, a collective sigh of relief could almost be heard around the entire compound.

Finally… finally they could rest.

At least they hoped that’s what it meant. They definitely needed it.

Descent walked through the door of Spitfire’s office, immediately meeting the glare of Spitfire as Fire Streak stopped his report and looked towards the door. She and Fire were both free of their flight suits, instead donning a thick, heavy blanket for warmth in the current frigid environment of the compound.

“You and the Renegades need to learn how to knock,” she said with a grumpy huff that Descent simply shrugged off as he stepped into the room. Fire Streak looked between the two of them, knowing it had to be something important.

“Should I come back later?” Fire asked as he started taking small steps backwards. Spitfire shook her head, halting him in his tracks.

“No,” she said flatly. “Descent can wait his turn since he didn’t knock.

“Okay, I get it. I’ll knock from now on…” Descent said as he grunted and rolled his eyes. Spitfire turned back to Fire.

“Please continue,” she asked as Descent walked around a messy pile of books on the floor and leaned against the wall.

Spitfire had pulled her office back together the best she could, or at least her desk area. As with every other room in the compound, all the items within her office had been thrown about. Her desk had been tipped over and the contents of the drawers spilled everywhere. All the shelves had been toppled, several books thrown from them as well as many plaques and trophies that were now broken or shattered.

The first thing Spitfire did upon learning they had a window of rest was tidy up her office the best she could, still considering it a place to speak officially, despite the new obstacle in the stairwell that was the pillar holding the central propeller. She had put her shelves and desk upright, replacing all the desk drawer contents where they belonged but simply shoving most of the shelf contents aside since they weren’t all that useful and more for decoration.

Along with the cleaning up, she also forced the armored shutter down over her broken window, sealing the draft of cold air that rushed through it. She didn’t want to steal any of the portable lights being used by the rest of the compound just for her office, so she had placed and lit four large candles she had found amongst some of the items they had in storage. They were probably brought in or given as a gift at some point, but seriously, when else were they going to use them? It didn’t provide much light, but it gave enough visibility.

With everything in the best shape she could get it, she wanted to know all about what had happened below with Rivet and the ponies she sent along with him. She had summoned Fleetfoot, but got Fire instead, who claimed Fleetfoot sent him because she ‘wasn’t in the mood.’ While Spitfire questioned Fleetfoot’s reasons, she secretly wasn’t going to complain. She loved Fleetfoot and respected her as one of her best friends, but Fire was much more detailed and thorough in giving reports.

“Once Rivet got the boiler running, lights came on and we were able to subdue most of the Shadowbolts. Some of them were still up and about after our unexpected flight and crash, but with some rather…” Fire paused and glanced at Descent. “Questionable methods from Starry Skies, we were able to subdue them as well.

“Heh,” Descent snorted as Spitfire stole a brief, skeptical glance at him before refocusing on Fire.

“Injury report,” she beckoned him to continue. She knew the obvious, having seen Matteo and Playbitz drag a bleeding Calm Wind towards the infirmary, but she was covering all the bases. Fire humored her.

“Aside from the heavy injuries to Calm, most of us managed to escape with only a couple of bumps, cuts, and bruises. It would seem that our lack of heavy damage was mostly due to Calm taking many hits for us,” he finished with a frown.

Spitfire’s ears flopped down. Having been kept up to speed on the development of squad zero, she had come to learn of their mannerisms and impulses. Calm Wind had a tendency to use his large body as a shield, protecting others from harm. While this was valiant… he did it at every given chance, even if it was not necessary, especially with Swift Justice’s function in the group being to act as a shield with his defensive abilities. Needless to say, Calm had a bad habit causing himself a lot of pain that could have been easily avoided. No matter how selfless it seemed, he really needed to be aware of his own health as well.

The mention of Calm’s injuries brought an unexpected, personal question to mind. Spitfire wasted no time in posing it.

“Fire… one more question, aside from the report,” she clarified to dispel any confusion since a standard report usually ended with the injury analysis. Fire gave a simple nod, prompting her to go on. “How did they do? Squad zero I mean,” she asked with a hopeful expression.

Fire looked surprised at first, but he quickly smiled, knowing she’d be happy to know.

“They were key in our success,” he began. “From what I saw and experienced, their efforts helped immensely in us locating the boiler. Shine Struck handled them well, calling out a defensive formation that kept Rivet safe while also aiding us above. Not to mention Calm took a lot of hits for us alongside Swift’s shielding techniques and Playbitz’s quick strikes from above all allowed us to stay active and ultimately both start up the engines and subdue all the Shadowbolts. Shine ended up aiding Rivet in his efforts to start the engines as well. I will speak for them by saying their performance was that of true Wonderbolts and I’m not sure things would have gone as well without them.”

Spitfire smiled as he finished, breathing a sigh of relief. She had sunk so much effort into the Zero Project and was worried her investment was for naught once the Renegades revealed themselves. Squad zero entered the battle like a storm, but was quickly proved to have little effect… and their ‘unique’ ability to deflect magic was immediately obsolete compared to the techniques of the Renegades. All the deception had Spitfire peeved, but one of the greatest worries on her mind was that she had put four ponies through an intense and rigorous training regimen… only to have them not be useful or be forced to dismiss them for their own safety. Obviously they were in no position to be released in the middle of the mountains under a harsh blizzard in hiding, but had they been in danger or become a liability again… she wasn’t sure what she would do. If they were a large part of their escape, then they earned another chance. She just hoped she wasn’t jumping the gun on this one again.

“Thank you Fire, that will be all,” she gave him a nod of approval.

“Yes ma’am,” Fire returned her nod before grabbing and clutching his blanket around him for a moment. He took a deep breath and exhaled, expelling a brief cloud of warm breath before him as he turned and walked past Descent.

The moment Fire was out of the room, Spitfire released an uncomfortable groan and shivered, clutching her blanket around her tightly all the way up to her nose. Descent stepped forward as he raised an eyebrow at her.

“Cold?” he asked with a bit of sarcasm. Spitfire released a muffled grunt from her mouth beneath the blanket before pulling it down to reveal an unamused expression.

“Warm enough to kick your sarcastic ass,” Spitfire snapped back as she stuffed her nose back into her blanket. Descent rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Hey,” Spitfire cut him off before he could speak. “Don’t give me any of your lip, you’re out there flying and staying active. We’re resting… but it’s kind of freezing and your blizzard isn’t helping that.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you wanted the Shadowbolts to attack you again. We could drop the blizzard if you’d like?” Descent pushed the sarcasm. Spitfire quickly shook her head, letting it go.

“That’s why I’m not going to complain,” she said with another, brief shiver.

“We could have easily just met in the battledome, you know,” Descent suggested, but Spitfire shook her head.

“I’d prefer to keep some things official. Anyway…” she got down to business as Descent flashed an amused grin. “What brings you in?” she asked him.

“Thought I’d check in. Have you made assessments on the food situation?” he asked. Spitfire nodded as she removed her nose from her blanket again.

“We have a decent supply, but only in the form of simple canned food and a large stock of emergency ration boxes. Anything that required the touch from our chefs is pretty much useless, so overall our supply is limited.”

“We’ll make the food supply our first priority then,” Decent nodded. “We’ll bring what we can from our outposts in the mountain ranges, but I’ll send a few larger groups out of the blizzard to reach any nearby cities. I believe we are within a reasonable distance of Fillydelphia.”

“Are you sure they won’t get followed?” Spitfire expressed concern.

“We’ve become accustomed to deception, you know,” Descent smirked.

“Do tell…” Spitfire rolled her eyes, completely agreeing with him after how well the Renegades eluded the Wonderbolts and the Shadowbolts in the recent past.

“Anything else?” Descent wanted a full report, clearly interested in making the respite for the Wonderbolts as comfortable as possible so they may be at full strength when the time came to act again.

“Well…” Spitfire released a heavy sigh. “We’re not handling the lack of bathroom facilities too well.”

“I can imagine, but there’s not much we can do about that,” Descent quickly stated as Spitfire shrugged.

“We could use more blankets,” she said with a slight shiver. “And anything we need to keep the fires running in the battledome. That’s all I can think of in terms of us and necessities. If there’s anything else you need to know, I’d go find Rivet and ask him. He needs supplies more than any of us if he’s going to get this big tub up in the air again. Once we do that, we can seek out assistance against the Shadowbolts. I just don’t know where yet. I’m not going to risk calling in the reserves until we’re in the clear and have some established communication with another authority.”

“Oh, speaking of outside communication,” Descent suddenly spoke up. “I have some of my fastest Renegades gathered. They’re mapping out a few routes to and between major cities and will be ready to help us with outside communication soon. I suggest, within the next day or so, letting the rest of the Wonderbolts know in case they have any mail or messages they wish to send to acquaintances or loved ones. I’m sure that news of the incident in Canterlot has become known to the public by now, not to mention the Wonderbolt compound has disappeared. I’ve no doubt friends and family may be worried. Think about any other authorities you may want to warn and give direction to as well.”

“Yes, that’s a good idea…” Spitfire agreed. “As long as we don’t give away any information about our current location. I’ll be sure to lay down that rule when I bring it up. Technical things aside, thanks for doing that. I know quite a few Wonderbolts will be eager to send word to their families.”

“Oh, one last thing,” Descent spoke up again. “You can rest easy.”

“Pardon?” Spitfire looked up, curious to what he meant since that was already something they were doing.

“The flying fortress, you were worried about the rest of Equestria, were you not?” Descent clarified, Spitfire’s eyes widening and her ears standing straight up.

“You saw it?” she quickly asked.

“I didn’t, but my scouts have spotted it. It is parked outside the reaches of the blizzard. They have made no moves to attack any other locations. We’ll keep an eye on it, but from the looks of things, they are dead set on their prime objective,” he nodded as Spitfire breathed a sigh of relief. “Though I find it strange, if I were in charge I would have attacked populated cities, forcing you to act.”

“Let’s not even consider that scenario,” Spitfire cut him off while shaking her head. “If they’re hell bent on finding us, then it keeps the rest of Equestria safe for the time being. Though… I agree, I wonder what their orders are?”

“I can beat it out of one of our captives later,” Descent suggested with a disturbingly straight face. “For now we’ll keep up our maneuvers and watch them closely.”

“I don’t know if I’ll agree with your method of interrogation…” Spitfire flattened her brow. “But I agree, for now we need to focus on our situation.”

“No time to waste then,” Descent suddenly turned back towards the door. “We’ll get everything you need.”

“Wait, Descent…” Spitfire spoke up before he could leave. He glanced over his shoulder at her.

“Yes?” he asked, lifting his brow. Spitfire took a deep breath and smiled.

“I don’t think I’ve… properly thanked you yet,” she said as she clutched the blanket tighter to herself.

“Save it for when we’re out of this mess,” Descent deflected, but Spitfire shook her head.

“No, I’m thanking you now, and I will thank you later,” Spitfire said adamantly. “Everything would already be over without you guys. I didn’t like the deception or how everything was initially handled, but the fact remains that we’re alive now because of you and the Renegades. And now you’re helping us rest while shouldering the burden for us for a short while. Believe me when I say, the Wonderbolts owe you one.”

“Very well,” Descent cracked a smirk before turning, but Spitfire stopped him again.

“Um… Descent?” she spoke up one more time, making him look over his shoulder again. He curiously took note of the sudden weak expression on her face. “Could you… before anything else…” she looked like she was hesitating to speak. “Could you find and send Silver Lining up here for me?”

“Silver?” Descent blinked, wondering why she asked him instead of Fire.

“Yes,” she nodded. “There’s something I wanted to discuss with him personally, out of earshot and knowledge of the rest of the Wonderbolts.”

Descent’s curiosity was piqued, but Spitfire’s emphasis on it being personal immediately held him back from asking himself. Perhaps she asked him purposely, knowing how he was one to respectfully keep personal information to himself.

“Alright, I’ll stop in the battledome before I leave,” Descent faced the door, and left without another word.

Spitfire watched him leave, and the moment he was gone she released a heavy sigh, sinking into her blanket and slumping down in her chair.

There was a hard decision approaching that she was about to make… but she felt it was for the best. Silver would understand.

“It’s about time we had a chance to do this,” Dash commented, a blanket draped over her body as she walked down the barracks hallway towards the Foxtrot barracks. There were small lights set up on the left side of the hallway, leading all the way down to a pair of security guards that were posted outside the last barracks where the Shadowbolt prisoners were being kept. It offered enough light in the hallway itself, but Dash had a flashlight tucked underneath her wing that she planned to use once they reached the desired destination.

She wasn’t the only one either. Storm Front and the entirety of her squad were along with her, all covered with blankets as well (Matteo had several due to his size), and each with their own flashlight. Their purpose? To return to the recruit barracks and salvage what they could. It was no mystery what awaited them. With how all the furniture in the lobby and the infirmary were all tossed about, they were all certain their barracks had suffered the same fate.

Storm Front had offered to come along and help them out. If anything, it was to help Dash, Twister, and Little Star. He and Squall were still not quite on the best of terms and he still wasn’t sure how to face Matteo. He wasn’t going to let the slight awkward air between them stop him from helping though.

Matteo in particular seemed to be in quite a hurry, easily overtaking Dash at the head of the pack as they neared the Foxtrot door. They all had things to find, but Dash knew what Matteo’s drive was. He had brought a lot of things along with him that reminded him of the Griffon Kingdom, and he held each of them quite dear.

Dash was also admittedly curious to see what sort of things Twister would ‘find’ and claim to be his prized possessions… because she knew they were all going to be ridiculous and pulled out of thin air. She had him figured out.

“No you don’t,” Twister appeared beside Dash while jokingly rubbing his side against hers, his blanket wrapped so slightly around his face that it looked like he was strangling his nose. Dash blinked before giving him an awkward glare and pushing him away. Correction, ONE of these days she’d figure him out… but she still had yet to figure out Pinkie Pie… so she by no means felt an epiphany would come to her soon… or at all for that matter.

“Here we are,” Storm spoke up as Matteo halted in front of them, dropped his flashlight from his beak into his talons as he ripped the door open and immediately entered while shining his flashlight. The blanket covering his backside slipped off and fell to the ground, but he moved in quickly without a care for the cold.

“Dammit…” Matteo cursed as the rest followed behind.

Dash gritted her teeth and cringed when she saw the state of the room. It wasn’t like she wasn’t expecting it to be a mess, but it was MORE of a mess than she had hoped. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. The beds were all turned over, the sheets and pillows tossed about. The dresser drawers had all been pulled free from their frames. The contents of them spilled everywhere. Luckily, the floor lockers or at least the visible ones had remained shut, but the safety of their contents were in question due to how much they had clearly been tossed around with the rest.

It looked like each of their personal living spaces had been thrown into a box, shaken up, and dumped back out. Strangely, everything was packed together in a large pile in the center of the room. It was purely coincidence, but that made their search a little easier. Matteo was upon the pile and digging through it before the rest of them could fully take in the sight, but they all quickly moved up with him and began looking through it for their personal belongings.

“Anything specific you’re looking for?” Storm asked Dash as he trotted up beside her. Dash shined her flashlight on the pile and prodded around for a moment before looking up.

“Oh uh… if my locker spilled, then a book, a framed picture of me and Soarin and…” she paused and blushed while smiling awkwardly. “Uh… a special poster and or pillow,” she referred to the Soarin body pillow that Twister had made as a joke, not being specific.

“What’s so special about them?” Storm asked as he blinked in confusion.

“Oh, I think you’ll know it when you see them,” Dash chuckled as she went back to digging through a pile.

She pushed aside a bed frame and her eyes brightened as they came upon a shut floor locker. She reached in and pulled it out, but frowned when it was labeled ‘LS’ on the side, not ‘RD.’

“Star,” Dash called across the pile. Little Star’s head popped up from behind a tipped over dresser. She smiled when her eyes landed on the floor locker Dash was holding up.

“Thanks!” she bounced over and grabbed the locker. “Whoa!” she yelped as Dash let go, the locker nearly forcing her to the floor. “Yeeeeee-ikes! These things are a lot heavier than they look!” she commented as she hoisted it up, fluttering her wings as she wobbled back and forth on her hind legs away to take a look inside. It had to be a comical sight from the other side. The locker was bigger than her.

“The hell is…?” Squall suddenly spoke up as he pulled a large pillow out of the pile and shined his flashlight on it, his eyes widening with an uncomfortable expression as he looked upon it. Dash flinched, wondering if Squall had found her pillow, but before she could move over, Matteo suddenly reached out and snatched it out of Squall’s hooves, the image of Gilda slightly coming into Dash’s line of sight before Matteo tucked it under his wing and scampered back over to where he was digging.

Squall’s mouth hung down as he slowly looked at Dash.

“Big guy gets a little lonely sometimes?” Dash commented with a snicker.

“Urgh…” Squall shivered and shook his head. “And I TOUCHED that pillow!” he whined while reaching towards a nearby sheet and furiously rubbing his hooves into it as if he was wiping them off.

Dash glanced over at Matteo, smirking as he kept his back stiffly turned to the rest of them after his little piece of Gilda merchandise was finally discovered. Now she just hoped that she would find her Soarin pillow before anypony else did. Though she silently felt it would be hilarious if Squall also stumbled upon her pillow.

“I FOUND IT!” Twister’s voice rang out as he shot out of the top of the pile and slammed into the ceiling, sticking to it. Dash flinched, hoping that he didn’t line up a discovery with her thoughts again like he had moments prior, but when she looked up, he was holding onto what looked like some kind of deflated ball.

“Found… what?” Storm asked curiously. Dash smacked a hoof to her face. Storm wasn’t as aware as the rest of them that asking Twister any questions was a recipe for weird shenanigans that made little to no sense.

“MY PRIZED POSSESSION!” Twister yelled as he detached from the ceiling and slammed flat to the floor right in front of Storm. He sprung up and held the ball in front of Storm’s face, the rubbery surface of the ball flopping over his hooves. “IT’S A HOOFBALL!” Twister yelled as he reached up and stretched the flat ball pointing using his tail to point the flashlight at a signature on its surface. “IT’S EVEN SIGNED BY TOM SHADY OF THE DEFLATRIOTS!”

“Wha-MRPH!” Storm’s further questioning was muffled as Dash threw a hoof over his mouth.

“Twister, go play in a pillowcase,” Dash said flatly.

“KAY!” Twister said as he fell over on his back, his blanket gently draped itself over the top of him, and he scooted himself across the floor, skillfully maneuvering himself into a nearby pillow case, the open end trying itself shut once he was inside. Storm blinked and glanced at Dash.

“Can’t believe that worked,” Storm said with an awkward chuckle. Dash shrugged and shook her head.

“If it sounds silly enough, he’ll do it,” Dash explained as she looked down and gasped quietly. Her eyes landed on an ‘RD’ from the surface of a floor locker. It was right where Twister initially plopped down in front of Storm.

“YOU CAN THANK ME LATER!” the muffled voice of Twister came from within the pillowcase as it began to bounce around the room. Dash rolled her eyes and held her flashlight in her teeth as she reached down to pull the locker out of the pile. Thankfully it was still shut tight, meaning most of her prized belongings were in fact, not in the pile.

“Bleh…” Dash spat the flashlight out of her mouth and reach down for it again. “This would be so much easier if we could actually see.”

“Got you covered!” Twister suddenly spoke up again as violent hacking and coughing noises came from his direction. The pillowcase reared back and lurched forward, making a vomiting noise as a battery powered camping lantern popped out of it and rested on the floor. The rest all shielded their eyes as a hoof stuck out of the top of the pillowcase and flipped it on, illuminating the room with a dim, light. It wasn’t very bright, but it provided them with enough visibility to see without meddling with their flashlights.

Squall grunted as he flattened his brow, or at least the side that wasn’t covered by the bandage.

“Think you could just find all of our stuff by farting while you’re at it?” he asked sarcastically. The pillow case bounced over to him and went completely limp as if it was empty. “What the—?”

“LOOKOUT!” Twister’s voice came from behind him. Squall turned around and immediately squinted as Twister released all the air from a whoopee cushion directly into Squall’s face. Squall growled and reached for Twister, but he was gone the moment he tried. He turned around and saw the pillowcase bouncing away again, but right before Squall could go after the bouncing pillow, a floor locker labeled ‘LS’ slammed down HARD over the top of it, forcing it down to the floor. Squall blinked and saw Little Star with an angry, puffy face as she held onto her floor locker. “OOOOH MAAAAMAAAAA!” Twister yelped as Star opened up her locker and began looking through its contents as if completely content that she had flattened Twister and ended his little string of antics for a spell.

“Well then,” Dash turned back, the many shenanigans becoming a normal occurrence for her. She reached to unlatch her locker, but before she could…

“YES!” Matteo suddenly called out as he thrust his talons into a pile of bed sheets and forced them apart. Dash and Storm both looked up, catching a glimpse of a look of pure happiness on Matteo’s face, which was rare. Dash and Storm glanced at each other before Dash set her locker down and began moving to see what had Matteo so happy. Storm followed her for a couple of steps, freezing in place shortly after. He decided it would be better to keep his distance, since he still wasn’t quite sure where he stood in Matteo’s eyes.

“What’ve you got there, big guy?” Dash asked as she approached, watching Matteo as he had nearly half his large body stuffed into the pile of sheets and bedspreads. Her question was answered quickly as he popped back out, and held several wooden figures in his talons, specifically those that were crafted by his mother.

“They’re okay!” Matteo smiled wide as he looked at the figures of his family. “Oh, praise King Gerardo, they’re okay!” he said excitedly as he fell back into a sitting position and pressed all of the figures to his chest over his heart.

Dash and the rest watched with awe, never seeing such an emotional reaction from Matteo before. The wood carvings really did mean a lot to him. Just how hard was it for him to leave them behind when they thought they were evacuating?

Dash smiled, Matteo’s uncharacteristic display of joy giving her a warm, fuzzy feeling. She looked down into the pile he was digging through and saw that the figures he had been working on were down there as well… but they were all smashed and broken. She blinked, looking back up at the figures he held in his talons, her ears flopping down.

“Matty,” she reached down and pulled up one of his figures. It broke in two as she lifted it up, causing her to flinch and quickly look up at him. “Uh… looks like yours weren’t so lucky.”

Matteo quickly shook his head.

