Piercing the Heavens

by Calm Wind

Chapter 70 (Part 2 Finale (Section 2: The Party))

MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 70 (Part 2 Finale (Section 2)):

---

“No.”

“Aw, Spitfire, really?” Fleetfoot whined as Soarin reached past her and stopped Spitfire from closing the door in their face.

“C’mon Captain!” Air Mach yelled while draping a wing over Fleetfoot. “It’s time to party! We can’t go wild without—OOF!” he grunted and staggered backward as Fleetfoot elbowed him in the chest. Soarin stepped through the door as Spitfire stood with her back turned to them.

“Don’t be like that Spitfire, I know you’re having issues, but we can’t let that ruin tradition! What’s a welcome party for the recruits if our captain isn’t there?” Soarin tried to convince her. He felt the gentle approach would work because handling Spitfire in this state was like trying to keep an explosion in a square foot box.

“It’s too much Soarin, I don’t want to be unpleasant, or do something I’ll regret,” she growled as Soarin refused to leave her be. Fleetfoot shuffled up to Spitfire’s other side and leaned against her, pressing their cheeks together.

“You can’t let your bright, blinking ass ruin your fun!” Fleetfoot giggled. “Just aim it at Wave! I bet that’ll CHILL you in an instant!”

“I’m not going!” Spitfire shoved them both off, walked over to her bed and hopped into it, rapidly pulling the sheet over her and turning her back to them.

Soarin glared at Fleetfoot, who only shrugged in response with a weak smile.

“Spitfire,” Soarin walked right up to her bed and yanked the sheet off of her. “You are coming with us.”

“No!” she yelled as she clung to her bed, preventing Soarin from pulling her off.

“Spitfire, relax. You’re the one who always talks about being able to control yourself,” Soarin reminded her as her grip on her bed loosened slightly.

“YEAH! You always—MRPH!” Fleetfoot’s voice was muffled as Soarin jammed his hoof over her mouth.

“Just come to the party, have a good time,” Soarin suggested as she slowly turned over and looked at him. Fleetfoot was trying to rip his hoof free, but he held it firm over her mouth. “If anything gets bad, Fleetfoot’s house has plenty of rooms you can go take a break in. Better that than not show up at all. We want the recruits to feel like part of the family, right?”

Spitfire took a long look at Soarin. He reclined in disgust as Fleetfoot licked his hoof. Spitfire examined them both, as well as Air Mach joining in the silliness as she thought it over. She sighed heavily as she came to a conclusion she didn’t like.

“Fine… I’ll come…” she gave in.

“YEAH SHE WI—MRRRRPHH!!!!” she grunted again as Soarin threw his hoof over her mouth a second time, and smiled at Spitfire.

“Well, let’s get this over with,” Spitfire said as she instantly went for the door after her hooves touched to the floor. Air Mach followed close behind while reiterating how great of a party it would be. As soon as Spitfire cleared the door, Soarin released his hoof from Fleetfoot’s mouth, just as she was trying to lick his hoof again.

“Bleh!” she pouted at him. “You’re no fun!” she whined. He shook his head.

“You weren’t helping…”

“She’s no fun either,” Fleetfoot sighed as they walked towards the door. She smirked at Soarin as they closed Spitfire’s door behind them. “So! Humping a rainbow tonight?”

“Classified,” Soarin replied instantly with a smirk.

“Oh, you’re a riot…” Fleetfoot cracked up.

---

“Well! Twister! Nice of you to reappear again!” Dash said sarcastically as she, Little Star, Squall, Matteo, and Thunderlane walked down the hall.

“Twister?” Thunderlane blinked. “Where is h—AH!” Thunderlane looked to his left and Twister was standing RIGHT next to him, staring at Thunderlane with his usual smile.

“She knows me!” Twister said as he dipped down and popped back up beside Dash. “I’m so popular!”

“Right…” Dash rolled her eyes.

“So, Twist,” Little Star hovered up beside him. “Did you have any family show up?” Star took the question right out of Dash’s mouth. Dash turned her head slightly towards him to listen in.

“Oh, YES!” Twister suddenly held up a large knife. Star yelped and shifted back, but Dash only shook her head.

“Relax, Star, that’s a rubber knife,” she stated as she saw the word ‘Daddy’ etched on the side instead of ‘dramatic effect’ like last time.

“Rubber knife came to see me!” Twister said while wobbling the rubber ‘blade’ back and forth. Twister spun once, revealing a spoon in his hoof as well. “So did Rubber Spoon!” he exclaimed. The spoon had ‘Mommy’ Written on it. “And let’s not forget…” Twister spun around and a fork appeared with the spoon and knife. “My bro! Rubber Fork!” the fork had the word ‘Spinner’ on it. “Oh, and Uncle Rubber Spork came too,” Twister scoffed as a spork appeared in his hoof with the other three. The spork had the word ‘Dave’ written on it. With so many utensils in one hoof, he lost his hold on them and began flailing about while trying, and failing, to not drop any of them. “WHY CAN’T I… HOLD ALL THIS FAMILY?!” he shouted as he fell to the floor with all the rubber utensils.

Star slowly looked towards Dash with an expression that was confused and disturbed. Dash shook her head.

“I’ve learned that it’s better not to think too hard about it,” Dash explained. She knew that was gonna happen anyway. Twister never gave straight answers about anything. This was no exception.

Twister shifted over to Thunderlane to hassle him. Probably because he didn’t have many more chances before Thunderlane left for reserve duty.

“So!” Star’s voice caught Dash’s attention, but she wasn’t talking to Dash. She had hovered back and was up at eye level with Matteo. “You have… the most ADORABLE children I have ever seen!”

“Thanks… for the fifth time,” Matteo said calmly, earning a chuckle from Dash because Star had, in fact, told Matteo that multiple times. Star had done nothing but gush over little Gianni. As cute as the baby griffon was with his fascination of biting manes and his mother’s feathers, Dash took more of a liking to Teodora. The young griffoness reminded Dash of herself. Small, tough, hard-headed, and picking fights. The way she kept trying to fight Dash? That was cute. In general, Dash was thrilled to see Gilda again. Still couldn’t get over seeing her pregnant though. Gilda never struck Dash as a mother. Now she was about to have another… well either one huge one or twins. She had her talons full, but the paycheck Matteo was going to earn here would definitely keep the family supported and then some. What a nice little family life they had going. She was also glad the cubs had a great father. Matteo may be a klutz at everyday life, but he definitely didn’t lack influence or drive.

As Star continued to coo about Gianni to Matteo, Dash turned her attention to Squall, who had been quiet since the banquet ended. Dash thought for a moment as she looked at him. She wanted to know if he felt better. His parents were… interesting, but they were nice at least. She got a chance to speak with them during the banquet, and while it was rather hard to do so without feeling embarrassed, they were at least good ponies. Dash could see how living with such a pair his whole life could really get to him after a while.

She was also curious how he felt after the little verbal scuffle with Storm. She was sure that didn’t help, but she was at least glad Star stepped in. There was a lot of mixed emotions swirling around among the happiness it seemed, especially the way Storm full out broke down in front of her after the fact.

Family and friends had all departed, but Squall still seemed down despite being free from the embarrassment of his parents. As much as she wanted to bring it up, she felt he didn’t want to talk about it. So… she decided to ask something else she deduced… specifically from Squall’s father singing in front of everypony.

“So Squall…” she spoke up as they neared the doors to the lobby.

“Hm?” Squall answered simply, looking up, but not at her.

“You’re from the Crystal Empire?” she asked.

“Mmhmm…” he answered simply again. Any other pony, Dash would be miffed, but he wasn’t ignoring her and that was a boon with him itself.

“Live there your whole life?” she kept asking.

“No, we’re descendants. We moved back there when the Empire reappeared a few years ago,” he actually graced her with some background. Dash felt honored. She also realized how dumb her question was.

“Oh, right… I forgot it only recently was unsealed…” Dash chuckled, not mentioning at all that she, in fact, had a role in liberating it from King Sombra and putting Princess Cadence in power.

But wait… a descendant…

“So…” Dash scrunched her face. It would be so humorous in its own little way if this were true. “Does that make you… a crystal pony?” she asked. Squall’s ears flopped down and he sighed. Star suddenly hovered down, having overheard.

“Wait!” she looked at him with starry eyes. “Does that mean… when you’re there in the Empire, you turn all sparkly and shimmery?!” Star seemed to be interested. Squall blushed hard.

“Yes…” he admitted while shifting his head to hide his face with his mane.

“THAT’S SO COOL!” Star exclaimed as Dash held in laughter. It wasn’t that she found it funny in a condescending way. It was just funny that of all of them, Squall was last pony she would associate with a shiny fur coat and sparkling mane in the same elegant manner as the crystal ponies she had seen. That had to be quite a sight.

They pushed through the lobby doors to see the other recruits had already gathered and quite a large number of elite Wonderbolts as well. Not all the elites were present. There was a few here and there from each squad, but ALL of the lead squad, squad two, and squad three were present. Dash took a moment to look over the group, this was the first time she had seen all the elite Wonderbolts together in one place where all of them were not wearing their flight suits. It looked so weird. She had gotten so used to them being in uniform every time she saw them as if it were part of their body.

“There they are!” Blaze yelled out as Dash’s group joined them. “Yo! Fleet! I think that’s all of them!”

“If they aren’t here now, it’s their loss!” Fleetfoot exclaimed happily. She floated over to the recruits and cleared her throat. “Hey guys! Now that you’re a part of the Wonderbolts and all the official formal stuff is done, we wanna welcome you in our own way! Follow me!” she turned and started moving towards the doors. Before anypony could follow her though, she stopped beside Spitfire and pointed at her. “Oh, and no titles or authority once we step through these doors. Outside of the compound we’re family! That’s right! Even miss Stiffy Spitty right here!”

“HEY!” Spitfire retorted as Fleetfoot giggled and went for the doors.

“C’mon! While the night’s still young!” Fleetfoot beckoned them to follow. Spitfire was growling and out the door quickly as if trying to catch Fleetfoot. Dash found herself caught in a crowd trying to funnel out of the front doors. There was an awful lot of ponies flying here, were they all going to fit in Fleetfoot’s house? Dash didn’t even know Fleetfoot had a house in Canterlot.

The night was indeed young, the sun barely visible over the horizon and the moon rising up into the sky as the last bits of sunlight lingered. As Dash shuffled out with the rest of the large, talkative group and lifted off towards the city with the rest, Soarin found his way through the cloud of flying pegasi and pulled up beside her.

“Glad you guys made it,” Soarin chuckled as she smiled at him.

“I’m still not sure how to feel here,” Dash snickered. “I don’t want to know what kind of crazy stuff is going down tonight.”

“Oh, lots of stuff,” Soarin said while bouncing his eyebrows.

“I didn’t know Fleetfoot had a house in the city,” Dash thought out loud.

“Mmhmm…” Soarin nodded as they cleared the compound grounds and were flying as a large group over the high class district of Canterlot. The street lights were coming on, giving the area extra illumination. “We all do different things with our paychecks,” he said with a chuckle. “I put my paycheck into three categories. Some I put into workout supplements, some of it gets sent home to help support my family in Manehatten, and then the rest I keep here in the Canterlot Central Bank for whenever I need it. Fleetfoot, on the other hoof…” Soarin smirked. “Saved up a ton of her money over time, first bought her family a very nice house back in Fillydelphia… and then bought herself a house right here in the high class district. We have parties there often because it’s so close to the compound.”

“Oh, that’s pretty cool!” Dash nodded, then her eyes widened in realization. “Wait, she bought a house in the high class district?!”

“Yep,” Soarin nodded.

“That means it must be…” Dash trailed off.

“Pretty big? That’s one way to put it,” Soarin pointed down as the group suddenly started a slow descent. “And we’re already here!” he said with a smile.

“WHOA!!!!!” Dash exclaimed around the same time most of the other recruits did.

They were gliding towards a large, square property below that had to be at least seven or eight acres. There was a larger, contemporary style house in the center. Dash didn’t know if she would call it a mansion because it was designed in an interesting way. Instead of looking like one large piece, it looked like somepony took four normal sized, two-story houses, turned one of them ninety degrees and then stuck the other three houses into it, two on the east side of the property, one on the west. It gave the house a very spread out look as opposed to a huge look.

There was a long path from the road to the entrance with a wide open front yard. Behind the house, in the corner between the spine of the house and the west section was a large patio and a twenty by ten square hoof pool surrounded by pool chairs and recliners. Behind the house entirely was another wide open back yard, which looked perfect for games and such.

The whole building was a mix of stone bricks and white plaster walls with black roofing and multiple drainage platforms to keep rain from building up. There was a very tall window right in the front corner of the west structure, through which one could see the wooden staircase that allowed access to the second floor as well as the stairs into the basement making it one big stairwell.

It was definitely an interesting piece of architecture and looked quite a bit different from most of the buildings in the high class district. That was probably why Fleetfoot went for it. It had a much more welcome look than most of the traditional Canterlot architecture.

Fleetfoot was already at the large, wooden front door when Soarin and Dash landed with the rest.

“Alright my fellow idiots! Time to party!” she yelled out, earning cheers from most of the Wonderbolts, excluding a few ‘stiff ass party poopers’ like Spitfire, Fire Streak, and Silver, who all seemed to be there in some form against their will or better wishes. Fleetfoot grabbed the door handle. “Yeah! Um… RGH!” Fleetfoot grunted as she yanked on the door. She stopped and glanced back at everypony waiting. “Heheh… The door’s kinda heavy…”

A bunch of laughs rang out from the crowd as she continued to tug at the door. Eventually Silver sighed and stepped out, grabbing the door handle from her and giving it a solid yank. There was a painful creak followed by the door forcing open. A collective cheer rang out as the Wonderbolts began piling in.

“Can’t get into your own damn house?” Silver lifted an eyebrow at her.

“No, I just wanted the irony,” she winked. “You of all ponies starting the party? Jeez Silver! You enable us!” she giggled while bounce trotting into the house behind the others. Silver flattened his brow and rolled his eyes as he followed the rest in, Dash and Soarin following behind him, snickering.

It was going to be an interesting night indeed.

---

“Everypony get comfy! Drinks are coming!” Fleetfoot yelled as she, Lightning Streak, Air Mach, and Blaze went right for the stairs leading into the basement. Soarin smiled as he watched Dash look around in wonder. Soarin always liked Fleetfoot’s house, mostly because of the interior.

The second floor only covered the first east structure and the west structure. Past those, the rest of the house extending back and turning right was all one floor… but was open air, no walls or rooms from the living room all the way back to the kitchen which kept going into the second east structure, making it one giant room. This portion of the house was complete with a fifteen foot tall ceiling that allowed for easy movement even if the place was crowded. Of course, once the drinks started flowing, Soarin hoped most of them here were smart to not fly around so much… especially because there were a lot of windows.

There were lots of comfy chairs and couches around as well as tables at the perfect height for grabbing food or drinks. Fleetfoot clearly had the place set up at all times for parties. It was really all she used the house for, but Soarin didn’t mind. He was sure she felt the same way as he did, sometimes they had to just get away from the compound.

“Pretty neat place, huh?” Soarin asked as he stayed beside Dash.

“This house is so cool…” Dash smiled as they moved between the crowd. “I like how open it is.”

“It helps when we have big gatherings, I don’t feel so bunched together,” Soarin explained as a few hoots and hollers came from back by the stairs.

“WHO WANTS HARD CIDER?!” Lightning Streak yelled as he flew into the living room with two large kegs propped up on his shoulders. Air Mach followed behind with the same as Fleetfoot and Blaze brought up the rear, struggling to carry a huge barrel that sloshed as they staggered. High Winds, Macho Savage, and Surprise all flew over and helped them carry it in.

As soon as Lightning Streak and Air Mach set their kegs down in the kitchen they came out to help as well.

“THE CIDONATOR HAS ARRIVED!” Lightning Streak called out as they managed to get the large barrel all the way into the kitchen and propped it up on the counter. It actually said ‘CIDONATOR’ in big red letters.

“Um…” Dash spoke up. Soarin turned and looked at her, noticing her hesitant look.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“I wasn’t planning on drinking… kind of a habit now cause of… you know,” she said as she looked herself over. Soarin smiled and leaned down, touching his cheek to hers.

“Don’t worry, I’m not either, I got a sexy buff bod to keep up too you know,” he said with a wink. “Besides… I want to be 100% aware and in control for later tonight… when we’re alone,” he added while bouncing his eyebrows. He smirked as he saw Dash visibly shiver while smiling mischievously.

“When you put it that way,” they turned their heads towards each other and she stuck her tongue out between her teeth. “I want you at FULL strength!” she shot right back.

“PARTY NOW! SEX LATER!” Fleetfoot yelled suddenly from behind them and pushed the both towards the cider.

“WHA?!” Dash turned red as realized Fleet most likely heard the whole exchange.

“Hey, Fleeting Little Troll,” Soarin reached back and put Fleetfoot in a headlock as they reached the line to get cider. “We ain’t drinking.”

“Whaaaaaaat?” she looked between them quizzically. “I know you’re a dry prune,” she pointed at Soarin before turning to Dash. “But you too?”

“Sorry, Fleet,” Dash said a little sheepishly, still a little flustered that her sexy talking with Soarin was overheard.

“Suit yourself…” Fleetfoot shrugged as Soarin looked around.

“Don’t worry Fleet, it looks like the rest of the recruits are going for it,” Soarin chuckled and pointed to Air Mach handing Thunderlane a mug of cider that was almost overflowing before grabbing him around the shoulder and the two clashed mugs. Blaze was about to hand Little Star a mug, but Fleetfoot zipped towards them.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whooooooaaaaa!!!!” she got between them and looked at Star. “Little lady, could I see some I.D?” she asked. All the Wonderbolts around them burst out laughing as Star glared at her. Fleetfoot keeled over in a fit of giggles at Star’s pouty glare. “WOW! You’ve got a better pout than Blaze!”

