//------------------------------// // Pt 5 - Captain Moonbow & When a Troll Is Not a Troll // Story: The Troll Squad // by Witching Hour //------------------------------// Green eyes watch their target and the surrounding ponies, flicking from the pegasus to the squad gathering around him. Moonbow sighs heavily, spying the light red captain’s black mohawk, but perks up again as the mare rises from her seat and carries her tray away, a midnight-blue mare with yellow mane quickly following her. She moves, bracing herself on the edge of the table as though to get up and leave, but she sighs again, slumping in her seat with a groan. “Moony,” a voice comes from Moonbow’s left, “we talked about this, getting up and down doesn’t constitute a proper work out, and you know it.” The voice pauses for a moment before Sunshower, Moonbow’s twin brother, leans over and winks. “Besides, dear sister, Tide the Ripper isn’t at the table anymore, so if you should be putting your plot down anywhere, it should be riiiiigggghhhtttt,” he pauses, pointing over towards a pony at the table the two mares just got up from, “there.” “Sunny,” Moony starts, clearly irritated, and opens her mouth to continue, only to be cut off by her twin. “Now, my dear twin,” Sunny says softly, putting a hoof to his sister’s lips, “you know you can’t hide it from me; you want to go over there! So go! Be free!” Moony makes a hesitant noise that’s half frustrated moan. “I have paperwork to deal with. Maybe later…” she responds quickly, rising from her seat to make for the doors. “Nope!” Sunny says with a chuckle. “Azzy! Operation Plant Her Plot!” He rises up with his sister and grabs her under one arm as Moony squeaks in protest, immediately trying to free herself. “Now now, no protesting! It is my brotherly duty to make sure you follow your heart!” He pauses as Azure joins them, putting a hoof against his head dramatically. “Even if that means your heart belongs to another. Oh, what will the press say!” “They never have to know! Dammit Sunny, Azzy! LET ME GO!” Moony shouts, flailing against the combined efforts of her squadmates. “Sorry, Moony, no can do!” Sunny chuckles, continuing to drag his sister along. “Isn’t that right, Azzy?” “The military training in me says I have to follow the orders of my commanding officer,” Azzy states, smirking, “unless of course she is not in her right mind! And you know what they say about love!” “Traitors! Mutineers!” Moony persists, unable to escape her twin and the squad’s strategist. “I’ve been called worse.” Sunny smiles as he looks over to Azzy. “How about you?” “Oh, loads of times! Like that time we replaced Blaze’s flint pads with stink bombs!” Azzy replies, chuckling and sighing wistfully. “I swear… Lemme go or I’ll-” Moony starts threateningly, again interrupted by her erstwhile squadmates. “Or you’ll what?” Sunny retorts challengingly. “Report us to Hotpants?” he suggests with a hearty laugh. “That’d be the best show of the year! She’d have you hoisted on the flagpole for filing false reports!” “What’s up?” asked Bear Claw, rolling up on his longboard while eating a jar of curry. “Why are we forcibly dragging the Cap’ somewhere?” “Tide the Ripper and Midnight, who really should confess their own feelings, left Sky alone!” Sunny answers, gesturing towards Squad Six. “Now is the time for our dear Captain here, to profess her undying, unyielding love to Mr Clear Sky!” “Oh!” grins BC. “This should be good. Just don’t ask out two stallions at once. If they’re anything like mares, they don’t like sharing…” Moony groans, and Azzy and Sunny take advantage of the lapse, making more headway towards the remaining member of Squad Six. “You’re being spectacularly unhelpful as always, B.C.,” she complains, resuming her struggles to escape. “Thanks,” grins BC, before frowning slightly. “Hey, wait a minute…” “Of course he’s helping!” Sunny declares, shoving his sister further. “He is keeping your attention focused elsewhere!’ Glancing ahead, Moony goes ashen as she realizes that, in fact, she had been so distracted by the repartee with her squad that she hadn’t noticed that they’re now practically on top of the table Sky sits at while the rest of the mess hall occupants had eagerly cleared a path for the known pranksters. Clearing his throat, Sunny and Azzy shove his ashen faced sister the last few feet. He then taps Sky on the shoulder. “Lieutenant Clear Sky, Captain Moonbow wishes to speak with you.” “Hm?” Sky looks up from his food, sandwich hanging out of his mouth. His eyes go wide when he realizes who it is that’s standing there, but before he can raise his voice in alarm, the rest of Twelve scampers away, snickering loudly while leaving their mortified captain standing before him. “Yes?” Sky prompts, as Moony’s face goes from pale to dark with a blush and her mouth works to try to make any sort of noise resembling coherent speech. “Erm… I was…” she finally stammers out, “I was wondering if…” She