“I could care less about those. These here…” he looked down at the figures and set them all on the floor except for the Gilda one. “These were not only professionally crafted by my mother, but they, more than anything, remind me of what I have,” he said as his eyes scanned over the perfectly crafted wooden image of Gilda. “A practice of my culture, and they’re of things I hold dear… live for… and fight for,” he looked up at Dash. “My feeble attempts were merely a hobby, these…” he picked up the figures of his mother, father, daughter, and son. “Actually mean something to me.” He looked down at them. “Like I told you before… I’m a long way from home. It’s important to never forget where you came from or what’s the most important to you.”

“I can definitely agree on that,” Dash said as she continued to look upon him. She decided to leave it there, turning away to let Matteo enjoy his relief, looking upon the images of those he just fought hard to survive for. She noticed the others were all staring at him, except for Twister who was still trapped in a pillowcase, smashed beneath Star’s floor locker. Dash raised her hoof and made a quick motion across her neck for them to stop staring. They all complied, but not nervously. They did so with smiles, or at least Storm and Star had. Squall just grunted and went back to searching through the pile.

Dash finally got back to her floor locker beside Storm and quickly poked him in the side.

“Hey, most of my stuff is in here,” she explained as she sat down before her locker. “Except for the… pillow,” she said with a nervous smirk.

“You’re seriously making me curious about this special pillow of yours,” Storm commented as he lifted an eyebrow.

“Oh, just keep digging,” Dash waved him off as she focused on her locker. She reached down and unlatched it, slowly opening it in fear that anything was broken. The book was probably just fine. The sexy Soarin Poster may have suffered some damage, but she was more worried about the picture frame and her photo of her and Soarin.

“Aw dammit…” Squall’s voice caught her attention as she reached down to open it. Squall pulled his floor locker free from the pile. It was heavily dented and the door was missing from it, suggesting that all of his belongings were strewn about within the pile. Little Star poked her head over the top of her open locker door and cringed.

“Oooo… That’s not good,” she commented as she fluttered into the air and hovered over to him. “Here, I’ll help you,” she offered.

“N-no! It’s… fine, I’ll do it…” Squall said, sounding frantic for a moment before clearing his throat and calming down.

“It’s alright. My stuff is all fine, I’ll help, hon,” Star insisted in her usual motherly fashion, generally not taking no for an answer on anything.

“Uh… but… er… no…” Squall tried to refuse again, but Star was clearly not having it. Instead, he dove into the pile and searched around with her quickly as if trying to find something before she did.

Dash refocused on her locker, opening the door and breathing a sigh of relief as the first thing she saw was her copy of the first Daring Do book. It was completely unscathed and still in pristine condition, looking no different than it had when Twilight gave it to her for her nineteenth birthday a year ago. She opened the front cover, A.K. Yearling’s signature just as untouched as the rest of the book. She smiled, setting it back down before returning her eyes to the locker.

“Ooo…” she bit her lower lip as she examined the rolled up poster of Soarin. She didn’t dare pick it up and examine it with everypony else around, but she could tell from where she was that it was awkwardly bent and a few of the ends ripped. Probably from clashing with the book and the… Dash’s eyes widened and she frowned as she found the last thing she was worried about.

“Oh no…” her ears flopped down as she pushed aside the poster and saw bits and pieces of shattered glass… and a frame that was broken in two. She reached down and picked up the frame, realizing that the picture had fallen out of it. She carefully reached in, gingerly pushing the glass and broken pieces aside until she found a photo turned upside down. She carefully picked it up and turned it over.

Her ears stood back up and she smiled. The frame was completely broken… but the photo was perfectly fine. No rips, tears, or smudges on the surface, the image of her and Soarin playfully jeering at each other still clear as day. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she sat down and stared at the photo.

“That’s a nice picture,” Storm’s voice came from over her shoulder. Dash’s eyes widened and she quickly slammed the cover of her locker shut to hide the poster. Storm flinched in surprise, and then turned to look at her smiling sheepishly. “What was that all about?” he asked curiously.

“NOTHING!” Dash’s fake grin widened as she held up the photo. “What a lovely picture!” she failed to cover up his suspicions, but Storm played along, figuring that she was hiding something personal.

“I need to get a picture with Derpy…” Storm frowned. “Never thought about it while I had the chance… it would definitely help me at a time like this.”

“Hey,” Dash smiled, regaining her demeanor and placing a hoof on his shoulder. “You will get the chance, no talking like we’re not gonna pull through all of this. I still have to show you around Ponyville too!” she encouraged him. Storm smiled and nodded.

“Sometimes I envy how you can put a positive spin on any situation,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s refreshing really… you and Soarin are both good at it,” Storm mentioned. Dash chuckled and tapped a hoof against her chest.

“That’s what I call a perfect combination,” she said while bouncing her eyebrows and holding up the photo. “We play to win and only win.”

“No doubt,” Storm chuckled along with her.

“Squall?” Star’s voice caught their attention. Dash and Storm both looked over to see Star pulling herself out of the pile. Squall stood up, the paraphernalia falling down over him as he stood. There was a look of dread on his face as Star slowly hovered up… holding a small blanket. It was a hoof stitched blanket, a white base color with light blue edges. Within the white were many boxes. Within each box was a stitched design of a small, smiling pony, bear, griffon, or lion. It was an adorable pattern and clearly crafted with skill. It looked a little old and a little dirty in some spots, but the clear, fine craftsmanship had kept it all in one piece. “Is this…” Star blinked as she examined the blanket. “A foal blanket?”

Little Star flinched as Squall quickly pulled the blanket from her hooves, sat down, and hid it behind his back.

“NO!” he yelled at her while blushing in embarrassment. All eyes were on him in confusion. Even Twister popped his head out from the pillow case beneath Star’s locker and looked on curiously. “WHAT?!” Squall angrily yelled at them. “IT’S NOTHING! YOU SAW NOTHING!” he hissed.

“But…” Star blinked and tipped her head. Squall shut his mouth and held his breath as he watched Little Star try to look around him. Realization hit him hard in the face that he wasn’t going to get out of it.

“Grrrrrrgghhhh…” Squall growled, letting his head hang and slowly removing the blanket from behind his back. “FINE!” he gritted his teeth, his mane completely hiding his uncovered eye as he continued to blush. He held the blanket up in front of him. “Yeah! It’s my FOAL blanket! Go ahead and LAUGH, I don’t CARE!” he yelled shakily as if he never wanted to show his face again.

Everypony remained silent as Squall waited to be laughed at, but no such laughter came. Instead, somepony—er somegriffon spoke up instead.

“Why would we do that?” Matteo broke the silence quickly, causing Squall to look up quickly and blink. His ears halfway between flopped and up as if he was unsure how to feel. “It’s something you hold dear, yes?” he asked, not expecting an answer. Little Star hovered over to it and examined the designs stitched into the blanket’s surface.

“Squall, this is adorable, and… I love the designs,” she commented as she reached forward and ran a hoof over the blanket as Squall held it out. The situation was clearly incredibly backwards based on what he was expecting.

Dash looked away from the blanket at Storm, who had his cheeks puffed out and was snickering.

“Storm…” Dash flattened her brow at him. Storm’s eyes widened and he quickly waved a hoof at her.

“No, no… I’m not laughing at him… I just,” he looked at Squall holding the foal blanket and shut his mouth tight stifling a chuckle. “Of all the ponies I’d expect to keep a foal blanket around… he was one of the last. That’s why I’m laughing… what a twist.”

“You KNOW he won’t take it that way,” Dash made clear to Storm as she nudged him to make him stop.

“I know,” Storm said as he struggled to hold it back. “That’s exactly why I’m trying to keep it down.”

“This is nothing to be ashamed of, Squall…” Star smiled at him as Squall kept his eyes glued to the floor. “It’s cute!”

“Nnnnnggggghhhh…” Squall groaned, his eyes widening and looking up as Matteo stopped right behind Star. He held up the wooden carvings of his family and a small smile curled on the edges of his beak.

“We all have things that bring us comfort. Images of home, memories of our youth… our cultures may differ greatly, but this concept is universal,” he explained with a friendly tone.

“Yeah!” Star agreed with a nod before floating back over to her footlocker and disappearing for a moment before emerging with a large, slightly worn out teddy bear that was the same size as her. It was missing an eye and had a lot of stitch marks all over it, but she hugged it tightly as she hovered back over. “See? This is Snugglebear, I got him for my first birthday and, heh…” she blushed sheepishly. “I haven’t gone a single night since without him nearby. He’s my lucky charm.”

“When you’re away from home,” Dash spoke up as she walked towards them, holding out her copy of Daring Do. “You’ve always gotta have something that can bring home to you or remind you of good times,” she nodded. “I take it that blanket is something special… that you always keep around for the memories, right?” she asked as Squall sighed and turned the blanket around to look at the cute designs on the front.

“I CAN RELATE!” Twister popped up behind him holding a plastic flute in his hoof. “LET ME PLAY YOU THE SONG OF MY PEOPLE!” he yelled as he put the flute near his lips.

But before he could play a single note, Little Star slammed down plot first over his head, forcing his face to the ground which cause the flute to release a high pitched squeak as it smashed between the floor and Twister’s face.

“NO.” Star said sharply as Twister twitched beneath her. “You are NOT ruining this moment!” she scolded him as Twister released a series of inaudible noises.

All eyes turned back to Squall as he completely ignored the short altercation and continued to look over the blanket.

“My…” Squall bit his lip briefly. “My grandmother made this for me…” he revealed as his ears flopped back down. “I only saw her once when I was three years old before she died. During that single encounter, she gave this to me, letting me know that she heard I was visiting and wanted to give me something special,” he held the blanket close to him. "It’s the only thing I’ve ever really been happy about. It felt real, not like the silly yelling and touching my parents always do. It was made with love and care for me… and then my grandma was taken from me before I could ever see her again. I was too young to even say thank you. Never got the chance.”

No tears fell from his eyes, but it was clear from the way he told it that it was something he often thought about… and it weighed heavily on him. No wonder he always seemed so negative. Having such warmth be taken right from under his hooves at such a young age, and never quite getting the same feeling again from parents who were a bit… strange.

“Awww… Squall…” Star set her teddy bear down and slowly hovered over to him to give him a hug. He gave no resistance, nor did he even flinch as she wrapped her little arms around his neck and gave him a gentle squeeze.

Twister began to slowly rise up behind Squall with a silly look on his face, but Star shot a frightful glare at him. Twister froze in place, his eyes widening before he pressed a hoof over his head and slowly pushed himself back down to the floor.

Dash was happy that Squall shared such a personal story with them. Maybe they were finally reaching a point where he wouldn’t hesitate to confide in them. The amount of progress Squall had made from the bitter, glaring pony they all came to know at first was immense, and soon she hoped he could trust them all on a deeper level, especially after all they had been through thus far.

Her attention was drawn away as a heavy sigh came from behind her. She turned and looked towards Storm as he wore a sudden somber expression on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Dash asked as she fully turned to face him, tipping her head to the side curiously as she examined his face and posture.

“I envy you guys,” Storm began almost immediately. “I can’t say I have anything that reminds me of home. Honestly, I don’t think I even have a reason to remember home. All I ever wanted to do was get away from it.”

Dash’s ears stood up as a snort came from the rest of the group. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Matteo glaring towards Storm. He turned and began moving towards him, catching Storm’s attention, but Dash sharply cleared her throat, freezing Matteo in place. She turned back to Storm and smiled while putting a hoof on his shoulder.

“You’ve got your father,” she reminded him as she nodded. “I guess for you, it’s not so much a memory of home, but a memory of what or who’s important to you.”

Storm smiled, but flinched as Matteo released another snort from his nostrils. Storm’s eyes immediately went back to Dash as she sighed angrily and her ears began to twitch.

“Okay,” she began with an irritated tone. “That does it!” she sharply turned around and glared at Matteo, moving away from Storm and towards Matteo with heavy steps. Matteo remained still as Dash walked right up to him and stood in his shadow, not giving an inch beneath the glare he was shooting down at her. Her heavy-hooved approach had also caught the attention of Squall, Star, and Twister as they looked on curiously. “Matty…” Dash spread her wings and hovered up until she was face to face with him in a way similar to how Silver had handled him back during the recruit training. “This ends here and NOW!” she demanded.

Storm frowned and took a step back as Matteo looked past Dash and glared at him, but Dash grabbed Matteo firmly by the beak and forced him to look back at her.

“LOOK AT ME!” she yelled into his face as a low growl escaped his throat. “You like to talk on and on about your culture, well how about I let you in on a little bit of pony culture?” she yelled into his face, completely ignoring the scowl he was giving her and the way his feathers began to twitch and stand on end within his anger. “We have something we like to call NOT being judgmental! From your cultural point of view, Storm is an enemy because his father killed yours, but guess what? That’s not what everypony else sees every time you snarl and glare at him for it!” she let go of his beak and pulled back. She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. “You know what we see? What everypony sees? They see you labeling Storm as something he is not. You’re basing your view on him for something he did not do. You’re labeling him guilty by association. Maybe that’s how it goes in the Griffon Kingdom, but here? That’s WRONG here!” she snapped at the end before she turned around and floated over to Storm.

“Ah!” Storm yelped in surprise as Dash grabbed him by the arm and began dragging him towards Matteo. As she stopped with Storm directly in front of Matteo, she glared up at him and pointed a hoof at Storm’s face.

“Look into Storm’s eyes and tell me…” she was nearly grinding her teeth together. “That you want to disregard everything Storm stands for and all the time you two have spent as friends because of something he didn’t do and would never dream of doing!” she swiped her arm out. “Your father was killed by DESCENT! NOT STORM!” she emphasized the last point harshly.

There was a long, painful silence that filled the room as she finished. The only noise present was the high pitched gentle hum of the battery powered lantern, still sitting in the center of the room, illuminating everypony with a soft, dim white light.

Matteo kept glaring at Storm, and Storm kept frowning in return.

Eventually Matteo released a grunt and a heavy sigh as he looked away towards the wall and shook his head.

“I’m sorry,” he began. “But it’s not that easy for me.”

“MATT!” Dash threw her hooves up and her head back, growling and ready to berate him again, be he continued before she could.

“You have mistaken my actions,” he shook his head. “I have not, and will not forget the camaraderie I share with Storm Front, or the challenges we have faced and overcome side by side. A griffon never forgets the trust and honor gained from other warriors they fight beside,” he released a sharp breath from his nostrils as he looked at Storm again. “The initial shock of learning my father’s killer has passed. I no longer breathe ill will of Storm’s name or his character, but…” he turned his head towards the wall again. “His father killed my father. To my kind, that marks him as an enemy. My blood revenge is focused on Descent, but that doesn’t free Storm from my views. Whether I decide to act on such a label is my choice. And to be honest, I have respected that he is not a griffon and of a different culture. If I hadn’t, then I would have already challenged him to a duel of honor.”

Dash had calmed down, but she didn’t like it. Matteo’s connections to his culture were strong, but she didn’t want any of it to cause a rift of any kind between her friends.

“He is a pony,” Matteo continued. “And I have been told his connection to his father has been loose and uninformed. I have not lost my respect for Storm, but forgive me. I still need some time to come to terms with all of it and what my instincts tell me. I hope you can understand,” he finished as he remained facing the wall.

Dash looked between Storm and Matteo.

“Matty…” Dash was about to address him again.

“Dash, let it be,” Storm suddenly spoke up as his hoof rested on her shoulder. She blinked and looked back in surprise as Storm sat behind her… with a smile on his face? It was a weak one, but still a surprise.

“But…” she wanted to disagree, but Storm shook his head.

“The fact that he hasn’t disregarded what we’ve been through is good enough for me. And… I am ashamed that our fathers clashed and his was killed in the process. I want him to know I’m not just brushing the thought aside.”

Dash looked back towards Matteo and saw that he had turned to look at Storm, listening intently.

“I wish to respect his culture,” Storm continued. “But I appreciate that he decided against his instincts for my sake. I hope that, in time, we can put this behind us. After all, I cannot speak for the actions of my father,” Storm frowned. “He may have proved he is a good pony with how hard he tried for me, but that will never excuse or forgive taking Matteo’s father from him. Perhaps I can help make up for that wrong… somehow.”

Storm kept his eyes locked with Matteo’s the whole time, not once wavering or averting his eyes to ensure that Matteo could read his positive intentions and serious air to his words. Dash huffed, her tail whipping around as she decided to completely back off. It wasn’t exactly the outcome she wanted. She wanted Matteo to forget about it completely. But then again, perhaps Storm’s method was better. Matteo enjoyed a certain amount of respect to his culture and his different ways of doing things. It may heavily conflict with pony culture, but she wasn’t so sure forcibly pulling him out of his comfort zone was really the solution to anything. As long as she knew he wasn’t going to kill Storm randomly one day, she felt she could let the case rest. The two seemed to have a basic understanding going now at least.

“Excuse me?” A new voice along with a new glow from a flashlight entered the room. All heads turned towards it, spotting Bliss’ assistant, Mahogany as she stuck her head through the open door and peered inside. “Is Squall in here?”

“Right here,” Squall spoke up as the rest looked towards him.

“Bliss wants you to report to the infirmary. It’s time to remove the bandages,” she explained. All eyes went back to her for a moment, before landing on Squall once more. Squall blinked and swallowed nervously.

“Alright…” he said as he stood up from his belongings and started moving towards the door, replacing the large blanket over his body as he moved. As he neared the door, Dash quickly turned to the rest of them and made a circular hoof motion.

“Guys… let’s all go with him. We know our stuff is safe, we can come back and sort it all out later. The compound is going nowhere for a while,” she ordered. Nopony gave protest. All of them were just as eager to follow. They wanted to see Squall’s scar, sure… but they also knew it could be a rough moment for him. So naturally, they wanted to be there for him.

They dropped their belongings and followed close behind as Mahogany led Squall back towards the infirmary.

“Rghhh…” Silver grunted as his hooves touched down on the second floor, a collection of mist spewing from between his teeth as he exhaled into the cold air and cringed. He looked up and eyed the door to Spitfire’s office, reaching up to clasp his blanket around him.

He blinked as his hoof patted his shoulder, finding nothing. He looked over his shoulder and noticed that he wasn’t even wearing a blanket anymore. It had to have fallen off when he strained himself to take flight and just make it up to the second floor. Thing is, he didn’t even notice. Forget how cold it was in the compound, he couldn’t even feel it. In fact, his body was burning. It was sore, stiff, and in pain all over. He was lucky his pain meds all stayed in their bottles during the takeoff and crash. The hard part was sneaking them down and hiding them in a corner of the battledome among everypony else and taking them when nopony was looking.

Silver sighed as he started walking with a clear and nasty limp towards Spitfire’s office. No doubt this had to be about his condition. It didn’t help that it took him about twenty minutes to just stand up and get to the second floor. He wasn’t doing himself any favors, but he was definitely ready to protest any argument she gave him to remain in action. He refused to be held down when his brothers and sisters were in danger.

He reached the door and took a deep breath, preparing himself to walk as normally as he could, despite how painful it would be. He knocked.

“Come in,” Spitfire’s voice quickly answered. Silver hesitated for a few seconds before pushing the door open, and holding back grimaces as he walked in. He couldn’t completely conceal the limp, but he definitely restrained most of it.

Spitfire was sitting at her desk, completely wrapped in her heavy blanket. The first thing she noticed upon Silver entering was the obvious.

“Where’s your blanket?” she asked while looking him over.

“Lost it along the way,” Silver quickly answered as he closed the door behind him. “The cold isn’t bothering me that much anyway, I’m fine,” he quickly assured her before she could suggest anything.

“Alright,” Spitfire gave no fight on the matter and motioned for him to approach. “I want to talk to you about something.”

Silver subtly bit his lip. ‘About something’ she said. He knew exactly what this was about. She didn’t have to beat around the bush.

“I want you to know beforehoof that this wasn’t something I decided on a whim. I put a lot of thought into it based on what I’ve seen and how things have happened. This wasn’t an easy decision for me to come to… but I think it’s the right decision, no matter what way I look at it…”

Silver growled quietly. What was she waiting for? He wanted her just to get to the point already so he could shoot it down.

“Silver,” Spitfire gave him a serious look. “I want you to take command of the Wonderbolts.”

“Captain, I will not stand for—” Silver stopped mid-sentence and blinked as he realized what she had just asked. “Wait… excuse me?” he furrowed his brow and looked at her curiously. Spitfire’s expression had not wavered, remaining strong and serious.

“I want you to take command of the Wonderbolts,” she repeated in the exact same manner.

Silver remained silent for a few moments as he registered what she was asking of him. He tipped an eyebrow up, one of his ears flopping down as he gave her a curious look with slight disbelief. It quickly changed to a stern gaze.

“Captain, it’s not good to see our leader continuously second-guess herself,” he said.

“Dammit Silver, look at me,” her blanket shifted down as she removed a arm from it and pointed to her face. “Do I look like I’m wallowing? Am I downplaying myself? Calling myself useless with depressing moans? Oh, woe is me, I don’t know what to do?” she slammed her hoof down on her desk. “No. That’s not what you, nor I, nor anypony else here needs right now. This is a decision I’ve made through the power and responsibility I hold as the lead captain.”

Silver remained silent, letting her speak to hear her reasoning.

“The Renegades have made something very clear to me. What we need right now is not an icon,” Spitfire pressed a hoof to her chest. “But experience,” she pointed to Silver. “The current Wonderbolts have never been in a serious situation like this before except for you and Misty Fly. The two of you were both active during the last Griffon-Drake war. The decisions you have made and the risks you have taken in the past couple of days have done so much more for us then any of mine have… you’ve even acted while I’ve been frozen, unsure how to proceed. The Wonderbolts need a lead captain with a head on their shoulders, one who has been through situations like this before and can make the right choices. I will confidently and humbly admit that you are much more fit for the job in our current scenario and circumstances than I am. We need a veteran.”

Silver blinked, remaining silent as she finished. The two had their eyes locked, neither faltering. Spitfire tipped her head to the side slightly.

“Besides,” she spoke again. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”

Silver’s eyes widened, his mouth hanging slightly ajar.

“I remember how bitter you were,” Spitfire looked down. “When they named me the new lead captain instead of you, you were furious. Believe me, that’s not something I’d easily forget. Now’s your chance, it would be for the best in this situation.”

It went completely silent again and this time it lasted a long time. The two stared across Spitfire’s desk at each other for easily a whole minute. The flickering candlelight dancing up and down about their faces as the silence dragged on.