“Hey!” Blaze reacted behind her.

“Shut up, Blaze,” Fleetfoot said without even looking. “YO LIGHTNING! GET ME THE TWO LITER MUG!” before she even finished saying it, a giant plastic mug came flying through the air towards her. “WHOA!” Fleetfoot ducked and it bounced right off Blaze’s head with a loud hollow BANG.

“OW! FUCK OFF!” Blaze yelled as she fell over and half the Wonderbolts fell to the floor cracking up.

“Why didn’t you dodge that?” Fleetfoot asked while trying not to crack up.

“I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA CATCH IT!” Blaze yelled from the floor.

“Eh,” Fleetfoot shrugged as Macho Savage picked up the giant mug and tossed if back to Fleetfoot. She placed it under the CIDONATOR and held down the tap until it filled the while two liters. “ALRIGHT EVERYPONY! LITTLE STAR IS GOING BIG TONIGHT!” she yelled as she held the giant, heavy mug full of cider to Star.

“WOOOHOOOO!!!!” The Wonderbolts all yelled as Star eagerly hugged the giant mug to her body, only to fall right to the floor with it and land face first IN the mug full of cider as it hit the floor. “Oooooo…” was the collective response as Star flailed with her head submerged in the cider. She pulled her head out and put her little hooves in the air.

“I GOT THIS!” she yelled as the Wonderbolts all cheered again.

“I’m already having fun!” Dash said as she leaned on Soarin, trying to catch her breath from all the laughter.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a gathering like this,” Soarin smiled and nodded.

“Sure you guys don’t want any drinks?” Fleetfoot came back over to them holding a mug in each hoof, both of which she took small periodic sips from.

“Yep, we’ll just enjoy the view,” Soarin assured her as he put an arm over Dash.

“Do you have anything besides cider?” Silver’s voice suddenly came from behind them. Fleetfoot pouted as Silver stepped up beside them.

“Really, old timer?” she asked.

“You all convinced me to come here, so the least you could do is show me some decent liquor,” Silver said back without hesitation.

“Fair enough…” Fleetfoot sighed. “I’ve got some in the cabinet, any preferences?” she asked.

“Have any Sireberian Trotka?” he answered immediately, knowing exactly what he wanted.

“Yeah, I know I have some of that,” Fleetfoot turned and pushed through the crowd, hovering with her two mugs still in hoof. “Comin’ through!” she yelled as Silver waited patiently. She returned with a bottle of said liquor, which Silver grabbed and quickly turned to a bar-like table that was set up just outside the kitchen. Nopony had claimed it yet, and now that Silver was there no pony was probably going to sit there. He simply grabbed a glass from a nearby cabinet, dug it through a cooler full of ice that had been placed out, and sat down while pouring himself a glass. “Sheesh... You’re welcome—wait!” Fleetfoot’s jaw dropped. “He’s drinking that STRAIGHT?! Holy crap, what a hard ass!” she wasn’t afraid to exclaim as Silver sat hunched over and took sips from his incredibly strong choice of drink.

“Well, at least Silver’s found something—” Soarin turned to look around and his nose nearly smacked right into a large leg covered in black feathers. “GAH!” Soarin flinched in surprise, falling into Dash a little bit as Matteo was suddenly right beside him.

“Yeah, he does that,” Dash snickered as Matteo paid them no mind. Fleetfoot turned and looked up at Matteo, he was staring down at her.

“What’s up, big bird?” she asked, still taking sips from her cider mugs.

“Do you have any Griffon Wines?” he asked, getting straight to the point. Fleetfoot blinked.

“Are you gonna be that guy that drinks wine at a cider party?” she asked with a chuckle. Matteo’s face remained unchanged. “Yikes, tough crowd,” she rolled her eyes.”Kind of demanding, aren’tcha recruit?” she gave him a sassy look.

“I believe you said ranks were disregarded here,” he said flatly. Fleetfoot scoffed into a laugh.

“Got me there! I have some over beneath the second cupboard on the left,” she pointed past the group still crowding around the cider kegs and barrel. “Wine glasses are in the cupboard too.”

“Thank you,” Matteo said flatly as he started moving towards the wine. In fact, he walked directly through the crowd of ponies around the cider, who all either moved aside or were pushed aside.

“WHOA! WIDE LOAD COMIN’ THROUGH!” Surprise yelled as she moved aside with the others.

Matteo grabbed himself a glass from the cupboard as well as a bottle of wine. And then to the surprise of everypony around, joined Silver at the bar-table. The two didn’t speak to each other, but both did the same thing. They poured themselves a drink and slowly sipped it while in deep thought.

“Well then… now that all the special needs have been taken care of, I should put the music on… finally!” Fleetfoot complained as she floated towards her stereo system, of course bringing her cider with her.

Soarin and Dash watched her move away and looked around at all the good times and cheer going on. Soarin glanced down at Dash and saw how happy she looked. It was a very distinct happiness. One that he had seen before, one that usually only came upon her face when she was around her friends back home. A look that meant she felt welcome and secure. She was enjoying herself, and that was exactly what Soarin was hoping she’d feel.

It didn’t matter that the two of them weren’t partaking in the alcohol consumption. She was happy, just as he was, to be part of something amazing. The Wonderbolts were one big family. When one discarded rank and ability, the Wonderbolt to your right and left were like siblings. This was part of the amazing new mindset that Spitfire had created as the lead captain, and Dash was getting the full experience.

Soarin glanced up to see the line to get the first mug of cider had finally dissipated. It was the exact moment he was waiting for.

“Are you thirsty?” Soarin asked her. She looked up to him, confused.

“I thought we weren’t drinking?” she asked.

“I meant water,” Soarin chuckled.

“Oh,” Dash giggled and shook her head. “Sure, why not. At least we won’t look out of place if we have a cup in our hooves,” Dash joked. Soarin shrugged.

“That’s funny cause it’s true,” he said as they walked over to the cabinets and found two glasses to use. “She’s got a water filter on the sink, let’s just use that,” Soarin pointed. They both filled up cups of water before moving back to an open area, trying their best to avoid the cacophony, but at the same time taking in the fun stuff going on around them.

The music finally started. Fleetfoot put on DJ PON3’s most recent album. A collective cheer rose up from the Wonderbolts, some of them putting their mugs up into the air briefly as the music started playing from speakers placed throughout the house. It was set at the perfect volume. Loud enough that one could hear it, but quiet enough that one could still hear the pony talking to them.

At some point a hoof wrestling competition started. When Soarin and Dash looked over they saw Lightning Streak and Macho Savage sitting at the table while multiple other Wonderbolts chanted around them.

“You’ve got nothing on me, bro!” Lightning Streak taunted as he took a sip of his cider while in the middle of hoof wrestling.

“I BEG TO DIFFER, MY FRIIIIIIIIEND!” Macho Savage replied as the two struggled against each other’s strength.

Soarin also noticed Storm Front, with a mug of cider in his hoof, among the ponies watching the hoof wrestling. He looked pretty happy, quite the opposite of how he looked at the banquet. Soarin was glad that Storm looked to be enjoying himself. After what Soarin overheard between Storm and Dash, Storm needed as much a sense of family as they could give him. It would never replace the family he never had at home, but it could give him a new family, one that would stick by him through anything.

Soarin glanced around some more, first looking at Silver and Matteo, but the two hadn’t moved, sitting on opposite ends of the bar table. So Soarin kept looking and his eyes fell on a corner next to the patio doors. Squall was standing in the corner with a mug of cider in his hoof, however, the giant mug of cider that Fleetfoot had given Little Star was on the floor beside him… and it was… empty?!

Soarin looked back up at Squall and saw that Little Star was actually lying on his back, her stomach was bloated, suggesting that she had already downed all two liters of cider that Fleetfoot had poured for her. She was laughing while hiccupping, turning over every few seconds and giving Squall a big hug around the neck.

Squall looked absolutely clueless. He had no idea what to do. Little Star was already drunk and continuously grabbing him. He looked so confused and embarrassed, but he didn’t look uncomfortable, if that was even possible. He just didn’t know what to do about Star. She was far gone already, and she kept reaching for his cider as if she wanted to steal it.

Soarin chuckled, nudging Dash and pointing towards the scene with Squall and Little Star. Dash snickered and failed to hold back a laugh. Soarin was glad to see Dash had built up such a relationship with her fellow recruits. Especially since she was now part of a recruit squad.

“HEY!” Fleetfoot yelled as she trotted past Squall and Little Star, throwing the patio doors open before turning back to her fellow Wonderbolts. “POOL’S OPEN!” she exclaimed.

“WOOHOO!!!!!!” Twister suddenly leapt from the roof of the house and did a cannon ball into the pool, spraying water on everypony that moved out the doors. The pool was soon full of Wonderbolts and recruits. When Twister finally emerged from underwater, he did so on the back of a massive pool toy that looked like a rubber ducky, while wearing a tricorne hat, an eye patch, and wielding a wooden sword. The duck also had an eye patch. “YAR! THERE BE PLENTY OF BOOTY TO PLUNDER!” he yelled while pointing the wooden sword at the mares in the pool. Shortly after his proclamation, the giant ducky was bombarded by stallions as they tried to climb up and bring Twister down, everypony in the pool laughing hysterically as Twister fought them off with his usual crazy smile plastered to his face the whole time.

“Twister is sure having fun,” Dash laughed as Soarin stared at the giant duck.

“Where the hell did he even get that?” he asked with a chuckle.

“I stopped asking questions about Twister a long time ago,” Dash shrugged. “He’s such a troll, he’s incredibly weird, and does the strangest things, but it’s all so controlled and harmless,” Dash explained.

“The worst kind of troll is the one who’s not really doing anything wrong,” Soarin nodded in agreement.

Soarin took a moment to look around and see who actually hadn’t shown up. The parties never had full attendance. This was one of the few parties they had where they could get most of the non-party goer’s to come, but there were still a few missing. Most notably, Point Dex and Autumn Rain. Neither of them were very into parties. Most of the elite squads and the recruit squads were present, but all of them were missing one or two members. The ‘post recruitment party’ was one of the few times they could get Fire Streak out of the compound, and Soarin was still surprised that Silver decided to attend. He never went to their parties. It didn’t take a scientist to deduce why. He was a whole generation ahead of the others. He probably missed his old friends. Misty Fly was the only pony in the Wonderbolts that was still around from his generation, but she was on the younger side of it, Silver was five years older than her. Misty had always gotten along well with the others, but she was a special, ‘how could you not like her’ case, easily approachable because her smile could end wars. Silver was… hard to approach. Some felt he was intimidating, others felt they would have nothing to say that he hadn’t already heard.

Soarin thought about going to sit down with Silver, but before he did, the front door swung open, revealing some unexpected attendees.

“HEY! Now the party can really start!” yelled Playbitz as he and Swift Justice both burst into the house and cheered.

Squad zero was here? Soarin smiled wide as he saw them enter. They had never come to one of their parties before.

“C’mon Rivet!” Shine Struck’s voice came from behind Playbitz and Swift. Soarin leaned over to see Shine pushing a reluctant Rivet into the house.

Now that was a hoot. Soarin began pondering how the hell they got Rivet to come with them. Then again, knowing these jokers, it was highly possible that they dragged him along to get him out of his workshop. Rivet’s eyes were darting around, instantly hiding behind Playbitz and peering out.

“Hey, dude,” Swift leaned down by Rivet and pointed out the window. “Fleetfoot’s outside.”

Rivet looked towards the window and saw Fleetfoot with her back turned, trying her best to blow up beach balls before chucking them at the stallions climbing on Twister’s duck. As soon as Rivet saw Fleetfoot distracted, he emerged from behind Playbitz and seemed to be relieved, at least until she came back in.

Shine, Swift, and Playbitz were about to advance towards rest of the party, but they suddenly stopped, all looked at each other, then turned and looked at the front door.

“Really?” Playbitz sighed. “I thought he said he’d be okay…”

Soarin looked past them to see Calm Wind hovering in the doorway, looking nervous or embarrassed.

“The party’s in here, bro!” Swift yelled while waving to Calm. Calm just shook his head and sat down in the doorway.

“C’mon, you big dope!” Shine Struck glided over to Calm as Playbitz approached. Swift let them handle it as he grabbed Rivet and pulled him along to join the party. “Get in there!” Shine ordered while moving around Calm and pushing him in the back.

“I… don’t want to…” Calm said nervously.

“Dude,” Playbitz walked up and placed a hoof up on Calm’s shoulder. “You suggested we attend, right?”

“Yeah… dunno if that was the best idea,” Calm sighed.

“You said ‘it’ll be fun,’” Playbitz began as Shine continued to push Calm in the back to no avail. “And honestly, fun is something you need a little bit more of. So come on, let’s join the party!” Playbitz encouraged him.

“Okay, I’ll try…” Calm stood up, surprising Shine. His back bumped into her chest, she yelped, and tumbled to the floor.

“YES! He lives!” she joked as Calm nervously followed behind Playbitz.

Soarin was having a hard time not laughing, because it almost looked like they had a harder time getting Calm into the party than Rivet. The big blue lug was shy? That was hilarious. Come to think of it, Soarin hadn’t seen Calm interact much with others outside of squad zero. The only reason he talked to Matteo before was to challenge him to a fight and compare how much weight they could lift… two things Calm could easily get into. Mass social situations didn’t seem to be his cup of tea.

Shine gave Dash a smile and a wave as they passed. She stole a glance at Soarin, but only smiled weakly at him as she and the rest of squad zero joined the party.

“I’ve got your hoof wrestling champ right here!” Playbitz yelled as he pulled Calm towards the competition that was still going on.

“Gimme the big guy!” Macho Savage yelled as Calm tried to turn and walk away. After some convincing, they managed to get Calm to join in.

“They’re all toast,” Dash joked as they turned away from the hoof wrestling just in time to see Lightning Streak, Air Mach, Blaze, and High Winds head down to the basement.

“That’s a group of troublemakers,” Soarin chuckled. “I wonder what they’re doing down th—OH! I know what they’re doing,” Soarin laughed and shook his head.

“Do I want to know?” Dash asked.

“You’ll know soon enough,” he smirked. As a loud SLAM came from the hoof wrestling table, followed by multiple varying grunts of pain from Macho Savage.

Soarin realized that he had forgotten all about Spitfire. He saw her when they came in and hadn’t seen her since. After looking around the room he saw her sitting alone on one of the couches with a mug of cider in her hoof and looking straight down at the floor. As much as they wanted their lead captain to attend the party, Soarin felt bad knowing how hard of a time her body was giving her. She was at a celebration, but she had to avoid all eye contact with stallions to avoid things acting up. He had a feeling doing so might make things worse, but he wasn’t going to let her sit alone like that without being the good friend he was and checking up on her.

“I’m gonna go check on Spitfire, I’ll be right back,” Soarin patted Dash on the shoulder.

“Spitfire?” Dash looked over and saw her on the couch. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Heat,” Soarin said while wincing comically.

Dash’s eyes widened slightly. That explained why Spitfire was stiff and sweating earlier at the banquet. And now she was among all these stallions? That had to be rough. Dash kept her eyes on Soarin, catching a glimpse of Wave Chill nearby. He was sipping a mug of cider, making periodic glances at Spitfire. Dash hadn’t heard about anything between the two of them for a long time, she wondered how that was going.

As she looked around for something to occupy herself with, she eventually saw Misty Fly walk by. Dash smiled, and was about to go greet her silent friend, but her focus was completely overtaken by the hoof wrestling as Calm quietly downed another opponent. Misty trotted up to Fire Streak and pressed into his side while smiling up at him. Fire flinched in surprise and quickly returned the smile, but did so in a very quick, somewhat awkward way.

Misty was occupied, and Fire was going to be her next choice. Dash looked over to the bar where Matteo and Silver were sitting and nursing their drinks of choice quietly. She decided to talk to Matteo, but she only got halfway to him before a bunch of stallions came up to him.

“Hey! Big fella! We need you!” one of them said as Matteo turned and looked at them. “Calm is destroying us in hoof wrestling! You gotta come take him on!”

Matteo looked up and saw Calm not only put another hoof down, but the stallion’s whole body fell sideways with it. It amused Matteo.

“Very well,” Matteo smirked as he set his glass down and rose from his seat. The stallions cheered as Matteo moved towards the table, Calm smiling as well as the griffon approached.

Dash sighed. That match was going to go on for a while. The only pony left that she could talk to… was sitting right in front of her.

Silver.

Part of her was worried. He looked deep in thought as he took small sips from his glass of trotka. She didn’t want to interrupt any reminiscing, if that’s what he was doing. The other part of her though, felt like she’d be welcome. Silver had willing spent so much time with her already, why would the old veteran deny her company now? She decided to take the chance, slowly walking up towards the chair beside him.

“Sir?” Dash addressed him as she walked up behind him. Silver’s ears picked up as her voice reached him. He turned slightly and glanced at her.

“No need to call me that here, Dash,” he said calmly before turning right back to his drink. Don’t address him formally? After how hard Silver had drilled it into her head, she wondered if she could even say his name.

“S-Silver?” as expected, it was difficult.

“Mmhmm?” Silver responded.

“Mind if I sit with you?” she asked shakily as Silver was moving the glass back towards his lips. He stopped halfway through the motion, put the glass down, turned, and looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

“Why the hell would I want to sit with you?” he put very harshly. Dash flinched incredibly hard and her ears flopped down. Silver smirked and snorted while shaking his head before pulling the chair beside him out slightly. “Wow, that look on your face,” he chuckled. “I’m kidding, Dash, hop on up. Better you than the rest of the idiots fartin’ around the house,” he offered as he patted the open seat with a hoof.