sighs heavily, hoping to get the rest out quickly. “Well, there’s this new Neighponese place that opened, and I was thinking it’d be nice to check it out… together…” The last word is tacked on, almost mumbled, but clear enough even in the din of the cafeteria, and Moony visibly tenses in anxious anticipation of Sky’s reply. Sky blinks slowly, ears back against his head in confusion, “This… is a joke? Right? You’re trying to lure me into a trap. Did your brother put you up to this?” Even as her heart sinks, Moony forces a fake smile and laugh. “Yeah… Heh heh… You got me,” she responds, putting on a sheepish expression and turning to leave. “I thought it was a bad idea myself… Sorry… I’ll just… I’ve got paperwork to do. Bye.” It’s only by virtue of her reputation that cleared her path to the door, which she quickly flees through. The stream of water flows easily from hoof to hoof, the soft sound comforting to Moony’s conflicted mind. A quick flick of her wrists sends the liquid ribbon looping around her wings, then back into her hooves. She smiles, spinning in place to make a watery circle around her. She doesn’t know why water was always so soothing to her, but she isn’t about to question it now when she so desperately needed its reassurance. The sound of hooves nearby registers vaguely, but she pays whoever it is no mind; she isn’t in the mood to talk to - or troll - anypony right now. Continuing to spin, she does her best to ignore the feeling that somepony is next to her, just outside the radius of water that she has streaming around herself. The presence does not go away, and as Moony starts to condense the water into a ball it suddenly flows out of her hooves and to the other pony standing nearby. Turning with a few choice and sharp words on the tip of her tongue, Moony’s blood runs cold as she spots one of the last ponies she wants to see right now… And Riptide isn’t exactly smiling either. “Captain Moonbow,” Riptide starts, holding the ball of water over one hoof. “We need to talk.” She tosses the water, hard, past Moony’s face where it impacts a nearby wall with a thunderous boom, leaving the wall and surrounding mats drenched. “Now.” Her calm utterly destroyed, Moony does her best to remain collected at least. “Captain Riptide,” she starts coolly, “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage. What in Equestria would we need to talk about?” “You know very well what we have to talk about,” Tide replies in an equally cold voice, though the beginnings of a low, deep-throated growl edge in towards the end. “I thought I made it clear you were to keep your hooves off of my squad. Especially Sky. I don’t care if you enjoy tormenting the other Wonderbolts; I won’t do Spitfire’s job for her, but I will do my job and protect my squad. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?” Moony presses her lips into a tight line, her jaw clenching visibly. “First point of order, your lieutenant is perfectly capable of making his own opinions clear without you jumping to his defense. Second point, you have made yourself abundantly plain. Now, may I return to practicing or is there some other imagined slight you care to discuss?” Narrowing her eyes, Tide snorts through her nose, cropped tail flicking behind her. “No, Captain Moonbow. Just remember, if I catch you or your brother pretending to try and set Sky up on a date, or such nonsense, I will be back.” She then turns and walks a few steps before stopping and speaking without turning. “And, if that comes to pass, I don’t care what the Code says, I’ll make sure you don’t ever hurt Sky, or anypony, ever again.” She then walks off without further word. Moony huffs as well, rolling her eyes. “And what if it’s not pretend? What’ll you do then, huh? Gonna toss the Code out for that too?” she asks in a raised voice to be heard by the retreating upper tier captain., her face easily slipping into the trollish sneer she and her brother had perfected. Stopping dead in her tracks, Tide’s ears go straight up, and she turns around slowly. As she turns around she levels a glare that would make even Silver blush at Moony. She stomps back over towards Moony, nostrils flaring, eyes narrowed, and teeth bared. “What did you just say?” She gets closer, right in Moony’s face. “I heard something come out of your mouth, but it’d better not be what I thought it was.”   “What? Now a squad is the only possible friends for any given pony?” Moony retorts, scoffing. “So now only you and your squad can possibly care about each other in any meaningful way? Well fine. Keep your little squad with your pathetic combat routines. I get a better show out of a bar fight.” “How dare you!” Tide growls. “What would you know about caring for another pony? What meaningful relationships do you have? Huh? You and that joke of a squad go around causing problems! You and that pathetic ass-wipe you call a brother only seem to find enjoyment from ruining that of others!” She steps forward, all but butting her head against Moony’s. “So don’t you dare talk about caring about another pony to me. Especially my little brother!” The last is all but shouted at the top of Tide’s voice, her eyes boring into Moony’s with the intensity of a pony who will gladly rip the other’s head off. “And how would you know about combat? I’ve yet to see you beat Silver! Hay, I bet you couldn’t even beat Sky in a duel, and he is one of the weakest Wonderbolts in the sparring arena!” Moony scoffs again, meeting Tide’s glare and returning it in kind. “You wouldn’t know how to care about anypony if someone beat you over the head with the concept, Captain Oblivious To What’s In Front Of Her! My brother, Azzy and B.C. and I? We all care about each other! But you can’t even see when somepony cares about you… So what would you know about how other ponies feel? Huh? Can you tell me how each member of your squad feels about you?! You are blind, Riptide and you don’t know anything about anypony.” Moony’s voice, while not raised as Tide’s had been, is still deadly with venom, easily hitting the buttons she’d known about on the other mare since the day they’d met. While logically, she knows she’d regret it later, but in the moment, Moony finds herself utterly numb to the rapidly approaching consequences. Tide’s eyes go wide for a moment, before narrowing again. Each and every single word cuts her deeper, and deeper, stinging and burning in her mind like a lash against bare skin. She growls loudly, tears forming on the edges of her eyes as she paws at the ground with one hoof. It’s clear Moony has hit home, but it takes a few seconds for the all out fury to set in. Once it does, Tide doesn’t waste time retorting, she simply lunges forward and tackles Moony to the ground, a hoof coming up to strike Moony in the face. Yet, the blow never comes. Tide’s hoof just hovers in front of the other captain’s face, shaking, as Tide restrains herself for some reason. Moony, pinned to the floor, simply raises an eyebrow as she stares up at Tide and then snorts derisively at seeing the mare’s hesitation. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t do it. You can’t even find the courage to tell the mare you love how you feel. You’re just a spineless coward masquerading as a soldier,” she spits scornfully with narrowed green eyes. Roaring with fury, Tide raises her hoof again to strike, and this time it’s clear she won’t stop. Right as it’s about to fall, however, a grey hoof suddenly comes from behind and locks her arm in place, another coming around her neck and dragging her backwards. “That’s enough, Tide!” the owner of the arms shouts as he pulls her off Moony. “NO!” Tide bellows, tears in her eyes. “Dancer, let me go! LET ME GO THIS INSTANT and let me kill her! THAT’S AN ORDER!” "Looks like the white knight of your squad came to play. Pity he'll never live up to the tail he's chasing! How's it feel to always be in Silver's shadow, Dancer? You'll never be as good as him! Might as well give up now, and go back to scaring foals with those scars of yours!" Moony taunts, sneering as she gets back on her hooves. Dancer’s ears go back against his head in surprise at the venom behind the words, and for a moment his grip loosens. Before Tide can escape him, though, he tightens it again and shakes his head. “Moonbow, I know you’re just saying this stuff because you’re hurting. So stop acting like a foal throwing a tantrum and face the real problem!” “The real… problem?” Moony stammers, snorting with a scary smile suddenly on her face. Into the dead silence and confused stares, Moony laughs. At first, it’s only a couple of chuckles, but it quickly blooms into full-bodied, almost-hysterical laughter, all with that eerily sinister grin in place. “The real problem, Storm Dancer,” she starts, still chortling a little, “is that I’m my own best joke, and I played it on myself.” She shakes her head, still laughing intermittently, but the tone is still off in some way that nopony could quite put their hoof on. With nothing else to say, the lower tier captain turns and starts to head for the locker rooms, the occasional chortle still escaping to echo back to the members of Squad Six. As Moony moves off towards the locker room, a pony who had been standing behind Dancer and Tide starts off after her, quickly overtaking the chuckling mare. “Moonbow, wait up,” the mare says loud enough to be heard by the Squad Twelve Captain, but not Dancer or Tide. Moony doesn’t respond though, continuing her ambling gait to the mares’ locker room. The mare isn’t deterred, though, and speeds up to get in front of Moony. “Please, I want to talk to you.” “Excuse me, Ensign Midnight. Your captain doesn’t want me associating with any member of her squad,” Moony responds, her tone suddenly flat and her eyes glassy and unfocused, before attempting to sidestep around the dark blue mare blocking her path. “Tide means well,” Midnight