Chapter 17: Lots of Love Going Around
MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 17:
The cadets all filed into the gym, packing in and weaving between the weight machines over to the large stretching area as the Wonderbolts guided them along overhead.
Dash smiled as she moved along into a familiar place. The auxiliary gym was a new venue for her, but here it was familiar territory. She wondered what exactly they would be doing for strength testing. Whatever it was, Dash was confident she’d do well. If there was one thing she had improved on greatly during her training back home, it was her strength. She’s built up her muscles enough to take down Applejack in a hoof wrestle. She’d never thought in a million years she’d be stronger than Applejack, but now she was. She looked forward to making the other mares look weak in comparison, especially one specific bitch of a bean pole.
Dash finally got a good look at the set up. The stretching mat had been rolled all the way up and pushed aside to create a large area of floor. Eight weight benches had been set up in a two by four pattern. Spitfire lowered towards them with the megaphone.
“Okay, time for the last test of the day, and it’s about time too! For the strength test, we are testing ONE THING! Bench press for upper body strength!” she paused as if she expected a sudden stir to go through the crowd, which it did. “Thought I was gonna say wing strength, huh?” Spitfire spoke again. “Take note rookies, one of the most important factors of being an ace flyer… is your ability to twist and turn your body against the pressure of wind resistance. How do you do this? UPPER BODY AND CORE STRENGTH!” she made clear. “Now that I’ve blown most of your minds, I want all the mares to line up behind these benches…” she motioned to one of the rows of four. “And I want all of the stallions behind these benches…” she motioned to the other. “Yes, we are testing you by gender. Why? Ask your hormones!” Spitfire paused and turned to the line of male cadets already forming. “On second thought, I don’t want the stallions asking their hormones anything, this is a fitness center, not an orgy.” several giggles came from the mare lines. “ANYWAY… LET’S GET TO IT! You get one set each and your choice of weight. We want to see HOW STRONG YOU ARE, NOT HOW MANY TIMES YOU CAN REP!” she finished.
Dash chuckled at Spitfire’s little jab to stallions. She worked with some interesting ones that was for sure. Her words held their weight. Dash shifted into line about seven mares from the front of the first bench.
“HEY SON! YOU READY TO LIFT?!”
“Oh, right…” Dash wondered out loud as she turned her head towards the voice. She had almost forgotten. Pec Bounce, the Wonderbolt strength coach, was Bulk Biceps’ father. She turned to see the two of them in each other’s faces, lightly butting heads.
“YEEEEEAAHHH I AM POPS!”
“ALRIGHT!”
“YEAH!”
“ALRIGHT!”
“YEAH!”
“ALRIGHT!”
“YEAH!”
“ALRIGHT!”
“YEAH!”
They went back and forth continuously. Fleetfoot, standing nearby, pressed her hooves to her head, grabbed her ears, and yanked them down as hard as she could.
“OH MY GAWD! THERE ARE TWO OF THEM?!?!?!?!?!” she yelled as she tried to save her ears from the loud voices.
Dash chuckled and focused back forward. One mare had already gone. Dash took a look at the next one in line.
“What’ll it be?” High Winds was working their bench. Dash wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that as she saw High Winds yawn loudly. Dash didn’t know much about High Winds, but from what she had seen thus far, it seemed that Winds was always a bit… tired. She nodded off twice during some of the previous explanations. It was hard to miss Blaze behind Spitfire, smacking High Winds across the face or upside the head.
The mare just shrugged as High Winds asked for a weight to put on the bar. Winds blinked and slapped five pounds on each side. The bar weighed forty-five pounds by itself, making it merely fifty-five pounds total. Dash snickered to herself. The stallions probably weren’t caught off guard quite so much… but a lot of mares were definitely unprepared. In general Dash knew no other mares that lifted weights. It was such an old fashion standard, but if only they knew how many benefits came with a stronger body.
The mare barely pushed the bar up once before almost dropping it on herself. High Winds was luckily awake enough to catch it.
“Whoa there… somepony doesn’t even lift,” Winds said with a straight face as she easily yanked the bar off the mare’s chest. This was great. Dash was certain this would be an easy victory for her. Now with only a few other mares in front of her, Dash decided to do some warm-ups. She got down in place and started doing some pushups to loosen up the chest. She wanted to show her best, and one never lifts their best on the first set if they didn’t warm up properly.
“Show off…” a voice mumbled behind her. Dash stopped mid pushup. That damn voice again. She was having a problem with not realizing ‘acquaintances’ behind her. Dash finished her pushups and stood back up while glaring over her shoulder. Arctic Blast was right behind her.
“Got something to say to me?” Dash growled. Arctic blew air at her mane to make a few bits of it fly up and back down.
“Why would I want to talk to you? Stallion stealer,” she scrunched her nose in disgust at Dash. It was funny because Dash really did have Soarin as her stallion, but all Arctic was referring too was Soarin saving Dash earlier.
“Then don’t talk to me,” Dash went back to doing pushups. She warmed up until she felt nice and loose, got up, and swung her arms out. She pushed her arms forwards and back, tensing and relaxing her chest muscles a few times to make sure they felt ready. She was up next after all.
“Ew,” Arctic said something again. Dash sighed.
“Seriously, you got a problem?” she asked while facing Arctic.
“Who turned up the bitch dial on you?” Arctic asked out of nowhere. Dash scoffed so loud she almost spat right in Arctic’s face.
“ME?! Says the mare who insulted the new champion of the endurance course,” Dash lifted an eyebrow and smirked.
“What-EVER,” Arctic rolled her eyes in a very wide arc. “Fine, wanna know what I’m looking at? Your masculine body,” she hissed. “Seriously, mares don’t have muscles, and stallions don’t like banging stallions.”
“Wow, what was that about the bitch dial again?” Dash looked at her in disbelief. Dash wasn’t the slightest bit offended. She worked hard to become as strong as she had, and she most certainly did not look like a stallion. Besides, it was quite ironic of Arctic to claim to know what stallions like… especially since Soarin had told Dash in the past that he found her muscular yet feminine physique to be sexy. Dash had never seen a mare heading faster face first towards a brick wall in her life. It was going to be great blowing her mind at just the right time. “Think what you want…” Dash began again. “If you were the slightest bit smart… maybe you’d understand what it really takes to make the Wonderbolts,” Dash smirked as High Winds called her to the bench. “Watch and learn, skinny,” Dash huffed as she approached High Winds.
“Whaddaya want on it?” High Winds asked while resting an arm and her chin on the bar, her eyes half closed. Dash glanced back at Arctic, and then looked back at High Winds.
“One hundred and thirty-five pounds,” Dash said with a confident face. High Winds’ eyes opened a little wider.
“You sure?” she asked sleepily.
“What do you think?” Dash smirked while flexing her arm briefly. High Winds blinked again and snorted.
“Wise ass… I like it,” she smirked before reaching down and hoisting a forty-five pound plate onto each side of the bar.
Dash focused hard. She had never lifted this much weight before. She’d barely lifted ten pounds less than this recently. Was this a gamble? Yes, but she was so charged up by her desire to show Arctic a thing or two. Dash laid flat on the bench and took a deep breath as she slid beneath the bar so its shadow cast a line over Dash’s forehead.
“On you,” Winds said while putting her hooves in place to catch, should Dash be way in over her head.
Dash reached up and fit her hooves into the hoof grips. She took a deep breath with her eyes closed. Just down and up. She only had to do it once. She inhaled sharply and her eyes shot open. She counted quietly to herself.
“One… two… three…!” She pressed her hooves hard into the bar, lifting it off the rack and holding it over her chest. It was really damn heavy, but too bad, she was already going for it. She took a deep breath and held it in as she lowered the bar down to her chest. She gently tapped it against her before exhaling and pushing up with all the strength she could muster. “HRGH!” she grunted as gravity worked against her. The bar rose slowly, but never once stopped. Dash felt an extra wave of adrenaline pulse through her as she hit the top. New record for her, but she had the strength to keep going.
“All done?” High Winds asked while sniffling and yawning.
“No way!” Dash yelled as she went for a second repetition. She lowered the bar again, remembering to breathe in. She tapped it off her chest and pushed up again. It moved a lot slower this time, but never stopped. “Rgghhhhh!” Dash growled quietly as she pushed it all the way up, successfully doing two reps of a weight she had never lifted before.
“Alright, lemme-OOF!” High Winds grunted as Dash smacked the bar back into the rack and bumped Winds away from the bench in the process. Dash sat up while pumping her hooves in the air.
“AWESOME!” she yelled out as several other mares looked over to her in disbelief. From above Spitfire jotted down something on her clipboard before turning and smirking towards Dash. She chuckled and went back to observing the others.
Dash sneered at Arctic, held out a wing and folded all the feathers down, save for the middle one.