It took Dash a moment to register he just played her pretty good. When she finally came back down to earth, she smiled and sighed while climbing up onto the seat beside him. Dash set her water cup down and glanced at Silver’s glass. There was a distinct strong aroma that rose from the clear liquid. It stung Dash’s nose, causing her to cringe slightly and blink.

“Heh,” Silver chuckled as he saw Dash react. “If you can’t take the smell from two feet away, it’ll probably kill you if you drink it.”

“Trotka?” Dash read off the bottle sitting on the other side of Silver.

“Very strong liquor, usually mixed with other drinks. By itself it feels like you’re drinking from a tar pit,” Silver explained as he took another small sip.

“Then why?” Dash asked with a giggle.

“I tend to drink tasty things too fast. So I force myself to drink it slow…” he held up and shook the glass, making a small clinking noise with the ice on the inside as he picked up the bottle and poured himself another. “By drinking something that could melt through metal.”

“I never took you for a drinker,” Dash pondered as Silver put the bottle back down and took a sip.

“I’m not,” he said as he set the glass down. “This is the first drink I’ve had in… I’d say four months. I don’t do it very often. It makes me… remember things.”

Dash noticed a visible change in his face as he explained.

Memories… he was reminiscing. Dash had a feeling he was, but she wondered what about? Silver had revealed lots of painful memories to her. Could it be old friends, like his late mentor? Maybe it was old wounds. Dash thought that could be possible as she looked down at his body, his large, body length burn scars completely visible without his flight suit. Maybe they were good memories. That was always a possibility. The party setting could be stirring thoughts of old friends.

“Sorry if I… interrupted,” Dash looked down and scratched the back of her head.

“Pff… no,” Silver shook his head and took another sip.

“You’ve been through a lot though,” Dash pointed out as she nervously sipped some of her water. Silver was the only pony where she felt this kind of nervous around. The kind of nervous that made one hesitate out of fear of interrupting one whom they highly respected and wanted to constantly impress. “You deserve some time to yourself to think,” Dash added.

“Not all the memories are bad, Dash,” Silver smiled as he stared down at his glass. “Forcing myself to this party and seeing all these dumbasses running around like chickens with their head’s cut off made me think about… all my old friends and squadmates…”

Dash remained silent, allowing Silver to collect his thoughts without interruption.

“Misty Fly and I are the last two Wonderbolts left from the Blazetail and Flashwind era. Since Spitfire took over, one by one, I’ve watched my oldest friends retire… those who were still alive from years of combat and conflict that is. The Wonderbolts will always be my second family, but nopony could ever replace those who I once flew beside.”

He was interrupted by a loud SNAP and CRASH noise. They turned to see Fleetfoot galloping towards the table where the hoof wrestling competition was happening.

“GUYS!!! REALLY?!” Fleetfoot yelled as she ran. Dash and Silver looked further to see the crowd surrounding the table had dispersed and was laughing hysterically. Calm and Matteo’s match was so heavy that they broke the table in half while struggling against each other’s’ strength and the two fell down with it.

“Yikes…” Dash cringed as she saw the mess.

“Ha! This party is nothing…” Silver continued again, smiling and shaking his head. “We were lucky if we got to party more than twice a year back in my day. And let me tell you Dash, you think these idiots are crazy? A broken table or two was a normal thing at our parties. We were stern, stoic and dutiful on the job, but the very few times we got off duty? We were as wild and crazy as they come. Heh… haha, I remember…” he paused to put his glass down and chuckled to himself. “Misty and I had to pull Steady Wing’s head out of a flower bed… because he tried to stop a fight that broke out between Bomber and Cannon Ball… As soon as Bomber grabbed Steady… Steady didn’t even try. He had this look on his face that screamed ‘I’m screwed’ before he got his head shoved into the dirt. Misty had to drag my ass over to help him because I was rolling on the ground, laughing.”

Dash found herself chuckling along with Silver. She didn’t dare speak, she wanted to hear more. She knew Steady Wing, Bomber, and Cannon Ball! She had seen a few shows with them. Bomber always scared her… he was just huge. Probably bigger than Soarin. Steady Wing had recently retired from squad three, but Dash hadn’t seen much of him. She DID, however, have a poster autographed by Cannon Ball. Dash listened eagerly. It was so much fun getting to know the current Wonderbolts. She wanted to hear what some of the older ones from her fillyhood were like.

“Ah, no, that was nothing compared to when Comet got drunk and tried hitting on Valkyrie! She flipped his whole body up and slammed him to the bar with one arm before I could blink. Pixie and Fairy had to hold her back, I was sure she was going to kill him. I was sitting two seats from Comet, and Blizzard…” Silver paused to laugh. “Blizzard turned to Comet as the two sisters held Valkyrie back and casually pointed to a spot on Comet’s neck. With the straightest face, he told Valkyrie it was the best place to hit if she wanted to kill him quickly!” Silver laughed as he swirled his glass around. “I miss them… I miss all of them…All those bastards... every single one of them.”

Dash chuckled as she listened to Silver’s stories of his younger days. That story probably took place before she was born. At least that’s what she deduced with the mention of Blizzard Strike. She knew about the rest he mentioned. Fairy and Pixie were twin sisters. they specialized in synchronized flying… no doubt they were the ones who passed on the skill to the Streak twins. Comet retired about a year after Dash was first interested in the Wonderbolts. She didn’t get to see much of him first hoof, but he had a long standing reputation of being the incredibly sexy… and knowing it too. Everything she read about him in Wonderbolt history ended with him having mares lined up to get pictures taken with him or autographs. Valkyrie was actually one of Dash’s favorite Wonderbolts alongside Misty Fly when she was younger. Valkyrie was a large, muscular mare who was known well for skills similar to Soarin’s like catching and throwing her squadmates. She wasn’t quite as huge or as imposing as Bomber, but she was an icon of female strength, one that inspired Dash for years to come.

Dash suddenly had a question on her mind…

However, she felt incredibly unsure if it was a good idea to ask, especially after the important lesson Silver taught her a few days back.

Silver was smiling. He had his drink in hoof, he was swirling it around, and taking small sips as he remembered all the great times he used to have. Dash wasn’t sure if she wanted to ruin the moment.

Despite her worries, she found her curiosity overtaking her worry.

She asked.

“Silver?” she spoke. Silver turned his eyes towards her.

“Mmhmm?”

Dash hesitated again, but being Silver’s disciple, she felt her interest would be well met.

“What was… Blizzard Strike like?” she asked, subtly holding her breath right after.

Silver’s eyes widened slightly, but only for a brief moment as he turned back forward and took another sip from his drink. Dash watched him as his expression remained unchanged for half a minute. But then a sudden wave of relief washed over her as a smile slowly curled its way onto his lips.

“I don’t even know where to start…” Silver began as he finished his glass and slowly poured himself another. “How does one describe the indescribable?” he said in a joking manner.

Dash felt a sudden warmth radiate through her. Silver so easily accepted speaking to her about himself. She disregarded the fact that the alcohol could have been part of it. Silver didn’t even seemed buzzed. The fact that he looked so relaxed speaking with her, that’s what really stuck home for Dash. She was glad too. Since she first heard about him, Blizzard Strike had been a topic of great interest on her mind. She had witnessed and experienced first hoof , the hilarious, yet incredibly intimidating air that was Silver Lining and his grueling training program.

The thought that somepony once had such power over Silver was mind boggling. Dash had to know more. She had to know about the pony who forged such an legendary pony that sat beside her.

“Blizzard was…” Silver paused as he collected his thoughts, swirling his drink around as he pondered the best way to put it. “The most glorious bastard to ever walk Equestria,” he said while slamming his hoof on the table, but doing so with a humorous gusto. Dash didn’t even react to the hoof slam, she had her eyes and ears locked on Silver, eager to learn about Blizzard.

“He was the most unpredictable son of a bitch… Surprise and Twister? Blizzard would’ve eaten them alive,” Silver laughed as he took a sip of his drink. “Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t like them, but damn, if you let your guard down around him, you paid the price HARD. He was always a good ten steps ahead of everypony else. I can remember…” Silver trailed off while looking straight up.

Dash didn’t dare speak. She had heard legends of the fabled ‘Silver Lining stories.’ Stories told by current Wonderbolts about hilarious and incredibly over the top things that Silver had done to them or their wingmates over the years… was she about to hear… Blizzard stories? She couldn’t even comprehend the concept.

“Blizzard was leading a squad including me, Misty, and three others. We were sent out to stop a smuggling ring that had formed between Saddle Arabia and Iraquine that was transporting stolen goods beneath the noses of their leaders. We set up camp along their route and after two days we were ready to spring the trap on them. As they were approaching, I decided, like a rookie, to try and finish my lunch right before we attacked them. Blizzard pointed at me before I could take a bite out of my sandwich. ‘Don’t eat that, I rigged it to explode in ten seconds,’ he said. Of course, I freaked out and dropped the sandwich, while demanding to know why he would do something like that. All he said was ‘he was bored’ before he scooped it up and hurled it out onto the path where the smugglers were moving. One of them said ‘is that a turkey sandwich?’ before it exploded in their face and we got the drop on them!” Silver slammed his hoof against the table and laughed to his heart’s content.

Dash laughed along with her teacher, but half out of humor and half out of simply enjoying herself. What a hoot! Then again, what was she to expect from a pony that could mentor her mentor?

“He was 500% aware of his surroundings at all times,” Silver continued. “In the middle of dinner one night, Comet thought it would be funny to put a pie in Blizzard’s face. Comet planned it out perfectly. He waited until Blizzard was distracted by his favorite dinner in the mess hall, approached from behind with a cherry pie in hoof, and from my view across from Blizzard, it looked like Comet had a clear line to complete his prank. The moment Comet was within his reach, Blizzard reached down, pulled up and put a pie on the table, reached back without looking, grabbed Comet by the neck and slammed his face down into the pie on the table. Blizzard didn’t even look at him. I wanted to burst out laughing, but honestly, I was terrified by the fact that Blizzard just seemed to know the exact time place and positioning of Comet. To this day, I have no idea how he pulled off so many ridiculous feats. He was a pony to be feared for sure, and I was honored to be his student,” Silver finished as he sipped his drink.

Again, Dash didn’t laugh. She just stared wide eyed at Silver. The thought of a pony who was more outrageous than Silver was… well… outrageous. But Silver’s little recounts? It was clear Blizzard was a legend. A pony who could wow a pony such as Silver lining, was by default worth writing a book about. It was too bad she never really heard much about him. Then again, before she tried out for the Wonderbolts, she scarcely heard about Silver. She remembered from Silver’s recollection of Blizzard that he was the captain of squad two under Blazetail and Flashwind. Much like how Silver was the captain of squad two beneath Spitfire.

There was weight held in name and rank, but perhaps the most significant Wonderbolts were not those of fame, but those of practice and teachings. Dash looked towards Silver as he suddenly sighed.

“Dash, thanks,” he said. Dash’s ears stood up in surprise.

“What for?” Dash asked curiously. Silver poured himself another drink.

“For listening,” Silver smiled as he took a sip. “I want to tell you something truthfully,” he said as he turned and looked at her. “I have greatly enjoyed mentoring you.”

It took mere seconds for Dash’s body to be covered in goosebumps. Seeing her idols applaud her at the banquet was one thing… but hearing approval and satisfaction from the pony who took her under her wing was… incredible. Dash was speechless. Not a word found its way to her lips before Silver continued.

“I don’t connect too much with a lot of the current Wonderbolts, I’m sure you’ve seen that. I’m a veteran to them, somepony to learn from and look to for sage advice more than I am a friend. Soarin tries his hardest, but to me, he is a superior and my moral code suggests I always look at him as such,” he paused and held his glass out to Dash. She resisted the urge to recline at the strong aroma rising from the alcohol as he made the motion. “But you… I’ve shared a lot with you. Including some things I haven’t shared with anypony else. Why? I trust you, trust that has grown between us as I’ve passed my knowledge to you,” he set the glass down and place a hoof on Dash’s shoulder with a smile. “You have no idea how much of a release it is. It’s hard when the only pony left who truly understands you is deaf,” Silver added with a chuckle, referring to Misty Fly.

As soon as the initial euphoria of her mentor speaking to her like a daughter faded, she took a moment to think over his words. That was true. He and Misty were the only two left from the previous generation. Misty would surely understand him if he wanted to talk to somepony, but despite his ability to communicate with her, he couldn’t do it as freely as Fire Streak. Dash didn’t feel like she could relate to Silver in this manner, but if he trusted her enough to talk to her, she wouldn’t shy away. Earning the trust of such a hardened veteran did not seem like such an easy feat. She would be sure to cherish it.

“OW! OW! OKAY!” Soarin’s voice suddenly echoed from nearby. Silver and Dash both turned to see Soarin limp towards them. He stopped occasionally to rub his left arm. “Sheesh…” he pouted as he approached Silver and Dash, taking the open seat on the other side of Dash. Silver smirked as he took another sip.

“Touching an active volcano can get you burned, son,” Silver joked as Soarin sighed.

“Spitfire’s got some major—”

“Issues, I know,” Silver finished for him as he set his drink down and looked past the two of them. His eyes spotted Spitfire sulking on a couch by herself. “All I know is, Wave better make a damn move before I—”

“WHO WANTS TO PLAY MURDERBALL?!” Lightning Streak’s voice completely cut off Silver.

Dash flinched as she turned and looked over to Lightning. He and Air Mach were standing in the hallway near the stairs, both holding tennis balls in their hooves. Dash tipped her head curiously, but Soarin was laughing.

“Murder…ball?” Dash asked curiously while turning to Silver. To her surprise, Silver looked just as confused as her. Then again, he did mention that he didn’t come out with the rest of them very often. It seemed the best answered lied with Soarin as he laughed before them. “Soarin, what’s Murderball?”

“Oh man,” Soarin shook his head as some ponies began following Lightning and Air Mach towards the stairs. He turned to Dash, but Silver spoke up first.

“Do I want to know what kind of stupidity this is?” Silver asked. Soarin smirked at him.

“It’s only the best kind of stupidity!” Soarin chuckled as he grabbed Dash by the arm. “I think it would be better if you saw it yourself. Come on,” he nodded as he and Dash stood up from their seats.

“Hold on!” Silver downed the last bits of trotka in his glass and placed it on the table. “I need to see this too,” he said as he got up.

“This way,” Soarin smirked as he led the two of them into the main path of the hall and towards the stairs.

Soarin shifted as they approached the stairs, and led Dash and Silver down the stairs to the basement instead. The change in environment as they made their way down the stairs was drastic. Dash almost found herself laughing as the well kept, contemporary air of the ground floor absolutely disappeared as they reached the basement. The ground floor was clearly meant for hosting guests. The basement was a hangout… and a messy one.

Beat up, old couches. A low ceiling and walls with multiple scuff marks. A few old pizza boxes stacked on the counter of a kitchen that had plastic cups and plates strewn about. There were also random things lying everywhere. Random sports equipment like a pair of boxing gloves, miniature soccer goals, a hockey helmet, a basketball, a random pair of Wonderbolt themed swimming trunks, but most notably, tennis balls strewn about everywhere. It looked like a stallion cave of a high school colt. Somehow though, Dash wasn’t surprised to see something of the like in a house owned by Fleetfoot.

Silver stopped halfway down the stairs and planted himself there as Dash and Soarin reached the bottom.

“I think I’ll just watch,” Silver said to nopony in particular as he watched Blaze and High Winds set up another keg of cider on the counter, knocking over a few of the stray cups and plates as they did.

Dash and Soarin surveyed the Wonderbolts walking about as they entered the fray. It looked like ponies were starting to get a little buzzed. Nopony was stumbling yet, but silly things were happening.

“You guys playin’?” Lightning asked as he shifted up and put his arm over Dash.

“Wouldn’t miss it!” Soarin answered while grabbing Lightning’s arm and lifting it off Dash while shooting Lightning a subtle look of ‘hooves off.’

“Uh… how do you play Murderball?” Dash asked, still wondering as she watched the stallions and the mares split up and gather the stray tennis balls.

“It’s simple,” Lightning Streak explained as he picked up a tennis ball in his hoof. “You just throw tennis balls at each other as hard as you can,” he said as he tossed the ball up and down.

“What?!” Dash reacted with confusion and amusement. Before anything else could be said, Blaze and High Winds rushed over and grabbed Dash by the shoulders.

“And it’s mares against stallions! Get over here!” Blaze yelled in her face as she and High Winds yanked her towards the rest of the mares.

“Wait, WHAT?!” Dash was so confused, but already having fun as Blaze and Winds pulled her behind one of the old couches on the opposite side of the basement.

“Taking prisoners is fair game!” Lightning yelled from the stallion side as Dash propped her back up against the back of the old couch. Winds dumped an armful of tennis balls by Dash as they crouched. The balls spilled everywhere among Dash, Blaze, High Winds, and the eight other Wonderbolt mares that piled behind the couch. There was also a stash of cider filled mugs behind the couch, one of which Blaze grabbed and chugged the entire contents of as they waited. Among the mares, Dash also spotted Surprise, Fleetfoot, and… Misty?! Dash locked her eyes on Misty Fly as she started scooping up some of the tennis balls with a devilish grin on her face.

This was the biggest difference between Silver and Misty. Silver tended to scoff at half the silly things the younger Wonderbolts did. Misty, on the other hoof, joined in.

Dash peeked over the top of the couch. They were a little outnumbered by the stallions. Soarin, of course, was with them. She already saw Lightning and Air Mach before. Macho Savage had joined at some point. Silver remained on the stairs, observing.

“Whoa!” Dash ducked down as a tennis ball flew right at her face. As soon as the ball hit the wall behind them, Blaze grabbed a tennis ball.