continues, moving in front of Moony, “but she goes too far sometimes.” She reaches up and puts a hoof on Moony’s shoulder. “Look, is there something you need to talk about?” Moony jerks away, almost as though burned by Midnight’s touch, a spark of anger flashing in her eyes before vanishing again behind the dead-eyed stare. “No, Ensign. Excuse me,” she repeats, and again moves to get past Midnight. Midnight stands to one side and lets Moony pass her and enter the locker room, but then quickly follows. “Something is clearly wrong, Moonbow. Now, talk to me or I’ll have to make you talk.” Midnight then smiles. “And don’t think I can’t because I am persistent.” Moony seems to ignore her though, grabbing her towel and soap from the bench where she’d left them and going straight to the showers, quickly turning the knobs to her desired temperature with practiced ease. Sighing, Midnight sits outside the shower area Moony occupies, resting her back against the wall. “Alright, don’t talk. I’ll do all the talking.” She pauses for a moment, then continues. “So, I heard about you asking Sky out to dinner. He was talking about it during practice, laughing about how he’d dodged the trap with ease.” She pauses a moment again before speaking directly at the shower stall. “It wasn’t a joke, was it?” “It’s bad to start second-guessing your squadmates, Ensign.” The response was almost too quiet to be heard over the shower, but there it is. “I’m not,” Midnight says softly, “I’m second-guessing your anger. I know you’re inclined to push the buttons of other ponies, but never like what you just did with Tide. E-even if you were right on a few things…” She clears her throat and continues, “I know what it’s like to love somepony from afar, Moony, it isn’t fun, and it isn’t easy. Y… If you tell me it isn’t a joke, I’ll tell Sky it isn’t. Convince me, and I’ll convince him.” “You seem to be going under the assumption that I’m in the same situation as you, Ensign, but I’m not. When you finally come clean, because Celestia knows she won’t make the first move, she won’t laugh and call it a joke.” There’s a brief pause as the shower turns off, and then Moony continues, her voice still flat. “The lieutenant says it’s a joke, then it’s a joke, Ensign. Everything’s a joke to somepony.” “You might be right,” Midnight concedes, “perhaps Tide won’t come clean about us, and perhaps we’re not in the same boat as you. But, that doesn’t mean it’s a joke. Sky is a lot of things, but he’s like a lot of stallions; he doesn’t always know what’s in front of him when it’s there.” Midnight sighs again and looks to the ceiling. “And, love isn’t a joke, Moonbow. And I am not going to let you leave this room until you agree that you’ll ask him again, this time you won’t leave until he understands you’re serious.” “I never said anything about love, Ensign,” Moony retorts flatly as she exits the shower area and steps onto the carpeted locker area with her towel draped across her back. “I am a joke, but I do have paperwork that requires my attention, so please don’t make me give Captain Tide the Ripper another reason to wish me dead and stay out of my way.” “Alright, Captain Moonbow,” Midnight sighs as she stands up. “I guess I’ll leave you alone. You seem intent on being stubborn. You’re only going to end up hurting yourself in the end,” Midnight walks towards the door and stops. “If you finish your paperwork early, you can talk to me.” “I appreciate your offer, Ensign, but I expect you’ll be busy dealing with your captain for a while,” Moony responds coolly as she pushes the door open and leaves. Sky isn’t quite sure where everypony else wandered off to. He had wanted to follow behind Dancer and Midnight, but Midnight had told him that they were just going to go look for Tide and then they’d be right back. That had been about an hour ago, and he had so far spent that entire time shaping little clouds into various things and entertaining himself in the private gym Squad Six had booked for a two hour block. Sighing, and pushing a cloud bunny away, Sky stands up and turns to the door, intent on looking for the rest of his squad. He gets about halfway there before the door slams open, causing him to jump backwards. He’s initially scared it’s Tide, who looked really angry when she had stormed off earlier, but when he spots the yellow and muted violet of Sunshower, he chuckles. “Hey, Sunny, get lost on your way to trolling somepony?” Sky says with a smile, which slips when the normally cheery Wonderbolt stomps over to him with a very intense glare. “Uh… Sunny… something… wrong?” The last comes out in a squeak as Sunny towers over him. “What the hell did you do to my sister!?” Sunny demands. “I take the effort to drag her plot over to you so she can finally admit her feelings for you, and she comes back out of the dining hall looking like her favorite stuffed animal just got tossed into a fire!” “You mean ‘we’, right Sunny?” a second voice comes from