Silver slowly closed his eyes and let his head tip down. He didn’t need that much time to come up with his answer, but he took a moment to gather his words so she would hear him loud and clear.

“No.”

It was clearly not the answer Spitfire was expecting because she wore an expression of shock. Silver simply looked back up calmly as she scrunched her brow.

“What?!” she reacted in small fit of frustration.

“You heard me,” Silver nodded calmly. “No.” He repeated Spitfire gritted her teeth.

“Silver, this isn’t the time to—”

“Be stubborn?” Silver cut her off while lifting an eyebrow. “Listen to me Spitfire,” he dropped the formalities to help get his point across. “Do you think Blazetail or Flashwind had ever experienced something like the Griffon-Drake war before the Wonderbolts were drawn into it?”

“I…” Spitfire’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open, her own speech frozen with nothing to say in response.

“Welcome to your job,” Silver said sternly while blowing mist into the cold air from his nostrils. “I understand and appreciate that you’re thinking of us… and that you believe I have the experience required, but no thanks. The Wonderbolts don’t follow me, they follow YOU,” Silver suddenly slammed a hoof down on her desk. “I’m old, from a different generation. I may have the sage advice and the veteran mindset, but that’s where my role ends. You are the leader of this generation. It’s up to you to meet the unknown and lead the rest through it. And I’m confident you can do just that,” he turned his head slightly and leaned it towards her over her desk. “Have you seen what you’re capable of? Believe me, there’s a reason Blazetail and Flashwind chose you over me.”

Spitfire leaned back in her seat and took a deep breath. The serious expression returning as she listened.

“I was bitter at first, sure,” Silver shrugged as he pulled back from her desk. “But as the days turned to months, and the months turned to years, it became abundantly clear to me that they had made the right choice. That wasn’t an easy thing for me to accept either,” he paused and shook his head. “You… were better than me, superior in every regard. You were the right choice for captain and I’ve been proud to serve under a captain such as you.”

Spitfire didn’t say a word in response. She just kept staring forward. It was the same expression she wore at the start, no sign of weakness or doubt, but she said nothing.

“I believe that’s all that needs to be said,” Silver said conclusively as he turned to leave.

“Silver?” Spitfire spoke up suddenly before he could take a step.

“Hm?” he replied as he looked over his shoulder. Spitfire was smiling.

“Thanks for everything you’ve done, for me and for the Wonderbolts. Really, I mean that.”

“I’m just doing my job,” Silver said as he looked back towards the door.

“And for Celestia’s sake, put a blanket on. You’re making me cold just looking at you,” Spitfire added. Silver paused and grumbled to himself.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said as he slowly made his way out.

As soon as Silver was out the door and the door was closed behind him, Spitfire grasped her blanket and clutched it tightly around her, releasing all the shivers she was holding back in Silver’s presence. She looked back up at the door. Her ears flopped down and she frowned.

“I can’t do it Bliss…” she spoke to herself as she reached for the middle drawer of her desk. She opened it, and pulled out a medical report she received from Bliss the day before. Attached to it was a separate note.

Silver’s body is in a very poor state of decay. He’s clearly been hiding information and upon closer inspection, some of my medical records of him have definitely been tampered with. I recommend immediate dismissal from service for his own safety and well-being. – Siren Bliss.

Spitfire released a heavy sigh as she turned her head and dug her hoof back into the drawer. She pulled out numerous reports, all clipped together in a big stack. They were older medical reports, all about Silver. The dates were inconsistent because Silver had not been able to catch and change all of them. Silver was trying to cheat fate and evade the traditional retirement policy… and Spitfire had been aware of it the whole time.

If it were anypony else, Spitfire wouldn’t have hesitated to dismiss them, but, as he just proved, he was not a pony that they could simply let go of.

Spitfire unclipped the reports and put the newest one on top, Bliss’ note included. She stared at them for a few moments before moving them over her desk… and holding corner of the pile over one of the candles.

The papers caught hold of the candle flame and began to burn.

Spitfire sat back as she held the other end of the papers, watching as the fire slowly engulfed and burned them. As the fire reached her hoof, she let go of it and used her skills of fire manipulation to let the lingering flame hover in the air, staring at it with no regrets as the ashes fell onto her desk.

“I’m sorry Bliss…” Spitfire spoke to herself, her eyes remaining on the collection of flames as they slowly began to die in the air before her. “But some ponies simply can’t be replaced,” she sighed as the flames dissipated and the remaining ashes of the papers sprinkled down into the pile on her desk. “We need Silver…” she swiped her hoof out, knocking the ashes and burnt flakes onto the floor, blowing on her desk to rid the last traces that remained. “Now more than ever.”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help it. She and the others were all there in the infirmary for Squall, but every few seconds she’d lean back and look past the two vacant trainer tables towards Soarin in the first medical bed. He was lying on his back, head resting comfortably on a pillow with his horn glowing a very soft blue light.

Dash frowned every time she looked, her ears surely would be glued to the side of her head if she kept it up. A whole day had gone by after the compound took off and crashed, but Soarin was still down after his efforts to bolster Luna’s shield. She just wanted him to wake up, for her sake and for his. He had been down for too long. The last thing she wanted to happen was for him to start having issues due to lack of nourishment or other needs of the body. It wasn’t like they had an arsenal of hospital equipment at their disposal.

Then again, she had no idea if that was even an issue. Her eyes landed on the soft glow of the horn. If past experience was any indication, it was highly possible that he was just fine, the magic keeping his body in top condition as it had in the past. She didn’t often wish for his magic to be a solution to something, but this was a special case.

“Ready?” Bliss’s voice caught Dash’s attention, turning her eyes back towards Squall as he sat on the trainer table. Bliss donned a thick blanket as the rest had as she completed preparations and Mahogany hovered a pair of tape cutting scissors over to her. Squall swallowed and gave a nervous nod in reply. Dash, Storm, Star, Twister, and Matteo all paid close attention, clutching their blankets tightly as Bliss hovered the scissors around to the back of his head as she leaned behind to get a better look. Mahogany shined a flashlight to give her better light compared to the dim glow of the work lights placed about the countertops.

“The stitches have probably dissolved by now,” Bliss explained as Squall felt the flat safety edge of the scissors rest against his head along with a tug on the bandages. “If not, they should be gone by tomorrow. There’s a good chance the wound has completely closed up as well since that area of the face isn’t very deep in terms of skin…” she trailed off as Squall felt the bandage begin to loosen as the scissors cut the piece that kept it all fastened together. The fact that Bliss trailed off had worried him. He remembered her saying that she was confident he was lucky in terms of where the cut was made and that his face wouldn’t be too damaged. She didn’t say that here though, which preemptively made his throat tight. He wasn’t a narcissist by any means, but his image was as important to him as it was to anypony. He hoped to Celestia that there was no damage, or at least not serious damage aside from the scar.

Dash and the rest held their breath, watching eagerly as the bandages began to loosen. Bliss caught the falling edge of the bandages in her magic so she could neatly unwrap it from around his head and face.

Squall closed his eyes as the bandages were slowly removed. He felt each strand of cloth fall until finally, the cold sting of the air met the right side of his face for the first time. It made him shiver as his face was fully exposed. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up.

Squall blinked as he stared forward, not quite sure how to take how his squadmates were reacting.

Matteo and Storm were both staring wide eyed, as if surprised. Twister was suddenly wearing a monocle and a fake moustache, which Squall immediately dismissed. Dash and Star’s reactions were a bit different. They were both staring with a small degree of awe, but both of them were… lightly blushing?

“Wow…” Star said quietly as she gently placed a hoof over her mouth and tipped her head down slightly as she continued to stare.

“Whoa…” Dash commented as she smirked and released a light chuckle. “Damn, Squall… that’s a pretty sexy scar, I’m not gonna lie,” she scrunched face and pushed her mane down over her face while admittedly smiling like an idiot.

Matteo and Storm both looked over at the two mares curiously as Twister dropped to the floor and vanished.

“Careful,” Storm chuckled while nudging Dash. “Who knows if your stallion can hear you in his sleep?”

“Oh, shut up…” Dash playfully nudged Storm.

Bliss came around with a small mirror as Mahogany shined the flashlight near it, blushing a little herself. Squall grabbed the mirror and looked upon the new scar for the first time. He internally breathed a heavy sigh of relief. His face looked just like it always had. Only now there was a bright red scar reaching from the middle of his forehead, down between his eyes, and extending slightly beneath his right eye. He slowly reached up and gently touched the scar with his hoof. The skin was incredibly sensitive, causing him to shiver at the touch and not because of the cold.

He blinked as Bliss’ magic aura surrounded his hoof and slowly pulled it away from his face.

“Looks like the stitches are gone,” she commented. “But I would advise against touching it for a day or two to ensure it’s fully healed over.”

“Hmm…” Squall replied simply with a nod as he continued to look at the scar in the mirror. He looked up in surprise as Dash and the rest approached to get a closer look.

“A fine battle scar,” Matteo spoke up as he nodded. “Wear it with pride. Scars earned on the battlefield tell the stories of great warriors.”

“Hmph…” Squall grunted, flattered by the compliment, but refusing to show it. Twister popped up between Dash and Storm with a fake scar drawn on his face with a red magic marker.

“Now we can be pals!” he said cheerfully before Storm reached up and shoved Twister back down to the floor.

“You’re learning how to handle him,” Dash chuckled as Storm held his hoof over Twister’s head.

Star hovered up and landed on the trainer table, leaning in to get a very close look at it as Squall nervously backed away a little. She giggled as she pulled back.

“Bliss was right. The scar didn’t ruin your good looks. I think it made them better honestly,” Star said with a teasing wink. Squall’s eyes widened.

“Nnnnnghhh…” he groaned as he put down the mirror and pulled his blanket all the way over his head to hide.

“Squall! Come back out and let us see your pretty face!” Star giggled as she tried to pull his blanket back down, but he held it firmly in place.

Storm chuckled and shook his head, smiling and happy for Squall’s fortunate end to a serious injury. Sure, they didn’t get along, but he didn’t wish ill will upon him. Storm looked to his side and noticed that Dash was gone. He perked up and glanced around, his eyes finding her as she walked away from the group and towards Soarin’s medical bed.

“I’m freezing in here…” Star suddenly spoke up. “Can we go back to the battledome now?”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Matteo agreed. “As long as you don’t all hug me again,” he said with a grunt.

“Can’t make any promises Mr. Poofy Feathers,” Star poked him in the side as she turned back to Squall in attempt to get him moving.

Seeing that they wished to get back to where everypony else was, Storm decided to check with Dash before following. He turned away from the group and walked towards her as she plopped down on the floor beside Soarin’s bed and rested her chin on the mattress.

Storm hadn’t been to the infirmary since Bliss had cleaned up the place and rearranged all the toppled furniture. While it was still in a small state of disarray, it was set up for work and quite a few ponies were occupying the beds and tables. Not all of them were seriously injured, but they were taking the opportunity to get slow, careful treatment for any bumps, cuts, or bruises that were previously only patched up before being sent back into the fray. There were a few Renegades there as well, some who were still hurt from the takeoff and crash cacophony and one or two who had minor injuries from scuffles with the Shadowbolts. The blizzard was successfully eluding the Shadowbolts, but it didn’t stop them from a few encounters. Storm was a little concerned about his father being out there, but Descent had more than proven he was capable of taking care of himself.

The most notable occupant besides Soarin was in the bed right beside his, behind Dash. Calm Wind was lying on his stomach in the bed beside him, covered by several thick blankets. It was probably the only way he could lie down due to his back being a mess. He slept peacefully as well, probably from muscle relaxants and pain relievers given to him by Bliss. The big guy definitely needed them after the beating he took.

Storm refocused on Dash as he approached and walked in between the beds of Soarin and Calm. He stopped beside Dash and looked upon Soarin’s sleeping face, the soft glow from the horn splashing a dim blue light upon them. Storm wanted Soarin to wake up almost as much as Dash did. He wasn’t going to pretend it was the same amount of worry with Dash being Soarin’s lover and all, but Soarin was probably his best friend in the compound, not to mention he had become a bit of a Wonderbolt mentor figure to him.

Storm glanced down at Dash as her eyes remained perfectly fixed on Soarin’s face. He knew what she wanted to do, but he decided to let her know their plan anyway.

“We’re going to head back to the battledome to join the rest,” he spoke up as he placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Are you going to stay here for a while?”

“Yeah,” Dash answered quietly, nodding her head lightly against the mattress.

“Alright,” Storm nodded in response, leaving his hoof on her shoulder for another moment as he looked back at Soarin. “I’m sure he’ll wake up soon… Soarin is never down for long, so I’m told,” he reassured her as he removed his hoof and began back towards the door.

Dash released a heavy sigh as she continued to stare at the sleeping form of her stallion.

“I hope so…” she said quietly as she reached her nose forward and gave his cheek a light nuzzle.

Spitfire paused, clutching her blanket around herself tightly and shivering as she stood outside the doors to the battledome. She knew she’d be warmer once inside with everypony else, but she wanted to be ready.

The situation was well beyond ridiculous. Their whole damn compound had picked itself up and sent spinning into the northern mountain ranges… and now they were literally camping out in their own home while relying on the skills of ponies they had, up until recently, thought were their enemies. Life has a way of throwing curveballs, but this was a snot covered, weaving knuckleball thrown at twelve thousand miles per hour to the jaw.

They were in no situation to follow regular protocol in anything… but Spitfire refused. She refused to slump down and look as tired and as exhausted as she really was. She wanted everypony to see her up and walking with confidence. Why? Silver said it himself. The current generation of Wonderbolts followed her, and she wanted to bring them confidence no matter what the situation was.

She reached a hoof forward to push the door open.

“COMING THROUGH!” Surprise suddenly screamed out from behind her. Spitfire flinched and shifted aside as Surprise galloped past her and body checked the double doors to open them and get through. She dove at a pile of blankets just a few yards from the doors and dove into them, the pile shaking like crazy along with her shivers the moment she was covered.

Spitfire blinked as the doors began to close in front of her. She reached a hoof out and stopped it, pushing her way through and entering, keeping her eyes on the pile of shaking blankets as she walked in. She reached a hoof down and lifted up the edge to reveal Surprise, completely wrapped in a blanket, covered in three more blankets, her teeth chattering in a comical manner.

“Why do we have to go SO FAR TO USE THE BATHROOM!?” she whined as she shivered. Spitfire couldn’t hold back a snort. Surprise had derailed all serious thought for the moment.

“Because the stallion bathrooms smell bad enough when we have working ventilation,” she said as she let the blanket fall back over Surprise’s head. The moment she was fully covered again, Surprise log rolled until she was completely wrapped by all four blankets and inched along like a caterpillar towards the center of the battledome.

Spitfire smiled, shaking her head in amusement before looking up at the rest of the battledome and sighing.

Everypony was there… literally EVERYPONY. At least all those who were not helping or being treated by Bliss and those assisting Rivet. The battledome was quickly established as the best place to ‘camp’ once everything calmed down and they figured out what they could do without the general necessities they normally took for granted. It was also the most open area and had the best ceiling ventilation, making it possible to make several burning barrel fires without the smoke getting caught in the building. The floor was also not quite as flammable as the older flooring in the other larger gyms.

That’s what they had been reduced to, making fires in large metal barrels. Several of these fire barrels were strewn about everywhere, easily forty or more throughout the expanse of the battledome’s arena. Everypony was keeping a safe five yards from the fires, resting on mattresses pulled from storage and any easily accessible living quarters, all covered in blankets, resting near the warmth of the fires. The fires didn’t quite negate the nip of the cold from outside, but the combination of the fire, the blankets, and ponies huddling close together provided enough warmth for them to be comfortable.

Spitfire saw several look towards her as she started moving in. She stayed true to her goal, staying upright and strong in her steps as she walked through.

“Grrr…” a familiar, annoyed growl caught Spitfire’s attention as she approached one of the barrels. She looked towards it to see her half-sister sitting upright closer to the fire than she should be. She had her blanket completely wrapped around her entire body all the way up over her nose, her angry glare the only thing visible over the top. Beside her was High Winds, also sitting upright, but fast asleep and snoring loudly.

“It’s ass-munchingly cold in here!” Blaze whined into her blanket, her voice muffled.

High Winds snorted and started slowly tipping towards Blaze. Blaze easily saw it, her glare sharpening.

“Windy…” she said her name harshly as if warning her to back off. Of course, Winds was asleep, so the warning had no effect. High Winds completely tipped towards Blaze, most of her blanket fell off as she bumped against Blaze. The moment they touched, High Winds snorted and yawned while reaching around Blaze and grabbing onto her. “DAMMIT WINDY!” Blaze yelled beneath her blanket.

“I wanna…” High Winds babbled in her sleep. “I wanna…”

“Windy get your ass offa me!” Blaze continued to belt at her grumpily.

“I wanna…” Winds pushed forward and completely tipped them both over,

“Ah! OOF!” Blaze yelped as she landed on her back, her blanket being pulled off her face as they landed. She blinked, opening to see High Winds lying completely on top of her, digging her nose into the crook of Blaze’s neck.

“I wanna… ride… youuuummmnngggg…” Winds mumbled as she began to sleep soundly again, only on top of Blaze.

Blaze remained silent for a moment before flattening her brow in confused frustration.

“I’m so angrily turned on right now…” she growled to herself.

Spitfire lifted an eyebrow as she watched the scene, deciding to move on before anything weirder happened. She paused after two steps, stopping just before stepping on Surprise by accident. She was still wrapped up, inching like a caterpillar with an apparent destination in mind.

Spitfire followed the path of her trail to a blanket that had a light blue head and a spiky yellow mane sticking out the top. Fire Streak was bundled up on the other side of the fire, lying down on a mattress by himself, which narrowed down who Surprise’s target was.

“I’d sure hate to be the Renegades right now…” Lightning Streak said to himself as he sat, snugly wrapped in his blanket. “I’m just way too comfy…” he sighed, sinking further into his blanket as Fire Streak rolled his eyes from the other side of the barrel fire.

Lightning was completely unaware of Surprise inching towards him from behind.

Surprise slowly approached. As she got near, she unwrapped the blankets and quietly rose up onto her hooves. She had her blankets draped over her like a ghost… even though the blankets weren’t white. A silly, sinister grin covered her face as she lifter her hooves up and rose above Lightning Streak. Fire saw her, but he kept his mouth shut.

“I wonder what’s taking Surprise so long? I mean, she’s a mare, but did she get lost trying to find the…” Lightning Streak turned his head to the side casually, catching a glimpse of something directly behind him in his peripheral vision. He turned further, his eyes widening as Surprise lunged down and tackled him. “WHOA!” he grunted as they crashed into the mattress he was sitting on.

“I’M FREEZING!!!!!!” Surprise whined. “KEEP ME WARM!!!!” she demanded as she shivered against Lightning Streak. Lightning blinked, frozen in place for a moment as Surprise shivered, but of course the only thought on Lightning’s mind right now was that Surprise was rubbing herself on him.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Lightning slowly reached a hoof for her plot, but before he could get halfway she shifted all the way up and pressed her nose against his, glaring at him sternly.

“And no, you’re not scoring,” she killed his hopes straight up.

“Damn…” Lightning sighed as Surprise went back to shivering and trying to steal his body heat.

“Heh…” Fire Streak chuckled to himself as his brother got his usual dose of denial. But his mind quickly turned back to where his warmth buddy had run off to. Misty had gotten up and left a few minutes prior. Fire saw her move towards somepony she had been worried about, but then she wandered out of his view and had yet to turn up.

He wasn’t worried though, he knew she’d come right back eventually. Misty had been quite the cuddle bug since they had picked their spot to camp out. She had about eighty percent of her body glued to him for the whole duration until she had broken away momentarily. Fire simply shifted and found a more comfortable position on the mattress as he let his hooves hang over the side. He rested his chin on his arms and closed his eyes as his blanket and the fire provided warmth that was helping him get much needed relaxation.

Less than a minute after he had assumed the position, he felt a light tug on the back of his blanket.

“Hmmm?” he hummed, only tipping his head slightly upon his arms. He felt the blanket lift up, followed by somepony wiggling themselves to get beneath it and start shimmying themselves over his back. Fire smiled as the ‘intruder’ made their way back up.

If she hadn’t done this to him more than once in the past, he would have been a little worried and confused as to who suddenly was climbing onto his back.

Fire slightly opened one eye as he felt a chin softly rest on top of his head, flattening his ears as he felt a pair of soft cheeks brush against them.

“You are adorable…” Fire spoke to himself. Misty obviously couldn’t hear him, but he wasn’t in a position to give her the signals… with her being on his back and all. She nestled her nose into his mane, releasing a content sigh.

Fire could tell she was wrapped up burrito style by the way she had stolen a good portion of his blanket and the way it was bunched up between them. He smirked as he suddenly rolled onto his back. Misty’s eyes widened as she lightly tumbled onto the mattress, remaining completely wrapped up as she landed on her stomach. Fire tipped onto his side, smiling at her as their eyes met. She smiled right back in an obscenely cute way while making her eyes very wide, still only her face exposed from within the blanket.

Fire reached out and slid her towards him, planting a light kiss on her forehead as he wrapped his arms around her. She wasted no time in nestling the top of her head into his neck, nuzzling him affectionately.

Spitfire chuckled at the hilariously contrasting situations between the Streak twins and the mares attached to them, but most of her attention had been drawn by Fire and Misty.

It made her thoughts turn to Wave, who she knew was somewhere in the battledome. It made her want to find him right away for more than one reason. She wanted to relax and be close to him… but she also had yet to really communicate with him at all after the crash besides the hug she gave him upon the hearing the deathless casualty report. Granted, she had lots to do and establish… but Wave was very important to her, and she really wanted nothing more than to relax and take a load off like everypony else was. Wave was her ticket to relaxation. He had that effect on her.

Spitfire’s ears flopped down as she looked about.

Now she just had to find him, squad three and the female half of squad two were near the entrance, but Wave was nowhere in sight, at least not close by. She had to navigate the sea of ponies. It didn’t help that Wave was also a very dark color. The barrel fires were producing enough light to see and navigate, but it was still relatively dim.

Either way, she wasn’t going to find him while sitting still, so she gathered herself and began her trek towards the center of the arena, hoping that would be a good place to start.

As she moved, she came across more than one… interesting situation.

