As the sun rose on the horizon, most of Echo Squadron and their friends were asleep, but the siren, Sonata Dusk, former enemy of the chosen four and number 5 of the squadron had already gotten up and decided to check out the view of the island from the top of the zeppelin’s top cannon. As she watched the sun rise up, she couldn’t help but think about Knight Light again. After hearing that he’s coming to the island, the siren has been excited and anxious in waiting for his arrival. The sunrise reminded the siren of when she blocked and absorbed Luminous’ Sun Beam attack to protect Knight Light. The Trap Master was not only grateful, but he was glad to see that she redeemed herself when she defected from the Doom Raiders.

After dwelling on that little memory, she went down into the zeppelin and into the hangar where several of their aircraft were stored. Why was she in the hangar at sunrise? She was there to check out another new prototype craft that Dro was working on. She knew for certain that Dro has been conducting a series of two-hour morning projects to which he naps for a least fifteen minutes a day. Those naps make him fully focused for designing a new aircraft.

It was Dro’s technique of working in the early morning hours which produced the new XFA-24a Apalis. The next craft that the technique produced was a switchblade stealth aircraft like the Talon. But instead of closing the aircraft’s fuselage, the forward-swept-wings were stored inside the inner wings of the craft.

Sonata knew that the new aircraft that she came to see was the ‘Wyvern’ It was almost like the Talon, but it was a lot more smoother and looked more like a standard fighter jet than the Talon. But if it flies, it’s good as any aircraft is. As she approached the stealth aircraft, she couldn’t help but feel excited to fly it. Ever since Dro started, she has taken a liking to the prototype craft, Dro always caught her staring at the blueprints all the time. Shaking off the memory, the siren reached her hand out and tapped the inactive prototype on the nose before sliding her alongside the craft’s fuselage before stopping at the air intake. She said,

“One day, I’ll take you up for a small flight around the island.”

She studied the craft as she walked around to check out it’s features, including the thrust-vectoring nozzles on the back of the craft. The wings of the craft are what caused Sonata to think of Knight Light once again. Although they were open, seeing those wings reminded her of the Trap Master. But she shook it off and left the hangar and the airship.

The team was now settled in the dining room having breakfast and yes Donkey Kong has joined them for breakfast as well. The idea of having a large ape sitting at the table with the EQGs were kind of bizarre to say the least. But ever since Ter defeated him last night, DK decided to join them for the duration of the vacation. DK was sitting next to Ter and Applejack as the ape noticed them looking a little messed up. The ape knew what happened as he ooked something to the couple which was only translated by Camo,

“He’s saying that he heard you two rocking the shed like a bunch of kremlings on a heat rush, last night. He figured that you two were celebrating the victory.”

The couple blushed as Ter noticed Camo chuckling after he translated it. Although Camo was his de-facto brother, that didn’t stop Ter from grabbing him over the table and tossing him towards a wall. The impact didn’t come as Camo summoned a leaf to bounce back. Camo asked,

“Hey! What was that for?!” Ter replied, “Just to let off the embarrassing effect from your translation.”

Camo raised an eyebrow, “Just for that?” Ter added, “And for sneaking a watermelon into my drawers.”

Camo shrugged, “Well I kind of deserved that.” Twilight asked, “Was that really necessary?”

Legend spoke, “When Camo starts to prank Ter, he always hurls him into something as payback.”

Fluttershy muttered, “As...as long it isn’t a...sword?”

Dro stated, “Ter’s cold, but not that cold. And besides, Aunt Luna wouldn’t approve if something happened to Camo.”

Ter shrugged, “Mom would probably do that and it’s best not to get on her bad side as well as Aunt Celestia’s.”

Indigo recognized those names and how the four refer to them and asked, “The Principals of CHS are your mothers?!”

Legend added, “Yeah, we were adopted after the creation event. Celestia got me and Dro while Luna got Ter and Camo.”

Dro added, “This mansion serves as their summer home for when they come here for a vacation.”

Lemon asked, “And they lent it to you?” Legend nodded, “That they did.”

Voodood asked, “I would like to ask of your plans for the day.”