just outside the door. “SHUT IT, LIEUTENANT!” Sunny bellows over his shoulder, causing Sky to sink into the mats beneath his hooves. Something is very wrong. “Like... that was actually real?” Sky says, though he doesn’t pick himself up from the mats. “You guys are always going around pulling pranks on other ponies, never being serious. Hay, Tide is always complaining about your latest antics and your lack of anything resembling discipline.” “That was very real,” Sunny replies coldly. “My sister, my very dear sister, has been pining after your dumb plot for a very, very long time.” He picks Sky up by the front of his uniform and holds him at eye level. “And you… YOU BROKE HER HEART!” He pulls Sky closer, his breath hot on the younger Wonderbolts’ face. “Now, like a good brother, I am going to have to beat some sense into that thick skull of yours.” He lets Sky down. “But not here. You’re going to come with us to one of the main gyms, we’re going to both suit up in sparring equipment, and then I’m going to test just what kind of ponies are on the so-called mock battle squad.” “I’m not fighting you!” Sky replies, snorting. “Like I’d believe you and go with you. You’re all likely going to lead me into a pie, or a barrel of itching powder! Oh, perhaps even a bucket of edible gold? Aurora Streak is still sneezing that stuff out from time to time!” Sighing, Sunny turns and walks a few steps towards the door. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Sky. Perhaps we’ve earned it for all the things we’ve done. However, I can’t let you stay here. My sister’s honor demands it.” He whistles sharply. “Azure, Bear, bring him.” Sunny keeps his back to Sky as the two other members of Squad Twelve walk in, and quickly overtake Sky who has attempted to back up to the opposite wall. B.C. and Azzy quickly pick Sky up by his arms and drag him over to Sunny, who stands and walks out the door. Sunny leads the small group down the hallway, other Wonderbolts raising eyebrows and a few even stepping over to try and help Sky, only to be silenced or sent away by a glare from Sunny. The trip is blissfully short for Sky, dragged the whole way, as they enter the largest of the practice gyms in short order. B.C. and Azzy set him down next to a pile of sparring gear as Sunny walks over to another, and quickly starts putting it on. “Suit up, Lieutenant,” Sunny states in a matter-of-fact tone. “If you’re not wearing all that by the time I finish putting mine on, I will not be held responsible for the bruises.” Sky takes no chances, quickly putting on the padded armor in a flurry of hooves. Even if they’re going to still prank him, he feels better having the sparring armor on. Once the helmet is on his head, he turns towards Sunny, expecting him to be waiting, but quickly finds the other Wonderbolt charging him at full speed. Reacting purely out of instinct and training honed by years of sparring with his squad, Sky gets his guard up and blocks the first of likely many punches from the second-in-command of the ‘troll’ squad. The blow sends him skidding backwards, and, even with the padding, he feels like he just blocked a freight train. The sound of the blow attracts the attention of all the other Wonderbolts in the gym, many stopping what they are doing and watching as, for once in their entire careers, they see Sunny not only taking something seriously, but looking like he is about to kill another pony. Sky attempts to break out from the onslaught, taking to the air quickly, only to be stopped short as Sunny grabs him by the tail. “You don’t get to fly away from me!” Sunny shouts, launching himself into the air behind Sky, and swinging the smaller and lighter pony around by his tail and back into the mats below with a muted boom. Coughing, the wind knocked out of him, Sky turns over and kicks without thinking, catching Sunny in the face as he dives down to deliver another punch. The blow knocks the enraged pegasus out of the air, and a few feet away where he lands with a smirk and a chuckle. “And here I thought it’d be too easy.” "Oooo, sloppy sir… You should wait a few more seconds before diving after him... Seriously, Silver does it to me all the time," Azure’s voice comes from the sidelines. Sky chances a look over at the rest of the troll squad, and isn’t surprised to find the squad’s fire-handlers eating peanuts from little red and white bags like one would find at a circus. “I don’t need any sideline advice from the peanut gallery!” Sunny growls, launching himself forward, the distraction enough to allow Sky to regain his breath and ready himself. “You’re just jealous we didn’t offer you any of the peanuts!” Azzy retorts. As Sunny gets close, Sky rears up at the last second and steps to one side to allow Sunny to pass. As he does, Sky jams an elbow into Sunny’s back, right between the wing joints, sending him to the ground with a grunt. Sky then moves back, crouching low into a defensive posture. He