After the news of getting a well deserved vacation after the Traptanium Wars, The EQG Mane 6 were onboard a cruise ship making its uses as a large ferry to and from Equestria Shores, the girls were either enjoying the cruise to the island while lounging around at the ship’s pool area or wondering about that bet that Rainbow made with Echo Squadron. Her bet was that the squadron couldn’t make it to the island before they do. Twilight, who was wearing a purple bikini while her bikini bottom was covered by a thin blue skirt, went up to her friend and asked,

“Are you really sure that the guys would actually beat us to the island?”

Rainbow Dash, who was wearing a rainbow-colored bikini shook her head, “They have that airship which is still in Skylands. It would mean that they would have to find a way to get it through to our world.”

Applejack, who was wearing an orange bikini top and daisy dukes, spoke, “Didn’t they get that Rift tech when they went to the future? Ah am sure that them fellers would modify their ship to tunnel to our world since Dro has a good understanding of the stuff.”

Rainbow asked her friend, “So what if they have those Rift Engines, they would still need to place it into their airship.”

Twilight spoke, “Applejack does have a point. The guys are not only capable fighters and elite pilots...they are also knowledgeable with Rift Engine Technology.”

Rarity, who was wearing a purple bikini was sunbathing in a beach chair on the open air pool deck as she added, “Let us not forget that Leg. Spyro, Dro, Terry, Camo, Sonata and Spike make up the members of the squadron.” She smiled while thinking about one spikey haired member as the gentleman that he was.

Twilight nodded as she sat at her beach chair, “Spike also has the knowledge on Traptanium from his battle with Kaos. He and the other Trap Masters built Cloudcracker Base from that knowledge.”

Rainbow Dash replied, “That was Traptanium which is more of Spike's field, we are talking about the airship somehow making its way into our world.” She noticed that Pinkie Pie was on her beach chair, but one was still missing,

“Has anyone seen Fluttershy?” Pinkie Pie spoke, “She had a lustful dream about Camo last night and she’s not available at the moment.”

Twilight chuckled, “She’s been like this when she heard that the guys are coming to the island.”

Pinkie nodded, “Last night, she’s been like ‘Oh Camo’ and moans in pleasure thinking that Camo is with her. I even caught her buck naked, masturbating while shouting Camo's name.”
Applejack smirked, “She wants Camo’s member inside of her.”

The girls were silent by this revelation since it was no secret that Fluttershy has always been shy around others. Even after CHS and the birth of the four, she couldn't even talk correctly around Camo. She was worried about him when he and the boys were captured and turned during the Moneybone War, only for Grim Creeper to saved them and exact their revenge on the Count. As their discussion on Fluttershy's lust for Camo ends, the farm girl gripped a charm bracelet which had the apple and a tooth as Twilight noticed,

“What’s that?”

Applejack replied, “This here is mah good luck charm. The centerpiece is Ter’s sharktooth as a symbol of our relationship.”

Pinkie curiously asked, “He gave you his sharktooth?”

Rainbow Dash sarcastically replied, “Nothing weird there.”

Twilight asked, “Any other strange gifts?”

Rarity lifted up her sunglasses as she spoke, “Well Spike actually gave me a more...proper good luck charm.” She showed the girls a necklace with the shape of the magic element inside a crystal shard, “He crafted it out of Traptanium and gave it to me as a gift.”

Rainbow spoke, “Still nothing weird there.”

Twilight decided, “All that matters now is to enjoy ourselves until we get to the island.” And with that, the girls relaxed on their trip to the island. But on the other side of the pool area, two other girls were lounging around during their trip to the island, Lemon Zest, the girl from Crystal Prep was listening to music while looking over a Traptanium shard that was from the attack - a memento to remind of the hero that saved the prep school. She was wearing a black bikini as she lied on the beach chair. She looked at the light blue crystal and then towards the sky as she asked,

“I wonder what he’s doing right now?” She was thinking about the boy that saved her life from that monster. Her friend, Indigo Zap asked,

“You’re still thinking about Megaman?”

Lemon sighed as she looked at the crystal, “I still am.”

Indigo shook her head, “So a guy saves you from a monster, it makes no difference!”

Lemon replied, “To me, it does.” "Look Lemon, we got lucky when we won the contest that Dean Cadance had sent and this was our prize to go to Equestria Shores and have a nice stay at the resort." Indigo soon noticed that her friend was ignoring her as she sighed,

"Never in my life have I ever seen you this love struck before. I think Cupid picked a bad time to shoot you in the heart with his arrows." She ignored her and continued to gaze at the sky, wondering, “Where are you, Megaman?”