“Don’t mess with me Ice Bitch, you might get burned,” Dash showed no mercy. She had been willing to give Arctic a little bit of a chance all the way up till she insulted Derpy. That tore down all the chances Dash would ever be willing to give.
“Pff…” Arctic rolled her eyes. Dash hopped off the bench as Arctic took her spot on the bench, keeping one eye on High Winds. It would be hard to forget what Winds said to her earlier.
“Weight?” High Winds asked nonchalantly. Arctic scrunched her face in disgust.
“This is so dumb,” she whined.
“Bitch, bitch, BITCH, bitch, BITCH,” High Winds shook her head at her while sighing. “That was bitching Morse code for suck it up.”
“Er… just the bar,” Arctic didn’t fight back. High Winds shrugged and pointed at the bar.
“Any day now then… while I’m still…” she yawned loudly. “Awake. And while I still slightly give a damn about you.”
Arctic huffed and shakily slid her hooves into the grips. Dash watched with slight interest as Arctic shakily lifted the bar up. The form almost made Dash puke as Arctic lowered the bar… and it stopped there.
“Before I age a hundred years please…” High Winds said while looking down at Arctic. Arctic began squirming.
“Help!” She squeaked barely audibly. She couldn’t move the bar alone.
“You’re shitting me right?” High Winds blinked as she looked down.
“I… can’t…” Arctic squeaked again with the bar flat against her chest.
“Louder?” High Winds bent down to ‘listen.’
“It’s crushing me!” Arctic whined, still raspy from the ‘pressure’ against her.
“One more time without the dick in your mouth?” High Winds snickered slightly as she put her ear closer down.
“WINDY!” Blaze hopped over and pulled the bar off of Arctic. Arctic exhaled loudly as Blaze put the bar back in the rack, then lifted an eyebrow at Winds. “Okay, I know you said she’s a fucking bitch, but man you can be cruel,” Blaze couldn’t help but crack a small grin as High Winds only shrugged.
“Whoops…” she said as she yawned.
“C’mon back to work, dammit,” Blaze failed to hold back a few laughs as High Winds reached forward and pushed Arctic off the bench. She flopped onto the floor. Pec Bounce suddenly sped up behind her and took a deep breath.
“DO. YOU. EVEN. PICK. UP. THINGS?!?!?!” he yelled at her while she was down before rushing off to something else that caught his attention.
“UGH!” Arctic grunted as she got up and walked away, grumbling. As she trudged, Dash flipped her tail out and batted Arctic in the face. Arctic turned sharply to her and glared. Dash reached her arm up, flexed, and kissed the muscle. Arctic stuck her tongue out at Dash like a little filly and stormed off.
With victory thoroughly achieved both physically and mentally, Dash floated into the air a little to check out the other’s testing. She got up just in time to see Bulk Biceps step up to Lightning Streak’s bench.
“How much bro?” Lightning asked.
“THREE-HUNDRED! YEEEEEAH!” Bulk answered immediately, blowing back Lightning’s mane so much it was identical to his brother’s for a brief moment.
“Three-hundo it is,” Lightning replied casually. He stacked two forty-five pound plates on each side, followed by a thirty-five, and a little 2.5 pound weight to make the bar exactly three-hundred pounds. “On your—”
“GO FOR IT SON!” Pec Bounce slid over and knocked Lightning Streak out of the way to spot Bulk. “I GOT YOU!”
“YEEEEAHHHH!!!!!” Bulk slammed his back down against the bench, thrust his hooves into the grips and had the weight up all in less than three seconds. The weights clanged together on each side as they were thrust into the starting position. Bulk took an enormous breath before lowering the bar down, tapping it against his large chest muscles, and roaring out. “HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” his battle cry echoed throughout the gym as the bar slowly rose all the way back up to the start. “YEEEEEEAH!” He yelled when he reached the top before slamming the bar back into the rack so hard it made the bench tip slightly.
“Damn!”
“Holy shit!”
“Mother of god…”
The stallions standing around voiced how impressive they found the lift.
“ALRIGHT!” Pec Bounce yelled as Bulk sat up hard, turned around, and faced his father.
“YEEEAH!” Bulk yelled while coming around the bar and butting heads with Pec.
“ALRIGHT!” Pec bounce suddenly punched Bulk across the face.
“YEAH!” Bulk swung right back, punching Pec across the face. The both reached a hoof forwards and clasped them together while bouncing their muscles.
Dash thought her sides were going to launch off her body. It was impressive, but quite possibly the most comical and overly male thing she had ever seen in her life. She was literally on the floor pounding her hoof against it.
“Next,” Lightning retook the spot behind the bench as Bulk and Pec moved away to continue their stallionly random beatings and handshakes.
Dash looked up, and quickly regained herself to watch. Matteo was up next.
“How much weight?” Lightning asked while leaning against the bar.
“All of it,” Matteo said simply. Lightning blinked and looked at him.
“Heh, good one big fella, really, how much?” he asked again. Matteo glared at him and pointed to the plates racked on the edges of the bench.
“I said all of it,” he repeated while strengthening his glare more, if it were even possible. Lightning looked down at all the weights. They had two Forty-five pounders, a thirty-five, a twenty-five, two tens, a five, and a 2.5 racked on both sides of every bench.
“You mean all of this here?” Lightning asked while pointing to both sides of the bench.
“Yes.” Matteo replied flatly.
“Your funeral bro,” Lightning shrugged.
“Unlikely,” Matteo said back as Lightning whistled to Wave.
“Yo! Chiller! I’m gonna need a hand with this one!” he called as Wave Chill helped another stallion rack his bar back in. Wave Chill blinked and trotted over.
“What is it?” he asked upon glancing between Matteo and Lightning.
“Bird bro wants everything put on. We need a double spot.”
“What?!” Wave looked between Matteo and Lightning again.
“He means it, come on,” Lightning made a head motion as he began loading up one side of the bar. Wave Chill shrugged and shook his head as he loaded up the other. Every single weight from the rack plus the weight of the bar came out to four hundred pounds.
Dash glanced over and saw Pec and Bulk had stopped punching each other and were staring with interest.
Matteo flopped down onto the bench, his beak just missing the bar. He was almost too big, just barely fitting on both the bench and beneath the bar.
“Alright, let us—” Wave began as he and Lightning moved to spot on both sides.
“No need,” Matteo put flatly as he reached up and clasped his talons around the bar outside of the hoof grips. The bar rose off the rack with ease, the plates clashing and clanging as they were hoisted up, and the bar bending slightly in the middle from all the weight. Matteo proceeded to pump the weight up and down at a controlled pace. Everything in the gym froze. Spitfire pushed her goggles down to get a better look from above.
Matteo pumped out twelve reps, grunted, set the weight back with a loud CLANG. He sat up, cracked his neck and stood from the bench.
“Have you nothing heavier?” he asked with a little bit of amusement in his voice as he walked away.
A crack. The armor wasn’t perfect. Dash saw him smirk. So he wasn’t a complete stonewall. He grinned slightly before when he asked her about using his technique, but she assumed that was because she had played his own words against him. He looked like he enjoyed showing his superiority just now. She had to find out more about him. Matteo was still a bit of an enigma, but he was too interesting to leave it that way.
Also… holy crap. He was damn strong. He had large visible muscles all over his body, but DAMN he was strong. Griffons had more muscular builds than ponies to begin with, and he was huge on top of that. Off to the side both Bulk Biceps and Pec Bounce were gawking in Matteo’s direction. Dash didn’t blame them one bit. Matteo was proving to be quite the contestant.
Dash began to wonder how exactly the hundred cadets staying through the day would be chosen? She was all done with day one… she was confident she would move on… she just had to wait and find out.
Once the strength testing was over, Spitfire announced that the Wonderbolt staff was going to “crunch the numbers” and post the results on a big board in the lobby after dinner. She directed Fleetfoot to take Derpy to get her picture taken for the record board… and then released a heavy sigh.
Spitfire ripped her goggles off and pulled the mask portion of her uniform down. She handed her clipboard to a staff member and shook her head back and forth.
“I… am… NEVER… having a mass tryout ever again!” she yelled to herself as she left the gym and headed for the mess hall. She walked until she hit the stairs in the center of the lobby and stared at them. As hungry as she was, there was something else she needed to do.
Soarin. She had to go punch him in the face for making the day go less smoothly. It was terrible handling all those ponies while down three Wonderbolts.
She made her way up the stairs while also contemplating the more serious end of the incoming confrontation. Soarin needed to get the magic under control. She would not allow him to stick around if he would be a hazard to the rest of the Wonderbolts and the compound. Her feelings and friendship with him aside, she could not put the others at risk.
After a short walk, she stood directly outside Soarin’s door and gave it a gentle knock.