“FOR THE LAST TIME!” Air Mach yelled as Lead Runner stuffed himself into the same blanket as him, “BUZZ OFF!” he yelled as he tugged and tugged on his blanket to no avail.

“I prefer beat off,” Lead Runner laughed while batting his fake eyelashes at Air Mach.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!” Air Mach roared in frustration as he continuously failed to remove Lead Runner from his blanket. With Air Mach pulling them along, they ended up running directly into a sleeping Macho Savage.

The instant the two touched Savage, he was up on his hooves and putting them both into a single headlock, smashing their cheeks together.

“DOUBLE STUFFED SUPER SLAM!” Savage reared backwards and drove them towards the mattress. Air Mach however, was not going down without a fight.

“BURNING STALLION UPPERCUT!” he yelled as he got a hoof free and throttled Savage below the jaw.

“WHOA YEAH!” Macho Savage ‘acknowledged’ the hit, but in doing so let go mid-suplex, sending both Air Mach and Lead runner flying away from them and landing on a mattress that was luckily unoccupied. Consequently, Air Mach landed right on top of Lead Runner.

“Oooo! You like being on top, eh?” Lead Runner waved a hoof at Air Mach above him like a cat scratch.

“FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF…” Air Mach catapulted off of Lead Runner and rose so high into the air that he disappeared into the shadows above.

Throughout the whole cacophony caused by squad seven, Point Dex simply sat still, wrapped from head to plot in his blanked, only his eyes and glasses showing through. He wore a grumpy expression, wondering how he managed to get stuck with three idiots.

“Alright then…” Spitfire looked away as if it were all normal and kept walking. But wasn’t that something to be happy about? Normal?

They had been given an opportunity to step back from the action and rest. In doing so, it seemed that the usual carefree nature of the compound had returned, if just only a little bit. If anything, it was a sign that the Wonderbolts were relaxed and recovering.

Spitfire looked around at eveypony she could see nearby… and they all seemed happy. This whole ordeal was no doubt a shock for them all, but their spirit was still intact. Nopony seemed broken or depressed. Perhaps she was wrong in asking Silver to take the captainship because this was the nature of her Wonderbolts, not his. She was the one that lightened the protocol in favor of a more relaxed, family/brotherhood approach. She knew how to handle these Wonderbolts and they believed in her. Silver’s style of command would have been a switch they were unaccustomed to, and she wouldn’t be surprised if that was part of his reasoning in denying aside from everything else he mentioned.

In her thoughts, something caught her attention. She quickly glanced to her right as her peripheral vision picked up a starry, waving mane. She had been so busy and so tired that she nearly forgot something… that was kind of hard to forget.

Princess Luna… One of sublime sisters was stuck there with them. Luna was sitting alone, all bundled up in blankets as the others were. However she didn’t seem to mind sitting by herself, in fact she looked quite engaged in watching the others.

While Wave was still heavily on Spitfire’s mind, she felt the need to check up on Luna. She had yet to speak with her as well since they crashed. In fact there was one possible dilemma Spitfire wanted to question her about.

“Princess Luna?” Spitfire called her name as she approached. Luna remained facing away, but her ears rose upon hearing her name. She remained still for another moment before looking towards Spitfire.

“Yes?” she asked, sounding slightly detached as she looked away again.

“How are…” Spitfire paused when she saw Luna facing away. Something clearly had her attention. Spitfire flattened her brow, disliking that she being seemingly ignored, but it made her curious about what had Luna’s attention. Before she could step up and look, Luna closed her eyes and shook her head out.

“We apologize, we have been lost in thought over something…” she smiled and looked towards Spitfire. “What were you saying to us?”

“How are you holding up?” Spitfire asked, pushing her curiosity aside for a moment as she sat down. “This is hardly the environment for a princess, is there anything I can do to help?” she asked courteously. Luna’s smile held and she nodded.

“While the full scenario is not something we ever expected, the current conditions are not something we haven’t handled in the past,” she explained. “Our sister and us have been involved in military actions several times throughout our existence. We’ve had our share of necessity free living,” her smile grew and she giggled. “Actually, we’ve had our share of camping as well. Our sister is never one to miss a chance to get away from the palace. She greatly enjoys camping and we’ve been drug along on many occasions.”

“Er…” Spitfire lifted an eyebrow, trying to get straight what she had just heard. “Princess Celestia… likes… camping?” it sounded so weird to her. “And she sneaks out?”

“Ha!” Luna chuckled. “Our sister is not as proper and stiff as she may appear. She’s quite the prankster and instigator behind closed doors.”

“Uh…” Spitfire shook her head out. As amusing as it was to hear some interesting tidbits of Celestia when she was out of the public eye, she had an important question for Luna. It was at least nice to know Luna was not uncomfortable in her current surroundings. “Luna I actually wanted to ask you something,” she spoke up, but Luna was looking away again. “Luna…” Spitfire pouted.

“Ah! We’re sorry, do go on,” Luna grinned sheepishly. Spitfire was definitely curious. She couldn’t see past the barrel fire before them, but she would ask her question first.

“I’ve been worried about something since we landed,” Spitfire quickly spoke before Luna could be distracted again. “With your sudden absence and the fact that you were onboard with us when the compound took off… would it be safe to assume that the Royal Guard will come looking for you?” she asked while gritting her teeth.

Luna listened to the question and tipped her head down in thought. A moment later she tipped her head to the side and bit her lip.

“We would say… yes… and no,” she said awkwardly as if unsure, as if her answer already didn’t express a degree of uncertainty.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Spitfire asked in confusion. Luna shook her head.

“I specifically ordered the royal guard to stay put, keep watch over the castle, and not come to my aid. They did as they were told while the compound was still grounded. I’m unsure how they will act now. The day guard, while a little less powerful in combat, are much more likely to hold to their orders no matter what. The night guard however…” she sighed. “I’m afraid the night guards are a bit more aggressive and less disciplined. I wouldn’t be surprised if the captains of the day and night guard are arguing on what to do as we speak.”

“I hope they don’t, because no offense, but they don’t stand a chance against the Shadowbolts,” said Spitfire as Luna shook her head.

“I will agree and disagree with you there,” Luna played positive and negative views again. “The bulk force of the royal guard vastly outnumbers the Shadowbolts and probably outnumbers them even with their clone trick. However individually matched up, there would be no question who is superior. While this blizzard gives us cover, it would also give the Shadowbolts cover to pick them off one by one. I can only hope they do not attempt such a brash maneuver.”

“Let’s hope not…” Spitfire agreed. “I don’t think we should make any moves until we are out of this mess. I’m not even considering calling in our reserve Wonderbolts until we know more…” Spitfire trailed off, glaring at Luna as she was looking at something else yet again. “Alright, that’s it… What are you looking at?”

Luna flinched, puffing her cheeks out and looking away from Spitfire shamefully for continuously losing focus. Spitfire stood up and walked around to the other side of Luna to see what she was looking at.

“Huh?” Spitfire tipped her head to the side as she found what apparently had Luna so preoccupied. “You’re looking at… our recruit squad Foxtrot?” Spitfire lifted an eyebrow. “And Storm Front… ah, Dash isn’t there… But…” she looked towards Luna, and then back at Foxtrot.

Squad Foxtrot, minus Rainbow Dash, and Storm Front were all huddled around a very grumpy looking Matteo, who had all of his feathers puffed up for extra warmth beneath his blankets. Storm Front and Little Star were sitting against him, trying to use his warmth. Little Star reached out and pulled a reluctant Squall towards the puffy Matteo as the griffon continued to grumble and look mortified. The situation didn’t look like it warranted such an expression at first, but then Twister’s popped out of Matteo’s feathers on his side. Twister’s head began moving all about as if he was swimming in Matteo’s feathers, and Matteo was sitting still like he knew nothing he did would ultimately stop Twister.

“I know they’re a weird bunch,” Spitfire scratched her head as she looked between Luna and Foxtrot. “But… having dealt with you and Princess Celestia on several occasions, when something has your attention so fiercely, there’s a reason.”

“We’re sorry. We did not mean to express disinterest in your question. We have been watching and…” she paused, looking over at Foxtrot again as Squall tried swiping at Twister every time he came near him in Matteo’s feathers.

“What about them has you so interested?” Spitfire asked while eyeing Foxtrot curiously.

“Not all of them,” Luna clarified as she kept looking. “Just… that strange one… the green one.”

“Twister?” Spitfire blinked as she looked towards the silly pony as his head continued to zoom around Matteo’s feathers.

“That is his name?” Luna asked, Spitfire nodding in return.

“What about him?”

“We… cannot say for sure…” Luna admitted as she looked carefully. “What do you know about him?” she asked. Spitfire snorted and shook her head.

“Twister? To be honest, absolutely nothing. He never gives straight answers when asked… and when I asked him to fill out his address on his contract, he wrote down a recipe for white chocolate and caramel brownies. Apparently he’s like that all the time, I asked Dash specifically and even she doesn’t know much about him. He does so many random things, but has yet to actually cause any disruptions or harm. It’s an odd case where he does everything out of the ordinary but doesn’t actually do anything wrong. A mystery, but we have our share of strange ponies in the Wonderb—”

“Something is off with that one…” Luna cut her off, catching Spitfire’s interest before she could get miffed.

“Pardon? How do you mean?” Spitfire pressed, but Luna shook her head.

“We do not know… All ponies give off a certain aura… one that our sister and us can both see and detect. It helps us see the inner nature of a pony…” she paused and looked at Spitfire, who was staring at her, completely puzzled. “It is hard to explain… it is a sense only our sister and us possess, developed over countless years. It helps us sense if a pony is nearby as well as allows us to read emotions, intent, and overall character. It’s not always accurate, some aura’s giving off a different air than the pony does through their actions, so we can’t rely on it, but it’s helpful… however…” she looked back at Twister. “That strange pony… has no aura, not even a faint one.”

Spitfire had no idea what Luna was getting at, but if she found something strange about a particular pony it was worth analyzing.

“What does that mean?” Spitfire asked.

“We cannot say,” Luna shook her head. “It is a phenomenon we have never experienced since developing the sense. The unpredictable nature of a pony’s aura leaves much to be theorized… but we have never seen a pony without one. We have no idea what it means… but it is troubling us.”

“Should we keep an eye on him?” Spitfire asked, very curious and now doubly skeptical herself.

“We are unsure… you say he has been around for so long, but has yet to do any sort of harm, correct?” Luna questioned while turning to Spitfire.

“That’s right,” Spitfire clarified.

“Then we are uncertain. While his lack of an aura is strange… it merely has me puzzled, not alarmed. We would recommend keeping tabs on him, but we see no need for ala—” Luna was cut off as her head got tugged down slightly. She and Spitfire looked down to see Twister completely wrapped up in Luna’s mane on the floor.

“You still have a pretty mane!” he commented as his pupils spun around his eyes and mane took the same shape and form as Luna’s.

Luna reclined in surprise, the motion causing Twister to spin, unwrap, and log roll uncontrollably in place, grabbing onto and pulling all of the blanket off of Luna. When he stopped he was completely wrapped in the blanket like a cocoon. Luna reached for her blanket as she began to shiver, but upon lifting it up, the blanket went limp.

Twister had completely vanished.

Spitfire and Luna looked back towards Foxtrot, only to see that Twister was not there either, as if he had disappeared into thin air.

“Yeah… apparently he does that a lot too,” Spitfire scratched her head, recalling several of the strange things she heard about Twister.

“Most curious indeed…” Luna pouted as she wrapped her blanket back around herself. “But… as curious as we are, it is not the important task at hoof. We’ll keep him in mind for the time being…” she paused. “And we believe there is somepony you were trying to find, hmm?” Luna cracked a sly grin at Spitfire.

Spitfire flinched heavily and her eyes widened.

“Wha-wait, what?” she kept her eyes locked on Luna as she giggled.

“We just told you a pony’s aura can give away their emotions…” she said while smugly lifting an eyebrow at Spitfire.

“Uh…” Spitfire blushed. “Yeah, um, nice talk, Royal Guard should be smart, Twister is weird, yeah, yeah, yeah, I gotta find somepony…” Spitfire’s composure snapped, realizing that Luna could tell the whole time that she had a stallion on her mind.

“Go on, we are fine,” Luna encouraged her. Spitfire only gulped and pulled her blanket up to cover her nose as she got up and continued her search for Wave Chill.

As Spitfire left, Luna sighed and looked towards the fire.

“Yes… go find your loved one… I’m just fine on my own…”

Spitfire was quick to regain her composure. While a light blush remained on her face from Luna seeing right through her, the soft orange glow from the multiple barrel fires concealed the reddish tint on her yellow face.

Any thought of the conversation she had with Luna had faded in her embarrassment and she went right back to looking for Wave Chill. She had a lot of ground to cover still, having barely looked around a quarter of the whole battledome. That, paired with how easily she could miss him and his dark colors in the dim light meant that she had her work cut out for—

“WHOA!” Spitfire yelped as she lurched forward. She had been looking around instead of in front of her and had walked directly into a pony on the floor. “Yikes!” she barely managed to turn her body in time as she plopped against the firm cushion floor of the arena, the blanket also softening her impact, negating any kind of pain.

But what a clumsy thing to do. The captain of the Wonderbolts just tripped over where everypony could see her.

“Good to see you too,” a male voice and a chuckle made Spitfire freeze in her attempts to frantically stand.

Speak of the devil. She had tripped right over Wave Chill.

“Uh… hi…” Spitfire blushed in embarrassment to the point where it was actually visible within the lighting. She rolled onto her stomach and looked towards Wave as he lay on the ground beside her.

“Were you trying to find somepony? You were looking around,” he asked, being ever so helpful no matter what the situation. Spitfire couldn’t help but nervously smirk. He saw her coming but didn’t say anything?

“Yeah, I was looking for you,” she clarified, giving him a weak smile as she glanced around them. There was an empty mattress and a few blankets nearby that were not being used. They had been disturbed as if somepony had been lying there, but without its occupant, it was just the two of them around with a barrel fire a few yards away. They were ‘alone’ or as alone as they could be with others nearby.

“Well, you found me,” Wave chuckled as he looked back towards the fire. Spitfire glanced over at his face as the flickering light of the fire danced over his features. She didn’t take her eyes off of him, taking in the profile of his face.

She hadn’t had a chance to really sit down and relax with him, at least not since after the initial battle with the Shadowbolts. She still couldn’t believe just how… good she felt around him. He didn’t make her worries go away, but he definitely made them take a back seat. And there were times when she really needed that. Right now was one of them.

Spitfire quickly looked away as Wave turned his head to her.

“What is it?” he suddenly asked.

“What is what?” Spitfire immediately responded while pouting.

“Somepony looks a little stressed,” he chuckled as she let her chin fall down onto the blanket in front of her.

“I’m fine…” she paused and took quick note of how he didn’t reply. “Okay, maybe I am a little stressed,” she admitted while draping a hoof over her nose.

“Just a little?” Wave cracked a small grin. He looked over his shoulder briefly. “Here…” he said as he suddenly removed his blanket from over him and grabbed the edge of hers.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she looked back at her blanket. Wave lifted her blanket up and shifted beneath it, resting his body up against hers before letting the blanket fall over him. “Wave!” she exclaimed in a slightly hushed tone as she looked over her shoulder to see if anypony was looking.

“What? Everypony else is doing it,” he chuckled as he grabbed his discarded blanket and draped it over them both to double up the cover. “Besides, you looked lonely in your blanket,” he said with a smile.

Spitfire wasn’t really one for public display of affection. It was fine when they were on the couch in the rec room a few days ago because it somewhat concealed them, but here they were out in the open.

“N-nothing… I just…” Spitfire put her hoof over her nose again.

“I know, I know… it’s not like I grabbed you and started kissing you,” he joked, acknowledging Spitfire’s dislike for public affection. She always got plenty of it in private, so it evened out. Spitfire looked towards Wave curiously as he continued to smile at her.

“You’ve been acting different lately,” Spitfire pointed out while looking at him carefully. Her eyes widened as Wave suddenly flinched and bit his lip.

“Er… sorry… is it too much?” he suddenly asked as she felt his body leave from hers. She frantically replied.

“No! No…” she grabbed his arm before shifting over against him again. That confirmed it was still the usual Wave Chill alright, always abiding by the interests of his superiors. “I didn’t mean to imply that,” Spitfire shook her head as she shifted over and pressed the side of her body lightly into his. “You just seem much more relaxed. The rec room a few days ago and now,” she clarified.

“Well…” Wave looked away awkwardly. “The other day I was feeding off of how you looked more relaxed. Today? Eh… before Silver smacked me upside the head I was pretty tense,” he admitted while looking towards the empty mattress. Spitfire figured that’s who the mattress and blankets belonged to.

“Did he give you a stern talking to?” Spitfire chuckled to herself, absolutely not admitting that Silver had more or less just done the same thing to her.

“I won’t repeat his exact words or colorful language, but he basically told me to drop the soldier act for a moment and relax. So I’m trying…” he finished with a sigh.

“Well,” Spitfire pressed herself slightly harder into his side. “It’s not like I wasn’t enjoying it, I just wasn’t expecting it,” she said with a smile as Wave looked towards her and returned it. Spitfire glanced over her shoulder to see if anypony was looking before she moved her nose towards his cheek and gave it a light nuzzle. “I thought you were going to start calling me beautiful or something,” she said jokingly. Wave turned and looked at her as she smirked, giving her a curious look.

“I mean… you are,” he said.

Spitfire’s eyes shot open and her face turned so red it nearly changed her fur color. She pulled her head away from Wave and looked him in the eyes.

“What?” Wave asked, gritting his teeth slightly, worried he had gone too far again.

“I-I’m…” Spitfire stuttered. She puffed her cheeks out and looked away. “Don’t be ridiculous… I’m not beautiful,” she stated adamantly, her face feeling incredibly warm. Wave blinked, catching her tone of nervous denial. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled as he nestled himself closer to her.

“I’m serious,” he said. He was completely winging it, but he already started it, he wasn’t going to back out. “You’re beautiful.”

“No I’m not…stop it…” Spitfire kept her face turned away, her head burning from her cheeks to the tips of her ears. Nopony had ever called her beautiful before. It was never something she really considered herself to be. Part of it may have been that she had been such good friends with Fleetfoot, a pony that was nearly consistently praised for being incredibly attractive. She just pushed all thoughts aside, it wasn’t her goal anyway. She was the tough, hardened captain of the Wonderbolts. Sure she had been in a photo shoots, but she always assumed Fleetfoot was the reason those sold so well. Yet here Wave…

“I think you are,” he said again. Each time he stood by his claim, it made her feel more and more tingly. Then she felt his nose brush against her ear. “I wouldn’t lie about something like that, especially to you,” he added.

“Wave…” Spitfire couldn’t hold back a smile as her face remained covered in a bright, rosy blush. “St-stop it…” she couldn’t hold back a giggle as she continued to feel tingly and Wave brushed his nose against her turned cheek.

“Wow, I’ve never seen you so flustered before,” Wave chuckled. Spitfire covered her face with her blanket.

“Nopony has ever called me beautiful before…” she admitted as she released a squeak.

“Then it’s about time somepony did,” Wave stated firmly as he rested his chin lightly on the back of her neck. He quickly removed it as she turned to look at him, the blanket still covering most of her face up to her eyes, which looked at him with wide pupils. “And now you’re hiding that pretty face,” Wave smirked as he reached up and pulled on the blanket.

“No. I’ll never show my face again,” Spitfire pulled the blanket over her head, but Wave gave it a quick tug, yanking it right off her face. “Ee!” Spitfire released another squeak as she and Wave were now face to face.

“That’s better,” he smiled as she tipped her head down slightly and looked into his eyes. The two remained silent for a moment, just taking in each other’s faces. But it didn’t last very long, the two both began to snicker before they tipped their heads forward and lightly bumped foreheads.

“It’s so weird seeing you like this,” Spitfire admitted. “Never thought I’d hear stuff like this from our ‘soldier’ pony.”

“That goes for you too,” Wave chuckled. “The great Spitfire, melting at the words of an idiot who’s making it up as he goes along…”

Spitfire suddenly pulled away and looked at him quizzically. Wave looked up as well and quickly took note of her face.

“NO!” he quickly put up a hoof. “I mean I was winging it! I’m being honest about you being beautiful!” he said a little loud, drawing some attention.

They both looked around frantically before hiding themselves from view in the blanket. Wave felt mortified. What a slip up. But thankfully, Spitfire was snickering. With the blankets concealing them, she leaned towards him and planted a light kiss on his lips. Wave loosened up the moment he felt her lips brush against his and returned it. It was short, but sweet.

“I know you meant it…” she clarified while shaking her head, the light blush reappearing. “I was joking… you’re a dope…” she said while nuzzling his face under the cover of the blankets.

“Don’t scare me like that…” Wave released a heavy sigh of relief.

“I don’t know what’s worse…” a new voice chimed in. “How sappy it got, or how hard it crash landed.”

Both of them completely froze, glancing at each other with wide eyes. Wave slowly pushed the blanket off of them. The two flinched so hard it was a wonder the sound of glass shattering didn’t ring out around them.

They were looking directly into the eyes of Silver Lining, lying on his mattress, but without the blanket on.

“What? Don’t look at me,” Silver directed at Wave. “Or do you think I’m beautiful too?”

“How long…” Spitfire spoke up shakily. “Were you…”

“I’ve been sitting here for the past five minutes,” he said with a completely straight face.

“Uh…” Wave remained still, but Spitfire completely disappeared beneath her blanket, releasing a long, painful groan.

“Sheesh… awareness, kids…” Silver sighed and stood up. “I’ll leave you two alone,” he said with an amused chuckle before walking away and leaving his blanket behind.

“Uh…” Wave repeated.

A lot of fun and a lot of love was going around… but not for everypony.

Near the back of the arena floor, there sat one pony all by herself. Not because nopony joined her, because she purposely put herself there.

Fleetfoot clutched her blanket tightly to her body as she sat upright, facing the barrel fire with her head tipped down slightly. She took a deep breath and exhaled, glancing up at the closest barrel fire nearby. As with several others she had seen, a Wonderbolt stallion and mare were snuggled up together. The two looked so content, happy to have the chance to relax together and share their warmth.