Meanwhile in the skies above the ocean, the airship, Wings of Freedom soared to its destination. Inside the airship, Spike was walking down the hallway towards the bridge where his team members would always meet. He began to recall all the events in his log,

“The name’s Spike, I was once a dog until the Battle of CHS turned me human and I have done a lot of things due to my time being human. I’ve recently become a Trap Master because of the knowledge that Drago gave me when I activated the gauntlet. The Trap Team and I built Cloudcracker Base in Ponyville and I decided to remain with the only squadron in our Arsenal. Echo Squadron, the elite squadron that was founded by the Chosen Four and we would do everything we can to protect it.” Spike entered the bridge as he looked at the occupants,

“The original four were the founders of Echo Squadron, Drobot and Terrafin were the first to be created as a result of the Soul Gem Conflict which led to the Battle of CHS. Dro is a brilliant inventor, mechanic, tech specialist and expert on Rift Engine Technology while Ter is a hotshot boxer who’s quite a handful, but still one of the best brawlers that I’ve ever known.”

Spike moved passed Dro, who was working at his desk, typing various scenarios on landing the airship when they arrive to the island and Ter, who lost another boxing match in the game Punch-Out which he angrily responded with throwing his controller at the tv which bounced off the screen and didn't crack.

“Legendary Spyro is the leader of the squadron, a seasoned ace, a powerful magic expert, a master swordsman and natural leader that we could look up to. Camo is the gardener of the team since his abilities and attacks are mostly explosive vegetables and sometimes he could pull pranks and make funny puns about certain things. But of all these abilities, it was our teamwork that pulled through.”

Spike soon sat down on a nearby chair as he sighed, “I’m bored.”

Camo spoke, “It has been at least a day since the Rift Drive brought the ship here. But to be fair, I’m sick of the canned food on this ship.”

Legend, who was reading the brochure for Equestria Shores spoke, “Well we could restock the ship’s food supplies once we land.We could also look for any good restaurants that we could go to while we’re on the island.”

Spike noticed the doors open to the fifth member of Echo Squadron holding a tray full of tacos, “And that’s Sonata Dusk, a former dazzling that decided to join the squadron after defecting from her sisters. She’s a Siren that webtreat as a sister and in a way, it was the best choice for her since it made her feel loved by five caring brothers that she never had. She makes good tacos on tuesdays since tacos are her favorite food. And together, we are just one big happy family when it comes to our squadron.”

The siren set the tray down as the six grabbed one taco each as they had lunch after basically doing nothing for the duration of this trip. Not even a simple launch and patrol of the airship to boot. It wasn’t until the XO of the ship entered,
“That’s Spitfire, she’s the captain of the Canterlot Wondercolts and second-in-command of the Wings of Freedom. Believe it or not, she’s also Dro’s girlfriend who asked if she can go with us when we first acquired the ship. She works alongside the robot, Blaster-Tron, who is connected to every aspect of the ship. Spitfire can provides us with in-flight briefings and tips in order to complete missions.”

Spitfire asked, “So, are guys excited to get to the island?”

Dro nodded, “You got that right, but just waiting around just to arrive gets kind of boring.”

Legend replied as he was about to eat his taco, “I know that feeling, boredom without end.”

Ter spoke, “I spent most of my time either in the rec room punching a punching bag or up here playing Punch Out.”

Sonata spoke, “I just want to get off this ship and back on solid ground with smell of the sea in the air. It's been decades since I've actually been a way near the sea.”

Camo nodded, “We all want to be on solid ground, Sonata.”

Legend asked, “Anything you want to add, Spike?”

Spike replied, “It’s about that thing that I defeated back at Crystal Prep and saved that Lemon Zest girl from.”

Drago spoke from the gauntlet, “When Spike defeated it, the corrupted remains were soon purified and returned to its original color.”

Spike replied, “Yeah, Thanks Drago.”

Dro suspiciously asked, “And this was the aftermath of Kaos turning into that thing during the war?”

Spike nodded, “It’s possible.” All of a sudden, the robot Blaster-Tron turned to the group, which startled them for a bit

“My sensors have picked up a seafaring vessel inbound for the island. We will be passing over the vessel soon.”

Legend got up and ran to the robot, “Can you pick up any sign of Rainbow Dash and the others?” Blaster-Tron worked his magic as he said, “Signatures of Mane 6 confirmed onboard vessel.”

Ter looked at the screen, “So they did get a head-start on us.”

Spike nodded, “Rainbow was always the competitive type.”

Legend turned to the group, “Echo Squadron, MOVE OUT!”

The team soon ran out of the bridge as the six members of the elite squadron ran through the halls heading for the launch bay as Spike asked, “Giving the girls an airshow?”

Legend nodded, “Just wanted to let RD know not to make a bet against us.”

Ter spoke to Dro, “Hey genius, have built any new toys yet?”

Dro tapped a button on his mechanical glove as a holographic display of three new aircraft emerged, “I built three new aircraft while in my down time. I’ll explain more once we get to the chutes.”