“Come in,” Soarin’s voice came from inside. Spitfire pushed the door open, peeking in before completely letting herself in. She eyed Soarin on the bed.
Head wrapped up.
A new metal headband for the horn.
Looking completely drained.
As miffed as she was about all the different situations. She couldn’t help but also feel sad. It hurt a little just to look at him. She and Soarin had been through so much together in their wild lives of going from nothing to the best of the best. Soarin’s life took such a crazy turn and hers just didn’t follow. Dark power infusions, fake horns, magic spasms… what other curveball could be thrown into Soarin’s life. While Spitfire had to be strict about Wonderbolt safety and policies, Soarin would always be her best friend, and she would always do anything to help him.
“Hey,” she said quietly as she trotted up. Soarin turned his head towards her slightly before looking right back up.
“Before you say anything, I screwed up. I know that already. So let’s skip that part,” Soarin spoke first. Spitfire blinked and scrunched her face.
“Soarin, why would you think that?” she questioned. He looked at her, not expecting that. “How can you blame yourself for something you don’t have control over?” Spitfire sat down beside the bed.
“That’s just the problem,” Soarin looked away. “I promised you I’d have it under control. I clearly don’t, and I almost killed Misty Fly. That sure looks good on my record doesn’t it,” Soarin berated himself.
“Soarin, shut up,” Spitfire shook her head, “I’m not here to listen to your self-inflicted shame.”
“Gee, you know how to cheer me right up,” Soarin shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“Just tell me what happened okay?” Spitfire demanded as politely as she could.
“The horn got put off center and the magic ran wild. Discord stopped it from killing me and slapped this uncomfortable thing on it,” he pointed to the new metal headpiece. “He said it won’t happen anymore because of it,” Soarin explained in the shortest way he could.
“How do you feel otherwise?” Spitfire asked while letting the info sink in.
“Oh… bring Dash here will you?” Soarin skipped right to the part about Dash, purposely avoiding the part about an effigy of Spitfire humping the shit out of Wave Chill. Spitfire tipped her head in confusion.
“Soarin we can’t do that. We’re in the bulk of the tryouts now,” Spitfire explained. Soarin shook his head.
“Discord’s recommendation. It’s a long story, but I just need one hour with her. It will help me heal in time for day three,” he ignored her concern.
“Soarin, what did I just—”
“Spitfire. Please,” he turned and looked at her. She huffed and bit her lip.
“Fine, I’ll find a way to get her up here after dinner,” she admitted defeat. Soarin was lying here after getting punched in the gut by magic he wasn’t supposed to have. The least she could do was pull a few strings for him, she felt compelled to despite the risks. “Speaking of which, I’m tired and hungry. Do you need any food?” Spitfire asked as she got up to leave.
“That would be nice,” Soarin nodded, remembering he was hungry.
“Alright, I’ll see if I can find anything somewhat appealing,” she joked as she reached for the door.
“Spitfire,” Soarin called to her before she left.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for checking in,” Soarin smiled. Spitfire chuckled and leaned her head to the side to look at him.
“Anything for a friend who keeps getting screwed,” she joked before she left Soarin alone.
Soarin let his head fall back down to the pillow, confident that he’d have Dash with him soon. Maybe it wasn’t so bad being torn to shreds from inside out if it meant he got to spend extra time with his one and only badass mare. He didn’t think he’d make it a habit though… despite it seeming like it already was.
“One side! Move it! Move! It!” Dash called out as she tried to push her way through the crowd surrounding the scoreboard. She cursed herself for taking so long in the mess hall. The scores were posted and the top one hundred cadets would advance to day two.
Spitfire gave the whole explanation before dinner. All Cadets ranked 101 and below were to clean out their bunk areas and be out of the compound by nine o’clock, which was three hours after dinner. The Wonderbolts had multiple trains booked to leave to Cloudsdale and Manehatten throughout the night. If somepony required a different location they would take care of that for them too. 200 train tickets were paid for. They just had to show a special Wonderbolt coupon to the ticket master at the station.
All of it was irrelevant to Dash. She was drilling herself before she even reached the board. She made it though. She had to have made it through. She showed them all so much. She may have taken a fall here or there, but that couldn’t have been enough to knock her out.
She finally pushed to the front through ponies that were both cheering and hanging their heads.
Her name… her name… where was her name. It was a ranking system with scores written off to the side. Apparently the score would be reset each day as if you earned a clean slate for making it through to the next round.
“HUH?!?!” Dash’s eyes widened as they moved up and stopped at the top of the board.
Her name…
Was at the very top of the list.
1st: Rainbow Dash
“AHHHHHAHAHAHA!!!!” Dash leapt up into the air and did two backward loops before pressing her face to the board over her name. “Oh my gosh!” she squeaked as she blinked to make sure it was real.
She was at the top of the pack after day one? She had made so many mistakes though! Were her dangerous feats enough to sway the opinions? WHO CARES?! She made it through to the next day and then some! Talk about being worried for nothing!
But wait… what about the rest?
Dash quickly landed after getting many weird looks from the other cadets viewing the board. She began scanning down from her name.
She took note of the ponies listed in 2nd and 3rd. In second was a pony by the name of Squall. She hadn’t seen or heard about anypony named that yet. Apparently he/she was good. In third, a pony named Little Star. Again, Dash had not seen this pony. She made sure to remember the names however. It looked like there was new competition on the horizon.
But now to find those she was acquainted with. She hoped all of them had made it through. There were a few… she wasn’t so sure about. She scanned down the names.
7th: Storm Front
No surprise there. He was no slacker.
15th: Matteo
Again, no surprise. He displayed many unexpected abilities despite being very large and a slow accelerator.
17th: Twister
Eh, he had some interesting moves. Dash wouldn’t have minded the absence of creepiness though.
25th: Arctic Blast
“What?! Son of a—” Dash verbally expressed her discontent. Not only did she have to deal with Arctic Blast for another whole day, Arctic also finished in the top 25. Dash didn’t know how she earned that spot, but it meant she was more than likely gonna pass the second day too if she kept it up.
The list began extending far down. Dash began to worry about her Ponyville friends. She had a bad feeling in her gut that this was going to be goodbye for—
Scratch that thought.
78th: Thunderlane
Holy crap! Thunderlane made it to day two! Dash didn’t catch most of his trials, but he must’ve done something to impress the Wonderbolts. Dash could picture it right now. Wherever Thunderlane was in the crowd, he was probably frozen with his jaw hanging open, wondering how the hell he made it so high up out of so many ponies.
But what about Bulk and Derpy? Dash would hate to see them both go. She quickly kept going down the list. There wasn’t much left after Thunderlane in terms of those advancing. She bit her lip as she reached the nineties, slowly making her way down. Her eyes widened and her ears stood up.
99th: Derpy Hooves
“YES!” Dash pumped a hoof in the air. Derpy made it through too!? That was even more awesome! Derpy had done rather poorly in most of the trials, but her little record breaking stunt must’ve been just enough to squeak her through! It was awesome… but…
Dash looked back to the board. There was only one name after Derpy’s going onto the next round. It wasn’t Bulk Biceps. Dash’s ears drooped and her wings hung down as her eyes scanned the list lower… and lower… and lower.
245th: Bulk Biceps.
Ouch.
Dash had high hopes after seeing Thunderlane’s name so high on the board… but it looked like she’d be down one friend going into the next day.
“Sorry big guy,” Thunderlane floated up and patted Bulk on the back as he packed his belongings up into his duffle bag. They were all back in the barracks. Most of the cadets had left already, but there were still a few cleaning out their bunks. It was crazy how much more space there already was, and not all of them had left yet.
“Nah… it’s cool,” Bulk turned and smiled. Dash and Derpy were there to see him off as well. They were standing in the aisle to avoid being completely squished together by the girth of the custom bed frame. Bulk hoisted his duffle bag up over his shoulder. “It was fun while it lasted, I wasn’t expectin’ to make it very far. I got to see my pop anyway, he don’t get off work very often.”
It was weird to hear Bulk without the usual enthusiasm in his voice. He said it was alright, but it was clear he was sad to be the only one leaving. Dash floated up beside him as he stepped out into the aisle.
“Hey big guy, I promise to cause enough of a ruckus as if you were still here,” she winked. He smirked.
“Sure you can handle that?” he sneered. Dash sneered right back.
“Who the hell do you think I am?” she got in his face while smiling.
“I think yer talkin’ tough!” he butted heads with her.
“Oh yeah?!” Dash pushed right back. She covered her ears as he took a deep breath.
“YEEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!!!” He belted out. Making them all smile. He chuckled and reached over. Pulling them all into a bear hug. “Good luck you guys, you know where I’ll be,” he set them down, gave a quick wave, and lumbered his way down towards the doors.