LT spoke, “Pinkie and I are going to go hang out at the beach.”

Rainbow asked, “Anything Spy?” Legend replied, “I’m going to test out the Apalis for a little while. To see if it’s up and ready for combat should the need arise.”

Ter decided to speak of his plans, “AJ and I are just going to the beach as well. Hit a few punching bags, spar a little and such.” Donkey Kong ooked in confusion as Fluttershy translated,

“He’s asking if he can be Ter’s sparring partner.”

AJ looked at the big ape, “Sure ya can, DK. Ya were already a challenge for him last night.”

Camo soon asked Sonata, “Did you hear anything from Knight Light yet?”

The siren replied, “Well, not really. All he said in the note was ‘when the music calls at dusk, its patrons dance in this building.’ It was all that he said.”

Dro spoke, “It looks like a riddle.” Sonata noticed again and realized, “You’re right! Knight Light won’t show himself until I’m at the building where music calls tonight.”

Pinkie noticed something, “I feel a bit of exposition from that last one since the chapter barely started.”

Twilight was about to ask but decided not to because it was just Pinkie being Pinkie. Spike decided,

“I think I’ll take the Talon up for a spin.”

Rarity noticed, “But...Spike what if you…” Spike caught her, “What if I crash? That depends if there’s a problem with my craft. If there is and I can’t get back to the ship, I’ll drop my plane into the ocean and eject.”

Dro spoke, “A problem wouldn’t happen since I worked on that plane myself.”

Blaster-Tron approached while holding an oil can, “Analysis on aircraft including Wyvern prototype confirmed that no problems would occur during flight. Should I prepare the ship’s launch system for aircraft launch?”

Dro shook his head, “After breakfast, Blaster. Most of us still have a little bit of sleep in our eyes. None of us wants to launch in a drowsy state.”

The robot nodded as he took a seat next to Dro and Spitfire, “As you wish.” The robot open a compartment in his chest as he dumped the oil into it. After he closed it, Dro asked the robot, “Ever feel like you want to be on the ground to fight our enemies?”

Blaster-Tron nodded, “Working in an airship, controlling every aspect of it gets boring when you are used to it. I have already studied several forms of sword fighting, even fashioned a sword of my own.”

Twilight was impressed by the robot, “You want to fight with the Skylanders?” The robot nodded, “I was built by Drobot to fight and work in the company of others.”

Dro shrugged, “Guilty as charged.” Indigo asked in shock, “You built it?!”

Spitfire answered for the mechanic, “When he and the team were sent 10 years into the future in a war-torn Skylands. Dro used the supplies to build Blaster-Tron, he’s not just a robot, he’s also our friend.”

The crystal prep girl was taken aback, “Time Travel...that exists in Skylands?” But she realized, “Wait, I don’t wanna know.”

Spike added, “Good choice.”

As the group continued to eat breakfast and chat about, Rarity and Lemon were whispering something to each other which Spike didn’t notice. Soon enough after a few laughs and the morning appetite out of the way, Dro and Spike cleaned up after breakfast as Legend asked the group,

“You guys want to see us in flight?”

Rainbow spoke, “We haven’t seen you guys in flight since you passed by the ship that brought us to the island.”

Ter stepped in, “It will be good to get back into my White Shark once again.”

Camo chuckled, “I would love to hop into my Raptor and take it for a spin.”

Dro and Spike stepped out of the kitchen as the two agreed to jump back into the cockpit of their fighters once more. The others agreed to watch them perform in the skies as the team went outside towards the zeppelin. But as they were approaching the zep, Sonata looked over to Dro and asked,

“Is the Wyvern ready?”

The mechanic nodded as he said, “The X-02 is fully functional since the engine test I did early this morning.”

Sonata smiled knowing that it’s ready to fly.

As the team entered the airlock with Blaster-Tron in tow, the door closed as a beam started to scan them and a robotic female voice spoke,

“Stand-by...Scanning In Progress.”

The beam moved up and down as the same spiel was heard until the computer spoke as a red light flashed,

“Alert: Unauthorized visitors in airlock. Presence of Echo Squadron confirmed.” The computer’s voice was directed to Legend, “Should I add your guests to the Authorized List, Captain?”