Fleetfoot looked away and back down. There were two things on her mind. One was silly considering the situation. The other was more important, but she couldn’t shake the first. Since they had set up in the battledome, the whole place had turned into one big cuddling session. Fleetfoot had taken notice immediately and kept moving in attempt to avoid seeing any of it, but everywhere she plopped down, she saw more love and more affection. Many ponies were taking the opportunity to seek out comfort, many of which were found with the help of another, but she couldn’t. She had no single special pony to go to at a time like this.

How was it any different than what she always did? She was the master of affection and being an instigator for sexual situations… but every instance, every target, and every other pony she made a fun pass at… she failed to find something.

Love.

And it tore at her. She had so many other things that she was supposed to be worried about, but no… what was on her mind was something she was afraid of, love. She had put herself as far away as possible, in the back of the arena, but the more the Wonderbolts packed in, the more she was exposed to it.

It didn’t matter how silly she acted or how much she flirted, or whatever front she put up for everypony else to see… they were always empty efforts, giving satisfaction only for a moment before dropping back down. She never smiled like the mares in couples. She never felt the gentle, soothing touch of another. Why the hell was it bothering her now?

The subject of love used to never cross her mind. She decided she wanted to live while she was young and have as much fun as she could, never worrying about who it was with as long as they were having fun too. But in the past year, all of that had changed. Why? Because everything had changed around her.

It all started when Soarin met Rainbow Dash in Ponyville. One of her best friends who had been the president of the ‘my job is more important than love’ focus group was smitten by a spunky mare with a unique colorful mane who wasn’t afraid to tell him off about how he treats himself. She knocked some sense into him, and the two are so ridiculously in love it was a wonder they didn’t get married in a week.

Half a year later, the whole thing between Spitfire and Wave Chill began. It took them FOREVER to get it going, but now they were together, if not still a little bit awkward about it around everypony else.

It didn’t take long for Fire Streak and Misty Fly to hop on the love wagon, something that had been brewing for years, but Fire was too much of a ninny to come about it.

Not to mention Blaze and High Winds had already been love bumping for a couple of years.

It all added up to four serious romances all within close proximity to her. And that was only top elite squads. Several other couples had bloomed recently, a few had gone bad but most of them were strong. Romance was everywhere around her and she couldn’t deny that it had been having an effect on her. She found her, herself… Fleetfoot the well-known party animal of the Wonderbolts… doubting her choices in life and wishing she had a special somepony to call her own. Part of her was telling her she was being ridiculous, but that didn’t stop her throat from being tight whenever she was around a couple now. It wasn’t so bad when it was just a few, but now there were so many. They say it’s not good to mix business with pleasure, but the Wonderbolts definitely did not follow that saying, at least not anymore.

So what was she waiting for? With her charisma and her outgoing nature, it would be a breeze to find a stallion… or a mare depending on what worked for her. She didn’t care what the gender was. She just wanted what she now consistently saw around her.

But she was scared. It didn’t matter how easily she could go out and hitch a date, she was scared of commitment. What if it was the wrong pony? What if she invested so much time in a relationship only to find she had made the wrong choice? What if somepony came along who went with her better than who she was with? She hated being uncertain about that… and now that she was thinking about it, perhaps that was the true reason she refused to be tied down for so long.

“Rgh…” She groaned as she let her head sink into the blanket, bringing the edge of it up over her face.

She felt like an idiot. There were more important things to worry about. She was only making things even worse for herself, because there was something else that kept eating away at her. A REAL problem, nothing her stupid brain was forcing with all the lovey dovey stuff around her.

She was still thinking about Calm Wind, and how she left an incredibly dangerous situation with only minor bumps and bruises because HE took the hits for her. He didn’t have to do it, but he did and she felt indebted to him. He also saved Rivet from a similar fate, meaning his actions, despite the incredible amount of pain they caused him, were essential in saving them all.

Considering the state Calm was currently in, and the angle at which he was hit, those blasts would have easily hit her right in the face. She’d be in a world of pain right now had he not shielded her and if she had taken the hit… it would have really messed up her face. Or worse, they could have killed her. A simple thank you wouldn’t be enough to show her appreciation, but part of her was also afraid. Afraid that he might blame her for how much pain he was in. She should have been paying attention and he was already knocked down once before he jumped in front of the second attack. Her lack of awareness got him seriously injured.

Now, she knew enough about Calm to know he would never blame her or anypony for something he willingly did. But it was hard for her to face somepony that she felt had been hurt because of her.

So great… she was worried about something she was struggling to face and she was being a lovesick puppy at the same time. What a mess she was in right now.

Fleetfoot sighed again and removed her face from her blanket. She felt like she was a depressing sight, sitting down, looking at the floor in front of a fire and sighing every few minutes. But she couldn’t help it. These things were legitimately bugging her, and she wouldn’t relax until she had some sort of word or idea on how to handle—

Fleetfoot’s thoughts got cut off as somepony approached. Not towards her, but moving along in between the barrel fires.

Silver Lining, still without his blanket, was walking along and drawing near.

For a moment Fleetfoot felt like stopping him, but honestly, she wasn’t sure if he would help her, or if he’d even give a damn. Silver’s eyes landed on hers looking towards him, but the moment they did, she turned her head away and looked back down at the ground.

Silver kept his eyes trained on her as he slowly passed by. He could tell something was off. It wasn’t often that one saw Fleetfoot looking sad. However, Silver was one to respect personal boundaries, so he just kept walking.

He only got two steps past her though.

“Silver?”

Silver stopped mid-step. He slowly glanced backwards at Fleetfoot. She still had her back turned to him.

“Yes?”

“Can I…” she paused as if it was hard to gather the words. “Talk to you?”

“Talk to me?” Silver lifted an eyebrow. “This is a new one,” he said sarcastically. However his sarcasm fell on deaf ears as Fleetfoot didn’t visibly react at all to his comment. Not even a light retort.

That was very unlike Fleetfoot. Silver’s curiosity took over as he slowly turned around and scooped up a blanket from the floor. He walked up to Fleetfoot and sat down to her right.

“Alright,” he said as he stared directly into the fire sitting before them with the blanket lightly draped over his shoulders. “What’s on your mind?”

“Um…” Fleetfoot shifted, her head drooping as her chin touched to her chest. “This may sound a little weird, but…” she hesitated and remained silent for half a minute. Silver didn’t budge. He simply waited for her to find the words. “How did you meet your significant other?”

Silver was definitely not expecting the question. He blinked and turned his head towards her.

“Pardon?” he asked to make sure he heard her correctly.

“Forget it,” Fleetfoot slumped down and groaned. “I’m just being stupid,” she said as she remained hunched over. She stayed that way for a moment before looking up and seeing that Silver hadn’t moved and was still looking at her. She groaned and lied down on her stomach, groaning as she pulled the blanket completely over her head.

“Heh,” Silver released a single chuckle.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. My suffering is amusing…” Fleetfoot grumbled to herself.

“I’m not laughing at you,” Silver clarified calmly. “Sit up,” he ordered, despite Fleetfoot being a superior officer.

Fleetfoot slowly picked herself back up and sat down, letting the blanket fall off her head and back down to her shoulders. She glanced at Silver. And to her surprise, he was smiling. Smiling as he looked towards the flames rising out the top of the metal barrel that splashed many different shades of orange against his aged face.

“How did I meet my wife?” he simplified the question before glancing at Fleetfoot. “By crashing and burning more times than I can count,” he said with another chuckle. Fleetfoot blinked and lifted an eyebrow.

“You? Crashing and burning? It’s hard to imagine you crashing and burning at anything,” she said as she shivered and wrapped her blanket up around her nose again. Silver grunted, determined to understand where this all came from.

“Honestly I’m a little surprised,” he said, causing her to peek towards him from her blanket. “You’re one of the last ponies I’d expect a question like this from. What happened to being ‘carefree’ and ‘not being tied down?’”

Fleetfoot cringed as Silver used her own words. She shook her head as she looked towards the fire.

“That’s how I’ve always preferred it, but…” she looked down and then towards Silver again. “Like… I’m twenty-four. I know that’s not really old or anything, but I guess in light of recent things going on around me, I’m starting to feel like I can’t be like that anymore…”

“Is the great Fleetfoot coming down to earth?” Silver cut in. “Am I hearing maturity? Was that trotka in that ration bottle I drank down an hour ago?” he said with a blatant smirk. He felt like he was going a little far, but honestly, this was strange. He never expected this from Fleetfoot and it was amusing him as much as it was intriguing him.

“Oh shut up…” Fleetfoot growled while stuffing her face back into the blanket.

“Fine, fine… sheesh, you give me hell almost as much as Blaze, I can’t get a few licks in?” Silver lifted his brow while tipping his head slightly towards her. Fleetfoot rolled her eyes.

“Touché,” Fleetfoot admitted as she removed her face from her blanket, but kept her head turned towards the fire. “But in all seriousness… it’s been bugging me. I feel like I should start taking relationships more seriously, but… I don’t know the first thing about…” she paused and bit her lip.

“Commitment?” Silver finished for her as he too, faced the fire. Fleetfoot released a long, uncomfortable sigh.

“Yeah… sure… I guess,” she replied unenthusiastically.

“Heh… heheh…” Silver released a few more chuckles. Fleetfoot groaned and pulled her blanket all the way over herself again.

“Stop laughing!” she whined, muffled by her blanket. Silver reached over, and pulled her blanket off of her head before she could resist it, loose strands of her mane falling over her face as she puffed her cheeks up and glared at him with a scrunched face.

“Again,” Silver began as he sat back upright. “I’m not laughing at you… in fact, I’m laughing at myself,” he clarified, causing Fleetfoot to drop the grumpy expression and look at him curiously. “This is all reminding me of a lesson my mentor taught me when I was a young Wonderbolt.”

“Your mentor?” Fleetfoot blinked. “Oh wait… I remember the name,” she put a hoof to her mouth as she thought. “Um... Blizzard… Punch?”

“Strike,” Silver corrected her with a snort and a flat expression that caused Fleetfoot to cringe.

“Right, Blizzard Strike, sorry,” she said sheepishly as Silver looked back towards the fire.

“It’s fine. But yes, Blizzard taught me a valuable lesson that relates to this. And he did it in his own unique style of course!” Silver chuckled as he smiled and shook his head. “That bastard…”

“Well, I messed up the name,” Fleetfoot bit her lip. “But I remember you saying he had a unique way of doing things.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” Silver sighed as he continued to stare into the fire. “And while he taught me many lessons on the battlefield, he probably taught me more lessons about life. Some teachers and mentors have to teach a student something several times before it really sinks in, but Blizzard… he’d nail it on the first try, every time,” Silver closed his eyes and smiled as he remembered.

“Where were we…? It was Manehatten I think… about twenty years ago. A train scheduling error gave us an extra night in the city. We didn’t get many chances to go out and have fun back in the day, so we were making use of it. We went to a bar downtown, I can’t remember the name, but it wasn’t anything fancy. We just wanted to have fun after all. We weren’t looking for celebrity treatment. I was just barely in my twenties, but hadn’t really had a chance to have a marefriend yet. And a young stallion like me, full of spiking testosterone… believe me I was looking at almost every mare I passed. Thing was… I didn’t know the first thing about commitment and was afraid of making the wrong choice. I wasn’t a party animal like you, but I had the same fears. I didn’t know how to approach or go about it. And let me tell you… Blizzard set that straight in a heartbeat…"

I was sitting at the bar beside Blizzard, both of us with a glass of the good stuff in front of us. Sireberian trotka. Tastes like crap and shoots through your nose with every sip, but calms the nerves with a smooth touch. I thought I was going to burn a hole through my throat the first time I had it, but I wasn’t going to be a wuss in front of Blizzard.

The bar was lively, peak hours of the night. Several other Wonderbolts were around us at the bar including many of my old friends. Steady was dragging Cannon away from a lost drinking game, Comet was failing at darts, the twin sisters were proving just how lightweight they were, and Val was hoof wrestling Bomber… well, she was pulling with two hooves while he didn’t budge and chuckled at her.

Several of our veterans at the time were around as well, but me? I wasn’t paying attention to anything. There was this mare that I had my eyes on since the moment I walked in. She was sitting further down the bar with her friends gathered around her, but DAMN she was a looker… An earth pony with a nice body, pretty face, bright red fur and a long, flowing blonde mane.

Did I make any moves? Of course not, but I looked at her more times than I could count… I wasn’t the one counting though.

“That’s the twenty-seventh time you’ve looked at that particular mare,” Blizzard spoke up beside me, catching me completely off guard, as always. I quickly turned my head to him and saw that he was still looking forward, as he had been from the moment he sat down.

“What?! Uh…” I tried to play it off as if I’d ever have a chance to dupe him.

“Go talk to her,” he said, again while staring straight forward.

“Er…” I had nothing to say in response as I turned and glanced at her again.

“Twenty-Eight.”

“But…” I turned back to Blizzard and gritted my teeth, putting my hoof to my face nervously. “I don’t know what to say to her…” the moment I finished, Blizzard swiped my drink right from under me. “Hey!” I exclaimed as he lifted the drink to his nose and took a whiff of it.

“Just making sure you’re drinking alcohol,” he said as he nudged the drink back over to me and stared straight forward. “You’d think a little liquid confidence would help.”

“I wish it were that easy…” I sighed as I turned and looked towards the mare again.

“Twenty-nine.”

I groaned and put my head face down on the bar.

“What’s stopping you?” Blizzard suddenly asked me.

“What if she thinks I’m just a creep or an asshole?” I asked as I continued to doubt myself.

“She doesn’t even know who you are,” Blizzard reminded me, but in my inexperience I turned his words negative.

“Which will give her even MORE of a reason to think that! I can’t just…” I trailed off and released a frustrated sigh. “I can’t, I’m a wuss.”

“You’ll never know if you just sit here and call yourself a coward,” Blizzard pressed while casually sipping his drink.

“Too bad I am one,” I replied in my lack of confidence. “I’m a damn Wonderbolt and I can’t talk to ONE mare?”

“Being a Wonderbolt doesn’t make you a mare magnet by default,” Blizzard reminded me, but again, I found a way to put a negative spin on it.

“That’s another thing… what if she finds that out and then only likes me for that? Am I worrying too much?” it was like I could tell I was being ridiculous but my insecurities still wouldn’t let me act.

“Yes, and again,” Blizzard didn’t miss a beat. “You won’t know a thing unless you actually try to talk to her. Don’t make me repeat that again,” he said as he took a sip, his head never straying from looking straight over the bar.

“I just don’t know…” I groaned as I looked towards the mare yet again.

“Thirty,” Blizzard grunted. “That’s it.”

I flinched as Blizzard smacked his empty glass to the bar top.

“That’s what?” I looked towards him just before… “WHOA!” I yelped as he pushed me right out of my seat.

I stumbled, but quickly regained myself, shoving all four of my hooves against the floor in horror as Blizzard began pushing me towards the mare and her friends. My hooves made a loud screeching noise against the wood floor that more or less alerted every single pony in the place.

Blizzard finally stopped once he had me standing directly in front of the mares.

“Excuse me,” Blizzard went right up to the red mare.

“HEY!” I shouted, but remained stiffly in place.

“My friend here wishes to speak with you,” Blizzard said to the mare while pointing to me.

I stood there, frozen like a complete idiot as Blizzard casually turned around and walked back to his seat, pouring himself another drink after leaving me to fend for myself.

“Hi!” the red mare greeted me cheerfully as she and her friends all looked me over. I had no choice. I was sucked into the awkward moment. The best thing I could do was not make it more awkward by staying silent.

“Ah,” I cleared my throat and tried to put a casual outward appearance. “Hello!” I said while leaning against the bar. “I’m Silver Lining, pleasure to meet you,” I felt like I was going to burst, but I held it in the best I could.

“Nice to meet you!” the mare giggled. “I’m Rose Thorn, haven’t seen you around here before, are you from out of town?” she asked as she grabbed a maregarita that was sitting behind her on the bar and took a sip from it. I was glad she was asking the questions. That made it a little easier.

“Oh yeah, I’m a Wonder—” I paused, wondering why the hell that was what I immediately went for… after being worried about it, but I couldn’t back out of it. I played it off like something had gotten in my throat. “HM! Sorry, I’m a Wonderbolt. We just had a show yesterday, but we’re leaving tomorrow,” and as expected, not just her eyes, but her friends’ eyes all lit up as well upon me relaying the information.

“A WONDERBOLT?! No way!” she leaned forward and grabbed my arm. I was a little surprised, but I remained composed. “You should totally hang with us!”

A sexy mare was inviting me to join her and her friends… and grabbing my arm no less? Had I just gotten lucky for the night? Sure it was upon me dropping the Wonderbolt card, but I was a young stallion. On the surface this sounded like it would be an awesome night.

“Sure!” I replied preemptively. “What are you ladies up to tonight?” I asked with a bit of suave, feeling confident after being invited to go somewhere with a hot mare and several of her friends.

“Bar? Towel!” Blizzard suddenly yelled out behind me. I blinked for a second and watched as the bartender walked by us with a towel towards Blizzard, but my attention quickly landed on the mare again.

“So there’s a rave party starting in half an hour on the other side of town. We were about to head out!” the mare began. “I heard there might be an orgy afterward!” My expression was frozen. An… orgy? “Hey, even better!” she leaned towards me and whispered into my ear. “We also got our hooves on some ecstasy! It’s gonna make the night wild!”

Rave party, orgy, and psychoactive drugs… three giant red flags that punched me in the face like they were being blown by a monsoon. In an instant, I suddenly wanted nothing to do with any of them… and as I do here and now today, I spoke my mind.

“Uh… no that sounds incredibly stupid…”

Moments later… I was walking back towards Blizzard, covered in the mares’ drinks that they all splashed on me before calling me names laced with obscenities. As I reached my chair, Blizzard already had his hoof extended towards me with the bar towel he called for draped over it. Just like before, he was staring straight forward while casually enjoying his Trotka.

I didn’t ask any questions, I simply grabbed the towel from him and groaned as I wiped off my face.

“That was horrible,” I complained. I was angry, feeling like I had wasted my time. I didn’t even want to sit down. I blinked and looked down at the bar, seeing a fresh new drink at my place beside the one I hadn’t finished before. I grabbed the half empty glass and completely chugged the contents, cringing at the burn of the trotka in my throat before pushing it aside and reaching for the new glass.

“But now you know,” Blizzard spoke up. I glanced at him, confused.

“Know what?” I asked with a slightly sharp tone. Frustrated and a little annoyed that after all the worrying, she wasn’t even worth the trouble

“That she wasn’t worth your trouble,” he spoke my own thoughts to me. “She wasn’t worth it from the start,” he added, which had me curious.

“What do you mean?”

“I saw her slip the drugs to her friends under the bar a minute and thirty seconds after we walked in,” he said as he cracked a small smile. That burned me up.

“That would have been NICE to know before I went and got maregaritas splashed in my face!” I retorted as I took a step back and walked in a circle while grumbling. I was angry, but all I could see at the moment was that he willingly led me into a dead end.

“I’m your mentor, not your father,” he said casually. “Now tell me, what have you learned from this?” he continued to face forward. I was fed up.

“Not to ask you for help with—”

“Wrong,” he cut me off, completely turning on his barstool to look me in the eye. I froze as his eyes locked with mine, looking at me sternly with a furrowed brow. “You spent such a long time looking at her and thinking about her, but all you did was sit here and speculate. It wasn’t until you confronted your dilemma and saw the facts for yourself, that you were able to draw a conclusion and make an intelligent choice,” he reached up and tapped the side of his head, close to his eyes. “There is only so much we can do and see when looking on from afar. You have to look carefully up close before you can make a proper judgment. After seeing her and confronting her, you quickly learned that she wasn’t the one for you. Could you have done that by sitting here and staring at her good looks? No.”

I stared at him, speechless. As usual, he found a way to teach a valuable lesson in an unconventional way, in an unconventional place. I sighed, coming back down to earth out of my anger. He was right, as always.

“You want to know how to find the right mare?” he spoke up again as I cooled down. “By doing exactly what you did here. It’s pointless to sit and wonder. You’ll never know anything about a mare unless you approach her and talk to her. Remember that.”

“Alright…” I nodded as he turned and went back to facing straight forward.

Humbled and a little wiser, I moved to sit down.

“WHOA!” I yelped as my plot moved far past where my barstool was supposed to be. I fell backwards and tumbled to the floor.

“Awareness,” Blizzard said as he scooted my barstool back into place and took a sip of his drink.

“Never know unless I actually try…” she pouted. “It seems so simple, but…”

“It is simple, the doubt is all in your head,” Silver cut her off, tapping a hoof against the side of his head beside his eyes. “You have to be proactive or else you’ll never know if somepony is right for you,” he cracked a small smile. “And believe me… it works. From that day onward, I made the effort to meet several mares. A lot of them, and I mean a lot of them ended poorly, but through all the screw ups, I finally met the one. The perfect mare for me who eventually became my wife…” he sighed and his ears flopped down. “It’s just… a shame that Blizzard never go the chance to meet her.”

Fleetfoot remained silent. She understood the message Silver was trying to send, but getting up close and personal was something she already did on a regular occasion. Part of it was apparently knowing how to tell if a pony was the one for you or not.

“What was it about your wife that made her so special to you?”

“Serenity?” Silver smiled. “Heh, it was a lot simpler than I ever thought it would be,” he said as he shifted his weight and continued. “She resonated with me. That’s always the first thing you look for. If you don’t feel comfortable around somepony or they don’t feel comfortable around you, it won’t work. It has to be a deep level of comfort as well. That’s something you can’t figure out unless you get up close,” he winked. “But after that was established, what really sold me was her effort.”

“Effort?” Fleetfoot tipped her head as she continued to listen very carefully.

“Indeed,” Silver nodded as he turned his head to look at her. “Serenity went above and beyond for me, went the extra mile. She did everything she could to visibly show me that I was important to her. She attended every show she could, waiting for hours for me after some of them for us to finish all of our post show interviews and signings. She would send me care packages during long stretches that I couldn’t get away from the compound. I was hospitalized twice after the last Griffon-Drake war. One was because I got caught in an avalanche during a search and rescue operation… and the other was…” he paused and grunted. “I slipped and fell in the locker room showers and fell in such an awkward way that I dislocated my shoulder…”

“Wait wha—?”