They all watched him leave with a mix of sadness and closure. Dash handled it perfectly. They didn’t really know what to say. He was the only one that didn’t make it through. How are you supposed to try and ease a failure when it’s put right beside your own success in the same field?
As Bulk left, it seemed most of, if not all the cadets leaving were up and gone. It had been a tiring day, and it was going on nine o’clock. They were told to take the rest of the night at their leisure. Lights out was at 10:30 tonight. They weren’t getting up quite so early tomorrow. The bang, bang, bang efficiency of day one was mostly due to the sheer number of cadets that showed up. It looked like things would be taken a little slower the next two days, and nopony was complaining about that.
Thunderlane went right to his bed after voicing how fatigued he was. Dash still didn’t know how he got any sleep with Twister below him, but when sleep called Thunderlane, it called him hard. Derpy said something about finding Storm Front and fluttered away.
Dash chuckled as she watched Derpy go. She was completely in love with that stallion. She picked a good one to fall for too. She was glad Storm Front had place in the top ten. He was such a nice stallion and most certainly deserved any honor he achieved. Dash hoped he’d make it all the way through. He had made Derpy so happy and he did it all by just being himself. Dash had a feeling she and Storm would be good friends going forward.
“Excuse me.”
Dash jumped as she turned and saw Matteo standing behind her. Then there was this big guy. Dash was still standing in front of the custom bunk.
“Oh, sorry,” she hovered up out of his way as he squeezed into the cramped space to hang up a towel and grab his super large cadet uniform. Dash started moving back towards the bunk, but saw Arctic Blast on the top bunk, ogling the poster of Soarin, again.
Why, oh why did she have to score so high? She was hoping, wishing, and praying that Arctic would not make it through. She met the nicest pony ever in Storm Front and then had the honor of meeting the polar opposite in Arctic. Dash really didn’t want to deal with her crap right now. They had clearly established a sour relationship. Dash wasn’t going to give Arctic any bit of kindness or sincerity after what she said to Derpy.
Dash glanced back at Matteo as he tossed his uniform into a laundry bin being rolled down the aisle by a staff member. They had an hour or so to themselves before the lights went out. Maybe she could finally learn something about him. He had acknowledged her after she copied his flight moves. Perhaps he’d be a little more willing to open up and talk now. Dash wasn’t going to hold her breath on that, but it was worth a shot. She hovered down over towards the bottom bunk of the custom bed as Matteo climbed in and laid on his stomach in a very lion-esque manner and released a long sigh.
“Hey big guy,” Dash floated down and leaned against the bed. “What’s up?”
Matteo just stared at her briefly before raising an eyebrow.
“Hello,” he said simply. Dash could see it now. She wasn’t getting any further than that. She quickly decided to go with the praise. That usually worked.
“That was a pretty awesome display of strength in the last test. Although I can’t say I’m very surprised, you are kind of a tank,” she added a little light heartedness, hoping he’d pick up on the vibe of an actual conversation.
“Hm,” he nodded. “Thank you. You did quite well yourself,” he didn’t change his stoic expression. But he repiled. Dash wasn’t quite ready for it.
“Oh, you saw that huh?” she grinned sheepishly and blushed lightly.
“You are quite strong for a mare. It’s impressive,” he said more. More praise. Dash wasn’t sure if she was talking to Matteo anymore. “You also copied my moves along with another pony’s moves and landed the top ranked spot going into tomorrow. You are quite skilled Rainbow Dash,” he kept adding onto it.
“Aw sheesh,” Dash waved one hoof while rubbing the back of her head with the other. “Well, I hope you don’t mind me asking…” she hopped up and rested herself on the far corner of his mattress, as far from him as possible to not imply anything. She just wanted to get comfortable. She had had one particular question on her mind since she first ran into him. “What are the… Sky Wings?” she subtly gritted her teeth as she asked. He didn’t look too thrilled back when Spitfire brought it up the day before.
Matteo’s expression hardened for a moment, but he took a deep breath and exhaled before reaching over and opening his bunk drawer. He pulled out a small pamphlet and turned it so Dash could see it.
It was a small booklet with the words: “JOIN UP!” stretching across the top. In the center of the cover were three griffons wearing red spandex uniforms with a white wing insignia stretching from the chest all the way to the lower back on both sides. They wore blue tinted goggles with white straps. Dash blinked as she looked it over.
“They look like—”
“The Wonderbolts yes… they are very similar,” Matteo reached over and put the pamphlet away.
“Similar… implying there’s something different?” Dash tipped her head to the side. Matteo nodded.
“There is no stunt side show. The Sky Wings are purely a military force,” he paused as he saw Dash flinch. He shook his head. “Please, I know full well what the Wonderbolts are for. They were considered to be the Sky Wings’ rivals back in the days of our ancestors.”
“Oh… well, I guess I just spilled that I know about that too, it’s not the most common knowledge around here,” Dash chuckled and shrugged. The Wonderbolts always hid under the guise of a stunt performance team. It was probably another reason so few were admitted into their ranks. To keep that as under wraps as possible. Matteo continued, as if eager to keep talking about them.
“While the Sky Wings have a ranking system much like yours, there is a special honor bestowed upon the strongest member of the force. Through a series of tests and combat against fellow members, one can earn the right to be called ‘Master of the Sky.’ It is the greatest honor in all the Griffon Kingdom. It was my dream to one day claim this honor for my own…” he suddenly trailed off. Dash noticed his quick change in expression.
“I’m guessing… something didn’t go right?” Dash chimed in as Matteo’s pause continued. Matteo nodded.
“I spent years training, honing my body and mind to as close to perfection as I could reach. I steeled my senses, hardened my focus, and achieved a level of ability higher than I could have ever first dreamed of… but then I tried to join the Sky Wings,” Matteo shook his head and sighed. “I didn’t even make it in the front door…”
“Huh?”
“I was rejected immediately,” he balled one of his talons up as if trying to hold back anger.
“What?!” Dash blinked. Matteo was rejected from a military force? After all the incredibly astounding things she saw him do… he was… rejected? “Why?” Dash had to know.
“The Sky Wings are run with a very strict code in both manner and combat. Every squad has six members and they fly into battle in a line side by side. This is meant to do three things. It makes it so no single griffon can be attacked without the aid of five others close by, and so they can all attack in perfect synch. However, the third reason… is why I was rejected,” he paused as if gathering his thoughts. “You can’t see it in the picture I showed you, but the uniforms have an extra bit to them that the Wonderbolts’ don’t. There is a thin layer of metallic shield plating on the inside of the wings. It is nearly weightless and does not hinder flying once one is used to it. It can curve and bend easily with the wings making it possible to deflect projectiles and even magic. When the griffons fly side by side, they have those on their left or right to protect them should they be caught off guard. If one griffon sees an incoming attack directed at his teammate beside him, he can reach his wing out and protect him if need be.”
“That’s pretty cool… but why did they reject you?” Dash questioned. The wing plating was an awesome concept… but still, why the hell would they turn away Matteo? He could be a war machine with his abilities along with their interesting methods and technology.
“I’m too big.”
“Pardon?” Dash blinked.
“They rejected me because I’m too big,” he repeated. “My size would make it difficult to fit into our basic formation, and it would be hard for other griffons to shield me with their wings. I was given that explanation and immediately turned away,” he finally relaxed his talon and gave out another heavy sigh.
“That’s… stupid…” Dash scrunched her brow. Matteo glared at her.
“Watch your tongue, I still respect the Sky Wings and everything that they are as part of my heritage,” Matteo quickly retorted. Dash quickly waved her hooves in front of her.
“Oh, no, no, no… I didn’t mean they are stupid… they sound awesome. I just think it’s silly they just turned you away. I mean look at you. You’re a juggernaut. If I were part of a military force and you walked through the door I’d be signing you up before you said hello,” Dash chuckled, earning a smirk from Matteo as well.
“Alas, it is their way. I could do nothing about it.”
“So you went for the next best thing… in your opinion,” Dash drew the conclusion.
“Precisely,” Matteo nodded. “I refuse to let my training go to waste. If not there, then here,” he finished. Dash nodded briefly, before looking towards Matteo again. Matteo saw her staring and lifted an eyebrow. “You look as though you have another question.”
“Huh?” Dash blinked and chuckled. He was perceptive. She was wondering about something else. “Nothing really, I’m just curious… you’re from the Griffon Kingdom. I know the place is huge and all, but I have to ask. I was good friends with a griffon back when I was younger. Do you know any griffon by the name Gilda?” Dash asked. Gilda was the first thing that came to mind when she saw Matteo, she couldn’t help but wonder if they knew each other.
