The Shadow of Death

Fleetfoot rolled the record player into the Rec Room, eliciting a small cheer from a few of the other Wonderbolts in the room. The Rec Room was set up how it always was, showing how the party was more impromptu than some of the other Wonderbolts expected when they said they'd join, but it didn't need to be.

The Rec Room consisted of several places to sit including couches, chairs, and even bean bags. It also had a small kitchen area with a microwave, coffee maker, a table, and a vending machine. There was also a pool table/Ping Pong table in the corner by the windows, where the snow could be seen picking up intensity.

As Fleetfoot rolled in the record player to get the music playing, she looked around at the current attendees. Rainbow Dash and Soarin were sitting next to each other on one of the couches, Fire Streak and Misty Fly did the same on another couch, Lightning Streak sat on a bean bag chair with Surprise trying to annoy him by dangling a feather over his snout, Spitfire was setting up the ping pong table with Wave Chill, and finally Thunderlane was sitting at a table with his head being held in his hooves with a bored expression. Fleetfoot finally moved the record player into place and turned to the rest of the room.

"Where's Windy?" Fleetfoot asked. Everyone in the room glanced over at her, most of them shrugging.

"I haven't seen her, maybe she decided to just call it an early night rather than deal with us." Spitfire said as she finished setting up the table.

"Uhh!" Lightning Streak suddenly let out a groan that knocked Surprise back onto her plot. "When can we get the real party started!" Lightning whined. Spitfire scoffed.

"Don't worry Lightning, were almost done setting up for you." Fleetfoot said in a mocking tone reminiscent of a mother speaking to her young foal. Lightning frowned at Fleet's tone and sat upright on the bean bag.

"No, I'm talking about the REAL party supplies, the booze and the weed!" Lightning said, glancing over at Wave Chill. "You got the stuff, right man?" Lightning asked.

Wave Chill simply lifted up a small bag containing the "good stuff" and nodded. Spitfire then approached Lightning.

"Well then Lightning, if you want the party to start so soon, then I suggest you go get the booze from the mess hall." Spitfire said, sounding somewhere between a heavy suggestion and an order as captain. Lightning rolled his eyes.

"Uh, why do I have to?" Lightning whined. Spitfire was about to give him an earful for his complaining when Fire Streak stepped in.

"Bro, quit your bellyaching or we're never gonna get this party rolling. Me and Misty will come help." Fire Streak offered.

"Oh, Oh, Can I help too?" Surprise suddenly jumped in. Spitfire nodded.

"The more help, the less time it'll take, now hop to it." Spitfire ordered. With that, The Streak Brothers, Misty Fly and Surprise all left the Rec Room and made their way towards the mess hall. Spitfire turned to the others after they left.

"Alright, now who wants to go and grab the board games from storage?" Spitfire asked. Soarin quickly rose his hoof.

"Me and Dash can grab em for you." Soarin volunteered as he stood up from the couch. Rainbow wanted to protest, but she decided against it, it was just retrieving some board games after all.

The two left the rec room and proceeded down the hall towards the storage area, where most of the Wonderbolt's training gear was stored, but there were also more recreational things stored in there as well.

Soarin and Rainbow Dash walked down the empty halls of the compound, remaining mostly silent throughout their walk apart from the sounds of their hooves clopping against the floor. The two though did share a few quick glances and smiles as they walked.

Rainbow Dash really liked Soarin. After spending all these month dating, the two had grown exceptionally close, though their relationship was rather casual compared to other Wonderbolt couples like Fire Streak and Misty Fly. While Fire and Misty were often seen making out and heavily petting to a degree that the phrase "get a room" was an understatement, Soarin and Rainbow Dash were more casual when they hung out. They only ever made out in private and rarely made public displays of affection.

Eventually, they made it to the gym hallway, which branched off into the different training gyms, and at the end of the hallway stood the storage room. They reached the end of the hall and Soarin quickly opened up the door.

"After you, miss." Soarin gestured, allowing Rainbow to enter first. Rainbow chuckled and stepped inside ahead of him.

From down the hall, the killer watched as Soarin slipped inside after Dash and the storage room door closed. As soon as the door was closed, they began to move down the hall towards the room.