The team ran down a lengthy hallway until they reached six chutes that lead into the launch bay where their aircraft waits. Dro pulled up the image of the fighters again as he explained,

“The first aircraft is called the F6E White Shark, it’s an advanced all-range fighter that has a special weapon and three speeds. The speeds are high speed, top speed and normal speed. The F6E also has a shotgun function to it, so it doesn’t use missiles. But the shotgun makes it a fearsome craft when in close range.”

He went to the next fighter, “This is the F/A-12 Lone Eagle, it’s like the White Shark, it has the same speed functions, but this one has remote controlled missiles that home in on a target when it’s locked-on. But it has to stay locked on to the target to home in on it;s target”

He went to the last aircraft, “Last but not least, The YV-21 Raptor, this swing-wing aircraft has the same functions as the F6E and F/A-12, but this one uses regular missiles that you don’t have to keep locked-on.” He pulled up the only special ability of all three aircraft, “The special ability of all three aircraft is locking onto a target for a few seconds and releasing the trigger to fire six high-speed missiles at the target.”

He went over to his chute as he pressed a few buttons until the shape of the F/A-12 fighter appeared on the screen above the chute, “You guys can also choose your aircraft by using the selection screen above the chutes. When you select an aircraft, it would immediately be transferred from the hanger to the launch bay.”

(Aircraft from the game 'Rebel Raiders')
Legend nodded, “Way to go, Dro. Now, let’s do this.” Legend selected the B-66 Black Widow bomber, Camo selected the YV-21 Raptor, Ter selected the F6E White Shark, Sonata selected the Gyrocopter equipped with Direct-I, and Spike chose the F/A-37 Talon.

As soon as the images of their aircraft appeared on screen, the chutes opened as the six of them jumped into the chutes as they slid down towards the launch bay. They landed in the open cockpits of their respected aircraft,
Legend landed in his bomber perfectly,
Dro landed perfectly,
Ter landed perfectly.
Camo landed headfirst into the cockpit of his Raptor,
Spike landed perfectly,
Sonata was about to land in her gyrocopter, but missed the cockpit. She flew back into the cockpit using her siren wings as she said,

“Just kidding.”

Legend sighed, “That old gag again?” The canopy closed as the bomber’s systems powered up as the other aircraft closed the canopies and powered up their engines. The team heard Spitfire say,

“Go impress the passengers on that ship, team!”

Legend nodded as he said, “All right guys, LET’S ROCK AND ROLL!” The aircraft sped out of the hanger as they flew low towards the water.

Back on the Cruise Ship, the girls were busy conversing until Fluttershy decided to join them. She was wearing a butterfly themed bikini as she sat on the beach chair next to the others. Rainbow Dash looked at her and asked, “Another Camo dream?”

The shy human was rubbing her left arm in shyness as she said, “W-well...y-yes, I was.”

Twilight looked at her friend, “You know, Fluttershy. You have been acting like this ever since you heard that the squadron is going to be with us for this vacation.”

Fluttershy was blushing so hard that her cheeks were as red as Camo’s partial red arms, “It’s just that...this is my chance to be with him.”

RD spoke, “We all know that feeling, Flutters.”

Applejack assured the shy girl, “Those boys are always up ta their usual work, Since we are all on vacation, it’s also mah chance for Ter to thank me fer gittin’ his memories back while undead.”

RD spoke, “That is if they get to the island before us.” All of a sudden, the sound of jet noise was approaching the ship. The noise caused the girls and everyone else to find out what was going on, so they went out onto the side of the ship and saw a marvelous moment. There were six aircraft speeding across the water as waves kicked up from the jet engines.

The five aircraft looked like fighter planes while the sixth was a flying wing bomber with the vertical stabilizer sticking out of the bottom. The bomber was leading the approach as two fighters opened their wings. One aircraft had its wings facing forward while the swing-wing craft had its wings facing backwards. The six planes separated as they passed over the cruise ship as the two fighters passed by each other at a knife’s edge.

But when the aircraft weren’t moving around as much, the girls were able to look on the rudder, specifically the bomber as they spotted the emblem which showed a blue sky, grass and six lines leading to six arrows moving diagonally in a delta formation. There was also the shape of a ghostly tail around the six points as a dragon skull breathed fire on the ground. The emblem had a ribbon with the words ‘Echo Squadron’ emblazoned on it.

Applejack smirked at RD, “Well ah guess they’ve got here…”
Rainbow spoke, “So they have their aircraft, but their airship…”
Twilight looked back to where the six craft came from as she saw a shadow pass over them, “Is passing over us right now.”