“Gilda?” Matteo’s eyes opened up slightly and he blinked. “What does she look like?” he immediately asked. Dash suddenly got excited. He knew A Gilda from his change in demeanor. Wouldn’t it be something if it was her old pal?
“Well, she’s got a similar color arrangement to yours. Only she has brown feathers instead of black. Her white feathers extend farther past her chest than yours. Her wings are a darker shade of brown compared to her body…” as Dash went on Matteo turned to his drawer again and reached in for something. “She’s got three white feathers that stick out off the top of her head with pink tips. She’s got slightly lavenderish feathers surrounding her eyes and she had gold eyes like yours… her beak is MUCH smaller though—” Dash froze as Matteo turned back to her and held out in front of him a picture… of Gilda. She was lying on a bed, lion style much like Matteo was, and giving a smug expression towards the camera.
“This Gilda?” he asked. Dash smiled and looked back at Matteo.
“Oh my gosh! That’s her! You know each other?” Dash asked eagerly. Matteo held up his other talons. Dash waited for him to say something. She wasn’t sure if she was meant to get something from the way he was just holding his empty talons in the air while holding the picture of Gilda in the others. “Um…” Dash tipped her head in confusion.
Matteo pointed a talon towards his empty talons while still holding the picture of Gilda. Dash blinked and leaned in. As she got closer she noticed something she hadn’t before. There was something blending in with the yellow color below the talon. On the middle one... it looked like a ring.
“Gilda is my wife.”
“She’s your wife? That’s W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-WHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!” Dash’s eyes widened, her jaw dropped, and she rose up so quickly she lost her ground and tipped over, falling off the bed and onto the floor. She quickly clambered back up and rested her elbows on the bed while her eyes darted between Matteo and the picture of Gilda. “WIFE?!?!?! GILDA?!?!?!?! MARRIED?!?!?!” Dash blurted out in disbelief while pressing her hooves into the sides of her head.
“Yes,” Matteo put his talons back down and casually replaced the picture of Gilda back into the drawer.
“That’s just… I don’t… huh… what… I don’t even…”
“Something wrong?” Matteo asked. Dash smiled and shook her head.
“No, I’m just… I never took her as the type to get married. I’m just surprised.”
“Is Rainbow Dash in here!?”
Dash and Matteo both looked towards the entrance to the barracks. Spitfire was standing by the door and scanning the area. Dash blinked and nodded before turning back to Matteo.
“I’ll have to get the details later. I can’t believe you’re married to one of my oldest friends. See ya later!” Dash gave a quick wave before responding quickly to Spitfire’s call.
Matteo watched her glide off, looked to the ring on his shank and cracked a small smile.
“So… uh… where are we going?” Dash asked as she followed Spitfire through the hallway towards the stairs. Spitfire was out of uniform for the night, and by the looks of things very stressed and tired. Dash was worried about prodding too much, but seriously, where was she being taken?
“Just follow,” Spitfire said under her breath, but loud enough for Dash to hear. Dash swallowed and obeyed, following Spitfire up the stairs to the second floor, and then the third. They weren’t going to her office… what was going on?
Spitfire heaved a long sigh when they reached the top of the stairs.
“Alright Dash, this way,” she motioned towards Soarin’s door and they moved towards it. “Something… serious happened when Soarin was taken away earlier.”
That was not a good way to begin. Dash visibly panicked. Spitfire shook her head.
“Relax Dash,” she put her hoof on Dash’s shoulder. “Soarin is fine and nobody was… severely hurt. I’m sure you saw some of the random damage in the lobby. Soarin’s magic apparently went haywire and he almost severely injured Misty Fly while she and Fire Streak were trying to take him to Luna. Discord was there to save them and stop Soarin as well,” she explained and started pulling Dash towards Soarin’s door. “Soarin is resting right now. I don’t know why, but he claims having you for an hour will help him recover.”
“Oh…” Dash perked up, remembering her last visit when her presence seemed to ease the dark power flowing in Soarin. Her presence allowed him to get a full night’s sleep as well as take control of the power during their battle with Nightshade.
“I see you know what he’s talking about…” Spitfire rolled her eyes as they stood in front of Soarin’s door. “Again, he’s leaving me out of the loop in favor of you. I don’t blame him, but sometimes I think he forgets I’m his best friend,” she shrugged. “He’s all yours Dash. Please help him,” she stepped back and Dash looked at Soarin’s door. Dash nodded and knocked on the door.
“Come… in…” Soarin’s voice came from inside. His voice sounded slightly strained. Dash paused, but disregarded it and entered anyway.
Spitfire watched as Dash entered the room and the door shut. She looked up at the clock on the wall near the stairs. Dash had one hour, then Spitfire had to take her back. Spitfire yawned as she turned towards her room. She took one step and stopped. She turned and glanced down the hallway. She looked back at the clock one more time before turning and walking past Soarin’s room, down the hall in the opposite direction of her room. She couldn’t take it anymore. It had been bothering her since his little swearing explosion before the strength test. What was up with Wave Chill?
She made her way down the hall slowly towards his room. As she passed Misty Fly and Surprise’s room, the door gently opened. Spitfire kept walking, but she gave a quick glance back to see Fire Streak step out and close the door very gently behind him. He gave Spitfire a quiet nod as she passed. Spitfire nodded back and continued towards Wave’s room.
Fire Streak watched Spitfire head down the hall, curious as to why she was going that way when her room was in the other direction. He quickly concluded that he was too damn tired to really wonder about it. He had had a little too much excitement, his back was still sore from the three small blows he took from Soarin’s magic, and he had spent the rest of the day comforting Misty Fly.
It was awful looking at her. She was nine years older than him, but she clung to him like a frightened child. It seemed as though a small bit of Soarin’s inner magic had been forced into her. The way she twisted and churned while under its influence was a sight Fire would not soon forget. He could only watch, powerless. There was nothing he could do to save her from the pain. If Discord had not been there, he shuddered to think what would have happened.
Misty was alright, but the physical trauma on her body was immense. The mere thought of the immeasurable pain that coursed through her made her shake with fright. Her nerves were sore and taught from firing so much, her body was littered with small aches and pains from all the flailing and twitching. She felt like she had been pulled through a nightmare. There was nothing that Fire could do except offer his presence, let her know someone who cared was nearby so her mind could be at ease after almost being torn asunder.
Fire looked up at the door to his room before looking back two doors down to Misty’s room. She had finally fallen asleep. He didn’t want to leave her, but Surprise was back now, so she wouldn’t be alone.
Their door still had “thing one and thing dolt” written on it. Surprise’s little sign had been on their door for such a long time now. Speaking of “thing dolt,” Fire wondered if his brother was back in the room yet.
As soon as Fire opened the door the incredibly unnerving sound of his brother snoring blared out into the hallway. Lightning was most certainly back and he was already sleeping. Fire was looking to get some sleep himself, but as usual, his brother was snoring incredibly loud. It sounded like somepony was trying to tear a piece of leather over a whoopee cushion.
Fire closed the door behind him and made a small arc around the room. He stepped over all the piles of dirty laundry on Lightning’s side of the room and gave Lightning’s bed a solid, one leg buck as he passed.
“*SNRKSNORT* Urf…” Lightning turned over onto his stomach. The snoring ceased. Fire nodded in satisfaction and approached his bed while removing his spandex uniform. He balled it up and dropped it in a hamper. Fire was about to get into bed, but stopped.
Lightning grunted again and slowly pinched the longest, squeakiest fart Fire had ever heard in his life. Fire remained completely still for the duration of it with a very uncomfortable look on his face. When the fabulous one pony chorus finally ended, Fire shook his head.
“Mother would be so proud…” he mumbled as he slid into bed and pulled the covers up. Right as he yawned and put his head to the pillow—
*knock* *knock* … *knock* *knock*
Somepony was at the door? Fire lifted his head up and looked towards the door. He only partially heard it. He listened again.
*knock* *knock* … *knock* *knock*
That pattern. Only one pony knocked with that two knocks, pause, two knocks pattern. Fire was up quickly. He put his hooves to the floor and walked up to the door. He opened it slowly.
Misty Fly was sitting outside the door. Fire blinked and opened the door fully. Misty was staring up at him with wide pupils and a very distraught look on her face. She may have fallen asleep, but it looked like she still wasn’t ready to be left alone… but wait. Surprise was back in Misty’s room… that meant…
Fire sighed, cracking a small smile. He had been taking care of Misty since the incident. Looks like where she found comfort was with him alone. No words were needed, not even the sign language. Fire stepped aside and beckoned her in. Misty stood up and quickly entered. It was dark in their room, so Fire switched on a bedside lamp that shined a dim light onto his bed.