“THERE’S THE FIRST SHOT! GIVE ‘EM HELL!” She yelled out.

All the mares sprang up and began firing tennis balls across the room. The stallions dispersed from behind their cover and returned fire. Dash peeked over the top of the couch again to see absolute chaos ensue. There was no rhyme, reason, or purpose to the game… was there? It turned into a mass game of dodgeball with no barriers or restrictions as tennis balls were whipped around the room, bouncing off ponies and the walls alike, explaining the scuff marks. It was definitely helpful to be drunk or at least buzzed for this game because Dash couldn’t bring herself to come out of cover. At least that’s how she felt until she saw Soarin out in the fray, taking a few body shots while delivering some of his own, laughing along with the rest.

Dash smiled, scooping up a tennis ball and leaping over the couch, she instantly took a hit to the shoulder from Macho Savage, but quickly returned fire, hitting him in the chest as she dove for a nearby ball that rolled towards her.

For the next ten minutes, absolutely nothing got accomplished. They simply continued to chuck the tennis balls at each other. Was there even a way to win this game? There was more than one room in the basement, two more to be precise. A laundry room and a storage room, both equally messy in a similar manner as the main room. A few of the mares and stallions were extending the game into those rooms, turning the entire basement into a battleground.

Dash found herself in the middle of the madness, laughing with the rest as Soarin was. And it felt good. No… it felt great. This was a side of the Wonderbolts she had never given any thought to.

The camaraderie.

The Wonderbolts were known far and wide for their showponyship and were counted on by the royalty to answer the call against abnormal threats. But they were a team. They were a group. They were friends. Incredibly close friends that were forged through hardships, blood, sweat, and tears. There were groups and cliques among them… there were some who stood out or stood alone. But in the end, they were a team. And good teams knew how to enjoy their close bonds.

“Whoa!” Dash yelped as Soarin and Lightning Streak suddenly grabbed her and yanked her behind their couch. She got too close to their ‘base’ and apparently was paying the price for it. “HEY!” she yelled as they pinned her down and held her hostage.

“We got a prisoner!” Soarin yelled as the rest of the stallions cheered triumphantly. Dash laughed and struggled as Air Mach dragged one of the small soccer goals over and tipped it over to cover her as they held her down.

“DAMMIT, ROOKIE!” Fleetfoot yelled from nearby as she and Surprise tried to advance towards them, but Macho Savage repelled them with the help of the other stallions.

“We gotta get her back!” Blaze yelled out as she returned fire. “Windy! Ya with me?!” Blaze hopped up over their couch, but paused and looked down to see High Winds asleep on the floor while holding a cider mug in each hoof. “HEY!” Blaze yelled down to her while pointing at the mug in Winds’ left hoof. “That’s MY cide—OOF!” Blaze grunted as a well-aimed tennis ball from Air Mach landed right in her lower stomach and knocked her off the couch.

“BULLSEYE, OOOOH YEEEAAAAH!” Macho Savage cheered while turning and groveling at Air Mach’s hooves. Air Mach hopped up on the couch and struck a pose while pointing out.

“I call it, the burning soul shot to the ovaries attack!” Air Mach called out triumphantly. Behind him, still on the stairs, Silver just shook his head.

“I’m not buzzed enough for this shit…” he said as he turned and left to retrieve his trotka.

“RGH! RAH!” Dash exaggerated growls as she tried to break free from Soarin and Lightning, but the two together were way too strong for her to move.

“Quit trying Dashie, you’re not getting up,” Soarin taunted while rubbing his nose against the tip of her ear.

“Dammit, Soarin!” Dash laughed as she growled and tried to shake herself free some more.

“Ya got nothing, babe. Stay down,” Lightning added while turning and letting his mane get in her face while whisking it back and forth.

“Bleh!” Dash spat and sputtered as Lightning’s frizzy mane got in her mouth and eyes.

“I SAY WE GET ANOTHER PRISONER, SAVAGE!” Air Mach proclaimed.

“EQUESTRIA ISN’T READY FOR THE MADNESS TEAMING UP WITH THE ANIMAK!” Savage added as the two stood up on the couch trying to rally the rest of the stallions.

Soarin looked up, eager to see the two do something ridiculous, but—

“OH SHIT!!!!” Air Mach and Savage both yelled out as they suddenly got peppered by tennis balls and knocked off the couch. Air Mach fell besides Soarin, but Savage landed on top of Lightning, forcing him down roughly on top of Dash, earning a collective grunt from all three of them. Lightning quickly got back up as Savage rolled off of him and looked up at the top of the couch. Suddenly similar screams of terror from the rest of the stallions rang out as they began ducking behind the couch or other pieces of cover. Some even retreated into the laundry room and shut the door behind them.

Soarin and Lightning looked at each other quizzically as the rest of their team cowered and ducked for cover. Soarin took the chance and slowly leaned up to look over the couch. He blinked as he saw all of the mares peeking out from behind their couch as well, only they were all looking up towards the ceiling with wide eyes.

Silver came back down the stairs, bottle of trotka and his glass in hoof. He was about to take a sip, but he stopped and looked up.

“What the hell?!” he exclaimed. Soarin and lightning both looked up.

Directly above them… Was Misty Fly… wearing the hockey helmet and the pair of swim trunks. She had one of the boxing gloves shoved into the crotch of the swim trunks and was holding the basketball between her back hooves. She held a bag full of tennis balls that she was swinging around like a chain flail as she suddenly dropped from above towards them.

“AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!” Soarin, Lightning, and the rest of the stallions behind the couch all screamed and dispersed as Misty came crashing down. She tackled Air Mach while letting go of the bag, spilling tennis balls everywhere and putting Air Mach into a headlock. As soon as Dash was free from Soarin and Lightning, she sprang over the couch and glided back over to the rest of the mares as they all watched Misty Fly. Dash got behind the couch next to Fleetfoot and peered out alongside her.

Misty was going wild, galloping around, chasing the stallions while wearing her crazy outfit, and pretty much disrespecting her surroundings as she flailed her hooves, frequently picking up stray tennis balls and chucking them at the stallions point blank. She had all the stallions in complete disarray, they looked like they were fleeing for their life. Dash was trying so hard not to crack up, but at the same time couldn’t believe Misty was being so weird. Yeah… Misty had definitely absorbed into the new generation better than Silver. That or she had an extremely goofy side that, until now, Dash didn’t know much about.

“Whoa…” High Winds said sleepily. “Misty’s really getting into it!”

“What tipped you off?” Fleetfoot chuckled. “The boxing glove shoved in the pants?” they all cracked up as Fleetfoot and the rest grabbed their mugs. “Let’s drink to victory, then get out there and help her harass them!” she suggested. They all clashed mugs (except for Dash) and all took long drinks.

“Hooooo yeah! I’m starting to feel it!” Surprise giggled as she hiccupped loud. “Eep! S’cuse me!”

“I hear ya!” Blaze yelled as she blinked and shook her head out. "But the night’s still young! Let’s get crazy!” she yelled as Fleetfoot rallied the other mares.

Blaze and High Winds stayed behind the couch, firing tennis balls from afar as Surprise, Fleetfoot, Dash and the rest hopped out and began backing Misty up. The stallions looked to be up the creek in this Murderball match.

“SURRENDER OR BE BALL’D TO DEATH!” Fleetfoot yelled as they attacked.

“Are you coming onto me again?!” Lightning yelled from behind a folding table he had turned on its side for cover.

“LIGHTNING STREAK IS THE PRIORITY TARGET!” Fleetfoot yelled in response.

Silver continued to watch from the stairs while sipping his drink, trying very hard to hide the fact that he was incredibly amused, especially with Misty’s ridiculous stunt. He also found it amusing that the stallions were losing horribly to the mares. During the madness, Air Mach snuck towards the stairs, crawled up and grabbed Silver’s hoof.

“Old Timer! Ya gotta help us!” he pleaded. Silver blinked and looked down at Air Mach.

“Help?” Silver chuckled. “What happened to your ‘stallionly burning soul?’”

“It’s being fought back by an uncontrollable wave of estrogen!” Air Mach yelled. Silver blinked and stopped mid sip.

“Are we talking about the mares, or you?” he said with a completely straight face. “Sorry son, you colts got yourselves into this mess, I can’t save you every t—”

A tennis ball came flying towards Silver. It struck the glass in his hoof, forcing it up and splashing the entire contents and all the ice up into Silver’s face.

“DIRECT HIT!” Blaze yelled from behind the couch on the opposite side of the basement as she and High Winds bumped hooves. Dash, Surprise, and Fleetfoot stopped and stared wide eyed at Silver. He squinted his eyes shut and scrunched his face as the trotka and ice cubes slowly dropped and trickled down his face.

“Dash,” Fleetfoot grabbed her by the shoulder as Surprise ducked under a table. “Get to cover… now…” she quietly suggested as the rest of the mares did the same thing, save for Misty who was still harassing the stallions up close.

Silver whipped his face back and forth before opening his eyes and glaring sharply at the two mares from his squad. Air Mach went silent below Silver as he slowly pushed himself down two steps.

“Get him again while he’s confused!” High Winds yelled as she and Blaze both grabbed another tennis ball. They both whipped the balls at Silver hard… but Silver reached up his hooves and caught them both right out of the air. “Oh shit…” High Winds immediately ducked behind the couch, but Blaze stayed up and shot a cocky expression towards Silver.

“OH! Look at YOU, tough guy! Whatcha gonna do, huh?” Blaze reached her hooves out in a taunting manner. “I bet you ain’t got the balls too—WHOA!” Blaze ducked as one of the balls came at her so fast she barely saw it in time. The tennis ball seared over her head and LODGED in the wall behind her. Blaze stood right back up and stared at the tennis ball stuck firmly in the wall before whipping around and giving Silver a disturbed look. “What the hell?! Dude!” she pointed at the tennis ball lodged in the wall. “That was THIS close to being my face! AH!” She ducked again as the second tennis ball shot over her head and also got stuck in the wall.

“Damn, that target keeps moving,” Silver said as he cracked his neck and vaulted over the railing and dropped down among the stallions.

“YEAH! NOW WE’RE TALKIN!” Lightning Streak yelled as he saw Silver join the fray.

“Give ‘em hell, Silver!” Soarin added as he and Lightning started rolling tennis balls towards Silver.

“Oh, horseshit…” Fleetfoot didn’t budge from beneath the table with Dash. “I’m staying RIGHT here,” she stated as Silver began whipping tennis balls everywhere. The mares started shrieking and scurrying about as Silver alone managed to easily repel them from the stallion’s side of the room and force them all behind cover. Dash and Fleetfoot tried to get up and move, but each time they tried another tennis ball zipping overhead would convince them to get back down.

“You can all dish it, but you can’t take it, huh?” Silver called out as he continued his barrage.

Then suddenly, a tennis ball came shooting through his cloud of projectiles… and struck him right between the legs.

“OH, SWEET MERCY OF LUNA’S FULL MOON!” Silver yelled as he exhaled and crumpled to the ground, holding his hooves between his legs. All the stallions froze and stared at Silver in disbelief. Who could have counter attacked? “RGH!” Silver proved his sturdiness as he quickly forced himself back up despite taking a shot right to the family jewels.

He looked up to see Misty Fly hovering above the couch on the mares’ side of the basement, grinning behind the facemask of the hockey helmet while tossing a tennis ball up and down in her hoof. Silver glared up at Misty.

“Oh, you sneaky bitch…” Silver smirked as he took a deep breath and picked up more tennis balls. “The game is ahoof!” he yelled as he returned fire.

The game got dangerous fast. Suddenly, both the mares and the stallions were ducking for cover as Silver and Misty whipped the tennis balls back and forth at speeds that would take any other pony out in one shot besides them.

Soarin and Lightning ended up under the same table as Fleetfoot, Surprise, and Dash. They all glanced at each other before peeking back out at the dangerous warzone that they had gotten stuck in.

“I dunno about you guys,” Surprise spoke up. “But I’m getting the hell outta here!” she exclaimed as she skittered along the ground as quickly as she could, following behind a bunch of other mares and stallions that had the same idea.

“I guess we can call this a draw?” Soarin chuckled as he turned to Fleetfoot. Fleetfoot sighed.

“I suppose…” she sighed. “My basement is going to be completely wrecked after this,” she whined as the four began crawling along the ground below the line of fire as well. They were forced to stop at one point as a few low flying tennis balls nearly took Fleetfoot’s nose off in front.

“Great, we’re stuck,” Dash chuckled as they remained in place.

“I ain’t complaining!” Lightning said from directly behind her. “I’ve got a nice view!” he chuckled as he stared at Dash’s plot.

“Lightning!” Soarin suddenly said in a very happy tone behind Lightning. “How generous of you to volunteer as the meat shield!” he continued as he pushed himself forward, grabbed Lightning Streak around the body and forced him up.

“WHOA! AHHH!” Lightning yelped and covered his face with his hooves as he got peppered by the tennis balls.

“Move!” Fleetfoot ordered while laughing. Soarin, Dash, and Fleetfoot scurried along the ground and made it to the stairs, leaving Lightning behind, stuck in the middle of the floor as Silver and Misty continued to go at it.

“Damn, brutal…” Lightning scratched his head.

---

“You just had to throw one at Silver, didn’t you?” High Winds said to Blaze as the rest of them finally made it out of the basement and rejoined the party.

“HEY! You dared me to!” Blaze fired back as Soarin, Dash, and Fleetfoot moved back into the party.

“Well! We barely got out of that one alive,” Soarin joked to Fleetfoot.

“Take note,” Fleetfoot jabbed him in the shoulder. “Silver isn’t allowed to play Murderball anymore.”

“What about Misty?” Soarin asked. Fleetfoot shook her head.

“She was fine.”

“Why, cause she was on your side?!” Soarin burst out laughing as Fleetfoot shrugged.

“I NEED MORE CIDER!” she announced as she trotted through the party towards the alcohol.

Soarin smiled and looked towards Dash, who looked like she was stuck in a quiet fit of giggles.

“What are you so happy about?” Soarin smirked as he gently leaned into her. Dash lost it and cracked up for a few moments before shaking her head and looking up at Soarin.

“That… was so much fun! And awesome! How did you even come UP with that game?” she asked.

“Lightning and Blaze started throwing tennis balls at each other one night when we were hanging out in Fleet’s basement. They found them in the back room where Fleet kept sports stuff. They only had six, but others joined in… and it was so hilariously fun that Fleetfoot went out and bought about thirty more packs of tennis balls and voila, Murderball.”

“Who named it that?” Dash chuckled.

“Air Mach,” Soarin immediately replied.

“Why am I not surprised?” Dash rolled her eyes as Soarin put his arm over her shoulder.

“Dash, welcome to the Wonderbolts! On our free time, things get weird!” he proudly patted his chest.

“Only on your free time?” she asked sarcastically.

“No, I have you too,” he skillfully fired back.

“Oh, you dick…” Dash pushed back against him as they both shared a laugh. Soarin looked up to see what else was going on, but he didn’t have to look for long before something caught everypony's attention.

“Captain, I just—”

“I SAID NO!”

“AH!”

Soarin and Dash both looked to their right towards the couch Spitfire was sitting alone on. More precisely, they looked just in time to see Fire Streak fall over the coffee table as if he had been shoved.

Spitfire was standing up, a mostly empty mug of Cider in her hoof, shaking while holding it so tightly it looked like she was going to crush it in her grip. She was gritting her teeth and taking sharp breaths. Fire was on his back on the other side of the coffee table, looking up at Spitfire with a mix of terror and confusion.

Judging by the circumstances, Soarin figured that Fire Streak saw Spitfire looking uncomfortable and innocently approached to find out what was wrong. Clearly… it wasn’t a smart move. The party didn’t stop, but a lot of the surrounding Wonderbolts were staring.

“RRGGGHHH!!!!!” Spitfire suddenly growled, turning and throwing her mug down, splashing the remaining contents all over the floor before heavily stomping across the room, past Fire Streak, past Soarin and Dash, pushed her way through Blaze and High Winds, and stormed up the stairs to the second floor. Soon after she disappeared, a loud slam of a door came from upstairs, followed by a distinct THUMP THUMP THUMP of hooves stomping around on the floor above.

“Uh… wow…” Dash said as she blinked. “She’s in super heat…” she pointed out as Soarin nodded his head.

“More or less,” Soarin agreed simply as something else caught his eye. Wave Chill had walked towards the stairs as well. Soarin’s eyes widened for a moment, but Wave placed a hoof on the first step before freezing in place. Soarin rolled his eyes as he saw Wave remove his hoof from the step and hang his head.

“Alright!” Fleetfoot appeared between Soarin and Dash, draping her wings over both of them. “THIS… has to end. Tonight. Right here, right now!” she said while taking a long swig from her mug. Fire Streak got up and moved towards them as Soarin waited for Fleetfoot to finish chugging.

“Who somepony tell me what the devil is wrong with the captain?” he asked. Soarin leaned over to Fire’s ear and whispered into it. Fire’s ears flopped down upon hearing. “Oh…”

“Yeah, you kind of stuck your hoof in a frying pan,” Soarin chuckled as Fleetfoot finally finished her mug and belched.

“WHOA! Sorry, ‘bout that, the cider’s just too good!” she giggled as she turned to Fire. “Don’t worry, lover colt, we’re gonna fix Spitfire right up!” she said while seemingly unable to stop giggling.

“Lover… colt?” Fire tipped his head as Soarin sighed.

“Fleet, are you going to play drunk-cupid?” he asked as he looked towards Wave, who was still looking depressed by the stairs.

“Hey I’m not that drunk… yet!” she turned and went back to get even more cider while giggling.