The girls looked up and saw the massive airship passing over them while a moderate speed as the other aircraft gathered around the mobile base except for one. The Talon aircraft was hovering towards the side of the ship, the same side where the girls were watching from. As the Talon’s cockpit approached, it stopped as it remained stationary in front of the girls. The Talon’s polarized canopy depolarized, revealing the pilot as Spike while wearing a pilot’s visor on his head, gave the girls a thumbs up as he said through the speakers,

“See you at Equestria Shores...and Rarity, I’ll be waiting at the docks when you get there.”

Rarity replied, “Don’t keep a lady waiting, Spikey.”

Spike chuckled, “You know me, I’m always fashionably late.”

He moved his aircraft away from the cruise ship as he closed the Talon’s wings so he could catch up to the rest of the team as he sped away from the cruise ship at top speed. Although he swore that he saw a familiar girl with a familiar pair of headphones looking at him before he flew back to the airship. He shook off his thoughts as he rejoined the squadron as Blaster-Tron spoke,

“The Wings of Freedom is approaching Equestria Shores.”

Legend spoke, “Blaster-Tron, can you locate the summer mansion that we were told about?” The robot worked at locating the mansion as the rest began to mingle as Ter asked,

“So Spike, did you see the look on RD’s face when we passed over them?”

Spike replied, “Clearly I did and she wasn’t too happy that we managed to reach the island first.”

Camo asked, “Did you see Fluttershy?” Spike, knowing that Camo would ask it, answered, “I saw her and she was thinking about you through her body language.”

Dro spoke, “We really outsmarted them right there.”

Sonata chuckled, “Well they never expected us to get ahead of them so quickly.”

Spike looked back at the cruise ship as Legend noticed, “Is something wrong, Spike?” Spike replied, “Back on the ship...I thought I saw Lemon Zest...the girl I saved from that troll.”

Before anyone could respond, Blaster-Tron reported, “Mansion has been located, there is a big enough space for the Wings of Freedom to land.”

Spitfire spoke, “All right, guys. Return to base and prepare for landing.”

The team acknowledged this as they landed in the airship’s docking bay. The team soon got out of their aircraft and ran to the bridge as they looked out on the sights of Equestria Shores. The island was pretty much a paradise with beautiful beaches, swaying palm trees and guys and girls in swimsuits playing volleyball. The team noticed the beachgoers stop what they are doing to give a quick glance at the Wings of Freedom as it soared over them. Spike couldn’t help but glance at the beachgoers down below. He basically said,

“Guys, we found ourselves some action!”

Ter asked, “I wonder if they have any beachside boxing matches here?”

Legend replied, “We’ll know once we’re on the ground and settled.”

Camo looked at a hillside and asked, “Is that it?” The airship was approaching a hillside that had a mansion at the top, the mansion also had a greenhouse and large area that was level enough for the airship to land. Ter looked at the mansion and said,

“That’s where we’re going to be staying for the duration of this vacation.”

Legend spoke, “I can’t believe that the Principals lent us this mansion...it’s so awesome.”

Blaster-Tron spoke, “Commencing landing procedures.” The team got into a seat as they buckled their emergency seatbelts while Blaster-Tron moved the Wings of Freedom to the level area next to the mansion as he guided the airship down to the ground. A bump occurred just as the airship touched the ground as the robot initiated the anchoring system which would keep the rigid airship on the ground. Once everything was done, the airship powered off as the robot spoke,

“Landing successful, you can remove your seatbelts.”

The team unbuckled their belts as they moved from the bridge to the exit ramp near the launch bay. They got out of the ship as they decided to explore the mansion.

The inside of the mansion was huge, it had three floors, a dining room, a kitchen, a rec room, a bathroom with a hot tub bath and shower stalls, a greenhouse, a living room and a garage. Dro found the garage fitting so that he could store a new road vehicle from the airship inside the garage. Ter found the rec room very fitting because he would love to use several punching bags. Spike took a look upstairs to the second and third floor, he saw at least 13 bedrooms for the team and the girls. Spike came across his room which was Traptanium light blue and had a balcony as well. He noticed a case on his bed and a note as he read,

“Spike,

Cadance told us about the attack at Crystal Prep, we were told about the abilities that you possess when you use the gauntlet so we gave you these, just in case. Enjoy your vacation at Equestria Shores!

Principal Celestia”

Spike opened the case and saw several battle crystals as Drago spoke, “I’m guessing that she’s very efficient when it comes to sending you supplies.”

Spike nodded, “I know Drago, these crystals would really give us an edge during battles.”

Drago nodded, “At least you have some time to relax and have a good vacation.”

Spike nodded as he lied on his bed, “It’s going to be a great vacation.”

Author's Note

So...a mini-story involving Echo Squadron taking place on an island in the EQG Universe. I've been working on three chapters of this non-stop. I'll try to upload the second one if I can.

Anyway, enjoy this new mini-story!