Misty was still looking directly at him. Fire really wanted her to get rest, but she couldn’t be left alone. After contemplating his options, he looked towards Misty and patted the mattress, offering it to her. She looked at the mattress, then back to him in confusion. Her look said it all. She wondered what he would do. Fire walked around her to his closet and pulled out a large spare blanket. He folded it up multiple times so it became nice and cushy and laid it on the floor beside the bed. He reached into the closet again and pulled out a spare pillow. He plopped it on the floor beside the blanket, then approached his bed again and tapped the mattress with his hoof while giving her a wink. She gave him a weak smile and obeyed, climbing up onto his bed and getting comfortable. She turned back to Fire and he held up a hoof to catch her attention. He unfolded his wings as well.
He patted his chest, took one of his wings and brushed it past his ear, made the same wing flat with the edge against his lips and pushed it forward, then pointed at the blanket.
His motions read: “I will be right here.”
Misty smiled and nodded in response. Fire looked down at his makeshift bed, but looked back up as Misty reached over with a wing and tapped his shoulder.
She put the tips of her wing to her mouth and extended it towards him, then pointed a hoof to say: “Thank you, Fire.”
Fire smiled back and shrugged. He put his right hoof up by his right shoulder and pushed it towards his left, followed by putting the tip of his last wing feather to his mouth and tipping towards her. His motions read: “It’s nothing.”
He made another move to go towards his mock bed. Misty’s wing reached out again and this time tapped his shoulder harder. He looked back once more in confusion. She was looking sternly at him. She closed her eyes and shook her head back and forth. Fire tipped his head to the side as Misty brought her wings up again.
She made the right hoof to left shoulder motion, she extended the two longest feathers in her right wing and tapped them into the flat inside part of her left wing twice, she put her hooves up in front of her chest and swiped her right hoof against her left before swinging it down and out away from her body, she extended the longest feathers on both wings and tapped them together once, and pointed at herself.
*It means everything to me.*
Misty leaned towards Fire and planted a very soft, gentle kiss on his left cheek. Fire’s eyes widened and he jumped slightly as she made the small, but meaningful gesture of affection.
Misty pulled back and gave Fire a very warm smile. She put her right hoof to her chin, lowered it over her left hoof and hovered it there for a moment to say: “Goodnight.” She kept her eyes on Fire as she pulled the blanket on his bed over her body and nestled her head into his pillow before turning over.
Fire’s body felt like it was moving in slow motion as he reached and turned out the light.
Misty kissed him. Misty Fly just kissed him on the cheek.
He didn’t know what to think. He had always cared greatly about Misty Fly. He did everything he could to make her rough life easier. She had done so much to help him and his brother climb the Wonderbolt ranks. He only saw it fitting to return the favor.
But was that really all it was? Was there more than gratitude behind his actions? Misty’s kiss made him think there may be. He suddenly wasn’t so surprised she kissed him. How could a mare… any mare not notice when a stallion goes so far out of his way to help her on a regular basis and more? It’s certainly what he did for her. He was by her side every single day. She couldn’t go anywhere without him coming along to aid her (save for the obvious such as the bathroom or locker room).
Fire finally laid down on his makeshift blanket. It wasn’t as nice as his bed, but he didn’t care because he wanted Misty to be comfortable.
They say that deep down inside every mare, there is a desire to be treated like a princess. Fire had certainly stayed by Misty’s side like a knight would stand beside his princess. Perhaps the meaning of his own actions had gone right over his head. Perhaps just by doing what came naturally to him… he had made Misty regard him more highly than a friend?
The thought was baffling… yet… welcoming. This night wouldn’t change anything in terms of how he acted or how he helped her as he had day in and day out… but perhaps now his actions would hold more meaning for both of them.
“*SNRRRRRRRRRRKSNRKSNRKSNRKSNORTSNORT*” another unholy noise came from the direction from Lightning.
“Good lord…” Fire was not in the mood to deal with his brother’s snoring. He had too much on his mind, so he took action.
He stood up, grabbed Lightning’s mattress, and heaved it off the bed with Lightning still on it. Lightning snorted loudly, but didn’t wake up. He was a very heavy sleeper after all. He dragged the mattress and his noisy brother towards the door and opened the door roughly. He didn’t need to keep the noise down because… well… Misty couldn’t hear.
He squeezed the mattress through the door, hoisting it slightly sideways, but making sure Lightning didn’t roll off. Fire pushed the mattress across the hall to the opposite wall, brushed his hooves together and re-entered his room, leaving his loud snoring brother out sleeping in the hallway.
Silver Lining came up the stairs and started down the hall. He didn’t even look at Lightning as he shifted on the mattress in the hallways while snoring so loudly you’d think he was driving a knife through his mattress. Silver walked right by while rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
He kept walking towards his room he shared with Wave Chill, but stopped at least five doors away because he saw Spitfire standing outside the door to his room. He grunted in annoyance when he saw her knock on the door. He was tired and wanted to go to bed, but the door opened and Spitfire pushed her way into his room.
“Damn colts and fillies these days…” he sighed as he approached his door and took a seat outside against the opposite wall. He could barely make out the conversation inside.
“Spitfire!? Er… I mean Captain Spitfire! What a surprise! What brings you—?”
“Wave…” Spitfire looked at him sternly. Wave shut his mouth tight. His eyes widened as Spitfire moved towards him slowly.
Code red, code red. Wave Chill was caught with no avenue of escape. Silver Lining just had to close the armored shutter over their window every day. Wave was stuck and there was nothing he could do about it. He took shaky steps backward as Spitfire moved forward. His hooves stumbled and tripped over themselves as he moved, easily catching Spitfire’s attention.
“Wave, what the hell?” she looked at him in confusion as his eyes darted back and forth, refusing to look at her. His face grew redder and redder as she closed in. “What’s wrong? I was just talking to you this morning! Now you won’t even look at me?”
“Um…” Wave forced his eyes to hers for all but a brief moment before slamming them shut. All he could think of was earlier in Soarin’s room. The way the fake Spitfire locked her eyes on his, the way she batted her eyelashes, the way she slowly slipped off her uniform, backed him against the wall and pressed her body against his. It all felt so real. He let it all happen thinking it was real. It felt… so good. He felt his wings twitching as he opened his eyes. He yelped when he saw Spitfire had moved much closer to him. He almost fell back as he scurried backwards. A quiet THUMP as he stopped made his heart leap up into his throat. He had his plot to the wall. He couldn’t run from it anymore.
“Wave, why are you avoiding me?!” Spitfire suddenly raised her voice a little.
“I…” Wave began to sweat and his blush deepened further, his face no longer dark blue. This wasn’t the fake Spitfire. This was the real Spitfire. He would never mistake that stern glare. However, she had no idea about the situation she had just put him in. When the fake Spitfire approached him, she backed him against the wall before undressing. Here, Spitfire had just backed him up against the wall, and already was without her uniform. The situations were overlapping in his brain and now all he could think of was Spitfire rubbing herself all over him and kissing him with intense sexual passion. Curse his male brain. The image just wouldn't leave him.
“Wave!” Spitfire yelled his name louder.
“NO!” Wave yelled back while shaking his head. His wings flared open with a loud FWOOMP. Spitfire took a step back in surprise while looking him up and down.
“No…what…?” she asked while scrunching her face. Wave’s eyes shot open he looked at his wings before quickly forcing them closed.
“I… I’m sorry I…” FWOOMP. His wings shot back out. “Uh…” He forced them closed again. “I don’t mean to be avoiding you… I just…” FWOOMP. “DAMMIT!” he cursed as he failed to gain control over his wings.
“Wave… what happened when you checked on Soarin?” Spitfire put it together. Wave’s blushing and inability to hide his… 'excitement…' made it clear something had happened and it had to do with her. Wave gave up on trying to refold his wings and crossed his back legs to keep other signs of his dilemma from sight. He released a long sigh, but still didn’t look at her.
“I… went to check on Soarin… as ordered…” he paused while biting his lower lip.
“Aaaaaand?” Spitfire rolled her hoof end over end in the air, encouraging him to continue.
“Discord was also there…” his voice got quieter. He glanced at Spitfire. There was no avoiding this. “He… decided to mess with me… made an image of you… and made it…” his voice became squeaky and sputtering. Spitfire was leaning in to make sure she could still hear him. “He made it undress seductively, press me to a wall, rub itself against me, and kiss me.” He said the last portion very quickly, but Spitfire heard every word.
Spitfire pulled her head back, her eyes growing wider as each word sunk in. Her mouth hung open slightly and a blush quickly crossed over her face.
“Oh… um…” Spitfire suddenly felt terrible. It’s not like she could have known, but she just forced Wave to admit something he clearly wasn’t too happy about apparently… enjoying. Wave was very duty bound, much like her. Despite the two of them having become closer than acquaintances over the past few months, they were both still very strict about keeping their bodily desires in check. Wave’s body language was quite clear. His insane blushing, his wings disobeying him, and his legs crossed to conceal a… “I…” Spitfire looked away from him.