“BUT,” Silver cut her off before she could process the thought. “Both times, she visited me in the hospital less than half an hour after the news got out. She expressed the exact same worry for me for something silly like slipping in the shower as she had for when I was nearly buried alive and killed in an avalanche. It didn’t matter what it was, I was important to her and she made it perfectly clear. Her efforts grew on me, and I found myself responding. I wanted to protect her, to put myself in harm’s way for her if need be. She was somepony who was willing to do it all for me, so I felt it was entirely worth my effort to do it all for her as well,” Silver sighed happily. “That’s what made her special… Now we’re married and have a family,” his ears flopped down slightly. “And I’ve no doubt they are worried sick about me right now. I hope we find the means to contact others soon. I want to let them know I’m not dead.”

The last few words fell on deaf ears. Fleetfoot was entirely focused on a few specific things.

“I’ll never know unless I try… Going the extra mile for somepony… Putting oneself in harm’s way for another…” she said quietly to herself.

Silver heard every word and stared towards Fleetfoot as a long pause began to stretch out. Silver looked at her carefully as she sat with her head tipped downward and her eyes moved back and forth. After nothing happened for another thirty seconds, Silver flattened his brow and released a grunt and a sharp exhale from his nose.

“He’s still in the infirmary,” Silver broke the silence. Fleetfoot’s head shot up and her eyes grew wide as she turned and looked at Silver. “What?”

“How did…” Fleetfoot failed to complete the question. She hadn’t said a word to Silver about Calm.

“It wasn’t very hard to figure it out. I heard the report from Fire Streak. I come in here and see you looking down. Pretty easy to put together,” Silver explained himself casually. “I know you’re thinking about him.”

“I’m not thinking like that!” Fleetfoot lashed out while blushing. Silver shook his head.

“I never said you were,” he remained cool and collected, Fleetfoot’s glare reverting to a look of indecision. “If you feel that bad about what happened… what are you doing sitting in here?”

Fleetfoot’s ears shot up and she gasped.

“It’s only going to keep bothering you if you don’t get up and—” Silver paused as he watched Fleetfoot sharply rise and move at a quickened canter, weaving through the ponies as she made her way across the arena towards the exit. “There we go…” Silver took a deep breath as he looked back towards the flickering flames rising out the top of the barrel fire. He slowly cracked a small grin. It eventually turned into a smile as he closed his eyes and chuckled. “God dammit…” he said as he continued to laugh lightly. “I can’t believe I once said… that I’d never turn into you. You old bastard…”

“Still not talking to me?”

Soarin winced in his sleep as the female voice chimed in.

“Hmph.” The male voice grunted in return.

“Stop being such a foal,” the female voice scoffed. “What, didn’t think I had it in me to take such a risk?”

“Hmph,” the male voice was clearly unwilling to speak.

“Or are you angry that I gave him a taste of what my power allows?”

“Hmph.”

“Such maturity.”

“Grrrr…” The male voice was miffed.

Soarin wasn’t going to let this go on without him this time. He grunted and focused, forcing his eyes open. The images before him were blurry at first, but as his eyelids continued to push, the yellow and blue silhouettes slowly came into focus. Something was different this time. While the yellow image was still standing upright, the blue was sitting and facing away from its counterpart.

“Oh? Look who found his way to us again,” the yellow image giggled as Soarin looked back and forth between them in the dark backdrop of what he more or less now considered ‘inside his head.’

“Joyous occasion,” the blue figure grunted as he remained facing away.

Soarin sighed as he looked back and forth. The first question on his mind was who they were. It was impossible to recognize the voices by how the tones fluctuated in their current state, but every time he asked for their identity he was denied an answer. By now he figured asking was useless, so instead of being annoyed, he simply went with it.

“So what’s he all angry about?” Soarin asked as he took a step towards the yellow light, slightly averting his eyes due to its brightness. The yellow figure turned its head towards the blue for a brief moment.

“He’s just being a sourpuss because I put us at risk,” she said in a slightly exasperated tone.

“Risk? What risk?” Soarin asked.

“She held you in place while you and your friends were trying to evacuate,” the blue figure suddenly spoke up as he turned his head. “Had the situation not been saved by a miracle, you’d be dead and we’d have been destroyed. Not only did she meddle in the affairs of you mortals, I refuse to speak to one who is clearly looking for more ways to be rid of me, no matter how drastic or consequential.”

“Excuse me?” the yellow figure sharply spoke up, causing Soarin to flinch and back away slightly. “In the affairs of mortals? You even try to speak as if you’re a god. And… if my ‘meddling’ is really so bad in your eyes, then why did you willingly allow Soarin full access to your power in order to bolster Luna’s shield, hm?”

“Tch!” the blue figure faced away again.

“Your hypocrisy is laughable at times,” the yellow voice scoffed in return.

“It’s laughable to hear YOU speak of hypocrisy…” the blue grumbled.

“Hmph,” the yellow figure turned away and faced Soarin. “At least I don’t claim to be something I’m not, nor will ever be.”

The blue figure went completely silent as Soarin shook his head.

“Okay, I followed the part about Luna’s shield, but what’s all this about an evacuation? A miracle? How long have I been out? What’s happened to my friends? Is Rainbow Dash okay?” Soarin fired multiple questions at the yellow silhouette.

“Your concern for your friends and loved ones is as admirable as ever, Commander Soarin. Your friends, and more importantly, Rainbow Dash are all just fine. As for what has happened while we’ve been tending to you… I believe there is someone much more suitable to explain sleeping right beside you.”

“Right beside—wait… tending to me?” Soarin blinked.

“Are you done moping? It’s time to wake him up,” the yellow figured called back to the blue.

“Fine…” the blue figure replied as he began to emit a soft glow.

Soarin looked down as a blue glow surrounded him. He looked back up to see the yellow figure do the same, and add her light around him.

“Mark my words…” the blue figure spoke up, drawing Soarin’s attention away from the auras surrounding him.

“Here we go again…” the yellow figure sighed.

“I am watching carefully, Soarin… and the moment that damned horn of yours is compromised, I am making my move. Your body will be mine,” the blue figure growled.

“Don’t bother listening Soarin,” the yellow figure almost sounded amused. “He has no idea who he’s threatening,” she finished with a giggle as the lights completely engulfed Soarin.

The first thing Soarin felt was the sharp touch of cold air on his nose. His whole face tingled as he gritted his teeth and shivered, opening his eyes slowly to find himself in a room that seemed familiar, just not as bright as it usually was. He stared straight up at the ceiling, which had its frame still intact, but it was missing all of its tiles.

He closed his eyes and groaned, but after a moment, his eyes opened right back up. He moved an arm and moved a leg. He glanced down to see he was covered by thick blankets, but as he moved his limbs they felt perfectly normal. He pulled his right hoof out from beneath the covers and touched his forehead. The hoof quickly bumped into the horn as he felt around, but there was no discomfort… anywhere. His whole body felt strong, revitalized, and refreshed as if he had just had the best sleep of his life.

With one solid effort, he sat upright in bed, touching his chest and moving his hooves up and down as the blanket slid down. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so good, not including the time the yellow magic more or less made him high on life. The yellow…

The yellow figure in his head said something about tending to him, as if the two beings had recharged and restored him to peak health after he had poured every inch of his willpower into doubling the power of Luna’s shield. Even the small wounds he had received from the battle the day before were gone without a trace.

As convenient as it was and as awesome as he felt… it was a little unnerving. Sure, the blue figure kept threatening him and claiming he was going to take over, blah, blah, blah… but there was clearly interest in keeping Soarin alive or else he wouldn’t have assisted the yellow figure. And speaking of her… she almost had Soarin more worried. While the blue voice made it clear what his intentions were, the yellow was secretive about hers. She seemed like the friendlier one and the one who had an upper hoof in keeping the blue under control, but… the yellow magic frightened him.

Not only had said magic easily overpowered his morals in its first appearance, but it had also given him brief glimpses of terrible things that were about to happen shortly before they did. Then there was something about holding him in place and putting him at risk? He had a basic understanding of what the blue magic was capable of, but the yellow was still a mystery and he didn’t like it. The friendly nature of the yellow figure in his head didn’t help. It almost made him wonder if there was an ulterior motive that she was hiding from him.

Soarin shook his head, finally breaking from his thoughts and taking a good look around. As he looked to his left, he immediately recognized the infirmary… but what the hell had happened to it?! The ceiling tiles were gone, the place was a mess, all the lights were out, emergency lights had been placed on the counters, and it was COLD AS HELL. He quickly reached down and grabbed his blanket to pull it back up, but his left hoof ran into something in the process. It felt like a mane.

“Hmm?” a soft, sleepy hum sounded out from beside him. He looked down, and immediately forgot about all the sudden changes to his usual environment. Why? Because he just laid eyes on exactly what he wanted to see.

Rainbow Dash was sitting on a stool and resting her head on his bed. It was turned slightly sideways and she was drooling on the mattress as she slept. Soarin’s heart swelled. Nothing helped the confusion of an unfamiliar situation like seeing what brought you the most comfort in the whole world.

He instinctively reached his left hoof up and gently placed it atop her head, running it softly through her mane. Her right ear twitched, flopping up and down as his hoof approached it.

“Ngh…” Dash made a sound and turned her head over on the other side. Soarin smiled and slowly moved his hoof down past her mane and onto her cheek. “Hhhuuuuh?” Dash’s eyelids began to flutter and eventually they slowly opened. She was facing away from Soarin, but the moment she felt something touching her head and noticed that there was nopony standing beside her, it didn’t take long for her brain to put two and two together. She quickly sat up, shaking the hoof off her head as she turned to look at Soarin, but her eyes met his waist. She slowly moved her head up until her eyes looked directly into his, complete with the smile she couldn’t get enough of.

“Hey sleepyhead,” Soarin said ironically as she stared blankly at him. He purposely set her up to give him a snarky comeback, but she just stared and stared. “Dash?” he tipped his head slightly.

Dash narrowed her eyes and bit her lower lip, slowly tilting her head down as she began to quiver while glaring at him.

“You…” she mumbled as she shivered in her seat, despite wearing a blanket. “You jerk…”

“Oh, Dash…” Soarin grinned sheepishly as he figured she was going to berate him for worrying her… again. She shook her head roughly before looking up and locking her eyes with his again, but they were not angry, they were filled with pure joy. Her expression just didn’t follow.

“SOARIN!” she yelled she slammed her eyes shut and launched herself at him with her arms outstretched.

“WHOA—OOF!” Soarin grunted as Dash flat out tacked him around the waist and knocked him back down onto the bed, landing with a soft THUMP. “Ho-man… yeow… Dash, that’s really tight…” Soarin chuckled as Dash squeezed the living daylights out of his midsection. He was expecting a snarky retort again, such as ‘shut-up and hug me’ but again, he didn’t get one. He tipped his head up and saw that Dash had her face pressed heavily into his chest fur and was shaking? Damn… he must’ve really worried her this time.

He quickly reached down, remaining quiet as he wrapped his arms over her back and gave a light squeeze in return.

Soarin looked up when he heard the shuffling of hooves. Siren Bliss was moving towards them with Mahogany close behind. Both of them wore expressions of great interest when they saw Soarin awake, but Soarin quickly reached one of his hooves up and waved it while shaking his head.

Mahogany yelped as Bliss came to an abrupt halt in front of her, nearly running face first into her plot. Bliss quickly turned and placed a hoof on Mahogany’s shoulder, gently turning her around and nudging her back the way they came with a smile on her face.

Soarin turned his attention back to his quivering mare that was latched to his body like she would never let go again. He reached over to her and grabbed both his blanket and the one that fell off of her onto his mattress when she jumped at him. He laid them over both of them up to the back of her neck before reaching his hooves beneath the blankets and holding her again.

They simply stayed like that. Soarin had a lot of questions on his mind about what had happened, why the infirmary was a mess without working lights and why it was so cold… but it could wait. Top priority: comfort Rainbow Dash.

Eventually her grip on him began to loosen and Soarin found he could breathe normally again. He looked down and gently ran a hoof over Dash’s mane as she began to slide down a little bit and press her hooves to the mattress, picking her head up and looking down at him.

“Sorry, I really needed that…” Dash admitted as she kept her eyes locked with his. “I’ve needed you…”

“Do I look like I’m complaining?” Soarin chuckled, then glanced back and forth. “But this quite a suggestive position we’re in… considering there are others in the room.”

“Uh…” Dash blinked and looked up and around. There were indeed other ponies in the infirmary who were all looking towards them awkwardly. She was sort of… straddling his stomach. “Oh… right…heheh…” Dash blushed and scratched the back of her head as she tipped to her right and ‘dismounted’ Soarin. She thought about lying beside him, but even that felt like a bit much in public, so she set herself back on the floor and leaned on the bed, bringing her face close to his as she took several deep breaths. She had to calm herself. She was overjoyed that Soarin was okay and awake, but she had to control herself, at least for the moment.

“My turn,” Soarin spoke up as he sat up and reached for her. She blinked in surprise as Soarin grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her towards him as he shifted closer to her. He nestled her head between his arms and his lower chest, giving her a very soft embrace. “Sorry if I worried you… again,” he said with a slightly sheepish tone.

Dash felt her whole body warm up as he held her gently. Feeling his embrace and its unique effect on her made her want to tackle him and pin him down for some more intense form of affection, but again… she controlled herself. They were in the infirmary, not in private. She also didn’t want to overwhelm him. He had just woken up after completely draining himself. He was probably a little…

“Hup!” Soarin’s arms suddenly moved. Dash felt his muscles tense against her body and yelped as she suddenly rose upward, her back hooves lifting off the floor.

“Whoa!” Dash exclaimed in surprise as Soarin lifted her up by the shoulders for a moment before setting her back down gently. She looked at him, confused, if not a little turned on. Soarin twisted his body back and forth after he released her and cracked his neck back and forth before turning his body and slipping off the bed onto the floor. “Wait, uh…” Dash expressed concern despite his apparent… healthy state. Soarin looked perfectly fine, and he was moving as if totally refreshed. “You aren’t feeling stiff or…?” she didn’t quite know how to word it or ask. She was beyond confused how Soarin seemed so unaffected by the incident that left him bedridden.

“I’m feeling right as rain actually,” Soarin expressed cheerfully as he bobbed up and down on his hooves. He suddenly gritted his teeth and reached for the blankets on his bed, quickly throwing it over his back. “It’s… kind of cold though.”

“Well I’m… glad you’re perfectly fine but…” Dash tipped her head to the side.

“But what?” Soarin asked as he draped a blanket over her, that she eagerly accepted.

“I don’t know,” Dash shrugged with a slight smirk. “Every other time you’ve gone down like this I’ve had to drag you back to your room.”

“Heh, actually…” Soarin glanced up at the horn. “I think I may have a loose explanation for that, but it’s not one I really understand.”

Dash didn’t quite hear him. She was in perfect earshot, but she was looking his body over. Honestly she didn’t care how he was in tip top shape more than the fact that he was in tip top shape. And that little stunt lifting her up despite not having the angle for leverage… Priorities Dash… priorities. Soarin had just woken up from a pseudo-coma, they were stranded in a compound with no power, running water, or heat, and they were hiding from a terrifying enemy while a vigilante force of mercenaries bought them time to rest… but all she could think of, looking him over… was sex.

“Speaking of things I don’t get…” Soarin’s voice broke Dash out of her admiration of him. She quickly shook her head out so fast that her ears made whipping noises before putting on a very false smile, while blushing like a moron. Luckily, Soarin was looking around the room. “Why is everything such a mess in here?”

“Oh…” Dash blinked, regaining some of her composure… but admittedly not all of it. Soarin lifted an eyebrow at her. He had been with Dash long enough to recognize certain signs, and honestly, the fact that she was showing signs of being in the mood so quickly after he woke up was entertaining. It was having a bit of an effect on him too, but seriously, he wanted to know what was going on. “I think you better see for yourself before I try to explain. Follow me,” she motioned for him to follow, making sure that her blanket was secure over her back before moving. The two moved into the aisle and began walking towards the door. Soarin flinched and stopped after they took a few steps.

He stared wide eyed at Calm Wind, who was still asleep on his stomach. He was covered by blankets, but he couldn’t help noticing all the tables packed full of tools and bandages, some stained with blood, surrounding his bed. No other pony in the infirmary had such a gruesome looking set up around them.

“What happened to Calm?” Soarin pointed and asked as Dash reached back and grabbed his arm to pull him along.

“Trust me… you have to see it first before any of this will make sense,” she assured him as she pulled him along.

Mahogany looked up from beside Bliss’ desk as the two neared the door. Bliss was hard at work, writing down medical reports. Soarin looked over and waved his hoof before Mahogany could speak up or say something. She looked back and forth between the two of them and Bliss, but obeyed and said nothing as Dash pushed the door open and led Soarin out.

“What the…?!” Soarin blinked as the first thing he saw was a large pillar sticking out of the floor and into the ceiling a few paces away from the infirmary, dimly lit by surrounding work lights. He looked towards the closest window, but it was boarded up. Dash remained silent, letting Soarin take everything in with his own eyes. He moved to the next window to the left, which was still intact. He blinked as his eyes met the mountainside that was about thirty yards away at the end of what looked like a small portion of the courtyard. He looked up at the pillars sticking up out of the front, seeing how high they rose, but he couldn’t see the top because of the blizzard raging outside.

Soarin tore his eyes away from the window, looking down the rest of the east hallway, seeing more pillars sticking through the hallways before he turned back to Dash, dumbstruck with his jaw agape.

Dash simply lifted her brow, knowing that anything Soarin expected upon stepping out of the infirmary was definitely nowhere near as heavy as the reality of the situation. After taking another quick look outside, Soarin swallowed and turned back to Dash, approaching her slowly.

“Uh…” Soarin managed to utter as he stopped in front of her.

“Mmhmm…” Dash nodded as Soarin looked over his shoulder, up at the broken pieces of the ceiling and all the work lights.

“How long was I out for?” Soarin asked the moment he found his voice.

“Two and a half days,” Dash replied quickly. She could have given him the exact hours and minutes as well because she was definitely counting every second until Soarin woke up.

“Only two and a half—”

“WHOA!”

“AH!”

Soarin was cut off as Dash suddenly lurched forward away from the pillar they started by. Soarin reached out and gently stopped her from falling before they both looked back to see Fleetfoot catch herself from face planting. Fleetfoot looked up at both of them and blinked. Her eyes moved to Soarin. Soarin smiled at her.

“Hey Fl—” he didn’t even get her name off in time before she bolted past them and moved right into the infirmary, nearly taking the door out as she pushed her way through it.

Soarin and Dash both stared after her until the infirmary door shut and then looked at each other.

“Must’ve been important…” Soarin scratched his head, surprised that she didn’t even acknowledge him. Dash kept staring for another moment, and then her ears stood up.

“Oh, I think I know…” Dash thought out loud. Soarin looked at her, hoping for a response, but she shook her head. “It’s part of everything,” she said as she grabbed his arm and turned him towards the lobby.

“Alright… I’m listening,” Soarin nodded as the two began to walk. “Just what the hell happened while I was out?”

“Well…” Dash began as they entered the lobby and Soarin got a nice view of the massive column sticking through the stairs as well as the hole in the floor. “This may sound crazy, but… here’s what happened…”

Fleetfoot stared directly at Bliss and Mahogany as the two looked towards her with wide eyes post-bashing her way through the door.

“Is… something wrong, Fleetfoot?” Bliss asked as she tipped her head to the side. Fleetfoot looked away without answering, staring down the aisle until her eyes landed on Calm. He was further away from the rest who currently occupied the beds and tables. With Soarin gone from his bed, Calm was the last one with three empty beds separating him and anypony else.

Bliss leaned forward on her desk to see where she was looking.

“Ah,” Bliss smiled and sat back down, returning to her work, deducing why Fleetfoot had come to visit.

Fleetfoot immediately started moving towards him, still not sure exactly why she had decided to visit Calm. Silver was half right. She felt incredibly bad about how much pain he took for her, and wanted to show appreciation in some way, but was that all of it? Silver had also mentioned what made his significant other so important to him, going the extra mile, putting oneself in harm’s way for the other’s sake.

Calm had just done both for her…

But no, she wasn’t going to jump to conclusions. Sure she was feeling lonely, and she was surrounded by what she didn’t have in the battledome, but she wasn’t going to let that control her. It was dangerous to let herself make a choice like that when under the influence of strong emotions.

She liked Calm, sure. He was a big, muscular, adorable doofus. But there were others, both stallions and mares that she also liked for other reasons. She was beginning to think it was time to be more serious about relationships, but it wasn’t going to be an instant switch. She’d need time to fully figure out what she wanted.

She slowly came to a halt as she neared Calm, stopping right beside his bed, lined up with his chin resting comfortably on the mattress. She frowned and her ears flopped down as she looked at all the tools and empty bandage rolls lying around the bed, stains of blood upon the metal safety surfaces of the tools and a few stains on the mattress as well. Calm had been through a lot of pain over the past few days, but she heard that Bliss has been using pain medication to help him rest while he healed up. So it was good to know he was making a slow recovery, but that meant he was knocked out, sound asleep and she didn’t know if she preferred that or not.

She was at a crossroads and unsure how to proceed. The fact that he was out made the situation less tense or awkward. She gently lifted her hooves up onto the bed and placed her chin on the mattress, staring at his sleeping face as she released a frustrated sigh.

She just didn’t know what to do. Being by his side for the moment made her feel better. At least the part of her that felt like his pain was her fault. She still couldn’t shake the other part though.

She didn’t want to act impulsively, and she didn’t want to leap before she looked. She had to figure herself out a little more before making any steps towards erasing her fear of commitment. There were a lot of other ponies in the compound… well, in all of Equestria for that matter. She wouldn’t want to simply latch to the first one that matched a loose description that may or may not also pertain to her. What Silver had told her was what made his wife special to him. For all she knew it could be something entirely different for her.

Nevertheless… Calm had still done things that showed he may care about her. Defending her until he was immobilized, and then forcing himself to move to defend her again, no matter how much it already hurt. She couldn’t just ignore that, and if anything she wanted him to know how much she appreciated him for it.

But… this is where the downside of him being asleep came in. She had gone through the trouble of coming in here, and she wanted to thank him, even if in a small way, but he was asleep, and she didn’t want to wake him up. However, she was confident that he was knocked out pretty hard. She had been given pain meds by Bliss once in the past after a nasty crash that caused a fractured rib. She was out in seconds, and woke up with a moustache drawn on her face by Blaze.