“We’ll handle it,” Soarin winked to Fire as he turned to Dash. “Yeah, we better get to him first and give him a little bit of warning. Fleet’s starting to get a little drunk, she won’t hold back on him.”

“I dunno, she seems pretty normal still to me,” Dash joked.

“It’s the giggling,” Soarin chuckled as they moved towards Wave. “Once Fleetfoot gets drunk, she literally can’t stop giggling. It’s like she’s being tickled or something,” he explained as they approached the bottom of the stairs. “Let me handle this, I’ve already talked to him before on this… a lot.”

“Oh boy, I can’t wait to see this,” Dash smirked as she let Soarin walk in front and give him a lead towards Wave.

“Yo! Chiller!” Soarin called his name. Wave flinched in surprised, turning to Soarin quickly.

“Uh, Commander!” he answered nervously, caught off guard.

“Really Wave, calm down,” Soarin quickly addressed him. “I want you to tell me right now, why you didn’t go after Spitfire just now,” he asked while pointing at the stairs.

“What? I wasn’t—” Wave quickly tried to deflect.

“Wave, what the hell happened?” Soarin cut in.

“Wh-what do you mean?” he asked. Soarin shook his head.

“You had a good thing going, you were building up your confidence, hell you almost talked to her in the mess hall before Fire interrupted you. I was sure you’d finally fix things with her, why are you suddenly chickening out?” he asked very seriously as Dash watched from behind.

She was curious as well. She didn’t know the finer details, but she at one point recalled seeing Spitfire and Wave Chill interacting like good friends would. They definitely seemed to be into each other. What could have caused such a sudden shift? Wave didn’t even reply as Soarin asked him about where his confidence had escaped to.

“Wave, look at me,” Soarin asked. Wave obeyed, looking into Soarin’s eyes with very little gusto. “Are you really going to let some stupid prank ruin the relationship you guys shared?”

“It kind of already did…” Wave grunted in frustration.

“No, you’re letting it ruin it. And you’re letting it ruin her right now because she really needs you!” Soarin stressed.

“Are you kidding? Did you see what she just did to Fire? Why the hell would she want to see me? Especially if I’m part of the problem?!” Wave really sounded like he was trying to avoid his feelings. That wasn’t healthy and Dash was trying really hard not say something, honoring Soarin’s request to stallion talk Wave through it.

“She threw Fire over the coffee table because he's not the stallion that can fix this… you are. Now trust me, walk up those stairs, and go talk to her, because if you don’t, a drunken Fleetfoot is about to—”

“WAVE!” Fleetfoot yelled out, making them all jump in surprise. Fleetfoot pushed Dash and Soarin aside, grabbing Wave by the face in one hoof and she drank from another mug of cider in the other. “You’ve got a mare to chill!” she yelled into his face.

“I… WHAT?!” Wave’s ears flopped down.

“You heard me, chuckle nuts!” Fleetfoot grabbed him around the neck, forced him to turn around and tried pulling him up the stairs.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on here!” he yelped as he resisted. “Talk to her maybe… but… but…”

“Talk is cheap! Poon is golden! In her case, literally! Hee hee hee!” Fleetfoot giggled, a drunken blush starting to form on her face as she pulled him along.

“Do I have a say in this?!” Wave fought for control, but Soarin joined Fleetfoot, pushing him up the stairs.

“Sorry, Wave… but I’m gonna have to agree with Fleet here,” he said with a chuckle as Dash joined in.

Wave whined and complained the whole way as they slowly forced him up the stairs. As they did, Silver and Misty finally came up from the basement, the result of their Murderball match forever unknown because the rest ran away. Misty made her way into the living room and jump hugged Fire Streak, feeling all riled up and having fun. Silver on the other hoof, stopped and observed Fleetfoot, Soarin, and Dash pushing Wave up the stairs. Silver blinked and leaned into the living room to see Spitfire was gone from her spot. He also took note of the stomping coming from the second floor. It didn’t take long for him to put it together. He sighed and shook his head before turning towards the stairs and following after them.

---

“No! Absolutely not! I can’t!” Wave denied in a hushed tone as the three of them pushed him towards the first door to the left after the top of the stairs.

“Wave, I’m done playing nice,” Soarin said with a chuckle. “Sorry, but… this really has gone on for WAY too long. Everypony, frankly, is sick of it. You two are painful to watch and are torturing yourselves.”

“Yeah!” Fleetfoot cut in while giggling. “Spitfire needs a good throttling, and YOU desperately need to get laid! Two stones with one bird… I mean… three stones… and… two cows? Er… YEAH!” she said as she hiccupped and giggled some more. “Hey, I’m not that drunk!” she snapped at Soarin.

“Fleet, I didn’t say anything…” Soarin chuckled as the two basically ignored Wave’s pleas to be released. Wave turned his head to Dash as she helped the other two push him.

“And Dash, why are you helping them?!” he asked desperately. Dash looked up and him and shrugged.

“Matchmaking with my idols? What fangirl doesn't do that?” Dash stated sarcastically. She really just wanted to help the two of them, but Wave’s flustered state was too much fun.

“You’re all insane!” Wave exclaimed as he put his hooves out and propped them against the frame of the closed door. “I’m not going in there!”

“Come on, you!” Fleetfoot giggled as she pushed her shoulder into his plot. “Get in there! And then get in HER! Hee hee!”

“No!” Wave shook his head as he held strong against the door frame.

“Come on, Wave!” Soarin joined Fleetfoot in pushing against him. “The sooner you get this over with the better off we’re all be!”

“Is anypony thinking about ME in this?!” Wave whined.

“No, we aren’t,” Silver’s voice suddenly came from behind them. He pushed Dash, Soarin, and Fleetfoot aside, while walking up beside Wave and yanking him off the door with his arm wrapped around Wave’s neck. Silver reached forward and opened the door. “Go in there and do her,” Silver said calmly as he tossed Wave into the room. “And don’t come out until you do,” Silver added as Wave tumbled to the floor.

Silver closed the door behind him and hooked his hoof in the door handle so it wouldn’t budge even if Wave tried to open it. He turned his head and looked to the other three, who all looked at him in disbelief.

“What? I was tired of it too.”

---

Wave frantically stood up and tried to open the door, but the handle didn’t budge, he was stuck in the room. Thankfully, the room wasn’t just one open space. It was a guest room that consisted of a short hallway that ran alongside a personal bathroom before one emerged in the main area with the bed and other furniture. So he couldn’t see Spitfire yet. He had a moment to collect his thoughts and figure out what to do.

There was no way he was getting out of the room, especially if Silver was the one holding the door shut. It would also be awkward as hell if he waited and she walked into the hall to suddenly find him just standing there like an idiot. What could he do?

Wave Chill took a quiet, deep breath.

No.

He didn’t have to do anything they suggested.

He cared about Spitfire. He cared about her more than he had anypony else in his life. Holding her in such high regard as his captain and his friend made him feel so embarrassed when all the awkward things began happening. He had to fix that first and foremost. It would be inappropriate anyway for her, as the captain, to partake in such activities with a fellow member of the team. It just wasn’t right.

So Wave decided that for her sake and his, that he would suck it up, walk in while giving her fair warning somepony was there, sit down with her, and straight up apologize. That was the best thing he could do, he needed to re-establish the relationship.

Of course, she was in heat… but she had already shown spectacular restraint. She would follow her moral code as much as he was. He just needed to clear things up before it got even more worse than it already was.

Wave took a moment to build up his courage before walking towards the main area of the room. The faint clip-clop clip-clop of his hooves could clearly be heard, but Spitfire made no contact. In fact, she had gone silent, no more stomping or anything.

Wave peeked around the corner of the short hall. One by one the contents of the room poured into his vision. It was in a bit of a mess. Spitfire had knocked over a lamp, the bed sheets and pillows had been thrown off the queen-sized bed. And sitting on the bed with her back turned to the hall… was Spitfire.

Wave felt a lump in his throat as his eyes landed on her. His confidence buckled but he held firm, forcing himself to swallow his anxiety as he raised a hoof and gently knocked on the wall.

Spitfire didn’t move or reply.

Wave tipped his head curiously, knocking his hoof on the wall a little harder.

Still no response.

Wave blinked and took a short breath before clearing his throat quietly.

“C-captain?” he said quietly.

Once again, he got nothing in return.

“Spitfire?” he said a little louder.

As she remained still and unresponsive, Wave gave up and stepped out into the room, slowly approaching her. He observed her body posture. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, but she was hunched over, her arms were wrapped around her stomach, and she was… shaking? Shivering? He couldn’t tell, but it looked like she needed some comfort and Wave’s instincts took over. He found himself moving towards her and coming around the bed, getting a view of her face. She was squinting hard, and grimacing, nearly grinding her teeth together as she shook lightly.

“Spitfire are you alr—”

“RrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRGHHHHAAAAAAAA!” Spitfire suddenly growled loudly, standing up from the bed quickly and stomping one hoof against the floor while clutching her abdomen with the other. Wave flinched hard and froze in place, not sure if he had done something he shouldn’t have.

He flinched again as Spitfire turned her head towards him, glaring fiercely while breathing heavily in through her teeth and out through her nose, making a loud hissing noise with each breath.

“Sp-Sp-C-Captain?” Wave had no idea what was going to happen.

“RRRRGGGHHH!” Spitfire suddenly lunged at him. Wave yelped as she pressed a hoof hard against his chest, pushing him all the way to the wall behind him. He fell onto his plot right before the wall, allowing her to push him up and force his back flat against the wall. She was only holding him with one hoof against his chest, but it was so heavy and strong, her whole body tensed as she glared at him.

She looked directly in his eyes as he stared back, terrified. She reached her other hoof up and pointed it at him.

“YOU!” she roared into his face. “MAKE… LOVE… TO ME!”

Art by: Foxenawolf

Wave’s eyes grew wider than softballs and his pupils shrank to the size of a breadcrumb, his ears folding backwards as he stared at her dumbly.

“Uh…” he said as he struggled to find any words. “Okay…?”

Spitfire grabbed him by the shoulders, and in a tremendous show of strength, picked him up without the help of leverage, spun around and threw Wave back first onto the bed.

“OOF!” he grunted as he bounced to a halt on the mattress. He opened his eyes in time to see Spitfire leap through the air and dive towards him. “OH GOD!”

---

Outside the room, Fleetfoot, Dash, and Soarin all had their ears to the door.

“WHOA! WHOAWHOAWHOAWWOOOOOWAAAAAAA!!!!!” Wave’s voice came from within.

The three glanced at each other and then glanced up at Silver as he casually removed his hoof from the door handle.

“AH! YIKES! SPITFIRE! HOLD ON! AIEEEEE! NIIIIIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIIHIHIHI!” Wave’s voice turned into a high pitched whinny and nicker.

The three all stepped away from the door at the exact same time and looked at each other with wide eyes and amused looks.

“About damn time,” Silver said as he made his way back over to the stairs.

“Damn!” Fleetfoot giggled as she put her ear back to the door. “Holy shit! Spitfire is WRECKING him in there!”

“Okay, we’ve done our part, time to leave them alone,” Soarin chuckled as he grabbed Fleetfoot’s shoulder and pulled her away from the door.

“But I wanna hear the schmoodlypooping!” Fleetfoot whined as she hiccupped and giggled.

“I think you need more cider,” Dash suggested as she reached up to help pull Fleetfoot away. Fleetfoot stopped resisting and turned to Dash while blinking continuously.

“That’s a great idea! I like you kid! We should totally hang out sometime!” Fleetfoot giggled and leaned into Dash.

Soarin and Dash glanced at each other, exchanging winks and chuckling to themselves as they more or less carried Fleetfoot back down to the party.

---

Soarin and Dash passed by Fire Streak as they walked back into the living room. He gave them a brief glance, since they were carrying Fleetfoot on their shoulders. Soarin shrugged at him as they past, earning a shrug in return from Fire as the two carried Fleetfoot into the center of the party.

“WOOHOO!!!!!” Fleetfoot yelled as she giggled, earning several responses of a similar manner from around the party. The two set her down and she immediately went to refill her mug. Soarin and Dash both stepped back and sighed in relief, looking around the party again.

It hadn’t died down one bit, in fact, more fun stuff was happening. Air Mach was on top of the CIDONATOR, striking poses with a cider mug in hoof and proclaiming many great feats of stallionness. Lightning Streak was walking around with a keg, refilling anypony’s cider mugs whether they asked him to or not. Thunderlane and Storm Front were over in a corner, exchanging stories about Ponyville mares. Both looked a little drunk, but they were laughing and jabbing each other as they spoke.

Dash poked Soarin and pointed towards the opposite corner. Soarin followed her arm to see Squall, still standing in the same corner, with Little Star on the top of his head, latched to him and nibbling on one of his ears while giggling, her face covered with a deep drunken blush as she occasionally let go and slid down his neck while yelling ‘wheeeee!’ before climbing back up and nomming on his ear again. Squall remained completely still as Star harassed him, looking mortified and feeling embarrassed as hell, but not doing anything to actually stop her.

Art by: Noble Savage

Matteo and Silver had returned to their bar seats, nursing their requested drinks. Blaze and High Winds were arguing about… something, and looking very drunk as they did so. They shouted back and forth over on a couch as a bunch of Wonderbolts surrounded them as if eager to see what would happen. Surprise had started a game of catch in the pool… only at some point Twister replaced the beach ball being used. He barely changed his expression as Surprise and a bunch of other Wonderbolts tossed Twister around the pool.

“WHOOOOAAAAAAA! WOOHOO!” a bunch of stallion voices came from back where Blaze and High Winds were. Soarin looked back to see Blaze and High Winds started angrily making out with each other. Of course all the stallions started cheering and all the mares rolled their eyes and quit the area.

“Squad Zero!” Fleetfoot suddenly yelled as she picked up her new mug of cider and wobbly trotted over to them.

“This should be good,” Soarin whispered to Dash as they watched Fleetfoot approach them.

Rivet instantly hid behind Playbitz as while he was speaking to his just arrived wife. Rivet did his best to duck behind Playbitz and Bliss, but Fleetfoot saw him moving. Swift and Shine were both off to the side with Calm as he stood in the corner, looking too nervous to do anything besides stand like a giant statue. Both turned upon hearing Fleetfoot, but she was already ducking down and looking between Playbitz’s legs.

“Rivvvvvvvvvet! I see you!” she cooed as Rivet kept Playbitz and Bliss between him and Fleetfoot. The married couple chuckled as they saw watched Rivet easily elude the drunken Wonderbolt by simply moving as she did.

Eventually Fleetfoot stumbled and ended up going in the opposite direction. Rivet yelped as he predicted her movement wrong and slid directly beneath her… however, Fleetfoot seemed to miss him do so.

“Huh? Hey! Where’d he go?!” Fleetfoot said as she began to look around. Rivet remained still, looking directly up at her, realizing that she had no idea he was beneath her. He moved in sync with her as she turned, keeping his eyes trained on her chest as he matched her move for move. Squad Zero was trying their hardest not to burst out laughing and give Rivet away as he continued to successfully avoid her.

Eventually, when Fleet had her back turned, Shine Struck reached forward and yanked Rivet free from beneath Fleetfoot and passed him up to Swift’s back. Swift folded his wings over Rivet.

“Wow, little guy’s a ninja!” Fleetfoot giggled as she took another swig of her cider. She turned to Bliss. “Lady trainerrrrrrrr! Did you see where little Rivey went?” she asked, turning her back on Swift. Rivet popped his head out from beneath Swift’s wing, catching a glimpse of the orange pegasus that worked the mail room walking by. Rivet hopped from Swift onto the mail pony’s back.

“What the—?” The mail pony flinched.

“Shh! Just keep walking!” Rivet requested as the mail pony glanced back and saw Fleetfoot looking around.

“Ah, heh,” the mail pony shook his head as he gave Rivet safe passage to another side of the party away from Fleet.

“Well, if I can’t have the small pony…” Fleetfoot leaned against Playbitz. “Are you here alone?” she asked while giggling and letting a hiccup go. Bliss gave Fleetfoot a flat look and Playbitz awkwardly looked at his wife. Fleetfoot glanced at her and blinked. “Oh, right… you’re hitched, silly me! Hee hee!” she giggled as she took another swig, the drunken blush pretty clear on her face now as she wobbled around, smiling continuously. Her eyes landed on Calm in the corner. “Heeeeeeey!” she called out as she stumbled towards him.

“Oh no…” Calm blushed as Fleetfoot approached him, bumping into Swift and Shine as she stared up at him, batting her eyelashes.

“I remember yooouuuuuuuuu…” she said seductively as she poked Calm in the chest. He didn’t say anything, or move for that matter. “You’re that big, hunky pony I found! I know you’re available!”

“Uh…” Calm blushed while taking a step back, but there was already barely any space between him and the wall. Calm looked up at Swift and Shine desperately. Swift grinned, pointed at Fleetfoot, and made hip thrusting motions. Shine reached up and smacked Swift lightly upside the head as he chuckled.

Fleetfoot wobbled as she spread her wings and floated up, pressing her head roughly into Calm’s neck.

“C’mon, big guy! HIC I just wanna have some fun! Hee hee!” she giggled, and then yelped as she lost her balance and fell flat. Calm just stared at her before speaking.

“I think you’re a bit drunk…” he said nervously as she got up and leaned in against his leg.

“I’m only a little drunk drunk drunk drunk drunk…drunk… I think?” Fleetfoot giggled as her ears flopped up and down. She suddenly pulled herself around to Calm’s left side. He froze again as Fleetfoot suddenly started trying and failing to hop up on his back, close to his plot.

“What are you doing?!” he asked, remaining stiff as a statue.

“I WANNA RIDE THE BIG PONY!” she yelled as she gave one final effort, getting herself as far as resting across his back, holding onto his flank with one arm while raising her cider mug up with the other. “WOOO!!!!! I’M RIDING THE BIG PARTY PONY!”