knows he can’t beat Sunny at pure strength, and blow for blow he won’t last as long. So he stays on the defensive, far enough away that Sunny can’t get him right away. “Heh, I wondered what my sister saw in you,” Sunny wheezes slightly as he picks himself back up, popping a shoulder as he does. “I wondered how she could pine after a weak little thing like you. But, lo and behold, you have teeth after all.” He turns and smiles again as he mirrors Sky’s posture. “But you’re not going to win.” “Come and prove it,” Sky replies, smiling a little despite himself. “Unless you’re all hot air, like Tide says you all are.” “Gladly,” Sunny growls as he launches himself forward again with both his legs and his wings causing a small ‘pop’ as he rockets forward. Sky attempts to repeat his earlier move, but at the last second Sunny plants his hooves on the ground and transfers his momentum into a punch into Sky’s stomach. The smaller Wonderbolt, unable to react in time, takes the full blow and is sent slightly upwards, only to be followed by Sunny, who quickly launches himself into the air after Sky. Without stopping, he kicks Sky in the stomach, then punches him under the jaw when the smaller Wonderbolt attempts to curl up mid-air. The blow to the jaw whips Sky’s head back, and the world becomes unfocused. Between the haze brought on by the blow, and the numbness from getting the wind knocked out of him for a second time in the space of less than a minute, Sky watches Sunny do a somersault mid-air, a back hoof descending towards Sky’s back. And then the blow connects, and the ground rockets towards him… then darkness. “Jeeze, Sunny,” Azure's voice floats through the darkness, “did you really have to work him over so hard?” “No,” Sunny’s voice replies, “but he won’t forget the lesson this way.” Sunny then sighs, and Sky feels himself being rolled onto his back. “Besides, he isn’t injured... much.” “AZURE, SUNNY, BEAR, WHAT IN TARTARUS ARE YOU ALL DOING HERE?!” The world rushes back to Sky as he takes a deep breath. Opening his eyes and groaning, he looks over towards the source of the voice, and grimaces as he spots Moonbow, looking like a very angry wreck herself. “PROTECT ME, CURRY!” Bear Claw yelps, holding out a mason jar like a shield. To say that Moony is pissed would be the understatement of the year, and at least get an honorable mention for the decade. She had already determined that today would be going under the heading The Worst, complete with capitalization, and now she finds her squad not even doing their assigned training. “YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE WEIGHT ROOM, YOU IDIOTS! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE -” Her tirade cuts off mid-thought as she spies the padded and prone form of Sky behind her brother. For a moment, it looks like all bluster has left her, but the very next, an inarticulate scream of rage comes from her mouth and she launches herself at her twin, a blur of muted violet with a streak of yellow. “Been nice knowin’ ya, Sunny,” Azure comments dryly as she pops another peanut into her mouth and takes a step to the left, distancing herself from the squad’s second. “Moony! Calm down!” Sunny asks loudly. “I did what was needed! He broke your heart! I DID MY DUTY!” His panicked explanation quickly turns into grunts as Moony full-body tackles her brother away from the prone lieutenant of Squad Six, tearing into him with quick, extremely well placed blows that leave whole limbs feeling numb and limp, all while she screams at the top of her lungs about his idiocy. “Huh… So she was paying attention when I was going over pressure points…” Again, Azure makes a bemused comment from the sidelines. With her brother momentarily unable to fight back, Moony grabs one of his arms, twists and pulls him downward, leaving him nowhere to go but face-down onto the mats as his other arm is already numb and unable to hold his weight. “Stay put if you don’t want more where that came from,” she growls in a low tone as she pins him with hoof on his back, squarely between his wings. “Lieutenant Star! Go get Squad Six, now!” she snaps, looking over her shoulder to the impromptu peanut gallery. Standing up, and wobbling a bit, Sky walks over towards Moony and her brother, removing the sparring helmet as he goes. “Um… Captain Moonbow….?” He stops right next to the twins, a confused look on his face. He starts to back away when Moony’s attention snaps to him, but her hoof darts out, grabbing him by the back of his neck and yanking him towards her. In a flash, her lips clamp over his, muffling a very un-masculine squeak of protest from Sky before he relaxes, enjoying the one good thing that had happened since lunch. “Um… Cap?” Azure says hesitantly, out of the mare’s grabbing range strictly as a precaution. Otherwise giving no indication that she’d heard, Moony makes a shooing motion with her wing, intent on remaining lip-locked for as long as the yellow