Fallen Eagle

Chapter 36: Last Chance!

Okay guys. I hate doing this, but I was originally planning to have the entire vacation in this chapter but I had a good reason to not do that. Once again, College, College, College. I never meant for this chapter to take as long as the last chapter to be written and published, but it would have been longer than that if I kept the whole vacation in this one chapter, and I hate making you guys wait. But I can promise you guys that once I get this chapter up, I'll be burning my ass to get the vacation done because A) It's going to be a fun and hilarious thrill ride and B) after this chapter is when 'Do Princesses dream of Magic Sheep' officially enters the Fallen Eagle universe and I have a TON of fun ideas for that chapter.

Guess what? We have some returning OCs in this chapter! Coming all the way on loan from Sassymouse's epic comedic and dramatic masterpiece known as Dashing and Soaring, please welcome back, well you'll find out. The only OCs I own are obviously Ivan and the front desk mare for the Maredalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

OBSERVER01: I don't think a Hangover parody will happen, especially since I haven't seen any of the trilogy.

Sassymouse: The apology was the heart of the chapter. If that failed, then the chapter would've been an empty husk of nothingness. As for those 'knotty' things in your tummy, those are good enough for me to be tears! I was watching the episode with the cake on the train and I thought it'd be funny to reference it here and have Rarity be overdramatic as if she'd cheated at a Poker game or something. And I just realized that I never credited you for how Surprise and Lyra met. It was your idea first! There's your credit ;P And moving in is just one step closer to that altar! Although Rainbow seems like the 'No Stallion is gonna tie me down!' type of mare.

Random Guy: Thanks for the encouragement bro :)

EnderBlazeHybrid: Sorry about that, but thanks to movies like The Shawshank Redemption, I crave character and plot development. But fear not! These next few chapters feature comedy and action!

Killer Wow: Oh come now Shadow Twister, I could just stop writing...but I won't do that to Killer.

adhdluke: I know, it's SOOOOO much work! ;P As for the Quesadilla joke, near the end of Party Pooped, Pinkie's file on Twilight stated that she was afraid of Quesadillas.

SkullCrusher550: Hey, nice new name! I'll update as often as I can

The Sleeping Library: Hearing that your own work has inspired others to write their own stories really sends a warm feeling through your heart. Thank you and your story is awesome as well!

theflammablefiredragon: I guess I could even though I've never played a Fallout game before in my life. You and Sassy are starting to scare me... I, I promise I'll try out Fallout 4! Just don't kill me! NOOOOOOO!

Dixie Darlin: I wanted the apology not only sound original, but to actually sound natural. A simple, "I'm sorry, what I did was wrong," just doesn't cut it. I've been bottling up those announcements ever since I started writing this story :) As for Big Mac, that was a callback to Pinkie Apple Pie where Granny Smith kept interrupting Big Mac when he tried to talk.

Also, thank you guys so much for not only getting this story to 140 favorites and 160 followers, but we've surpassed 63,000 views and 350 reviews! Congrats to EnderBlazeHybrid for being number 350! As of now, only 44 reviews remain for that oh so coveted 400th review. Can we do this people?

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(Train Car En Route to Las Pegasus. Ivan's POV)

All of us had waited underneath the Apple family table until Pinkie Pie had finally calmed down from her party planning overload. Naturally, Twilight had been correct in the that it only took about ten to fifteen minutes before it was safe to emerge from our makeshift 'bunker' and resume eating. To be honest, I was hoping for maybe a few more surprise announcements from anybody, but alas it didn't happen, and we just ate and enjoyed each other's company for the remainder of the day while talking about possible activities we could do in Las Pegasus before the nighttime air show that Soarin, Rainbow and the rest of the 'Bolts were putting on.

What most of us really waited for was Twilight to come up with a brochure, travel guide or pamphlet of things to do in the town that involved both gambling and non-gambling events. Yet crazily enough, all she did was take into consideration things that the majority of everyone else wanted to do. The best I could guess was that she was already trying to lower her want for perfection by waiting to get there and deciding on what her course of action would be. The purple alicorn did tell us that she'd look into what time check-in for the hotel was so we could make the necessary train arrangements to get there as early as possible to enjoy a whole day leading up to the air show.

And so, over the next few days, we'd meet up at the castle and discuss about what we would need to pack or if we could think of any shows we wanted to see and gather up the proper amount of bits to pay for said shows. As excited as I was, Applejack was pretty excited herself about being able to go on a mini-vacation with her friends and me. Now, we were all on the train that was taking us to our destination, even if we had to wake up at 5:00 A.M. According to Twilight, the trip by train would be about four hours, a perfect chance to get back to sleep and recharge for our busy day.