Art by: Foxenawolf

Calm looked back forward, blushing in complete embarrassment as he looked towards his fellow squadmates.

“Can somepony please get her off of me?” he asked in a very sheepish tone.

Dash and Soarin were falling over each other laughing as Fleetfoot continued to harass the pony that was literally twice her size.

Calm Wind really was nervous! She didn’t expect it from a large pony like him. Either he wasn’t good with mares or in general didn’t do well at social gatherings.

As Soarin and Dash both stood up and smiled at each other again, Misty Fly suddenly trotted in front of them, looking in every direction with a confused expression. Dash and Soarin both noticed this and watched her as she moved around, looking through every group of ponies in the immediate area. She suddenly turned and saw Soarin and Dash looking at her. She trotted towards them immediately.

She stopped and focused on Soarin as she sat down and put both her hooves up. She held them about six inches from her chest and started moving them up and down in front of her in an alternating pattern while slightly shaking her hooves. She continued the motion while tipping her head to the side and looking distraught.

Dash watched the motions curiously before looking at Soarin. Soarin blinked, registering her motions before coming to a realization.

“Oh! Fire! She’s looking for Fire Streak!” Soarin exclaimed while turning to Dash. They both started glancing around, trying to help Misty with their search. Soarin tried to recall where he had seen Fire Streak last… and after a moment of pondering, he remembered that they passed Fire Streak in the hall while carrying Fleetfoot back into the party a few minutes prior. Soarin glanced towards the stairs, trying to figure out how to convey that to Misty through the sign language, but as his eyes moved away from the hall, they fixed on one of the windows outside, one that looked out the other side of the house opposite of the pool. There was a balcony on the second floor… and Fire Streak was standing on it, alone.

Soarin tapped Misty on the shoulder while smiling and nodding, before he pointed towards the window. Misty looked out… and the brightness that filled her eyes when she saw Fire was nothing short of adorable. She nodded to Soarin and quickly headed towards the stairs.

“I feel like we’ll be peeping…” Soarin explained to Dash as Misty left. “But… I kind of want to see this happen,” he said as he motioned towards the window. Dash looked up towards Fire Streak and realized what they were going to see.

“Ohmigosh… yes!” Dash flapped her wings eagerly. She had always liked Misty and Fire very much… and when she recently put together that the two of them possibly had feelings for each other? It made Dash squeal in a way that she’d have to kill anypony that heard… because that was too girly for her to do in public.

Soarin and Dash fixed their eyes on the balcony… wishing, and hoping, that Misty would finally get Fire to relax and see things how they were.

---

Fire sighed… for the millionth time. He felt like that’s all he had been doing on alone time for the past… month? Two months? He couldn’t even remember when it was things suddenly changed for him. He didn’t know when, but he certainly knew why.

This was nothing new. It was the same thoughts that had been occupying his head since Storm Front arrived. The way he saw somepony else do something he thought only he alone was capable of…

Communicate with Misty Fly.

How silly, how foolish, how daft… to get worked up over something so small. Something that made Misty happy. He was so shocked when he saw Storm ‘talk’ to Misty. Not because Storm knew the sign language, but because somepony could communicate with her just as well as he could… if not a little better! There was such an intense wave of emotion that ran through him at that moment. It was as if he suddenly felt challenged. Something that he felt made him unique was being tarnished, as ridiculous as it sounded.

And it was ridiculous! Storm Front wasn’t trying to steal his purpose or the trust he had earned with Misty! First off, Misty would never leave him behind. Second, Storm Front hadn’t done a fraction of what he had done for Misty.

And then when he snapped and exploded at Storm. It became completely clear.

It was pure frustration and greed. Misty was special, and the fact that only Fire could fully communicate with her made HIM feel special. He had lived so long as the only one with that honor and he didn’t want to share it.

Misty had given him many hints to how she felt about him. The way she always hugged him, the pure appreciation in her eyes every time he assisted her, and the peck on the cheek after he helped her recover from the pulse of dark magic that was forced through her. Misty had done nothing but show him that she cared about him as well, but he could only think of how another could possibly be his equal when it came to her. It was disrupting his morals and he was acting irrational… something that he felt ashamed of.

He could tell himself over and over again that it was improper, or that they were of different generations. He had come to a conclusion that had made it harder and harder for him to face her in the wake of his own morals.

He… cared about her. What? NO! He couldn’t even think about it without trying to change it! Why couldn’t he just accept it for what it was? Why all the shame? Why all the disappointment in himself? Why all of this over a mare? Well not just any mare, a mare he lo…

“Rrrrr…” Fire rested his arms on the railing of the balcony and let his head bump lightly against them. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with feeling that way or even THINKING it? Misty had always been an icon to him, all the way back to when he was a fresh new recruit who followed her around like a lost puppy. Sure, he was older now, but there would always be a bit of that lost puppy in him that remembered how much he respected and owed Misty. It was one of the reasons he helped her out so much. She deserved it for all she did for him.

There seemed to be more to it now. Or was it just now? Was it always like this but he didn’t have a reason to think about it until Storm showed up?

He had to stop thinking about Storm Front. The kid had nothing to do with this. All he did was talk to Misty because he could, nothing more.

Fire looked up into the night sky. It was a beautiful night, clear of clouds and the moon and stars shining brightly in the sky. It looked like a perfect night to go flying. He wouldn’t mind a nice long flight to clear his mind, but he didn’t just want to up and leave the party alone. He already more or less ditched the party by coming up to the balcony. There was some noise coming from one of the rooms he passed by, but other than that he was up there all alone.

Fire sighed… again and started looking back and forth, taking in the beauty of the starry night.

It was only a matter of time before somepony came looking for—

“AH!” Fire jumped as he turned his head to the left and saw somepony standing RIGHT beside him. He was startled, but looked directly into a pair of eyes that he had learned to read well over the years. “M-Misty!?” Fire said her name as he looked at her. Obviously she couldn’t hear him, but it was a knee-jerk response.

She didn’t even need to make signs. The look in her eyes, the slight tip in her head, her ears flopped a little, and the pout on her lips. She wanted to know what he was doing up here all by himself. He didn’t blame her. He did disappear from the party… while she was trying to stick with him. He didn’t know what to say to her. He was thinking the same things down in the party that he was up in the balcony. Only in the party, she was hugging him and leaning against him non-stop.

He didn’t make any signs. He just looked back out to the stars.

She even sought him out… no doubt she searched for him and maybe even asked other where he was. She really did care about him a lot.

Care, care, care, care, CARE. Why did he refuse to look beyond that word? There was a stronger word for it, but he was being stubborn within his own conscious. It was obvious and right in front of him, but he just couldn’t…

Misty released a long, heavy sigh beside him. Fire flinched. He knew that sigh, that was her ‘I’m annoyed’ sigh. If there was one thing he hated doing more than anything else, it was causing Misty any form of anger or frustration. Normally, he’d immediately turn to her and try to figure out what was wrong, but here, with how he was feeling, he found he couldn’t even face her to do that. And that stung… it really put a knot in his chest.

“Huh?” Fire flinched as Misty suddenly reached up and grabbed his arm. “WHOA!” he yelped as she roughly forced him to turn and look at her. She was glaring at him. She didn’t do it very often, but when she did, it always made him freeze. He did just that as he stared into her eyes.

She sat down while holding onto his arm, and pointed to the floor, instructing him to do the same. Fire gulped and without a moment’s hesitation, sat down. The two were very close. Only a few inches between them as they sat and faced each other.

Misty let go of his arm and looked into his eyes harshly. Normally, right now she would quickly make signs, but once again, something about this situation was much different… and seemed to become more and more different every moment. After the two looked at each other for a minute, Fire with his wide, worried eyes and Misty with her stern glare…

Misty slowly put up her hooves and extended her wings. Fire paid close attention as she began.

Misty tapped her right hoof to her chest. She followed the simple motion by clasping her hooves together over her heart while wrapping her wings around her waist. Then she reached her right hoof forward and lightly pressed her hoof against Fire’s chest.

Fire’s eyes went wide. His jaw hung down and shivers ran through his body.

He couldn’t say it to himself… or even think it…

So she said it first. Well… showed it first.

Fire’s mind raced in circles, caught completely off guard as Misty looked up into his eyes. The stern glare was gone from her eyes, replaced by a gentle, calm gaze filled with hope as she waited for an answer.

Fire jittered as he opened his wings slightly, his right hoof up and shaking as he tried to come up with something to say back. There was only ONE thing to say back, why was his body so confused? He felt like he wasn’t in control.

Misty smiled at him as she watched him struggle to begin his response, but the look in his eyes was one SHE knew well. Nervous and anxious… in Fire’s typical adorable way of bumbling over himself when something he wasn’t expecting hit him in the face. That’s all she needed to see.

She reached up and lightly put her hoof atop his shaking hoof. As soon as he felt her gentle touch, his hoof relaxed.

Misty flashed him a cute smile… before leaning in slowly and closing her eyes.

Before Fire could comprehend what was happening… there under the light of the moon and the shimmer of the stars… Misty’s lips were softly upon his.

Strangely, the exact opposite of what he expected happened. His body completely relaxed as if Misty’s gesture was the answer… the key to stopping all the ridiculous, idiotic thoughts that were constantly plaguing him over the past months.

Fire slowly closed his eyes and returned the kiss with equal softness.

Art by: Foxenawolf

It felt so good and so right. Fire went from wondering what was wrong with him to wondering why he hadn’t done it all sooner.

His idiotic brother was right… as much as he didn’t want to admit it, Lightning Streak was damn right.

Fire and Misty slowly pulled apart from each other, both lightly blushing after thoroughly enjoying their first kiss together. All doubt and nerve had disappeared from Fire’s face as he stared down into Misty’s eyes. Misty had one of the biggest smiles on her face that Fire had ever seen. If there was one thing that made him happier than anything else, it was seeing Misty happy. And she looked happier than ever before, making his heart swell with delight.

Fire’s body moved smoothly, free from the stiffness and the shaking as he proceeded to return the same motions Misty gave him. He spoke each word out loud as he did. She couldn’t hear him, but he wanted to hear himself say it.

He tapped his hoof against his chest.

“I.”

He clasped his hooves together over his heart, wrapping his wings around his waist.

“Love.”

He reached forward and lightly pressed his hoof to her chest.

“You.”

He smiled.

“Misty Fly.”

Misty’s smile grew even brighter, if it was even possible. She instantly leaned forward and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly around the neck as she rested her chin on his shoulder, tipping her head towards him to firmly nuzzle him lovingly.

This was the closest and the most intimate Fire had ever been with another pony… and the only pony he would ever want to feel against him in such a way was the mare hugging him right now. He wrapped an arm around her back, bringing the other one up to the back of her head and lightly pressing it into her mane.

Leave it to Misty Fly… leave it to her, once again, to help him find his way when he was lost.

---

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that has made me feel better…” Soarin said as he and Dash subtly watched from the window below. Dash leaned into Soarin and he put his arm around her. She nestled herself comfortably against him.

“Anything related to Misty Fly makes me feel good,” Dash explained. “Forget becoming a recruit squad Wonderbolt… THIS just made my night,” she chuckled as Soarin rubbed her opposite shoulder.

Soarin smirked as he looked around the party. Things were still going nuts, but it looked like a few ponies had had their fill and were settling down. The pool had cleared out, cider becoming the new priority as the party became exclusively in the living room and kitchen. Everypony was still in the area merging with the crowd that came from the pool outside. Water was being tracked into the house, but Soarin had a feeling that Fleetfoot didn’t care since there was already cider spilled on the floor in more than one place.

Blaze and Winds were still eating each other’s faces on the couch. Silver and Matteo were both done drinking but still at the bar. Storm and Thunderlane were still laughing about mares. Squall had sat down on a couch with Little Star still clinging to him. Lightning Streak and Air Mach were still drinking. Surprise was walking around covered in towels to dry off from the pool. Soarin couldn’t see Twister anywhere, but, as Dash had told him, Twister was known for that and was most likely up to some mischief.

Soarin held in a laugh as Calm hovered by, cradling a passed out Fleetfoot in his arms. She was sound asleep, but had her arms wrapped around his neck. Calm’s face was bright red with embarrassment as multiple stallions whistled and cheered as he glided by with her, looking for a place to lay her down and let her sleep. Swift and Shine were following close behind him, snickering and getting quite a kick out of the flustered state of their large wingmate.

“Well, the hostess is down for the count,” Soarin chuckled as he saw Calm turn past the stairs with Fleetfoot towards a guest room on the ground floor. He leaned towards Dash’s ear. “I dunno about you… but I’m thinking of getting to bed too…” he waited as Dash caught on and looked up at him while lifting an eyebrow. “If you know what I mean…” Soarin added while bouncing his eyebrows.

“Oh, do I ever…” Dash cooed seductively as she wiggled from his grip and took two steps towards the hall while putting an extra swing in her plot. “By the way, you should feel honored… this plot is officially high quality Wonderbolt plot,” Dash said as she stopped and gave him a little wiggle. Soarin snorted, a puff of smoke shooting from his nostrils.

“Gimme!” he said in a very low tone as he started moving after her. Dash turned and poked him in the chest as he advanced towards her.

“Let’s get upstairs first, big shot!” she chuckled as the two made their way towards the stairs.

Together the two managed to craftily sneak up the stairs without drawing any attention to themselves. They reached the top, both giving each other multiple looks of pleasure as they moved. Then, Soarin suddenly stopped as he looked towards the room Spitfire and Wave Chill were in. Only… there wasn’t a peep coming from it. Complete silence.

“Whoa, whoa, hold up,” Soarin snickered as he tip-hoofed towards the door.

“What are you doing?” Dash whispered while chuckling. She flinched, but couldn’t stop giggling when Soarin reached for the door handle. “Soarin!” she held back a laugh.

“It’s quiet in there! I gotta see this!” he held in his snickers as he quietly entered the room. Against her better judgment and for the sake of curiosity, Dash followed close behind him.

Only some of the lights were on in the room, making it dimmer, but still bright enough to see. The two advanced around the corner and peered over at the bed. Soarin held his hoof out to stop Dash as his eyes landed on Spitfire, asleep on the bed… but where was Wave?

Soarin and Dash moved as quietly as they could as they inched their way towards the bed.

“Hmmmm…” Spitfire released a happy sigh. Soarin and Dash froze as Spitfire suddenly turned over, but remained asleep. There was an incredibly content smile on her lips as she slept. Soarin blinked as he noticed something odd about the mattress. He leaned up to see… and instantly threw a hoof over his mouth and held his breath, forcing down the urge to burst out laughing.

Dash looked at Soarin, confused. Soarin pointed at the mattress beside Spitfire. She followed his motions, leaning up to get a better look at the mattress.

Wave was there alright… but his body had been ENTIRELY physically pressed into the mattress as if he were a part of it. Stuck so deep it looked like they would need a crowbar to pry him out. He was belly up and asleep as well, with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. Thankfully, his chest was moving, confirming Spitfire didn’t actually kill him.

Art by: PhonicBoom

Dash, like Soarin, found herself nearly brought to tears as she tried as hard as she could to stifle her laughter.

Soarin quickly pointed towards the door and the two scampered out of the room as fast and as quietly as possible. As soon as they were out the door, Soarin closed it behind them and the two dove into the room across from it, absolutely cracking up as they dove through the door and rolled on the floor.

“DUDE!” Dash spoke up as they laughed. “SHE LIKE… STEAMROLLED HIM!” she said as she clutched her stomach.

“Wave felt her wrath in the best way possible!” Soarin added, his face hurting from how hard he had to hold his breath.

The two laughed to their hearts’ content before eventually rolling over and smiling at each other. This had been one hell of a fun night.

“Oh, look!” Dash pointed out the window behind Soarin. He turned and looked just in time to see Misty Fly and Fire Streak fly by, side by side, leaving the party behind to go flying together.

“Aw…” Soarin cooed as he watched the new couple fly away. “You know what that reminds me of?” Soarin asked Dash as he stood up.

“What?” Dash rose up with him. Soarin got really close to her face.

“When the two of us escaped from the Royal Ball a number of months ago,” Soarin reminded her while bouncing his eyebrows. He watched as Dash thought it over, shooting smug smile back at him.

“Oh yeah, the night where I stole the show on the dance floor,” she said while rubbing a hoof against her chest before blowing on it.

“Says the pony I was leading,” Soarin shot back lightly pressing his nose against her cheek.

“Haha!” Dash chuckled as she pushed him away. “Are you implying you’re more awesome than me?” she challenged as she wiggled her body like a cat waiting to pounce.

“Why imply the truth? I tell it as it is!” he taunted while learning his head down sideways.

“Then you face my wrath!” Dash yelled playfully as she leapt up, pouncing on Soarin’s back and biting one of his ears.

“Now that we agree I’m awesome, let’s get to the bed over here…” Soarin said casually as Dash clung to his back and gnawed on his head. Dash looked up, realizing the room they were in was much… fancier than the room Spitfire and Wave Chill were in. It definitely didn’t look like a guest room. From the hallway, one walked directly into a resort-esque bathroom what had a large mirror and two sinks in the center, a nice walk-in shower, and a whirlpool tub. Then there were two hallways extending from it. One was a simple hallway, the other turned into a large walk-in closet that had lots of dresses and other very fashion heavy outfits. So many that it would make Rarity blush. On the other side of the halls was a very large bed, flanked by two night stands, each with a fancy digital clock and the patio doors that led out to the balcony Fire and Misty were standing on moments prior. Dash eventually put it all together.

“Soarin, is this… Fleetfoot’s room?” she asked as she looked around. It seemed obvious, and the thought was amusing.