The others, except for the squadron and XO asked in shock, “CAPTAIN?!”

Legend replied, “You can add them in. These are our friends.”

The computer complied with his order, “Guests now authorized, Welcome to the Airship Wings of Freedom.”

The door opened as there were several signs on the intersection of the ship. Rarity noticed,

“I see that you fixed this place up.” Spike replied, “We never did like the ‘Airborne Kitchen’ look. That’s why we did a major improvement from launch bays, landing bays, a new rigid frame and envelope.”

Rainbow asked, “But you guys acquired this blimp back in Skylands. How did you get it to cross into our world?”

Dro spoke up with a smile, “The amazing power of the Rift Drive, Dash.”

Twilight asked, “The Rift Drive?” Dro described the drive, “A more complex version of the Rift Engine that was in our Gyrocopters. The drive can not only power up a large ship like the Zeppelin, but also possesses the ability for cross-dimensional travel.” He laughed, “You girls should've seen the look on your faces when we passed over you!”

Legend joined in the chuckling for a few seconds as the girls blushed in embarrassment, mostly Rainbow Dash because she made the bet in the first place. Until he decided to get down to business, “Okay, you guys follow Blaster-Tron to the bridge. We’re going to get ready for launch.”

Soon enough, the six members of the squadron separated from the group and ran down the hallways towards the chutes to the launch bay while the others continued on towards the bridge.

As the six members of the squadron ran down the hallway of the zeppelin towards the launch bay, Sonata spoke,

“Finally, a chance to test out that Wyvern!”

Ter smiled, “A chance to get back up into the air after a while. My White Shark is hungry for some fresh air since we first got here.”

Dro stated, “Although, I would say something about my Lone Eagle, but Spitfire made a two-seater variant of it when I was planning for a morning flight the other day.”

Camo nodded, “A couple of minutes in my Raptor won’t kill me when flying in a clear sky.”

Spike chuckled, “And I took my Talon out for a spin yesterday.”

Legend understood, “It would be a good chance for me to try out the Apalis!”

Dro hoped, “Let’s hope that they reached the bridge so Blaster-Tron could initiate the launch sequence.”

Soon enough, the team had reached the chutes that led to the launch bay as they waited for the control panels to power up. After a few short minutes, the panels activated and the image of each aircraft appeared on each control panel. After seeing the selection panels online, the team chose their respective aircrafts while the transferring process from hanger to launch bay started. It lasted for a minute until the panels went green and the chutes opened. Legend spoke,

“Let’s go!” The six members jumped into their chutes as they slid down into the launch bay where their aircrafts were waiting.

Legend landed in his Apalis perfectly.
Dro landed perfectly into the cockpit of his Lone Eagle.
Ter landed in his White Shark as well.
Camo nearly landed head-first, but his vine whip flipped him over as he landed feet-first into his Raptor.
Sonata popped out from the chute and landed into the cockpit of her new Wyvern.
Spike did a front-flip before dropping into the cockpit of his Talon.

The canopy of each plane closed as they powered on their fighters. Legend spoke,

“Communications line - Green!” He soon contacted his wingmen, “All wings report in.”

Dro called out, “Echo 2 standing by!”
Ter called, “Echo 3 standing by!”
Camo spoke, “Echo 4 standing by!”
Sonata said, “Echo 5 standing by!”
Spike finished, “Echo 6 standing by!”

Legend soon called the bridge, “Echo 1 to bridge, we’re all checked and ready for launch.”

Spitfire said over the radio, “And not a moment too soon. We just spotted a huge blip on the radar. It’s moving out to sea.”

Ter sighed, “It’s probably one of those island pilots that would fly for sport, The Pilotwings, right?”

Legend replied, “We’ll find out once we get up there.”

Soon enough, steam began to emit from the launch rail as Blaster-Tron spoke, “Launch Rail engaged. Catapult system in the green zone.”