"Ladies and Gentlecolts, we should be arriving in our destination of Las Pegasus, Neighvada in about ten minutes. To repeat, we are close to reaching our destination. Please gather up any of your personal belongings and any garbage you may have accumulated on our four hour train ride," the conductor announced over the intercom.

"Hmm?" I stirred as my eyes opened and closed about as quickly as a humming bird flapped its wings. My blurry vision only allowed me to make out a fat, purple blob on the seat across from myself and Applejack. I had chosen the corner seat next to the window so I would have something to lean on and catch some more sleep while my girlfriend snuggled up close to me, nuzzling my neck with her cheek. My left arm lifted itself off AJ's back and rubbed my eyes until the sight returned to normal, making the fat purple blob turn into Twilight and Spike.

"Good morning, Cougar," the alicorn greeted me with a smile.

"Morning," I replied with a yawn and started scratching Applejack's back. It was cute that her rear leg would jolt a little when I would scratch in the right spot. "I take it you were too excited to go back to sleep?" Twilight had taken the same course of action I had, using the wall for support so Spike could cuddle with her. Her right wing was wrapped around his scaly body like a blanket as he rubbed his cheek against Twilight's shoulder.

"You bet," Twilight grinned, "I've never been to Las Pegasus before; how could I sleep when there are literally a million things we can do?" She gushed, looking out the window. The last thing I remembered seeing before I succumbed to sleep on the train was the beginning of what Applejack explained to me was the Marejave Desert. Off in the distance, however, I could spot the growing hotels and casinos of the gambling town, making me feel like a kid who was oh so close to DisneyLand and was ready to rip apart anyone that stood in his way.

"Are you hoping that Spike will want to spend the day with you?" I questioned, adjusting my seat a little bit to get some blood flowing into my back. "I mean, you obviously know how he feels about Rarity, what if he wants to hang out with her all day?" Twilight's face seemed to fall a little as she turned her gaze to the sleeping dragon cuddling against her. She then smiled and pulled him closer with her wing.

"Well, he's not a baby dragon anymore," Twilight explained. "He's mature enough to make his own decisions, so if he chooses to go with Rarity today, I'll accept it and won't force him to go with me." Spike then subconsciously moved his arm up and placed his hand on Twilight's shoulder. I couldn't help but smile and chuckled at the display before me.

"You know, Twilight, I don't mean to sound condescending here, but you've grown a lot in the past three months," I said, continuing to watch her and Spike whilst scratching Applejack's back. Twilight looked up from Spike with a confused expression on her face. "By that I mean you didn't make Spike feel overwhelmed or stressed when he grew at the Gala by piling on what would be different about him and how other ponies would perceive him. Instead you just took the motherly route and made him feel comfortable and loved." The purple princess then nodded in understanding, softening her expression.

"Of course I did. I spent seventeen years treating him as just an assistant or a little brother even though I was the one who hatched him and was the first one he saw. That technically made me his mother and I did nothing of the sort because of my studies for Celestia," Twilight sighed. "Now I'm trying to take advantage of every opportunity to be there for him as a mother," she added, lightly kissing his cheek and making him stir.

"And how long do dragons live for?" I asked.

"We know very little about dragons, Cougar," Twilight replied, "but we do know they can live to be a few thousand years old and he'll be this size for a couple hundred years before he grows again," she explained. "Why do you ask?"

"Don't you see? What's seventeen years compared to the couple thousand you two have?" I explained. "You have plenty of opportunities to spend time with him as mother and son, especially today."

"Actually, I'm not immortal like the other princesses," the alicorn explained. I was transformed into an alicorn and not naturally born an alicorn. But that makes me feel a little better about this," Twilight answered, "thank you, Cougar," she nuzzled Spike again. Applejack stirred next to me, making me think she was about to wake up. Yet all she did was groan a little and smack her lips before resuming her sleeping position. "And that actually reminds me of what I've been wanting to know about humans, if it's okay?" she asked with a pleading smile.

"Go on ahead," I gestured, "I think you've earned a question or two" I gave Twilight a sly wink.

"How long does your species live for?" She asked. "You just recently turned twenty-four; is that the halfway point of your lifespan or a quarter of your lifespan?" Twilight pressed on like the scholar she was. Her question did sort of catch me by surprise despite the sneaking suspicion she was about to ask it anyway. The thought of my age had rarely come across my mind. I'd stared death in the face many times in the sky and more recently spat in his face and gave him the finger after surviving an engine explosion and crossing dimensions.