Soarin stepped inside the storage room after Dash and quickly switched on the light, illuminating the room and revealing how messy it is. The room was large and cluttered full of training equipment, extra mattresses up against a wall, boxes upon boxes stacked up, and even more.

"Uh, Spitfire needs to tell the cleaning staff to reorganize this place." Soarin said as he started to look around for the board games. Dash began to look through some of the training equipment, seeing several rings for flight training, spare weight room supplies, etc.

"Board Games? I was expecting a little more." Rainbow suddenly said as Soarin began rummaging around a few unmarked boxes in the corner. Soarin stopped rummaging and turned around.

"Well, what were you expecting? Fleet did say it was just gonna be a low key little party which is a far cry from last year." Soarin retorted, reminding himself and Dash of the post Final Show celebration last year at one of the bars in Manehattan. Rainbow Dash then smirked and walked up to Soarin.

"Yeah, but Fleet did also mention something a little more later.." Dash said, wiggling her eyebrows. Soarin lightly blushed, remembering the awkwardness that ensued after Fleetfoot said it earlier. Soarin felt embarrassed again, but then remembered, he and Dash were alone now.

Soarin reached forward and pulled Dash into an embrace, their muzzles were only inches apart. "Are you suggesting what I think you are Dash?" Soarin asked. Dash giggled.

"Oh, I was just considering it, if you're up for it." Rainbow said with a smile before leaning in and giving Soarin a small peck on the lips.

Soarin was unsure of how to respond to Rainbow's words. They had been together for a while now, but had never gone past making out in private, but were they both ready to take it to the next level? Soarin smiled back at her and let out a laugh.

"You know Dash, I think Considering and Suggesting mean the same thing." Soarin joked. Dash blushed and lightly jabbed Soarin in the gut.

"Oh shut it you." Dash said before attacking his lips again.

The killer silently opened the door to the storage room and entered, then slowly closed the door behind them so to not make noise. They moved slowly into the room, eventually seeing Soarin and Rainbow Dash in the corner of the room, sucking eachother's faces.

The killer wordlessly gagged and took the still unused knife out of the pocket from their suit. They began to creep towards them, hiding behind a few box stacks so that they wouldn't see them.

They got closer and closer, eventually making it to the last stack of boxes that separated them from their prey. They moved to attack, but bumped their hoof against the stack of boxes a little harder than they should have, and the box stack began to tip over.

The Killer quickly turned and rushed out of the room as the boxes fully tipped over.....

*Crash*

Soarin and Dash were snapped violently out of their make out after hearing the loud crash of a stack of boxes falling over behind them. Soarin looked over passed the toppled boxes and saw something zoom out of the room.

"Hey!" Soarin shouted as he flew passed Dash and out into the hallway to give chase to whoever it was. He flew out into the hall, but to his shock, the hall was completely devoid of any movement or evidence that somepony was there. Dash quickly left the room behind Soarin.

"What happened?" Dash asked. Soarin stood dumbfounded at how fast the prankster had fled, but, knowing some of his fellow Wonderbolts, it could've been anypony. He turned back to Dash.

"I think we were just pranked." Soarin said as he shook his head in mild frustration. Dash blushed as the reality dawned on her.

"You mean.....somepony saw us? Just now?" Dash asked. Soarin gave her a slight nod and Dash groaned. "Who do you think it was?" she asked. Soarin put his hoof to his chin for a moment.

"I'm gonna guess Lightning Streak or Thunderlane." Soarin responded. Dash let out an exaggerated exhale and stomped her hoof down.

"Remind me to kick their asses later." Dash said in an annoyed huff. Soarin chuckled.

"Sure, but for now, let's just get the games and get back to the rec room." Soarin said, gesturing back to the storage room. Rainbow nodded and the two went back inside to retrieve what they came for.

The killer was speeding through the halls, hoping that they hadn't been discovered already. Eventually, they found themselves in an empty hallway where they heard the sound of talking. They calmed themselves and crept towards the door where the talking emitted from. The door was slightly ajar. The killer looked up at the plaque next to the door.

It read "Mess Hall."