Seeing as how the dose was probably larger for this big dope, she had a feeling she’d be able to at least say something. He may not hear it, but it would make her feel better.

“Calm, I…” she began in a very hushed tone. So quiet that there was no way anypony nearby would hear. “I know you’re sleeping, but I just have to say. Thank you so much. If you weren’t there to block the magic attack, I’d probably be lying right where you are. Who knows, it might even have been worse since I’m nowhere near as sturdy as you…” she sighed, her ears flopped against the side of her head. She kept staring at the profile of his face, barely even blinking as she looked it over again and again. “I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate it. You put yourself in harm’s way for me… you really didn’t have to do that, but you did… knowing full well what you were doing too. I can’t say I know many ponies that would have done something like that for me… or anypony else for that matter.”

She paused again, looking down and blushing as her thoughts began swirling around the other topic again. She fought it back. She was not going to let herself fall prey to her state of mind. It was hard to hold it back, but she knew it was for the best, at least for now. At least… for now…

“Calm?” she found herself speaking again. “I don’t know what I want right now. I need time to figure it all out before I make any decisions. But…” she stared at his face. “But…” she bit her lip, blushing as she shut her eyes tight. She remained like that for a moment before relaxing her face and looking upon him again. She slowly leaned forward, closed her eyes, and planted a very light kiss on his cheek. Nothing more than a little peck, but a kiss none-the-less.

“But you’ve definitely more than earned a chance…” she whispered as she slowly pulled back.

She froze, staring at Calm’s face. It was turning bright red. To her horror, his eye facing her slowly opened. It looked groggy, but the hue in his face was enough for her to realize that he had woken up… most likely from the kiss.

“Uh… oh god…” Fleetfoot backed away and put a hoof over her mouth, her eyes growing incredibly wide as Calm turned his head towards her, his whole face glowing and his mouth slightly agape. He definitely was aware of what had just happened.

Fleetfoot had specifically gone that far because she was certain he was out cold. It couldn’t have backfired any harder… at least that’s what she thought at first.

Calm suddenly glanced away from her, and despite still looking groggy, something else made his eyes widen a little. Fleetfoot gulped as she turned her head, her pupils shrinking as she saw Bliss, Mahogany, Shine Struck, Swift Justice, and Playbitz all standing in the aisle, looking in at her and Calm.

Shine Struck and Mahogany both looked like they were internally squealing. Bliss was smirking while lifting an eyebrow. Playbitz looked excited, like he wanted to pat Calm on the back, but he wasn’t going to for obvious reasons. Swift Justice was gritting his teeth and shaking his hooves as if he wanted to ask Calm to teach him his secrets.

Calm and Fleetfoot’s faces were now both equally bright red. What a fiasco…

“I GOTTA GO!” Fleetfoot suddenly yelled as she lifted off and shot over Calm’s back, zipping right over to the exit and slamming the door behind her as she escaped.

Squad zero, Bliss, and Mahogany all stared at the door for a moment before looking back at Calm.

Calm groaned, grabbing a nearby pillow and stuffing it over his head in embarrassment with only his muzzle sticking out from beneath.

“Wow…” Soarin stared blankly into the rec room at all of the silver boxes, panels, and controls that sat in front of the window looking out. His eyes landed on the large steering lever in the center and he shook his head. His horn was alight, hovering an emergency ration box beside him in a blue aura that he had been picking roasted almonds, dried apricots, and turkey jerky strips from.

They had stopped to grab some food for him before Dash started showing him around. While their emergency rations weren’t the best food around, Soarin hadn’t eaten in two and a half days. Even though he felt refreshed and rejuvenated, he was incredibly hungry and had already dusted off another box before starting on this one. He had completely forgotten his appetite for a moment though when he saw the drastically altered state of the rec room.

It was funny to see Soarin exhibit unicorn behavior, completely using his magic to scoop the food into his mouth, but with how cold it was and how they had to more or less hold the blankets shut to cover their legs, she didn’t blame him.

“Yep…” Dash nodded as she leaned up against him. “As crazy as it all sounds… that’s exactly what happened.”

“Rivet started up an engine in the basement… The whole damn thing just picked itself right out of the ground and flew… And Lucky steered it through the mountains…” Soarin said to himself as he continued to stare, taking a glance over his shoulder at the massive pillar sticking out through the stairwell and out the top of the ceiling.

“Mmhmm,” Dash hummed as she nestled herself against him and closed her eyes. It was a little colder up on the third floor because they hadn’t completely covered all the gaps in between the pillars and the ceiling. Even with their heavy blankets it was a little cold.

“And I missed all of that?!” Soarin suddenly said with a frustrated tone as he forced a large helping of jerky into his mouth. Dash opened her eyes, blinking as she looked up at him with an eyebrow raised.

“You know… it wasn’t really a painless endeavor,” she said with a smirk, amused at his apparent disappointment. Soarin swallowed and pouted.

“Well, yeah but… our compound can fly, we were tossed through the air and ran from other flying ships after dodging certain death… and I slept through all of it?” Soarin exhaled sharply through his nose. “I wish I could have experienced or at least seen all of that. That’s like something out of a science fiction movie!” Soarin chuckled as Dash giggled into his side.

“You are a pegasus with a medieval artifact attached to your head… imbued with two unknown forms of magic, and we’re fighting enemies that have powers gained from unknown crystals… who also have a flying base… and now you think this is like science fiction?”

“Point taken,” Soarin shrugged as he scooped the last bit of dried apricots into his mouth and used his magic to crush the flimsy box. He chewed and swallowed before he leaned into her as well. “But damn… the compound can fly… I don’t think I ever would have seen that coming,” he said as he hovered the crushed box underneath his blanket and tucked it beneath his wing.

“Nopony did,” Dash huffed as she remembered how scared she was while fighting. “It was a no-win situation that we squeaked out of with a miracle. The way the Shadowbolts planned their attack was flawless, they took us by surprise, and had everypony where they wanted them. Had we not bet on Rivet’s little discovery, we’d all be dead,” Dash shivered. “I was… really scared…” she admitted.

Soarin frowned as he looked down at her. Dash wasn’t one to admit fear. In fact she never admitted fear, but after hearing all about what they went through and how close they were to being killed… he could understand that she was scared. Though the fact that she remained strong and kept fighting through the fear spoke for how far she had come as a Wonderbolt.

At the same time, Soarin couldn’t help but notice that she had been practically glued to his side since she began showing him around and explaining what had happened. After how much time they had spent together, it didn’t take him long to figure out what she was indirectly telling him. She probably wouldn’t have been as scared… if he was fighting by her side.

But that was the kicker wasn’t it? That’s more or less how things had been. They vowed to spend more time with each other during their trip to Cloudsdale, but right after that everything went to hell, what with the Renegades showing themselves all at once and then the Shadowbolts attacking.

Where did all the time go? Where had all the opportunity gone? While it wasn’t the drive behind her, Dash simply trying out for the Wonderbolts, becoming a recruit, and then being selected to stay were all steps that both of them had been hoping for to bring them together and keep them together… however… all along the way, it felt like they had been kept apart. There was always something distracting them, always something else they had to focus on. Where had all the romance gone? What happened to all the time they thought they’d have together? Had everything gone business as usual, they would probably have had all their chances, but no… it didn’t work out that way.

First there was the horn… then the magic issues. Then they had their little argument… keeping them apart for a short time. Then Dash was stuck under the strict rules of Silver, now she had to run a squad… then the Renegades started messing with them, and now the Shadowbolts were trying to kill them.

Life and unusual circumstance had thrown such a curveball at them, and they longed for each other… to feel each other’s touch without worry.

They both remembered the train. The first kiss they shared. While they had yet to fully confess, it was what sealed how important they were to each other, how they had thoroughly affected each other’s lives.

Then there was the royal ball… oh, neither of them would ever forget that. The unexpected meeting, the flawless dance they shared, and their escape into the sky to have their own dance and first confess their love. Soarin still laughed whenever he thought about that moment. He completely let it slip and was certain he had ruined the night, only for Dash be overjoyed and return it all.

They had their moments since then… but all of them were… constrained. Always a time limit, always an ‘I better get going’ always an ‘until we get there.’ There was always something that kept it from feeling as free and as alive as it did those two nights they spent together… one during the royal ball and the other after they escaped the Shadowbolts.

Where had those moments gone?

Soarin missed them.

Dash missed them.

But… with their current situation… if Soarin understood Dash correctly, the Renegades were handling the everything and they had down time. And if they had down time… they could finally spend some real time together. Sure it was cold, sure they were in hiding, but there was nothing preventing them. They just needed the right environment, the right privacy.

So Soarin, while this was something legitimate he had been wondering, decided to take advantage of the situation.

“Oh, Dash,” he spoke up as he looked over his shoulder. “I want to check my room. You said everything got thrown around right? I bet my room’s a mess right now,” he lied through his teeth.

“Oh, sure,” Dash complied, not bothering to think about a thing as long as she got to stay by his side.

Soarin was leading her into a trap, but it was a meaningful one. He wasn’t going to jump her or surprise her and get rough and rowdy instantly… he just wanted privacy, but he wanted her only to know once they got there… he wanted to show her love. She looked like she needed it, and dammit… he needed it too.

The two of them made their way from the rec room, around the massive pillar and towards Soarin’s room. It wasn’t very far from the rec room, just one door down from Spitfire’s door, which lay in a bit of distress, having felt the repercussions of the surrounding floor breaking apart. Luckily, the damage to the floor stopped before they reached Soarin’s door. It made him hopeful that his room wasn’t in too much disarray. But he wasn’t going to hold his breath. Based on Dash’s description, the whole compound had been thrown about violently and the furniture wasn’t bolted down. He was sure his room was going to be a mess.

Soarin took a deep breath as he stood before his door, glancing back at dash for a brief moment before reaching for the doorknob. He cracked the door open and peered in. He stared for a moment, Dash waiting patiently behind as he remained silent.

“So how bad is it?” Dash asked, sharing his assumptions. Soarin blinked before flattening his brow and smirking with a snort.

“It’s too dark, I can’t see a thing,” he said with a chuckle, almost causing Dash to willingly face plant before stepping up to the door.

“You doofus,” she nudged him in the side before looking over her shoulder. “I dunno if they want us messing with the work lights. There are barely any on the upper floors anyway. Let’s go see if we can find a flashli—” she was cut off as a light blue glow surrounded Soarin’s horn.

“I got it,” he said with a wink before the glow intensified and a small ball of bright blue magical energy rose up from the tip of the horn and floated up. Dash eyed the ball of energy as it floated beside Soarin, shaking her head as she smirked.

“You’re such a cheater,” she said as Soarin pushed the door to his room open and shrugged.

“I just work with what I’ve got,” he said in a sly manner as he used his magic to open his blanket and drape it over them both. Dash shot him a sly look right back as the ball of light moved into the room and the two followed right behind.

As if it wasn’t already dark enough everywhere in the compound, it looked like the steel shutter had been knocked loose and forced down over his window during the takeoff and crash. Even if the window was uncovered, they wouldn’t see much with the blizzard raging right outside. They weren’t on the side facing the mountain, but the storm and the clouds were so thick that it didn’t matter what time of day it was. Not like they were complaining, the Renegades were doing what they did best, misdirecting the Shadowbolts for them so they could rest, recover, and prepare for a little while. The important thing was that the window was shut and sealed, not allowing any more of the cold air inside.

“Uh, wow…” Dash commented first as the ball of light illuminated the room with a dim blue hue. “You got lucky,” she said as she huddled against him.

“I’ll say…” Soarin agreed as he glanced around. While all of his belongings and furniture were not quite where they were supposed to be, everything still sat upright, well… everything except for his dresser. Which was tipped on its side and the draws had spat out lots of its contents. Aside from that though, his large bed had barely shifted, his desk and even the swivel chair were upright. The two large shelves had thankfully tipped backwards and wedged themselves against the wall. The contents were disorganized, but all in one piece, including the trophies that sat on it. All his posters were still up, and his framed copy of the same picture Rainbow Dash had in her floor locker was in one piece, lying flat on its back on his desk.

“From what I saw outside,” Soarin cringed as he stepped forward, gently pulling his blanket off of Dash as he moved. “I doubt Spitfire got so lucky, the cracks along the floor went right into her room.”

“Her office was basically destroyed,” Dash commented as she moved around. Spitfire’s room was right above her office. She had seen the state of Spitfire’s office briefly before Spitfire tried to reorganize it, but there wasn’t much she could do aside from propping up her desk. Everything else was all over the place.

“I bet she’s still using it anyway,” Soarin commented as if reading Dash’s thoughts. He moved towards his dresser and frowned. “Well, it’s not so bad, I just hope…” he paused as he scooted the dresser back slightly and began looking through the contents. Dash tipped her head curiously as she walked towards the dressed. Soarin was mostly tossing aside articles of clothing. Wonderbolt related things, official, unofficial, some free merchandise, and a few flight suits that were not Wonderbolt suits. She didn’t have time to see what they looked like as they all were tossed aside into a pile. “Come on, where is it?”

“Where is what?” Dash asked as her hoof suddenly hit something on the floor. She stopped and looked down as Soarin looked up.

“Oh!” Soarin exclaimed as the ball of light hovered down towards Dash. She had run into a small metal box that was about twelve inches wide and long and six inches tall. “There it is!” Soarin smiled as he reached over and slid the box towards him.

“What is it?” Dash asked as she made her way around the pile of loose paraphernalia. Soarin blinked as he looked at the box, before looking up and Dash, smiling.

“That’s right… I haven’t gotten a chance to show you any of this stuff yet, have I?” he said as she smiled back at him.

“I get the feeling you meant to…” she trailed off as she stopped by his side, turned around and sat down next to him.

“But I never got the chance?” Soarin asked as he opened his blanket and let her scoot into his side. She leaned heavily into him, nuzzling him beneath his cheek as he closed the blanket around them and rested his head atop hers.

“Mmhmm…” Dash replied as Soarin felt her subtly nod against his neck.

“That’s how it’s felt for just about everything,” Soarin said with a sigh as Dash turned her head and pressed her nose into the fur on his shoulder, sighing softly as she felt his fur bristle against her face and took in his scent. She released a soft moan of comfort as she felt Soarin’s arm reach around her and hold her tightly. “We’ve both been so busy… there’s been so much action… I keep getting knocked out by this stupid horn…” Soarin grunted in frustration. “It’s hardly given us as much time together I was hoping we’d have.”

“Hmmm…” Dash hummed as she turned her head to free her nose from his neck. “I guess that’s just our job though… would it have been different if it was just business as usual?”

“We’d still be busy…” Soarin tipped his head to rest his cheek on the top of her head, her ear flopping down to allow a clean landing in her mane. “But… that promise we recently made to make time for each other… well, we may actually have been able to do that.”

“I’m not holding it against you if you’re worried,” Dash paused to tip her head up and nuzzle the top of her nose against his cheek. “It’s not like I’ve had a chance to do anything either.”

“I can see you being a little miffed,” Soarin let a smile crack on his lips.

“Soarin, I’m not,” she pouted.

“Not even a little? OW!” he yelped as she lightly nipped at his cheek.

“Say it again and I’ll punch you,” she threatened before nuzzling him hard again.

“Alright, alright,” he chuckled as his eyes landed back on the box still sitting before him. “Well… it may not have been exactly how I wanted it to come around…” he reached for the box and pulled it right up to them. “But we have time now. I’ve been wanting to share this stuff with you for a long time.”

Dash turned her face and looked down at the box as Soarin reached for it with his free hoof, realizing just what they had at that very moment.

Time.

It had been a long time since they could just sit down like this and do something together. Honestly, part of her wanted to jump him and get rowdy immediately, which was mostly because of how refreshed and strong he looked. But… they didn’t have a time limit. She didn’t have to go back to the barracks, and he had nowhere to report, so it could wait. It would have to wait anyway, because she was very curious what was in this box. It was sturdy, so the contents had to be important to Soarin.

Soarin unlatched the two clip locks on the front and slowly opened it, lowering the light so they could see inside. There were several objects, photos, and newspaper clippings piled into the box. Dash remained silent as Soarin reached in and began pulling out the contents one by one with his free hoof. He reached for the newspaper clippings first as he began to speak.

“This is my little box of memories,” he began as Dash leaned over to look at the newspaper article. “When I became part of the lead squad, the amount of time I had to get out of the compound was cut incredibly thin. I’m here all day every day, but I never wanted to forget what it took to get here,” he said as Dash began to read over the article. It was a report on a Wonderbolt show, dated around five years ago. The headline was: ‘Wonderbolts Wow the Crowds with New Routines and New Recruits!’ Dash glanced up at Soarin to see a big smile on his face. “You know the fly by you did with Foxtrot during the Cloudsdale show? This was the show Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and I did our fly-by with Straight Arrow and Dozer. You know the two stallions in squad seventeen?” he asked as he paused. Dash shook her head. She admitted to not knowing many of the Wonderbolts well beyond the first three squads. “Yeah, they were in recruit squad Delta before we charged into the elite ranks all the way up to squad three. Honestly I wish they took one of those two with the three of us, they were both much more tolerable than Rapidfire…”

Soarin dropped the article back into the box and pulled out another one. The headline read: ‘Legendary Gold Squad Retires! New Captain Takes Charge!’ the headline was complete with a picture of Blazetail shaking hooves with Spitfire.

“This one speaks for itself,” Soarin smiled as he hoofed it over to Dash. “I mean… fine. I hate Rapidfire, but he DID help us become the lead squad. As much as I preferred Arrow or Dozer… neither of them had the skill to jump the ranks like we did.”

“Heh…” Dash chuckled as she looked closely at the picture. “I think I see the two of you…”

“Scowling at each other in the background, I know…” Soarin snorted with a smile as he leaned over and placed his chin on Dash’s head. “You saw us back in Ponyville. That was twenty-four seven for us. I’ll tell you, Spitfire was happy to give her yelling voice a rest once he was gone.”

“What’s in those photos?” Dash asked, eying the photographs in the box as she replaced the article.

“Going even further back,” Soarin answered as he reached his free hoof in and scooped the four photographs out. “These are all old pictures from before I became a Wonderbolt,” he explained as he held up the first one. Dash looked it over carefully, spotting Soarin in a Wonderbolt Cadet uniform in the center of the picture, but there were four others in the picture with him. Two other stallions that looked very similar to him, only slightly smaller and different color, and an older mare and stallion. The older stallion looked almost exactly like Soarin. She put it together immediately.

“Soarin, is this your family?” she asked, glancing at him briefly.

“Yep,” he nodded in response pointing to the picture. “My little brother Glide,” his hoof tapped the red stallion to his right. “And my other little brother Launch,” he pointed to the yellow stallion on his left. “My mother, Cloud Nine,” he pointed to the older, pink mare with a curly black mane. “And of course…” Soarin pointed at his older mirror image. “My father, Soar.”

“Soar?” Dash lifted and eyebrow and smirked.

“I’m partially named after him,” Soarin flashed her a smile as they looked over the photo.

“I can tell why, you look just like him,” Dash commented. “I bet that got a little confusing at home.”

“A little,” Soarin chuckled. “Apparently Soarin was my father’s nickname between him and all his buddies when he was young, so whenever my mother called for me we’d both reply, always,” Soarin explained, earning a giggle from Dash. “In general my life at home was hectic, my brothers and I didn’t make it easy for them…” he trailed off as he looked over the photo. “This was taken right after I got accepted as a recruit… and,” Soarin frowned. “I’ve seen them… four times since.”

“WHAT?!” Dash blinked as she turned and her jaw dropped.

“I’m afraid so,” Soarin sighed. “My life got real busy after that. I visited them a few times when I was a recruit, but once I made the third squad, and soon after became a lead commander…” he glanced at Dash. “I never really got another chance. Most of my communication with them is through letters now. I’ve been to Manehatten several times for shows, but our schedule is always tight… as is theirs. They’ve made it to some of my shows, but they all work very demanding jobs, long hours. I mean, I have seen them, but it’s been nothing more than a smile and a wave into a crowd. I can’t remember the last time I actually went home or spoken to any of them in person.”

Dash watched Soarin carefully as he stared at the photo of his family. She released a small gasp.

“You mean to tell me your family has no idea what you’ve been going through with…” Dash pointed to his horn. Soarin reluctantly nodded.

“They haven’t made it to any of our shows recently, and I haven’t sent or received any letters in a long time. I’d be lying if several things in the recent past haven’t made me think about contacting or going to see them,” Soarin flinched when he felt Dash grab him by the shoulder.

“Soarin, as soon as we get out of this mess, that’s the first thing we’re doing,” she said sternly.

“What?” he blinked.

“You heard me. I don’t care if I have to drag you to Manehatten myself. They’re your family. They need to know what’s going on and to see that you’re okay… besides…” her expression softened. “You met my family, it’s time for me to meet yours.”

“I guess if we have time…” Soarin trailed off as he saw Dash glaring at him again. “Okay, okay,” he chuckled. “As long as you promise to take the flak from Spitfire for dragging me away.”

“She can deal with it, this is important,” Dash put seriously. And it WAS a serious case for her…

She already had one pony that was important to her putting himself in harm’s way and severe danger… without his family knowing. She knew she wasn’t going to sway Silver, but Soarin… his case was a little different.

“Though I’ll warn you, my brothers are a little strange,” Soarin suddenly smirked.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Dash shot a confident smirk right back. If she could deal with Twister, Pinkie, and Surprise, how bad could they be?

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Soarin stuck his tongue out at her before placing the photo back down in the box and pulling out another. “Ah yes, check this out…” he held it towards Dash.

“Oh wow…” Dash cringed. “Hate to break it to you Soarin, but you don’t look too good in red,” Dash snorted. The photo was of Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin standing with first, second, and third place medals respectively. Dash realized it was a photo of the amateur flyers competition she had been told about. What gave it away were Blazetail and Flashwind hovering in the background. Spitfire was wearing a sleek orange flight suit that matched her mane and body colors well. Fleetfoot was wearing a shiny, silver suit that looked good with her light blue. Soarin on the other hoof, was wearing a bright red flight suit that clashed heavily with his fur.

“I know,” Soarin chuckled. “Spitfire said the exact same thing when I showed up at her door before leaving…” he reached into the box and pulled out a bronze medal. “Still have that medal too…”

“HOLD THE BUS…” Dash reached back into the box and pulled out the next photo. “Oh… my… god…”

“Oh… geez, I forgot I had that picture…” Soarin sighed as his ears flopped down.