stallion permitted it. “Captain… Really… Oh c’mon Moony!” Moony makes a brief irritated noise before she pulls away, leaving Sky stunned as she whips her head around to look at her squadmate. “What?! I told you to go get Squad Six!” she demands irately, glaring at Azure. Azure nervously points to a space just out of Moony’s peripheral vision, making Moony swallow her ire and turn her head a little more to the right. “Captain Moonbow,” Tide states in a low monotone, her face a mask of false calm. “There will be no need to get us. We’ve been here for a few minutes already.” She looks to Sky, who is still sitting there with a dazed look on his face, though now he seems to be smiling happily with an almost dream-like look on his face. “Lieutenant, are you alright?” “Hm? Wha…?” He turns and spots Tide, quickly snapping to attention. “I’m fine, Captain. Lieutenant Commander Sunshower and I got into a friendly sparring match…” “And I won…” Sunny mutters into the mats, earning himself more pressure between his wings from his sister. “Friendly spar, my plot,” Moony snarls, glaring daggers at the back of her twin’s head even as her wing moves to wrap around Sky’s shoulders protectively. “I… see,” Tide says slowly, looking between Sky, Moony, and Sunny. She opens her mouth, doubtlessly to chew out the three of them, when Midnight steps up and puts a hoof on her Captain’s shoulder. Looking to the her squadmate, Tide sighs and looks back at Moony with a very serious expression. “I’ll overlook all of this… on one… condition…” “Oh no… No no no, he’s not getting away with this…” Moony shakes her head, removing her hoof from Sunny’s back only to add a punch to his ribcage, padded though it is. “Bear Claw! Azure! Drag this sorry arse, lesser-half of mine to Bliss and make sure he stays there until I’ve got this sorted out.” “Yes’m,” the two lieutenants chorus, moving quickly to pry Sunny from the mats lest they draw their captain’s ire themselves. Moony’s eyes follow the rest of her squad until they’re out of the doors before steeling herself to deal with yet another confrontation with Tide the Ripper. “Captain Riptide, I am truly sorry for my squad’s actions. This was well out-of-bounds and they knew it. I’ll make sure Sunny’s properly dealt with, and we’ll never attempt to prank your squad again… Actually, we’ll just not approach you at all. Yes?” Moony’s words tumble out in a rush, all in one breath. Moony nearly gasps an inhale before she seems to hold her breath, waiting for Tide’s reply. Clearing her throat, Tide nods towards Moony and Sky’s almost touching shoulders. “And, what about that?” Moony looks, only just then realizing that her wing is still draped over Sky’s shoulders. She turns bright red and makes a squeaky noise that’s either mortification or surprise or both as she jumps away from Sky, taking quickly to the air and making a beeline for the doors. Midnight makes as if to chase after the embarrassed captain, but Tide stops her. Giving her Captain a confused look, Midnight looks back towards Moony, and is surprised to see Sky going after her. He quickly overtakes her and gets in front of the fleeing mare. “Moony, wait,” Sky asks quickly, “why are you running away?” Moony’s eyes frantically dart from side to side as she scans for an escape route, stammering as she stalls for time. “See… About that… Er… NOPE!” Without warning, she folds in her wings, dropping like a stone before catching herself still in the air and making a break for the door again. Without missing a beat, Sky folds his wings as well, timing it so that he lands on top of Moony as she passes beneath him. He wraps his arms around her neck and attempts to drag her to the floor, though careful since she isn’t wearing padding like he is. “You’re not getting away that easily after kissing me!” Another mortified/surprised squeak escapes her as Moony strains to keep herself aloft, wings working overtime. Despite such efforts, she comes to the inevitable conclusion that she’s going nowhere but down. Huffing slightly, she drops the last few feet to the floor, her landing heavier and less graceful than normal due to the stallion clinging to her back. “Sheesh… One kiss and you get so clingy…” she grumbles with a sigh, flopping face down to the mats. Sky’s weight forces the breath from her when she hits the floor, making her wheeze slightly. “Oof… Get offa me already!” Sky chuckles and rolls off of her. “Well, you beat your brother up over me, then you kissed me, and then your wing…” He sighs and looks over at Moony. “Why? Why did you do those things? And don’t think about running away, I might be sore after the beating Sunny gave me, but I’ve had worse.” Groaning, Moony covers her head with her arms. “I know stallions are thick but this is freaking ridiculous,” she mutters, sighing in pure exasperation. “Somepony kill me now… please?” she asks no one in particular, her voice not quite muffled by the mats and her arms. “I’d grant