Soon enough, the barriers rose up as the engines of all six planes fired up. Spitfire knew it was time as she said,

“Launch all fighters!” The planes soon shot forward, starting with the Apalis and ending with the Talon. The planes left the launch bay as all six craft cleared the airship and pulled up into the wide open sky. It was all observed the occupants of the airship’s bridge which were in shock and awe...Pinkie Pie’s jaw actually dropped off of her face while LT’s tongue rolled out like a red carpet.

Spitfire soon handed the group a couple of headsets, “These will let you contact them as soon as Blaster-Tron connects them to the ship.”

The group took the headsets as they were handed out.

In the skies, all six aircraft were in a delta formation as Legend ordered,

“Okay guys, before we launched we got word of an object of unknown origin heading out to sea. We need to intercept this object and force it to land for identification.” The leader of the squadron soon thought of a backup scenario, “If the target is just one of the Pilotwings, we’ll rule it out as a false alarm.”

The radar picked up the blip on the radar as they moved eastward out to sea. The six fighters soon reached the area where the unknown was going. At first, there was nothing until they spotted a small aircraft flying eastward. Spike asked,

“Is this our unknown?”

Legend replied, “It is, but it looks like a regular Pilotwings aircraft.” It wasn’t until Sonata called out, “Guys, I noticed something familiar about the pilot!” After she said that, the aircraft turned around as it made it’s way towards the squadron. More specifically, it was heading for Sonata’s Wyvern as the squadron scattered while the siren turned away from the craft as they both passed at a knife’s edge. The squadron formed up as the unknown craft flew downwards towards the beach.

Legend called the aircraft, “Unknown Aircraft, who are you?”

There was no response from the craft until a light began to flash from the cockpit. Dro recognized the flashing light,

“It’s a Signal Light!” He recognized the pattern of the light as he translated,

“SEE…” The plane flashed another set of lights as the mechanic translated, “YOU…”

The plane flashed the last set of lights as Dro translated, “TONIGHT.”

Sonata realized in a mixture of shock and joy, “It’s him! He’s here!” The siren was excited besides hearing those messages and passing by the aircraft at a knife’s edge, she knew for certain that it would be him.

The aircraft banked away from the squadron as it vanished into the blinding rays of the sun. Legend nodded as he smiled, “We’ll be looking forward for tonight…”

He saw the beachgoers down by the shore of the island as he said, “All right guys, let’s give the beachgoers a little show. Camo, Spike, Sonata, Open the wings!”

With that being said, the YV-21, X-02 and F/A-37 opened the wings as the swing wing and switchblades maintained formation with the rest before the six aircraft made a dive towards the water before pulling up at the last second causing water to spray as the aircraft skimmed along the water towards the beach.

Onboard the Wings of Freedom, Spitfire was overlooking the status of each member of the squadron. She sighed in relief knowing that the unknown aircraft was an old friend from Skylands. But she knew that each member of Echo Squadron performed great as they decided to give the beachgoers a show.

She heard Blaster-Tron speak at the comm when a request was made, “Connecting communication with Rainbow Dash, Echo 1.”

She heard the amazed tone of RD as the athlete watched the many stunts that he performed in the Apalis. For example, Legend and Ter did a stunt called ‘Playing Chicken’ as the two fighters turned towards each other. RD watched the footage from the Zeppelin’s external camera with Applejack joining her as it almost looked like the two craft would collide with each other. Until at the last minute, both aircraft turned away from each other as they passed each other at a knife’s edge. The XFA-24 did an hammerhead after passing by the F6E causing the two girls to sigh in relief and amazement.

Rainbow said, “Those are awesome aces.”

AJ nodded, “Those two are like a dynamic duo. They always do things side-by-side.”

At another monitor, Rarity and Twilight were monitoring the status of Spike’s plane as his and Sonata’s X-02 flew in formation until both aircraft did a double aileron roll where they both did an aileron roll at the same time. After the roll, both aircraft separated. After the stunt, a beeping sound occurred in Rarity’s headset, signalling a comm link. After the link was established, Spike’s voice spoke,

“Echo 6 to Rare Jewel, come in Rare Jewel.”

Rarity replied, “Now is that any way to greet a lady?”