“Yep!” Soarin joked as he bounced, pushing Dash off his back and into the air as she yelped in surprise. Soarin turned, caught her, and tossed her onto the big cushy bed. Dash landed softly on the lavender comforter. Looking up at Soarin as he made his way around the bed.

“We’re gonna have some fun… on Fleetfoot’s bed?” she said trying to hold in snickers.

“That’s the plan!” Soarin said as he hopped up on the bed and slowly made his way towards Dash.

“You know…” she said as she turned and reclined in a seductive pose. “That’s a real asshole move… but I’m all for it!” Dash smiled as Soarin reached for her. “But I don’t think so!” Dash grabbed his arm and yanked him towards her as she rolled up.

“Whoa! OOF!” Soarin grunted as he lost control and crashed into the mattress, rolling to a stop on his back. The next thing her knew, Dash was on top of him and grinning triumphantly.

“Haven’t I told you a thousand times by now? I’m on top!” Dash sneered down at him. Soarin blinked before returning her smarmy expression back at her.

“Oh, of course…” his expression faded, reverting to a simple, yet romantic grin. “Actually… it’s been a long time since we’ve had a chance to do… this,” Soarin said while looking up at her, his eyes full of love as opposed to lust. Dash immediately saw the look in his eyes, the warm feeling only he could conjure slowly flowing into her body.

“Yeah, it has been a long time…” her smile resembled his: Confident, yet calm, and loving. The two remained still for a few moments as they simply took in each other’s eyes, enjoying a kind of moment they hadn’t shared in a very long time.

“It’s been quite a wild ride, hasn’t it?” Soarin broke the silence. “I… or rather… we’ve been dealing with all this stupid magic business,” Soarin glanced up at his horn. “And you’ve been busy training your ass off… which it definitely shows by the way,” he said while lightly rubbing his hoof against her arm to her chest. He smiled as he saw Dash grin at his words. To any other mare, a comment about her musculature would seem weird. Dash was definitely not like other mares, and Soarin knew exactly the type of compliments that made her happy.

“It has,” she agreed as she kept staring into his eyes. “You’re a real pain in the ass… but, you’re the best kind of ass pain,” she said while tapping her hoof against his chest.

“Better get used to that pain,” Soarin winked, earning a chuckle from Dash.

“Oh, I know it’s there to stay. Bring it on, I ain’t no sissy,” Dash proclaimed while whipping her mane around.

“Nope… you most certainly aren’t,” Soarin agreed as the two locked eyes once again. As much as both of them wanted to get to the fun part, they both missed this as well… Simply enjoying the presence of the other, completely free of distraction or deadline. It was their own little paradise.

Art by: Foxenawolf

“You know,” Soarin spoke up again. “For a mare that doesn’t care too much about beauty… you are damn beautiful.”

“Eh…?” Dash felt the blood rush to her face, blushing a little as Soarin sweet talked her. “Oh… shut up… no I’m not,” she tried to deflect, but it only made Soarin chuckle.

“Don’t play dumb, Dashie,” he teased. “I think you secretly like compliments like that,” he continued as he smirked sinisterly at her. Her face turned redder.

“Quit it! I’m not beautiful!” Dash pouted and glared at him.

“Are you gonna argue with the stallion that loves you on this subject?” Soarin posed to her. Dash blinked and furrowed her brow.

“No, I’m gonna question the dumbass who’s talking to me like some… I mean… you… but…” Dash gritted her teeth as she failed to reply smoothly. “Oh… screw it! Come here, you sexy piece of stallion!”

Soarin was ready and waiting as Dash slid up on his body and plunged her lips down against his. Her arms found their way around his neck as he instantly wrapped his around her body, pulling her in tight to his.

It wasn’t soft or gentle. It was an attack, one that Soarin welcomed as Dash unleashed what was clearly a lot of pent up passion for him. Not wanting to miss out on Dash’s heightened state of aggression, Soarin quickly slid a hoof up to the back of Dash’s head, pushing her head down. Soarin kissed her back as his extra push forced their mouths to overlap, their tongues quickly joining the fun as they rubbed and slid them around each other’s mouth.

“Ahh!” Dash released Soarin for a moment, taking in a sharp breath before attacking him passionately again. Soarin chuckled beneath Dash lips at her incredible drive. He thought he was having a hard time not being able to interact with her. Dash was coming at him like she hadn’t seen him in years! She was kissing him roughly and sloppily with a hunger for him unlike any other. Soarin gladly let her have her fill of him, but soon he decided to take over.

As Dash came up for air for a fifth time, Soarin reached up and grabbed her by the shoulders before forcing the two of them to roll to his left, stopping when Dash was pinned beneath him.

“Hey! I wasn’t finished with you!” she whined as she pouted at him.

“Too bad,” Soarin said while bouncing his eyebrows. Dash smirked and tried to move, but she couldn’t overcome Soarin’s strength. She bit her lip as his arm, chest, and shoulder muscles flexed and tensed while preventing her from moving.

“Only you can piss me off with something I find incredibly sexy,” she batted her eyelashes at him seductively. Soarin lowered himself down on top of her gently, his eyes remaining locked on hers.

“Trust me, I know all the tricks,” Soarin said as he reached beneath her head and propped her head up with his hooves.

“Show me all of them, Stud Muffin!” Dash encouraged.

“All in due time,” Soarin chuckled as he brought his lips down onto hers while pushing on the back of her head again. They were once again lip locked, this time with Soarin on top. They kissed with incredible passion and vigor, tipping their heads back and forth to kiss from every possible angle as they shared the taste of each other’s mouths again, again, and again.

During a moment they parted to take a breath, Soarin forced her body up and slid the two of them back, forcing Dash’s back up against the headboard. She grunted as she was put roughly against the head of the bed, but licked her lips as Soarin heavily pressed himself into her, releasing a slow, low vibration from the back of his throat that resembled a growl as he their heated breath crashed against each other’s face.

Soarin was nearing beast mode and that’s exactly what Dash wanted.

The kissing ceased for a moment as the focus turned to each other’s bodies. Dash gasped as Soarin leaned down and licked her stomach, planting kisses from her abdomen all the way up her body to her chest, to her neck, up the side of her face and ending with a rough, but playful bite on her ear.

“Nnnngggg…” Dash moaned while shivering and rubbing her hooves around and over his back muscles, arching her back so her body pushed against his. With her back arched, it gave her wings room to breathe as they twitched and jittered with every move Soarin made up and down her body.

Soarin’s eyes caught the movement of Dash’s wings and he knew exactly what to do. He slid his hooves around her back until he found the spot sensitive spots right beside her shoulders and wing joints. Usually, he approached them softly, but not this time. He pressed and rubbed them hard.

“AHH! AH! AH! AH!” Dash cried out as her wings flared out from beneath her. “Oooohhhh, SOARIN!” she squeaked and exhaled loudly while blushing brightly and thrusting her body up into his so hard that he grunted from the impact. Her hooves stopped rubbing his body and instead clutched tightly to him digging hard into his fur as she tried squeezed him as hard as she could. He knew all her weaknesses and not only did he love exploiting them, she loved it when he exploited them. Her eyes squeaked open as she tried to contain the shocks of pleasure that ran through her as Soarin absolutely destroyed the sweet spots on her back. The incredibly confident sneer on his face mixed with exploiting her soft spots and the uncontested dominant position he had on her all just drove her completely wild.

Soarin was a force. A force like a hurricane that she couldn’t stop once she provoked him. It was almost too much, she adored it. She loved being in control of things, but with Soarin… the way he took control after she egged him on was so strong and fast. She always put up a fight, but once overpowered she couldn’t get enough of it.

The best part was she knew the passion and desire went both ways.

Soarin was driven wild by Dash in general. Her confidence, her strength, her sassiness… her passion to improve, her radiant rainbow mane, her fit, buff body. There was no other mare like her in all of Equestria and she was his.

He adored the fact that he had to fight her and overpower her before he could really dive in and appreciate her. It was one thing for a mare to go limp and let a stallion have his way, but to Soarin it was much sexier when the mare put up a fight for dominance. It made it so much more satisfying when he finally had Dash pinned and she smirked up at him in a way that was just inviting him to claim his reward for the struggle. Dash was a fighter. The kind of fighter that wouldn’t back down until she had done everything she could to emerge victorious. He got an edge early this time, but most of the time it took a while before he had her thoroughly pinned. She made him work for the chance to do as he pleased with her, but he loved that. Dash was worth the struggle. Soarin had a thing for strong, tough mares, and Dash was as strong and tough as they came.

“AH!” Dash yelped, removing her hooves from Soarin and pushing her arms out to force his hooves off her back. She slid down off the headboard and back onto the mattress while panting short, quick breaths and blushing madly. Soarin eased up as she let her hooves fall to her sides limply and caught her breath. “Sorry, I… needed a break… it was too much…” she said between breaths as her body shivered with absolute glee.

“Take your time, babe. We’ve got all night,” Soarin assured her as he removed himself from her for a moment.

“Hey! Get back down here!” Dash ordered as she remained sprawled out. Soarin lifted his brow, the confident eyes and expression remaining strong as he backed away.

“I’ll be right back, just gotta make sure the door is locked,” he winked as he got up, cracked his neck and walked with a strut and his chest puffed out. He felt pretty damn good, that was for sure. Feeling like a real alpha male as he approached the door to Fleet’s room, checked to make sure it was closed all the way before turning the lock, assuring their privacy.

He turned right back around, walking in the same manner back towards the bed, but doing so with a slightly quicker pace. He was away from Dash for only a few seconds and he wanted so badly to get right back to her.

She was right where he left her, on her back and looking towards him. She bit her lip and released a low moan of pleasure as she watched him walk towards her with so much strength and confidence in his movements.

Soarin got back up on the bed and slowly slid himself towards her, putting himself right back into position above her.

“I love you, Dashie,” he said instinctively as he slowly leaned in. She clearly saw what was coming because her eyes fluttered closed and she lightly puckered her lips. Soarin softly pressed his lips to hers, giving her a dose of the gentle, yet passionate love she had grown very fond of, a double dose of satisfaction after having just gone through the rougher side of the fun. She sighed and cooed while shaking her body lightly all over as their lips released. Soarin smirked as he saw her full body reaction. Damn, Dash really liked it when he did that.

“I love you too, Soarin,” she said while reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck.

The two stared at each other once again, this time with quite a bit more passion and desire than when they started. After a few moments, Dash inhaled sharply before exhaling and giving Soarin a very seductive gaze, lightly blushing.

Soarin knew that look. Oh, he knew that look well and seeing it made his wings twitch madly.

“I think,” Dash said while reaching a hoof up and lightly biting it while keeping her eyes on him. “It’s about time,” she said with a quiet growl. She turned over on her stomach and wiggled her plot at him. “I’m all yours.”

“YES,” Soarin said as his nostrils flared and his wing flapped twice. But he stopped for a moment and blinked. “I’m surprised, Dashie. No fight for who’s on top?”

“Shut up and get to it!” she ordered while whipping him in the face with her tail. Soarin winced as her tail snapped against his nose before he smiled and licked his lips.

“Yes ma’am!”

---

The party went on through the night and the Wonderbolts celebrated to their hearts’ content. If only it were a time to celebrate for all those in Canterlot, because it most certainly was not that time in Canterlot Castle.

Princess Luna stood on the tower balcony of the castle, looking out over Canterlot. She could hear the sounds of celebration and music coming from Fleetfoot’s house, even see it from where she stood. Her eyes remained locked on the party house in the distance as she remained in deep thought, thinking over many things that she carried on her shoulders, and despite her push to be more confident, wondering if she was doing the right things. She told herself again and again not to second guess her decisions, but it seemed impossible for her to make a single choice without wondering if it was what her sister would do.

The sound of flapping wings and four hooves landing came from behind her, catching her attention. Luna glanced over her shoulder at the pony, but he was hidden from the moonlight in the shadow of the awning over the balcony door. Luna looked back out towards Fleetfoot’s house.

“So,” she began. “How did thou fair tonight?” she asked.

“They gave us quite a fight tonight,” the pony in the shadow spoke in a deep voice. “But as usual, we were able to repel them before they even got close to the city,” the pony explained.

“Splendid,” Luna acknowledged him in a rather unenthusiastic tone. The pony remained silently in the shadow for a moment.

“Luna, how much longer are we going to wait?” he suddenly asked Luna shook her head.

“As long as possible,” she replied simply.

“For?”

Luna remained quiet. Why? Because she didn’t have an answer. At least not yet. The pony growled in frustration.

“Not even we can hold them back forever,” he stated harshly. “Sooner or later, the Wonderbolts will have to get involved. It’s only a matter of time before he grows tired of the failures and launches an all-out attack.”

“We…” Luna tried to speak up, but again she had nothing to say.

“This is a warning, Luna,” the pony snapped at her. “If we wait too long, the Wonderbolts will find out the hard way,” the pony turned and spread his wings. “Our contract states that we follow your orders. But it doesn’t mean we have to like them. Consider your options well, Luna,” the pony said as he lifted off and disappeared into the night.

Luna said nothing else as the pony left as suddenly as he came. She stared back out towards Fleetfoot’s house again, taking in the pony’s words, but torn on what the right choice going forward would be.

“He’s right you know…”

Luna flinched, but quickly calmed down as Discord floated up in front of her from below the balcony. Luna sighed and looked away from Discord.

“We know,” she admitted. Discord crossed his arms and lifted an eyebrow.

“Then what’s stopping you?” he asked. Luna looked down, then straight up into the night sky.

“If the situation can still be salvaged through our current efforts, then a lot of fighting will be avoided. Should I make choice now… it may affect the lives of hundreds of thousands here in Canterlot. We just don’t know if we…” Luna trailed off, turning and looking back into the observatory from the balcony. Specifically, she looked towards a large tapestry of Celestia and herself, a painting they received thousands of years ago, long before Celestia was forced to make the very difficult choice of banishing her possessed little sister to the moon. “If… I am prepared to make such a choice.”

“If I were you,” Discord cut in, hiding his surprise that Luna dropped the old Canterlot speech if only for a moment. “I’d act soon,” he said as he began floating away. “The barrier I put in Soarin’s head won’t last forever. Do you want to risk his dark power running wild in the middle of a conflict?” Discord smirked as he saw Luna blink and her ears stand up. “Forgotten all about that, have you?” he chuckled. “Keep your head on a swivel Lulu…” he said as his head made a full 360 degree turn. “We have more than a few problems on our plate!”

He disappeared.

---END OF PART 2---

---

Rainbow Dash has survived recruit training, learned many valuable lessons under the wing of Silver Lining, and taken her next step towards fulfilling her lifelong dream.

She has made many new friends, all of whom she has learned much about and is excited to work with.

She now also has direct access to Soarin, something both of them have been longing for since their love for each other began.

Soarin’s magic has been a cause for great concern. Discord has given him a temporary fix, but how much longer will it last? When the barrier comes down, will Soarin be in control?

How will events unfold from here?

What’s with all the secrets the gods are keeping from the ponies… as well as themselves?

What happened to Celestia?

What is going on in the shadows where no other pony can see?

Are Soarin, Rainbow Dash, and the Wonderbolts prepared for what the future holds?

We shall all see…

As the story continues in:

Art by: Scootafail/Chiweee

Piercing the Heavens Part 3: Shadows of Fading Wonder

---To Be Continued---

Author's Note:

It... is... done... *collapses in a heap on the floor*

Oy... so much writing... but so worth it.

Lets give a big round of applause to three people...

Foxenawolf for the in chapter art.

Scootafail for the awesome teaser image for the next part.

And Kestrel for editing both these behemoth chapters THE SAME DAY i sent them to him.

And now i can officially say...

WE ARE HALFWAY THROUGH THE STORY.

And what a long adventure it has been...

So Wave finally got in bed with Spitfire... or rather... Spitfire more or less destroyed him xD

Misty Fly and Fire Streak finally got together, dispelling Fire's doubt.

What a fun party! Yes, i'm actually capable of NOT derailing happy times! i bet you all thought something catastrophic was gonna happen ;D

But it looks like Dash, Soarin, and the Wonderbolts are NOT out of the fire yet... what was that last scene all about? hmmmmmmm?

Oh i WONDER

Unfortunately... you're all gonna be waiting for a bit.

I DESPERATELY need a break. i've been writing non stop for the past month and beyond.

I'm going to take a 2-3 week break. before i start on part 3. I really need it, please understand. the last thing i want to happen is me become sick of writing this story. i must let my brain rest so i can come back fresh and ready to bring the story

That being said, i also want to thank EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU. Reader, lurker, commenter, friend, whatever, it doesn't matter... you have all been such wonderful people and i couldn't ask for better support. i look forward to writing for you all once again when my little vacation here is over.

I'll still be around the site though, so don't worry about me disappearing

Thanks for reading!

I hope you enjoyed!

Comments

[melodicstream]

I love you.

[bambiki]

IT DIDN'T EVEN GIVE ME A NOTIFICATION!!!
an actual comment after i read it!
oh its a biggin!

Fantastic! Hilarious! amazing! great ending to the part! murderball is hilarious. more so because at my friends so called "bro house" we more or less do the exact same thing. it can get brutal.

made my night and my birthday.

[coolstorybrah]

Calm! This just made my day!
Everything was just so awseme!!!
Even the spitfire part

[Darth Redbeard]

and I thought Rivet had a rough time with Fleet.

[WildStallion]

Best parts:

Them forcing Wave up the stairs.
Wave and Spitfire finally getting together.
Squall and Little Star
Matteo and Calms arm wrestling
Fire and Misty
Soarin and Dashies alone time.
Twister
Fleetfoots antics
Murderball
Silver being cool
Squad zero
Rivets ninja skill
The pictures

[Pastel King]

*SCREAMS* FRICKEN FANGIRL OVERLOAD HERE. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MAAAAAANNNNNYYYY SSSSHHHHIIIIIIIIPPPPPPSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There were so many d'awwww moments, I can't even dount that high. That was a fantaboulous ending to part 2. Calm. Take your break. You need it. You did wonderfully.