you that request,” Tide says from nearby, “but this seems like a more fitting punishment for your earlier words to me.” “Look, I just want to hear it from you,” Sky continues, as if Tide had never spoken. “Your brother said I broke your heart. Told me that you asking me out wasn’t a joke, wasn’t a trap… so…” He pauses, blushing a little and looking away from Moony. “Is it true?” “Can’t we just all laugh at the silly pony and let her go on her merry way?” Moony queries with another groan as she drags herself to her hooves, notably looking anywhere but Sky. “No,” Sky replies, likewise getting to his hooves, “because I don’t see anything silly about it.” He shuffles sideways a bit, getting a little closer to Moony. Despite herself, Moony finds herself looking right at Sky. Slamming up a mask as quickly as possible, she narrows her eyes at him. “You found it pretty funny at lunch,” she retorts flatly. “Your brother and Azure had just dragged you over,” Sky replies, looking at his hooves. “Then they ran away giggling. With your reputation, what was I supposed to think?” He looks up and smiles slightly. “Perhaps, you should have stayed and convinced me? Actually talked to me, and not just said you had paperwork and left?” “Ha!” Moony barks, her laugh sharp and abrupt. “And what could I have actually said, given that reputation, to undo all that, hmm?” she asks skeptically, arching one eyebrow. “Do keep in mind this is me we’re talking about; the walking, talking, living, breathing, flying joke captain of her joke squad.” “I don’t know,” Sky sighs slowly. “You could have tried, though.” He then looks over at her and offer a smile. “And, you and your squad might be a joke most of the time, but you do know how to buckle down when it counts. I am sure Sunny and I both have the bruises to prove it now.” She growls at the mention of her twin, glaring towards the doors. “I’m gonna have to punish him for letting our secret out of the bag like that, on top of general idiocy…” she grumbles, otherwise ignoring most of Sky’s words. Sighing, Sky scoots over and continues to smile, doing his best to keep his tone level and friendly. “Could always rig it so he has to fight Silver next time your squads are sparring,” Sky suggests before clearing his throat and looking over at Moony. “Something good did come of this, though, Moony.” “Oh yeah… Great day…” she starts, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’m a joke, almost got Tide the Ripper to murder me, my brother went and broke the squad motto, to say nothing of a few Codes of Conduct, and -” Before she can continue down the list of bad things that had happened so far that day, Sky reaches over with one hoof, pulls her face so she is looking at him, and kisses her soundly. Moony tries to pull away to continue her rant, but her efforts are half-hearted at least and easily countered. The kiss lasts until Sky has to let both of them back up for air. As he releases Moony, he smiles warmly, a raging blush on his face. “See, the day wasn’t all bad. We got to do that, twice.” He then clears his throat and chuckles. “And don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it, because you did it first.” “Please… I’m a troll, not a liar. I tell the truth all the time. It’s not my fault no one listens…” Moony retorts, sounding tougher than the bright pink staining her cheeks would lead anyone to believe. “So, if you were telling the truth,” Sky starts, looking down at his hooves again, blush deepening, “would you still like to go check out that restaurant you were talking about at lunch?” He chuckles a little and rubs the back of his head with a hoof, wincing slightly as he hits a bruise. “I’m pretty sure by the time Bliss is done with me, it’ll be close enough to dinner time that we could slip out and beat the dinner rush…” He looks up and smiles warmly. “That is, if you still want to go out with this thick-headed idiot.” “Well… I did just promise that my squad and I wouldn’t come near any member of yours…” Moony starts hesitantly, glancing over her shoulder at Tide, who is currently standing with Dancer and Midnight on both sides of her as her eye twitches. Moony turns back to Sky, who looks crestfallen at her words, but despite this, Moony smiles and aims a light punch at his shoulder. “Hey… I didn’t say anything about avoiding you guys if you come to us…” she adds, chuckling as she can almost hear the steam screaming from Tide’s ears now. Scampering towards the door, Moony calls over her shoulder, “Swing by my room when Bliss is done with you!” “Will do!” Sky calls back before looking over his shoulder at the rest of his squad. Tide is, obviously, fuming, but Midnight and Dancer are both smiling and nodding. “So… Um… I think I’d better go see Bliss before the bruises… really start… hurting.” “Or,” Midnight chuckles, “Tide decides to add to them because we weren’t done with practice?” “That too! Bye!” Sky says hurriedly as he sprints from the gym.