Spike answered, “I guess not, but you can’t be too careful. But it’s good to see that connection is established.”

Rarity noticed, “That little trick you did was almost crazy.” Spike stated, “Only in the cockpit, Rare. Only in the cockpit.”

Rarity chuckled, “I’ll be monitoring your progress, Spikey.”

Spike nodded, “I’ll see you when we land, Rare. Echo 6 out.”

At another terminal, Fluttershy was monitoring Camo’s progress as she began to ponder the events that happened. Ever since this vacation started, she’s been having some feelings towards Camo. Not emotional, but physical feelings towards him. She’s been like this ever since she caught Camo getting out of the shower early this morning and had got a nice look at his corpus. If that wasn’t enough of shocking the gardener of the team, she found a magazine on the Wings of Freedom’s bridge which displayed explicit photos. It was behind where Camo would usually take a nap, she suspected that it would belong to him.

Although there was a section that got her curious about him pleasing her. But before she could delve deeper into her find, a beeping sound indicating connection establishment as she heard Camo’s voice,

“Fluttershy, can you hear me?”

Fluttershy spoke, “Oh...um - Y - yes, I hear you.”

Camo replied, “It’s good to hear your voice, Shy. We’re just about done with our flight and some of the beachgoers down there are quite amazed by us.”

She asked, “So you're coming back?”

Camo paused for a moment as he heard a transmission from Legend before saying, “Yes, Echo Squadron is coming home.”

As the information was being said, the group left the bridge to head for the docking bay while guided by Spitfire of course. Upon entering the docking bay, the six fighters have already prepared landing check, Spitfire guided the six planes down. One by one each plane landed onto the runway before catching the arrester cable which slowed them to a stop before parking the planes. Once all six fighters have landed and parked, the engines shut down as the six members of Echo Squadron left their planes.

After that, the planes were lowered into the hanger via elevator. The six members were walking towards their friends with smiles on their faces knowing that they had a good time in the air. Spitfire approached and said,

“Welcome back, guys.”

Legend nodded, “Likewise Spitfire.”

Spike spoke, “We found the unknown aircraft and it transmitted a message via signal light.”

Spitfire replied, “We heard the message...so I guess you six better get ready for tonight.”

Sonata spoke, “It’s mostly my time to shine, but it never hurts to have the others act as my wingmen.”

Legend added, “Even if it’s only briefly…” Sonata understood, “Right, Monster Movie Night.”

So the day went on as it normally went, the group of a friends either went to the beach, went out to lunch, spent time with their lovers while Donkey Kong swung in the trees and ate bananas that didn’t come from the airship’s fruit storage. It wasn’t long until the warm sun began to set which meant that the squadron needed to get ready to meet up with their friend.

The rendezvous was at a local dance club near the hill leading to the mansion, so it was a short walk there. Although the five had arrived at the dance club early, there was no sign of Sonata, which made Spike wonder as he sat at a barstool,

“I would’ve expected Sonata to meet us here.”

Ter nodded, “Yeah, that’s right.”

Legend stated, “Sonata would always do some things in order to ensure that she’s ready.”

Camo added, “But is it strange enough that she left before us?”

Ter asked, “You think she went to the wrong place?” Dro decided to join in as he shook his head, “Unlikely. This is the only dance club on the island, we all did our homework on the sites of the island, remember?”

While the members of the squadron were talking about Sonata’s absence, they were unaware of a figure concealed by the shadowed areas making his way into the DJ Booth. The DJ, who was the EQG Vinyl Scratch listened to what the figure requested, although she was hesitant of this request until the figure made it worth her while. She understood clearly as she went through the various records and pulled one out. It was a little dusty so she blew the dust off and placed it on the record player.

As the five members were conversing, a funky groove caught their attention as well as the other patrons of the dance club as a disco ball appeared. Soon enough, the figure from the shadows showed himself in a white 70’s style outfit with a bit of lavender for the inner shirt. The figure wore a familiar white helmet with blue eyes and wings folded down on his back. Spike noticed,

“That’s Knight Light!”

Legend realized, “But if Knight Light is here…”

Camo asked, “Where’s Sonata?”