“AHAHAHAHAHA!!!!” Dash nearly fell backwards laughing. “YOU TOOK SPITFIRE TO PROM?! Sweet Celestia, how awkward was that? This photo says it all!” she held the photo up and Soarin rolled his eyes.

The picture was indeed a photo of Soarin and Spitfire, looking around the age of sixteen, dressed up and looking very uncomfortable holding onto each other for the picture. Soarin’s mane was long and messy, nearly covering his eyes, which were looking away with an awkward expression. Spitfire’s mane was straight, and she was puffing her cheeks out while blushing madly. It wasn’t the nervous kind of blush, it was one that blared embarrassment. They were hugging in the picture, but there was a clear gap between them as well as a heavy case of hover hoof on both sides.

“Yeah… that was weird…” he shook his head. “Neither of us wanted to go, but our parents on both sides insisted we go just for the experience. The prom itself was fun, but the two of us felt so awkward. It didn’t help our friends kept giving us the ‘about times’ and ‘finallys.’ Thankfully Spitfire actually got asked the next two years, so we avoided that again.”

“I can picture how awkward the dancing must have been,” Dash snickered as she continued to look at Soarin’s ridiculous mane style.

“I felt like I was fondling my sister…” Soarin cringed. “And she whacked me more than once for being too ‘hoovesy’ when I was trying my hardest not to be.”

“I thought this box was for good memories,” Dash joked as she set the picture back down in the box.

“It is,” Soarin chuckled. “I mean, now we look back on it and laugh. I can’t begin to tell you how long it took Fleetfoot to stop laughing when she found out about it.”

“I can imagine,” Dash laughed as she looked back into the box. There was a small trophy sitting in the corner that said ‘first place’ on the base. It caught her attention immediately. After all, Soarin had told her that he always finished behind Spitfire. However, as she reached for it, her eyes diverted to a photo that sat right next to it.

“Ah yes… last but not least…” Soarin reached in as she paused and pulled out the trophy and the photo. “The one time… I beat Spitfire in something,” he chuckled as he held it up, giving Dash a better look at it. There was more writing on the base. ‘The Manehattan Tyke Flyers race.’ “It was actually… the first competition we ever had together. It was a race for ages five to seven, sponsored by the Wonderbolts. A low altitude race, one lap around the Manehatten flight track through a set of large rings. One lap on that track is LONG for a colt or filly. Spitfire was in the lead the whole time, but started celebrating one ring early, slowing down just enough for me to catch up and pass her before the last ring.”

“I bet she wasn’t happy about that,” Dash cringed as Soarin winced.

“Yeah she was in tears afterward, but… angrily. Like I said, that more or less sealed my fate. She never let me win anything ever again… but…” Soarin reached back into the box and pulled out the last photo. “I don’t keep this stuff around to remind her, I keep it around to remember this,” he flashed the photo to Dash.

Dash nearly had to hold her breath as her eyes and pupils widened. She refused to release a squeal that would have sounded supremely girly of her. But it was incredibly hard not to, since she was staring at a picture of Soarin when he was five years old. Not to mention he was getting his picture taken with the exact same trophy that sat in front of him and an old Wonderbolt was sitting beside him with an arm over his shoulder. Little colt Soarin had the biggest smile on his face Dash had ever seen, it was beyond adorable.

“First Wonderbolt I ever met too,” Soarin pointed to the yellow Wonderbolt with the grey, swept back mane beside him. “Hurricane Drive, second in command on the lead squad at the time when Shockwave was the lead captain. He was the father of the Hurricane who became part of Gold Squad along with Blazetail, Flashwind, and Jet Stream."

“Wow, two generations ago…” Dash chimed in as she forced her focus from the adorable colt Soarin and examined the Wonderbolt. It was an interesting sight because it was an older suit she had only seen in books. The lightning bolts were down the sides of the suit instead of down the chest and stomach. He even wore the old goggles that had straps weaved to look like lightning bolts. “That was the year I was born! You actually got to meet a member of the lead squad before they formed Gold Squad? I can’t even…” Dash put her hooves on her head as if it would explode. She had a hard time fathoming any Wonderbolts that came before Blazetail and Flashwind.

“It may have been Spitfire that drove me to work towards becoming a Wonderbolt, but meeting Hurricane Drive was what secured me as a fan for life whether or not I became a Wonderbolt,” Soarin smiled. “His presence was just… incredible. I’m sure you can tell by my expression in the picture that it was a pure amazement sensory overload,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ll never forget watching him walk towards me, wearing that old-school Wonderbolt suit and those awesome goggles, my eyes almost popped out of my head, I felt like I was looking at a superhero.”

“Gee, doesn’t that sound familiar?” Dash nudged him while smiling wide.

“Me?” Soarin chuckled while pointing at himself. “No chance, not like him… there’s no way I could—”

“Swift Gale,” Dash cut him off. Soarin stopped with his mouth hanging open for a moment before closing it and sighing.

“I mean… that’s…” Soarin scratched his head.

“No different,” Dash poked him in the chest. “If you ask me…” Dash held the photo up to Soarin and pointed at it. “I’d say it’s come full circle,” she said with a warm smile.

“I…” Soarin began but shut his mouth again, not feeling like he had a valid argument.

“You saw how that little grey colt looked at you in Rusty’s diner. How about when he met you again in Cloudsdale? Did you see the look in his eyes when you tossed him your goggles? I thought the kid was gonna explode into confetti,” she said with a chuckle. “Not to mention… when I saw you in Ponyville after you saved Pound Cake from a nasty fall… I thought I was going to burst when you recognized me and came towards me. You’re much more than you’re giving yourself credit for right now…” Dash leaned forward and gave Soarin a really big hug. “Much more.”

Soarin blinked as Dash gave him the warm, gentle hug. He smiled to himself, returning it.

“Thanks… I guess I just don’t think about it too much,” Soarin said quietly into her ear.

“Yeah, you really don’t,” Dash said while giving him a brief hard squeeze that made him grunt. “I know you’re not into the whole spotlight thing, but seriously… when I tell you you’re awesome, you better believe it. I’m an agent of awesome. I know it when I see it.”

“I appreciate your vote of confidence, oh wise, and awesome one,” Soarin said goofily as Dash giggled into his neck fur and released him. The two looked at each other for a moment before Soarin’s ears stood up. “Oh, speaking of things that are awesome…” he turned and reached back into the box, shuffling some things about. Dash pulled back and waited patiently as he dug around. “C’mon… I know it’s in here… ah!” Soarin smiled as he pulled out a feather. Dash blinked and tipped her head.

“A feather?” she looked at it carefully. It was well preserved, but she couldn’t quite tell what color it was. Within the glow of the ball of light it was hard to deduce. “One of yours? Or…?” Dash glanced at him. Soarin smiled and shook his head, the ball of light hovering down by him as he opened a wing over the top of his blanket and held the feather against it.

“Too dark to be mine,” he said as his smile grew.

“Wait…” Dash’s eyes widened. “Is that…” she shifted her blanket and opened one of her wings. Soarin held the feather forward and hovered the ball of light right up to her wing.

It was a perfect match. Tone, color, and hue.

“That’s one of my feathers… but it’s in your memory box?” Dash asked curiously as everything began to add up and she slowly felt a glow build up in her chest.

“That’s because I’ve had it for a year,” Soarin winked at her. Dash’s ears stood up.

“But, when did you…?” she never remembered Soarin taking a feather from her. He looked back and forth with a silly look on his face.

“I… plucked it from your wing after we shared our first kiss on the train,” he admitted while grinning innocently. Dash stared at him blankly.

“How the hell did I miss that?” She tried to remember, but all she could remember was…

“Well you definitely had your head in the clouds… I even remember the look on your face,” Soarin chuckled. I took the opportunity… I know we weren’t officially a thing yet at that point… but I wanted to bring a little part of you home with me,” he said as he held the feather up between them.

Dash stared at the feather, with the view of Soarin’s warm smile directly behind it. The way he had just worded that… ‘To bring a little part of you home with me…’ It was happening again. Something she hadn’t felt in a while, but something she had wanted badly. The way Soarin made her feel all tingly and loved.

“This is the first little memory of you,” Soarin continued as he placed the feather back in the box. “Taken from the first real moment we shared together,” he reached forward and placed a hoof gently on her shoulder. “And I plan to add many more memories of us as time goes on.”

No more words had to be said.

The moment the feather was back in the box, Dash was reaching towards Soarin. Soarin had his eyes locked on her as if he knew it was coming. She reached her arms up around his shoulders, him reaching his around her back as their blankets slipped off of them. They both closed their eyes, and their lips connected softly, sharing a deep, loving kiss under the glow of Soarin’s magic.

The kiss started soft, and remained that way. They took it slow as they cherished the feeling of each other’s lips softly rubbing and puckering. Their grip on each other slowly tightened as they pulled their bodies together. Their passion flared, forcing them to press themselves chest to chest, but they kept steady, their many kisses soft, sweet, and full of love’s gentle touch.

They broke apart several times to look into each other’s eyes. How many times did they do it? They didn’t care, and neither of them was keeping track. They pressed their lips together again and again, each time feeling softer and more loving than the last.

It was clear that they wanted the moment to last. They both knew that they had no time limit, no deadlines, and no curfews. They wanted to share their passion and love for as long as they could, and nothing was going to stop them from doing so.

When they broke apart for the umpteenth time, they finally paused, gazing into the pairs of eyes that stared back at them. Dash had nothing on her mind but him, and Soarin had nothing on his mind but her. Speaking was pointless. Explaining was a waste of time. The only thing that mattered was that they were pressed to each other, and nothing could come between them.

They remained attached, staring endlessly for a few more moments before Soarin began to tremble. It was a very gentle, very week shake, but every time a shock ran through him, he squeezed Dash a little harder. And every time she felt his grip strengthen, her shivers grew a little stronger as well.

Dash gasped quietly as Soarin suddenly pushed forward against her. The ball of light that was illuminating their surroundings suddenly glowed brighter, before exploding with a tiny POP. The glow in the room faded, leaving them in the darkness as Soarin’s concentration clearly removed itself from lighting the room to focus completely on her. Dash yelped as Soarin pushed her backwards and the two of them fell onto the bed. Dash landed back-first on the soft surface of the mattress, her wings softening the fall. She was smiling from the moment she began to fall to the moment she touched down.

It was suddenly darker due to the lack of the ball of light, but they didn’t need light to know where they were. Dash had her back up against the bed, and although she couldn’t see Soarin too clearly, she could feel the warm breath from Soarin’s mouth against her face. He was right there and she could feel him pressed atop her. The sensation of their fur bristling together, the tingling of their touch making their skin stir… Who needed to see when they could feel each other so strongly?

Soarin’s horn began to glow as their lips hovered less than a centimeter apart. Dash stared up at it, but only for a moment as the light blue glow from the horn suddenly provided the light required for her to see his face. And hell if she was going to look away, Soarin was hot. The two looked directly into each other’s eyes as the new source of light gathered around Soarin’s horn. It was but a dim, blue glow, but it was more than enough for them to see and acknowledge their features.

Simultaneously, their expressions turned from wonder of each other’s features to a look of pure seduction. Soarin had Rainbow Dash on her back with him leaning over her. He was larger than her, and flaunted an air of dominance as he began to lower his body towards hers.

They were completely lost, neither of them paying attention to anything aside from the individual that appeared directly before them. They stared and stared and stared, both completely unaware to an unusual phenomenon that was occurring right in front of them.

The glow around Soarin’s horn began to shift and change, the soft blue glow became slightly distorted as it was pushed aside and a second color emerged… yellow. The yellow magic slowly began to coil around the horn, but as it did, the blue magic followed, creating a swirling, intertwining pattern as the two auras danced and rose up past the tips of the horn. It created an alternating, soft glow.

Dash saw it, but despite the previous encounters with the yellow magic aura, there was something that kept her from the usual sense of dread or worry. It was if the two auras within Soarin was interacting, soothing each other. Neither lashed about nor fought as they once had in the past. That mixed with how Soarin seemed unaffected. He was in control, not being forceful nor frightening as he was when the yellow magic took him over once before.

All in all, the mixture of light was calming… and the look in Soarin’s eyes put Dash completely at ease as he leaned himself down on top of her, gently and softly. They closed their eyes as their heads crossed, the fur on their cheeks brushing against each other as their bodies met and they felt their fur rub together. Dash felt Soarin’s muscles tense as he inhaled sharply. The feeling of her body against his was as intoxicating for him as it was for her.

Dash released a soft moan as Soarin began to run the tip of his nose around the back of her head and up towards her ear. She knew it was coming, and she waited with anticipation as he neared her sweet spot. Her body exploded with shivers as Soarin’s nose passed behind her ear and touched the soft spot. He exhaled as he brushed it, making her tingles intensify as his hot breath crashed upon it. He playfully nibbled on her ear, the edges of his mouth bending into a grin as she reached up and roughly clutched the sides of his body with her hooves, lightly squeezing his body and pulling herself up to press harder into him.

The blue and yellow auras continued to dance around each other on his horn as Soarin shivered himself. Dash was pressing herself to him intensely, physically showing him how much she was enjoying it. It was freezing in the room, but the constant contact of their bodies, their desire, and the sensations pulsing through them were all more than enough to warm them up.

With Dash pulling her body to his, there was enough room beneath her for Soarin to shimmy his hooves under her back. He was already hitting her sweet spot behind the ears, now it was time to give her a double dose. He teased her, moving his hooves gently towards her wing joints.

“Nnngggghhh…” she groaned and bit down softly on Soarin’s shoulder as he moved closer and closer. The anticipation was torture. She wanted it so badly and it couldn’t happen fast enough. Soarin suddenly shifted his hooves directly onto her wing joints, pressing on them hard. “AH!” Dash yelped, her mouth releasing Soarin’s shoulder as her face brightening with a blush of pleasure. Soarin continued to blow lightly on her ear as he began massaging the sweet spots on her wings. “Ahhh… ohhh…” Dash panted and moaned as Soarin worked his hooves around.

He continued to pleasure her, using her weak points to give her strong sensations for several moments before he began to move away, but her grip suddenly tightened on him considerably.

“Don’t stop!” she pleaded as she pulled her head back and looked up at him with an expression that was drunk with desire. “Please… don’t stop… just yet,” she demanded as she pushed her head back against his shoulder and rubbed hit hard into his neck.

“As you wish,” Soarin said in a seductive tone as he returned his hooves to her wing joints and nuzzled the bases of her ears.

“Mmmmffff…” Dash continued to moan and twitch, her whole body heating up like a furnace. “Yes… Ooooh… Soarin…” her reactions were so intense, one would think they were having sex, but Soarin knew just how much his touch and her sensitive spots revved her up. If she wanted more, he would give her more.

But she didn’t last too long. As Soarin continued to please her, she began to breath faster. With her chest pressed against him, he could feel her heartbeat quicken. Her grip on him began to tighten and relax at quick intervals.

“NNNGH!” Dash’s eyes shot open and she pulled back from Soarin, grasping his shoulders as she stared directly into his eyes. Soarin grinned as he saw the look. It was one he recognized. One that she wore whenever she was about to attack his—

“Hrmph!” Soarin grunted lightly as Dash crashed her lips into his, immediately forcing her tongue into his mouth before he could even return the kiss. He quickly grabbed onto her back and clasped her tightly, turning his head slightly so their mouths could fully cross. Their tongues slid together, rubbing and twisting against each other as they both moaned in delight, turning their heads slightly to kiss again and again as they pressed their tongues against the other. Their grips on each other tightened as all traces of the cold air around them completely vanished, their warmth being generated by their endless passion and powerful love for each other.

Neither could see it as it began because they had their eyes firmly shut, but the yellow and blue streams of magic upon Soarin’s horn began to glow brighter… and brighter… and brighter, both expanding in size until they completely formed together on his horn. The blue aura completely engulfed the shape of the horn as the yellow aura encircled it, creating a firm outline around it. The two lights flickered and flashed, making quiet sputtering and crackling noises as the tip of the horn began to shine. Much like before, two streams of light emerged from the tip of the horn and began to twirl around each other. They grew larger and larger as they expended off the horn, before suddenly shooting out into the room, arcing around as they danced together and aiming directly for Soarin and Dash.

The blue light flew into Soarin… and the yellow light flew into Dash.

The two of them gasped and pulled their lips apart as their bodies were suddenly covered in goose bumps. Something felt different in them both, but they couldn’t tear their eyes off of one another. Soarin’s eyes began to glow a light blue and Dash’s eyes glowed a bright yellow as the two stared directly into the eyes of the other.

What was this new feeling? Where did it come from? Neither of them knew… but… it hadn’t interrupted the moment. In fact… as they continued to look at one another, their longing and desire for each other seemed to increase… nearly two fold. Their curiosity was immediately replaced by lust as they rushed at each other again. Their eyes closed as their lips met, ravenously kissing each other, full mouth, full passion as if there was no tomorrow. Soarin gripped her tightly with all his strength as Dash pushed dug her hooves into his shoulders, kissing back with all her might.

Flickering streams of light began to appear around their bodies. A dark blue aura encircled Soarin and a bright yellow aura encircled Dash. The auras began to dance and swirl around them as they attacked each other’s lips, the power and drive behind their love feeling stronger than ever, as if boosted by whatever was happening with the magic around them.

The two of them had never felt so strong, so powerful in a moment of passion. The want, the need, and the desire for everything that was the other was beyond anything they ever experienced.

And neither of them wanted it to stop.

They pulled apart several times to take a sharp look at each other. Each moment of pause lasted only a second before they dove in for another round at each other’s lips… another fight for dominance with their tongues. They were both panting, their hearts were racing, their muscles tensing and flexing as the tingles and sensations traveled from their lips to the tips of their tails and all around their bodies over and over and over again. Shock after shock, and wave after wave of pleasure exploded through them.

And they were still only partaking in foreplay. They hadn’t even made love yet.

Soarin and Rainbow Dash pressed their mouths together, moaning and uttering each other’s name into the other’s mouth as they tipped their heads back and forth, giving their lips every angle of attack, their tongues twisting and wrestling between them one final time. It lasted several minutes. They breathed through their noses in sharp, wheezy breaths that splashed hot air against their faces. They finally pulled away, a trail of saliva hanging between their mouths for a moment as they panted.

Soarin propped himself up on his arms as Dash fell back onto the mattress, her arms and wings sprawled out beneath her. The two opened their eyes.

Blue auras rose from Soarin’s eyes as if they were literally alight with passion, the streams of blue light still dancing around him. Dash was breathing heavily as well as she opened her eyes, yellow auras rising from them as the yellow streams of light danced happily around her.

They both smiled, completely pushing aside the fact that there was a very strange display of lights emanating from both of their bodies. The mood of the moment dictated their mindsets. They were being seemingly boosted by whatever Soarin’s magic had spewed from his horn, and in the heat of the moment, there was no way they were going to stop.

They had never felt so good… never felt so right… and they were going to take full advantage of it.

“Mmmm…” Dash licked her lips as she looked back and forth at Soarin’s arms propping him up beside her shoulders. His arms were tensed, his muscles flexed and bulging as he panted overhead. She reached up and ran her hooves over his arms, moving them over their strong form before rubbing her hooves against his powerful chest muscles while biting her lip.

“Heh…” Soarin smirked as she felt him all over, looking down at her athletic, toned physique with the desire to feel up every inch of it. He grinded his teeth together, biting his lip as his body tingled at the sight of her reclined directly below her.

“I’m feeling pretty good…” Dash said while releasing sharp breaths and running her tongue over her bottom lip.

“Likewise,” Soarin agreed as his muscles continued to flex and tense as if it was telling him to take the next step.

“I love you so damn much, you hunk of sexy stallion…” said Dash as she pressed a hoof into his chest, taking a deep, shivering breath as she felt the rock hard surface of his chest muscle. Soarin slid one of his hooves against her body and slowly ran it up her side until it was up against her cheek.

“And I love you… you endlessly sexy mare…” Soarin replied as he continued to twitch. Dash giggled as she took note of his body jittering like mad.

“Soarin? I’m yours,” she said, biting her lip as she saw his eyes slowly widen and a smile grow larger and larger on his face. “Go for it, I want it.”

“Gladly,” Soarin glared down at her as his lips parted to reveal how large his smile actually was.

They had both hit full throttle.

It was time to go into overdrive.

Unbeknownst to the two lovers, they were not as alone as they believed.

Right outside Soarin’s door, standing with his back against the wall to the right… was Discord. However, the god of chaos was in rare form, looking far from being up to his usual pranks with a sour expression on his face.

“Hmph…” he grunted to himself as he stared straight across the hallway at the opposite wall with his arms crossed, tapping a talon from his eagle arm against his bear arm. His expression went flat, his ears folded backwards against his head as he quietly grumbled, rubbing his snaggletooth back and forth across his bottom lip.

He turned his head towards the door as grunts and moans of pleasure started up again. They were more intense than before. Discord could feel the pulses from the two magic auras grow even stronger as the two began to make love… and that was exactly what was bothering him.

Discord turned his head back forward and gritted his teeth. He snorted and pushed his back off the wall while throwing his arms out in frustration. He took a couple of steps away from the door before pacing back and forth in front of it. After his third pass, he stopped and turned sharply towards the door, glaring harshly at it. He held up an arm, both of his horns glowing with a distorted, purple and blue aura as a large collection of chaos magic began to form in his hand. He aimed it directly at the door, his eyes glowing purple, and snarling as his breaths hissed between his grinding teeth.

But he slammed his eyes shut and closed his hand around the collection of chaos magic. It completely dissipated. The glow from his eyes vanished as he slowly opened them again and sighed. He turned his back on the door and began walking away.

“I’m not jealous…” he said to himself in a sarcastic manner. “Me? The god of chaos?” he placed a hand on his chest as he approached the broken stairs. “I have MUCH better things to worry about… not some… stupid…” he paused at the top of the stairs and glanced back at the door. “Drat…”

Discord floated up off the ground and made his way around the pillar, leaving the two lovers to their much needed time together. The hallway was once again vacated and silent, only the echo of snapping fingers and a flash of purple light from the stairs made itself known before Soarin and Rainbow Dash were truly left alone, sharing their love without time limit or interruption for the first time in what felt like ages to them.

---To Be Continued---