While a sudden untamable urge to kill Discord burned in her chest, she was more focused on how much Wave was trying to hide his urges out of respect for her. Charming as it was, she couldn’t stop feeling bad about effectively putting a wrench into his attempts to regain himself. He was purposely avoiding her so he could clear his mind of the image Discord put in his head. Sure he liked it, he was a stallion… she’d be worried if he didn’t like it. That didn’t mean he’d forget his rank and duty though. He was trying to fight it and she barged right into his room, putting him in an incredibly uncomfortable situation.
“I’m sorry…” Spitfire turned away and headed for the door.
“Spitfire?” Wave suddenly found the strength to pry his ass from the wall. She kept walking. “Spitfire, wait!” He tried to reach for her, but she was already out the door and heading down through the hallway. Wave looked out his door and thought about going after her, but she was clearly uncomfortable, so he didn’t press it.
Silver Lining stood up from against the wall, stretched out his back and cracked his neck as he approached the open door.
“Careful where you stick it, sonny,” he said plainly as he pushed past Wave into their room. Wave just groaned and rubbed his hooves against his head. This was going to take a while to wear off.
“Soarin?” Dash spoke quietly into the room as the door shut behind her. She saw Soarin in his bed, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was sitting up with his back against the head board, looking down at something in his lap while the false horn was glowing brightly. She tipped her head to the side, wondering what was going on. He looked very focused.
“Gah! Haaaa.” Soarin exhaled as the magic glow faded from the horn.
“Soarin?” She called his name again. His eyes widened upon hearing her voice. He looked up and smiled upon seeing Dash. She smiled back. He reached his hooves out in her direction.
“You. Hug. Now. Pronto,” he said goofily. Dash snickered and hovered into the air. “I said NOW, dammit!” He began waving his arms up and down comically. Dash stopped in midair and sneered.
“I dunno… I think I’ll take it niiiiiiiice and slooooooow.” She taunted while moving barely an inch through the air every second. Soarin flattened his expression, then closed his eyes and squinted while smirking. “Huh?” Dash felt something press against her plot. She turned to see a magic aura surrounding her back side. She suddenly was launched forward at Soarin. “WHOA!”
“Huh?” Soarin opened his eyes in time to see Dash crash face first into his chest. “OOF!” he grunted as she hit him and her face slid down his body right between his legs. Soarin just sat and stared at their position as Dash struggled to place her hooves on the mattress beside them. Soarin just shrugged and let her take her time before she finally pulled her head out of his lap and shook her head out. “Nice landing,” he chuckled as Dash half glared, half smirked.
“What magic technique was that, the pony launcher?” Dash chuckled. Soarin shrugged.
“Sorry, I’m not too good at controlling force yet. By the way, HI!” He reached his arms beneath hers, lifted her into his body and gave her a very tight hug. Dash squeaked, but quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, returning the embrace with as much strength as she could muster to match his. They let up and looked into each other’s eyes.
“So we’re living a life of danger I see. How in the world did you convince Spitfire to let me see you?” Dash sighed as she took a long look into Soarin’s eyes.
“Well, let’s just say when a god gives you a suggesting it’s kind of a good idea to follow it,” Soarin chuckled.
“A god?”
“Discord.”
“Huh?” Dash lifted an eyebrow. Soarin shook his head.
"I’m going to have to give you all the details at some point. We only have an hour together, I don’t want to waste it,” Soarin pulled her slightly closer to him. Dash reached a hoof out and it pressed against his chest, halting her.
“At least… tell me a little. Spitfire told me about what happened earlier today. You…” her ears drooped. “I love you Soarin, and I want to know what’s happening to you… please?”
Soarin looked into her eyes as they showed a sign of worry. He’d been around Dash enough by now to read her emotions. Dash was always snarky, confident, and turning everything into a competition if she could. Soarin could barely kiss her without her trying to make it a fun adventure.
Whenever Dash approached something quietly or with sincerity he knew it was important because Dash was more often than not, lighthearted 24/7. He smiled and rubbed his hooves against her back.
“I love you too Dash,” he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Thanks for thinking so much of me,” he flashed her a quick smile. “It’s very confusing, but Discord and Luna have been working very hard to contain the dark power in me,” he tapped the horn. “Remember how having you near calms the power and lets me rest? Well, giving the magic more room to flow and using it through this horn has a similar effect… kind of like appeasing the magic’s urge to be used for a little while.”
“Is that what you were doing when I came in?” Dash tipped her head slightly. Soarin nodded.
“Yeah… you’re sitting on two pebbles I was using for magic practice,” he chuckled. Dash blinked, leaned and looked beneath her plot. There were two pebbles in Soarin’s lap. She looked back at him with a sly grin. Soarin saw it and braced himself. Incoming smarm.
“Pebbles, huh? I saw you looking down while using your magic… followed by a grunt. I thought you were, you know, flogging the dolphin,” she snickered.
“You would think that…” Soarin chuckled while rolling his eyes and smirking. “There’s something else though,” he tried to bring the mood back to serious. “Discord told me why you have an effect on the magic.”
“Oh?” Dash perked up. She had been curious about this too. There never really was a full explanation for it.
“When Celestia used her magic to revive me, and had you and Spitfire help her, the two of you left some sort of life force imprint in the magic. The way Discord put it, is that it’s afraid of you.”
“Oh, so Spitfire could do this for you too?” Dash crossed her hooves and pouted. Soarin quickly shook his head.
“Absolutely not,” he chuckled. “The imprinted you left behind is apparently twenty or so time stronger. The magic is so afraid of you that it calms completely, and even lets me command it. I can confirm that right now, because you’ve been here for what, five minutes? The magic has been the calmest it’s been in a long time, just right now.”
“Why’s that?” Dash asked with curiosity.
“Because of this,” Soarin smiled.
Soarin forced Dash towards him, locking his lips with hers. She yelped quietly in surprise, but immediately played along, caressing his lips with hers while a light blush crept over her nose. Soarin reached a hoof around and lightly brushing it through her mane before gently pressing her harder against him. Dash quickly pressed her tongue against his lips, demanding she be let in. Soarin obeyed, but quickly met her advance by pinning her tongue down with his. Dash released a soft moan and her wings twitched madly as Soarin ran his hoof to the top her head and brushed it against her sensitive ears. Soarin took advantage of her tingly state, and ran his lips around her mouth, sucking on her bottom lip before lightly biting playfully. He released her lip and pulled away from her. She blinked and smiled at him while narrowing her eyes seductively.
“You are so damn sexy, you know that?” she sighed and bit her lip while swaying back and forth in front of him. “So is that really a reason? Or did you just get bored and decide to make out?” Dash leaned forward and rested her head against his chest. Soarin reached his arms around her and hugged her tightly again.
“It’s the biggest reason. The imprint you left against the dark magic is huge because of the connection we share. Spitfire and I are good friends, but Dash, I LOVE you. There is no connection stronger than that. The fact that the imprint you left is so large also proves how much you love me,” he smiled while stroking her side. “You really liked me that much back when we first met?” he chuckled, realizing the imprint was made on the back end of their first encounter with each other.
“Of course I did you jerk,” she jabbed him lightly in the side.
“I guess I’m sexier than I thought,” he joked while rubbing his nose roughly into her mane. She giggled and pushed off of him. They looked into each other’s eyes again for a moment, before Dash looked down at the pebbles in his lap.
“Can I see you use magic?” she asked while shifting back slightly to remove herself from the pebbles completely. It was a request, but since she already moved it was more of a demand. Soarin wasn’t going to say no though.
“Sure,” he nodded before looking down at the two pebbles. Maybe with Dash watching, his eagerness to show off would finally help him grab two things at a time.
He closed his eyes and recalled the magical sensations, quickly forming the single mental split so he could keep the magic resonating, but also lift the pebble. Dash watched with interest as the fake horn began to glow light blue. It was dim at first, but slowly grew brighter. One of the pebbles was encircled by a blue aura. It slowly lifted into the air and hovered. Soarin squeaked one eye open and focused it on the second pebble. It felt overly forced, but he tried to create a second split. He didn’t know why it was so hard. Fancy Pants could do it so quickly and form nine or ten different thought processes… what did it take? An aura flickered around the second, but before anything else could happen, it all stopped.
“Damn!” Soarin cursed as he eyes the pebbles in frustration.
“That was… pretty awesome,” Dash blinked and smiled. Soarin shook his head.
“I can’t get this one down though… picking up two things at a time…” he glared at the pebbles. Dash watched him contemplate, and then had an idea. She smiled and shifted towards him.