[Those Kids In The Corner]

This story... This story is gonna be over a million in words.... but I LOVE IT!

Friggin 544,000 words so far. And it's only HALFWAY DONE.

[Unbridled Dolly]

I just realized...

Squall is hilariously adorable. Like, really. The parts with him in this chapter were super fun to read. I think he's my new favorite character in this story-- him or Misty Fly, because her Murderball stunt was hilarious. Especially once Silver got involved.

Edit: This ship is now known as Square. Star plus Squall equals Square. Duh.

[Easyglider]

i.imgur.com/tGq5f7M.png

Twinkle twinkle LittleSquall anyone? Ehh?? EHHH?? ...ok.

I'm kinda glad and not glad at the same time Macho Savage didn't start laying down some classic Macho Man quotes during muderball. If "Pony's Elbow" broke me down I probably would have died.

The tower of power, too sweet to be sour, ohhhh yeahh!

I'm too hot to handle and too cold to hold!

Literally dead.
Half way through the chapter. No getting to see all the closure the drunken party hook ups brings to the damn 69 chapter wait (hue). Wave Chills's face cracked me up there too. Hats off to all the artists behind these pictures.

Also don't think I don't see what's going on in the last picture. Silver as a lead figure in the poster? Get your theories out everyone!
Foreshadowbolts strike again.

Silver said it though. How can you describe the indescribable? This has been one hell of a ride and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.

[melodicstream]

Aww, I wanted to see some drunk Squall and Twister!

The horizontal refreshment lived up to my expectations. I wonder if you're gonna detail that a bit more in a bonus chapter...

Actually, I've always been dying to see how a shift from Dash's perspective would look like. I know you do that already, but you've never done it with the rest of the "Mane 6" (Squall, Twister, Matter, Little Star, Thunderlane and Dash). I've always wondered what would happen if you focused more on Squall, Matter and (especially) Twister's actions and thoughts when alone. I think it would be really interesting to see that kind of development being used on those characters, even if just once.

Also, you know that you won't get your Proeficient Writer Certificate™ if you don't take Squall to the Crystal Empire, right? I mean, he's already attractive. Now, him being all sparkly? He might put some serious competition with Thunderlane and Twister.

I am now picturing Kestrel blushing very hard when editing the parts featuring Rivet.

Also, water is so bleewh. Couldn't you have them drink non-alcoholic cider?

Well, I'm glad we got a lot of development in this chapter. Can't wait for the next part, especially with a title like that. You might as well put some titanium reinforcements in your fingers during your break. I want your fingers to last a looooooong time.

[Jim Hoxworth]

...you, sir, truly are a god among writers... there is so much I wish to comment on regarding this chapter, but I fear the wall of text that will emerge if I say it all here. I guess I'll Just go for it.
So many things... And yet so many mysteries left to unravel. This was not the chapter of "loaves" I thought it would be, but honestly, it sets the pacing (and the stage) for the next part. This chapter focused on tying up loose ends, fleshing out backstory and lore for the setting, and giving a nice dose of good clean fun to round things out.
While I was happy to see WaveFire and Serenity sequences (I'm calling them that from now on, it just feels right), I was also glad to see more in regards to the lore aspects of the story develop. Silver talking about his old comrades was an well-executed sequence, and provided great detail into the previous Wonderbolt generation, especially Blizzard Strike. It really gives the Wonderverse an extra breath of life to take off very soon.
It was also great to finally see Squall emerge as a fully fleshed-out character, albeit one with a few more potential secrets lurking around the corner. (Conspiracy board is definitely not packed away when it comes to him) Also detecting a bond with Little Star developing as a result of last chapter. Too soon to call the nature of the bond, but I definitely see them growing close.
A few things to wrap up for now, but the WaveFire scene.... Spitfire seemed almost...Klingon..... If this were The Next Generation, I'd be wishing the happy couple a fractured collar bone each for luck.
...And then there was the Serenity sequence.... No amount of emoticons of the joyful variety can express my feelings....
Also really pleased that I got a theory right. (At the expense of Fleetfoot's bed...)
Anyway, if you're still reading at this point, a job well done, Calm. Take all the time you need to recover, even if it's longer than you intended.
Best wishes from another one of your conspiracy theorist fans.

[SageBrony07]

Okay. I will admit it. I was wrong. Wow. What an intense party. I loved the whole chapter. Great job. Quick question though. When you started this story, did you ever think it would have gotten this long? Also you need to pair up Twilight and Rarity with Stallions. The last chapter indicated they both want one.

[Jim Hoxworth]

5562762 Amen to that.

[melodicstream]

Oh, and I'm kinda uncomfortable with Squall and Little. Like, I've always seen her treat him with a motherly tone. Seeing them dating would look really weird in my head because of that. And not only because of that, but also because Little Star looks like she's becoming Squall's first friend. Looking from his perspective as being a pony that probably had no real friends, I don't think he'd take the opportunity to have a girlfriend instead of a friend, especially because friends usually last longer than girlfriends/boyfriends. But that's just my analysis of the situation between Star and Squall. If they end up hooking together, I would probably be a little uncomfortable, but it'd be okay.

Also, everypony's hooking up. I know Twister had a mare in the past, but doesn't anypony in that story have the wits to ask him out? I mean, I know he is Twister, but the has a liver just like anypony else. I feel like you're trying to get me to break into the story so that I could have some time with Twister... That poor pony gets no love, for Pete's sake! :v

[Dharkstaar]

What a way to end this part and the foreboding at the end. Can't wait to see what comes next.

Another thing you might want to look at, Calm, a couple of your pictures that you included in this chapter have broken links. While the pictures are not the "bread and butter" of the story, they do add to it. Thought you'd like a heads up.

[*Rainbow Dash*]

YAAAAAAY TIME TO READ!
HOPEFULLY THIS SECOND HALF IS WAYYYYYYY BETTER THAT THE PACKERS vs SEAHAWKS SECOND HALF!

[HN-]

Oh baby a halfway mark!

[Jim Hoxworth]

Also, just thought I'd share that this story is, at this point, about twice as long as the longest Harry Potter book, which comes in at 257,045 words. Just an FYI...

[calmcalmcalm]

*GIVES YOU A STANDING OVATION*

[PlayBitz]

So you could say that were in the calm before the storm.

[Harmony Lover1715]

SO GOOD!!! Take all the time you need Calm Wind, we will be here when you return. Finally Fire and Misty got together, so happy! I love all the couples in your stories but the ones who had me wishing and hoping for a coming together finally happened. Can't wait until more, see you soon.

[Ice Blade]

Sorry for my liate comment but yeah here i am.:) THIS CHAPTER WAS AWESOME!!!!!!! Oh and I can't wait for next time! Pleaaaasssseeee tell me that there are going be assassination attempts and all that awesome shit!! Oh I can't wait!!!!!!! Anyways it was a great chapter! So many pairings and it loooks like Spitfire finely got the D huh?

[Noble Savage]

Wow....the ice cube has been thrown into the fire....I am really curious on what went on in there.

Calm Thank you for an amazing story! You inspired me in getting back into drawing and introduced me to two new faces that I can call friend. I appericate what you have done. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

P.S.
For using the term "Beast Mode"...I owe you a bag of Skittles

[PersephoneSunSpark]

Finally Wave and Spitfire happen!!!! And Yay for Misty/Fire!!! I got the d'awwws while reading that part. I think this might just be my fave chapter (so far) because I could not stop laughing/smiling like a loon during it! I also noticed Wave/Spit had the hardcore get together, Misty/Fire had ALL THE FLUFFIES!!! And SoarinDash had a nice combo of both~ So good on ya and congrats on reaching the halfway point can't wait to see what's gonna happen next.

And really are we gonna get even a small hint for where Tia is? (Does her hubby Discord know? )

[Sirflysalot]

I still don't understand how this story only has like 200 ish likes
I feel like that number should be about 2000 ish

[OBSIDI4N_DR4G0N]

5562480
What he said!

[Creative Quill]

Wave Chill was sentenced to DEATH!!!! By snu snu.

[*Rainbow Dash*]

ok done reading! yay doing what youve done so far! cant wait for the next section!

now get us a the rated X version of the ending!

[PrinceSS Charming]

Wha-? There was a section 1 finale?

Ah, man, I better get reading.

[Lucky424]

time. And

time, and

Star eager hugged the giant mug to her body, only to fall right to the floor with it and land face first IN the mug full of cider as it hit the floor.

Star eagerly hugged
Also... I wanna see that!

That’s funny cause it’s true,” she said as they walked

img0.derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/8/10/696406__safe_solo_rule+63_soarin%27_artist-colon-kasun05_glide.png
That’s funny cause it’s true,” he said as they walked

into the pool. Spraying water

into the pool, spraying water
Time for a biggun'

As she looked around for something to occupy herself with, she eventually saw Misty Fly walk by. Dash smiled, and was about to go greet her silent friend, but her focus was completely overtaken by the hoof wrestling as Calm quietly downed another opponent. She trotted up to Fire Streak and pressed into his side while smiling up at him. Fire flinched in surprise and quickly returned the smile, but did so in a very quick, somewhat awkward way.

Misty was occupied, and Fire was going to be her next choice. She looked over to the bar where Matteo and Silver were sitting and nursing their drinks of choice quietly. She decided to talk to Matteo, but she only got halfway to him before a bunch of stallions came up to him.

In the first paragraph, it seems like Dash is the one to go alongside Fire Streak. In the second, it looks like Misty is going to talk to Matteo.

Calm quietly downed another opponent. Misty trotted up to Fire Streak and pressed into his side

Misty was occupied, and Fire was going to be her next choice. Dash looked over to the bar where

Cannon Ball!” she had seen a few

Cannon Ball! She had seen a few

As soon as the initial euphoria of her mentor speaking to her like a daughter faded to think over his words.

Something is missing there, the sentence seems either incomplete or wrong.

out, but the night’s still young! Let’s get crazy!” she yelled as Fleetfoot

out. "But the night’s still young! Let’s get crazy!” she yelled at Fleetfoot

looking nervous to do

looking too nervous to do

“Ah, heh,” the mail pony shook his head as he gave Rivet safe passage to another side of the party away from Fleet.

Woohoo, I get to go to the party!
Not only that, but he
i.imgur.com/Yf9WZnr.png
Helps Rivet, a kindred spirit when it comes to the mares!

Dash looked up towards Fire streak

Dash looked up towards Fire Streak

There was some noise coming from one of the rooms he passed by, but other than that he was up there all alone.

f

“If you know what I mean…” Soarin added while bouncing his eyebrows.

i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/8437657856/hB563AD74/

He face turned redder.

Her face turned redder.

...say, if you are going with the standard fandom thing about horns, what happens when Dash licks Soarin's strap on? Going by that last picture, Silver is involved somehow.

AND WHAT THE FUCK IS LUNA PLAYING AT? HAS SHE HIRED THE FUCKING SHADOWBOLTS????

Edit; OH AND ABOUT FUCKING TIME WAVE!

[Scootafail]

Well this was beyond amazing! I really enjoyed this chapter!

Oh and Calm, your OC is now the most adorable piece of giant pony I've ever seen. Seriously, dat shyness and dat blush. Who knew Calm Wind could be so adorable?
I'll go as far to say that he's even more adorable than Rivet. And that's saying something. xD

[crossr]

Nicely done sir. I really enjoyed how you've wrapped this up. And all the fun that was in this chapter. Take a well deserved break, you've definitely earned it. But please don't make it too long of one, after all, some of us just can't seem to get enough of the antics of our favorite Wonderbolts.

[Mr mustash]

Yes YES it's up time to read!!!!!!!

[Silver Arrow]

Oh my... I don't know what to say...

I kinda can't believe you really did do that to wave... I thought you were just joking when you said he was going to end up impaled in a mattress... I was wrong

Then there's misty and fire... So adorable ...

Other than that... All the usual hilarity I have come to know through this story, even hearing some of Blizzards old tricks

And then the suspense...I will be theory crafting in this strange head of mine until you get writing again...
Have a good break, can't wait to read on

[Calm Wind]

5562517

Haha yep, murderball was based on a game i used to play with my football bros where we did just that. Misty with the swimming trunks hockey helmet and the boxing glove shoved in the pants? that happened.

Tennis ball lodged in the wall? Lets just say it was a good idea to be on the same team as the quarterback. Blaze's line "that was this close to being my face?" Was me yelling at him after i ducked and stared up at the ball getting stuck

Thanks for reading! Happy birthday!

[Calm Wind]

5562564

Haha im glad you liked it!

[Calm Wind]

5562577

She's such a tease

[Calm Wind]

5562677

I'm gonna be taking a break for a few weeks, i wanted to make sure eveyone got an awesome chapter full of great moments and pitcutres to hold them until i come back

[Calm Wind]

5562761

Hehehe i'm making you indecisive!

And... haha i had a feeling that was going to happen...

[Calm Wind]

5562774

ALL OF THE FLURF!!!!!!!

I had lots of romance to give after teasing you all with it for so damn long This is your guys reward for bearing with me and my extreme underestimation of how long my own work is

Glad you liked it! I'll be back before you guys know it!

[Calm Wind]

5562805

i know right? Talk about taking aim at one target and hitting fifteen of them on the range My initial prediction: 150K words... HAHA NOPE.

im impressed that this evened out to 544000 even couldn't do that if I tried...

[Calm Wind]

5562819

thanks for putting up with me and my plotline taking MUCH longer to get down that i thought

To be honest i was worried... because the side plots were being dragged and stretched out with how long it was taking to get through the main sourse of the story, i was glad i could finally stop torturing you guys and bring the side plots home.

And yes, i have a whole Fleet of ships here now! (C WAT I DID THAR?)

And writing Fleetfoot drunk was great Funny thing was... For the longest time i was scaring my editor, saying that i might write a scene where fleet gets drunk and does things to Rivet... then here, BAM Rivet skillfully escapes and Calm get's harassed instead!

Glad you liked the pics too, it was a blast working with Fox and Scootafail

[Calm Wind]

5562861

I had a feeling the ship would start sailing after this

Haha Misty's stunt during the game... that actually happened to me while playing said game with my football team buddies in highschool. One of the guys put on a hockey helmet, and stuffed a boxing glove in his pants before diving over our couch and swinging a bag full of tennis balls around like a flail Same group of guys that the tricycle race scene is based on, i have lots of hilariously stupid stories from those guys that fit right in with the Wonderbolts having fun

And of course nopony would want to get stuck between the crossfire of Misty and Silver! That's dangerous!

[Dusk_Writer]

I can't describe it this chapter beyond my words and yes I thought something was gonna happen at the party like shadowbolts or sorins magic outta control but to my pleasure nothing bad like that happened this was an amazing chapter keep the SUPERULTRAEXTRASPUCTACULARLYAWSOME work and I guess you do deserve a break and I'll be waiting later! :)

[Calm Wind]

5562874

That picture... god damn i love it

Haha the only problem with Macho savage is that i kinda already exhausted a good 90% of randy savages lines earlier in the story So now im trying my best to come up with things that would sound funny in randy savage's voice... its hard man, the man was way too brilliant

Foxenawolf does amazing expressions doesn't she? i cracked up when i saw her draw Wave

Hats off indeed to scootafail though... my jaw dropped when i saw the initial sketch for the part 3 teaser image... why? because it was literally PERFECT. she drew, what... 10+ characters in it and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM was exaclty where i wanted them and looked exaclty how i wanted them, talk about artist perception!

It has been a wild ride and im looking forward to moving the plot forward!

[Calm Wind]

5562895

Oh you KNOW there's no way im NOT taking them to the crystal empire at some point now! Dark broody pony is gonna be sparkly!

If i wrote a chapter from Twister's point of view, nothing in his thoughts would be related to what's going on I could see that being hilarious though

Want my fingers to last eh?

unotaku.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/SkilledFingers.jpg

[melodicstream]

5563921 Dude, if Twister doesn't come up with a fan to make Squall's mane and tail wave beautifully while he's all crystally, then I don't know how to make Squall even more hot/cute than he already is. XD

[Calm Wind]

5562919

...you, sir, truly are a god among writers...

mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw8331-ohstopit-derpy.png

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I particularly enjoyed having Silver talk about his old wingmates. Like you said, i really wanted to give more backstory and show changes between generations as well as connections.

And oh jeez, i actually completely forgot about setting up the Wonderverse! i mean, i might not do it immediatly, (my brain is much atm) but yes, that is something im looking forward to doing as well

Part 2 was meant to really dive into the lives of the characters, the life of a Wonderbolt, and for Soarin to have issues Now with all that wrapped up... it's time to really turn things up a few dozen notches

[Calm Wind]

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oh man... when i first started this story i thought it was only going to be a little longer than flying sky high i was guessing 150K words tops... well, i think it's safe to say i completely underestimated it!

[Calm Wind]

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I know you wanted Squall and Twister in Blaze and High Winds' place when they were angrily drunk making out

Well, who knows? Star's motherly nature comes from the fact that she's the oldest of 8 (i think it was eight i already forgot ) She's thirty, true, but After i just pulled off a 37 and 28 year old sharing their first kiss, it's definitely possible. Probably won't be a huge focus, or even romantic at all, but perhaps Squall will find himself caring about another pony besides himself? who knows!

As for Twister... don't ever expect anything to be clear from him. i'm dropping little bits here and there to give the readers small insight on who he is, and what he's been through, but just as he never gives clear responses, you better be ready to always not quite know the significance of what happens to or with him... but you know me... all in due time