Ter asked, “What’s going on?”

Dro looked to his right and his eyes widen as he got the attention of the other four as he said, “You guys might want to see this.”

The four turned to Dro’s direction as they soon stood in awe at what they saw. They saw Sonata in a 70’s style outfit which matched her original outfit at least the colors do. Her outfit had sweats and a strapless shirt. The boys saw that her hair wasn’t in a ponytail as it drooped down to her shoulders. The boys soon saw the reactions of the other patrons of the dance club.

Already, their jaws started to drop in awe of Sonata. Even Vinyl lifted her glasses to see if she was seeing things. Even Knight Light himself got a reaction as his wings sprouted open as they did a few small flaps. Sonata then gestured the Light Trap Master to come to her which he got the motion as they started to do a few disco moves. All the while, the lyrics of the song played,

“Let’s show the world we can dance.”

Knight Light and Sonata were in a brief disco tango when some patrons started to dance,

“Bad enough to strut our stuff!
The music gives us a chance!”

The two separated as the siren spun while Knight Light did several drop moves,

“We do more out on the floor!
Groovin’ loose, or heart to heart.
We put in motion, every single part!”

The patrons soon started to dance while Spike was actually getting into the groove while Camo was fully into the groove as the human Trap Master smiled and said,

“When he said to find him, he never expected Sonata to be into this. But she’s having too much fun with her boyfriend!”

Camo cheered, “WOOO!!! ALL RIGHT!”

The dance floor soon went into full strobe light mode as Sonata danced which made her look like she was teleporting. The song continued,

“Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing
Yeah Yeah!”

The spotlight shined on her as she looked up, holding her arm straight up. Meanwhile, Knight Light soared through the air and landed with legs spread apart, breakdanced for a bit before doing a backflip, curling into a ball before spinning himself around for a few times,

“Show em’ how we do it now!
Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing
Yeah yeah!”

Ter was doing some dancing as well as he gave the Light Trap Master a thumbs up before Knight Light took him by the thumb, spun him around as the muscle cheered,

“WAHOO!!” He did a few shuffles until dancing again before doing the disco pose. Apparently, he soon drew out a crowd as they followed his moves while Sonata and Knight Light spun around while holding hands in front of Ter’s group. The lyrics continued,

“There’s nothing more that
I’d like to do
Than take the floor and
Dance with you
Keep dancing
Let’s keep dancing!”

Apparently the night was going on very great as everyone was having a blast with this disco music.

After that whole dance, the group were outside the club with Knight Light and Sonata as Spike complimented,

“That was excellent! You guys really got us in the groove.”

Knight Light nodded, “It was just something I got into. Chill Bill and Broccoli Guy actually played 70s music on their station.”

Sonata reminded them, "Despite me being the youngest of the Dazzlings, we're actually decades older than we look and I have a secret love for 70s music."

Legend knew she would say that since sirens have a long lifespan. He soon looked at the Trap Master and realized, “So it was you that showed up on our radar.”

Knight Light chuckled, “Guilty as charged.”

Ter chuckled, “You really surprised us, Knight.”

Knight Light replied, “I’m surprised that you became the boxing champion on this island.”

Ter raised an eyebrow, “Sonata told you about that?”

Sonata spoke for herself, “Just wanted to keep him caught up on current events.”

Camo spoke, “We also have an ape living with us now. So be careful around him in case you run into him.”

Knight Light nodded, “That is nice, but right now Sonata is taking me somewhere to get a good view of the ocean.”

The couple turned to leave as Legend spoke, “See ya back at the mansion, guys!” The five waved as the couple waved and left.

Legend soon looked at the rest of the team and smiled, “Boys, let's go watch some monster movies!”

They cheered as they now know that after this, they would spend their night watching monster movies for the night. The five soon ran at full speed to the mansion to get this monster movie night started.

Author's Note

Finally after meeting up with Knight Light and a surprising disco number from Sonata, the five male members of Echo Squadron could enjoy a monster movie night like they planned.

But unknown to them, a devious plan was in the midst of this night and it involved Spike. See you around!