“Here…” she floated up and landed right beside him on the bed. “You said my presence makes the magic listen to you right?”
“Yyyyyes?” Soarin blinked, and then realized what she was doing. “Oh!”
“Mmhmm,” Dash nodded and pressed herself against his side while nestling her head into his neck. “Try again.”
“Okay…” Soarin took a deep breath and focused on the pebbles again. He shut his eyes and went through the motions. “Whoa!” Soarin reacted as the magic appeared nearly instantly. He had never called it so quickly before. Was Dash really having an effect on his magic basics? He formed the mind split quickly and the first pebble was up in the air, floating higher above his head than it had before. Soarin opened his eyes and looked up. He was maintaining two thought processes so easily. He usually had to concentrate so hard. He looked down at the other pebble and locked both eyes on it. He calmly focused and slowly… very slowly… forced his mind to form a third. The light did not flicker around the second pebble this time. It was surrounded smoothly and it lifted up into the air right beside the other pebble.
“You did it!” Dash bounced happily beside him as Soarin smiled up at the two pebbles. He released the magic and let them fall back to the bed before turning towards Dash.
“You are incredible,” he said as he grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Tell me something I don’t—MMMPH!” she got cut off as Soarin leaned in and kissed her passionately. “Mmmmm…” she moaned as the two fell to the bed and began making out again.
They only had 45 minutes left in their hour, and Soarin knew exactly what he wanted to do with all 2700 seconds. Dash wasn’t gonna complain. She wanted it just as much.
On the other side of the wall between Soarin and Spitfire’s room. Spitfire sat with her back up against it. She could hear everything. Part of her wanted to move and put a pillow over her ears, the other part thought of nothing but Wave Chill.
She just had to run off. They had made so many strides in their relationship and now it was going to be awkward as hell. She sighed as she heard the moaning and kissing through the tin walls.
Duty.
Being bound by duty. It was something both she and Wave Chill lived by. It was built into their brains and they respected each other through it. How long could they last though? How much did they really want from each other? As much of an ass Discord was… maybe he did them a favor.
Maybe Spitfire wanted more. Maybe Wave Chill wanted more. Could they hide behind their line of work forever?
Spitfire shook her head and got up from the wall. She could still hear Soarin and Dash through it. All she could think of as the noise passed through her ears… was Wave Chill. Spitfire had never had a pony she felt… attracted to. She found herself thinking of her and Wave on her bed… partaking in the same actions going on next door. She blushed, but at the same time mentally berated herself. She flopped on the bed, making sure to keep an eye on the clock for when she’d be taking Dash back.
Maybe everypony was right. Maybe Fleetfoot and Blaze weren’t being so stupid. Maybe she did have to loosen up.
Whatever she had to do… it wasn’t going to be easy.
Talk about getting no sleep tonight for sure…
--- To Be Continued ---
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Whew that's a lot of author's notes... And yeah, my brain about exploded during the Mateo part.
Can't wait for the next chapter, and please. If you're not planning a long chapter for sunday, then you'll probably go: "I've got to get this finished in one day!"
4643211
I'd been turning that ball over in my hand since i put him in the story, just waiting to throw that curveball
and yes... knowing me i'll find a way to do a one day update again
4643239
You're your own enabler, right?
getting interesting.
I love fluff! Every kind of fluff!
4643269
TURBO FLUFF!
IT'S SO FLUFFY!!!
I loved everything
Words cannot describe how much I loved this...
Smobldorf? Hugmuffin?
They will do for now
-DD
4643284
The fluff has been doubled!
4643314
I think the fluff has been tripled, actually.
So pretty good story so far
love it oh and chapter 19
4643354
The fluff has been quadrupled!!
4643366
oh lord i saw this coming... i'm gonna have to acknowledge the gag somehow
and thanks
4643309
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I'm really proud of this chapter as a whole
Thanks for reading!
4643433 WHATEVER COMET AFTER QUADRUPLE
4643460
4643433
THE FLUFF HAS FUCKTOUPLED IN SIZE
Whoohoo for longer longer chapters!
Oh, and the MistyXFire part was very fluffy.
4643469 THE FLUFF HAS WHATEVER COMES AFTER FUCKTOUPLED IN SIZE
4643474
I have so much fun writing for the two of them. Actually writing out the sign language gives me this weird feeling of satisfaction
It makes me feel like i'm fully exploring a character i'm already particularly proud of (Misty).
That and their relationship in general is so unique. It's just different and i love writing for it
4643481
Is that how we're gonna do this?
THE FLUFF HAS MOTHERFUCKTOUPLED IN SIZE!!
4643503
Dat fluff.
A whole fuckload of fluff.
And Spitfire's not making it to part two without some fluff either, am I right?
4643524
most likely not
But the big Spitfire Wave Chill stuff will be later on in the story
Well you just had to go and ask that then didn't you. DIDN'T YOU!
4643516
The
Fluff
Has
Been
motherf
ucktoup
Led in
Size?
okay enough we're making my comments section too stretched
4643537
What could i possibly mean by that?
4643469 We have now commenced the Fluffacolypse!
4643540
Yep…
Sorry!
I hope you realize that your stories have still inspired. Its so much fun to read and to be honest, I can be in the middle of reading another story, see yours has updated, Ill stop, switch and read the new update then continue.
Yep.
Also, SO MANY EXPLOSIONS!!! *Happy 4th everyone!*
4643534
4643559
*tiny gasp*
4643567
haha i feel so loved
i'm glad i've been so inspiring, it warms my heart to know
Thanks for the continued support my friend
Oh God I'm drowning in fluff!!!!!
And yes I did not expect the Gilda x Matteo thing. Nice. Apparently neither did Dash.
4643617
Overflowing with fluff
I've been grinding my teeth holding back Matteo's marital status
Hopefully Dash can finish at the top of the leaderboards at the end of the tryouts. I'm guessing that she won't always be in 1st place.
So much fluff.
And Fire and Misty, a silent romance that needs no words between the two.
And I now want a story about Gilda and Matteo.
4643720
i keep putting my feet into themes and plot points that make my readers demand more romance stories
Not that i actually mind
I love the silent romance thing i have going with Fire and Misty. It makes me feel SUPER fuzzy whenever i write for them
Gilda MARRIED? Assuming that she is about as old as Dash, that's pretty young to be getting hitched.
Griffon version of a shotgun wedding? 
Now I hope that Spitfire and Wave Chill get together (interpret that as you please)
before all is said and done. Such a display of duty before cuddling should not go unrewarded. 
Rainbow Dash ranked first after those mishaps... I guess the Wonderbolts take degree of difficulty into account when totting up their scores. Makes sense to me.
4643814
The age was another reason Dash freaked out
(seeing as how i imagine Matteo being 25-26)
i plan to work with the whole duty bound but madly in love theme between Spitfire and Wave Chill
As For Dash's score, she may have had a few errors, but her way of mimicing moves and putting together sudden displays of awesome caught their attention ;)
4643850
Sometimes, Adaptation trumps unique skill. Specially having the ability to learn so quickly. thatll start making a person *or in this case pony* jump ranks awfully fast.
So you've got quite a few love relationship types, you've got the fluffy Soarindash relationship, firefly and their quiet romance, and the Wavefire awkwardness (closest to anything I might ever have
) and you say that there's gonna be a fourth ship well see in part 2? The intrigue... 
Matteo is best griffon!
Easily my favorite character so far, his back story is good and GILDA!?
Man this guy keeps getting better and better!! He's awesome!!
Oh yeah, and romance I guess.......yay. (FireFly fo-eva!!
)
Ze fluff ya say, EH?
4643920
Has been doubled, tripled, quadrupled, and many more increments increased
4643876
yes i do indeed
I'm a romance fiend and romance comes in many forms.
Although i will say im currently having the most fun writing for Misty Fly and Fire Streak. The silence between them and the descriptions of the sign language have been incredibly fun to work with
4643895
I'm glad you like him
He was sort of an on the fly edition back when he first appeared, but i'm so glad i included him.
And yes, i've been holding onto the thing between him and Gilda since i thought him up, i've been trying my hardest to keep my head from exploding keeping that in (along with more holy shit curveballs i intend to throw in the future
)
4643920
4644016
s27.postimg.org/vqglrn9wz/a_fluffle_puff_meme_by_mojo1985_d6zcj8u.jpg
4644028
Wut? There will be more?! Good luck topping that one though, but then again, we'll be seeing, won't we?
4644040
oh my, you have absolutely no idea
A damn good chapter, It's one of your best.
Spits,Wave SoarinDash MistyFire the POV's rock but who is Fleetfoot? The mystery shall last forever!
/10
Rockon
extra long in one day
4644074
Haha thank you! I really felt like this was one of the strongest chapters i've ever written for anything