"Last I could remember the average human could live to be in their mid 80s while a healthy human could easily live into their 90s," I replied. "And if they were really healthy or really lucky, they could live to be about 105," Twilight nodded her head slowly as her brain absorbed the newfound information.

"Really?" She asked in a 'that's interesting' tone. "I'm guessing you'll live to be in your late 90s easily with your, if I may say so, well toned and taken care of body," a tiny blush surfaced on her cheeks. A blush on her face surprised me since I rarely saw her do it even with Flash Sentry around her. And while I didn't have the heart that Bon Bon had to tell her, Flash was practically an uninteresting cardboard cutout with little personality. He was nice, I'll give him that, but he wouldn't be a guy I'd invite to play poker with.

"It's no trouble," I assured her for the compliment. "That's what the military helps with." Just as I said that, Applejack's hoof rubbed lightly against my bicep before stopping near my shoulder. I softly placed my hand on top of her hoof and squeezed. "Twilight?" I asked.

"Yes, Cougar?" Twilight seemed to gush at the display.

"How long do regular ponies live for?" I questioned. Twilight's facial reaction pretty much told me the answer. Her eyes widened, but she shifted her gaze from me out to the window where the city was growing larger as we approached. Knowing that her answer probably wasn't going to make me feel good, I still pressed on; I had to know. "Twilight, just please tell me," I requested.

"A-are you sure about this, Cougar?" She replied with her own question. My cold stare was all she needed as encouragement to move forward. "Well, Granny Smith is a good example of this," Twilight started, "regular ponies can live to be 150-200 years old, so-" she couldn't finish her sentence; neither could I. Both of us knew what we were thinking, and we decided to end that conversation there.

"So, have you thought about what to do in Las Pegasus after we check in to the hotel?" I changed the subject to a more cheery one. Twilight's smile reappeared on her face and she seemed really excited about the question. Unfortunately for her, there was a loud screeching noise and we both lurched a bit in our sits as the speed of the train decreased.

"Oh, we're here already," Twilight looked at a tiny clock in our little compartment. "I guess I'll just save my plans as a surprise," she grinned happily. The loud screeching of metal wheels on a metal track awakened the two still asleep occupants of our compartment. Applejack's emerald eyes opened up and looked around before an orange hoof cleared up her vision. When her gaze landed upon myself, she removed her head from under my neck with a comforted smile.

"Mornin' Sugarcube," Applejack lightly planted her lips on mine. Without a second thought, I moved my other arm around her back and hugged the mare, pulling her closer into the morning kiss. Getting to kiss the mare I love after waking up definitely made mornings more fun than before. Now if I could kiss her and then go off and fly my jet or go fishing, I'd get to have the perfect morning every day for the rest of my life.

"Morning AJ," I replied, taking a quick breath from the kiss before resuming.

"Show offs," Spike rolled his tired eyes from across the way as he stood up to stretch.

"Spike..." Twilight began to scold the dragon in her 'be nice' voice. Applejack and I separated our lips to let her get up and copy Spike's movements. The mare cricked her muscles and bones all around, sighing in relief after being stuck in that position for a few hours.

"Did y'all sleep good?" Applejack asked after finally loosening up her muscles enough.

"Well, I didn't really sleep," Twilight admitted, "I was just too excited to finally visit Las Pegasus and choose dozens of potential trip activities to spend my day," she explained. "Though you all seemed to sleep peacefully, especially you, Spike," Twilight snuck a quick hug to her son.

"What can Ah say?" AJ playfully smacked my leg, "Ivan may be all muscle, but he's soft as a bale 'o hay," she teased and grabbed her cowgirl hat from the seat. Twilight levitated her overnight bag from the overhead compartment as Spike grabbed his own and I grabbed both mine and Applejack's. I couldn't stand up all the way though or else I'd get a permanent kink in my neck. Having to bend my knees constantly on trains wasn't very fun.

"You guys know I was joking, right?" Spike questioned, taking Twilight's bag from her to carry it for her. Applejack, Twilight and I nodded when suddenly a pink blur appeared in front of the door to our compartment. The figure then began to knock on said door like a jackhammer on concrete.

"COME ON GUYS!" Pinkie shrieked, "LAS PEGASUS IS CALLING OUR NAMES!" The door broke down and Pinkie slipped behind us, only to start pushing us out of the compartment and off the train.

"Easy Pinkie!" I exclaimed, "I don't think the city is going anywhere anytime soon," I tried with all my might to plant my feet solidly to the ground. But Pinkie had the strength of a bulldozer when she needed it and kept pushing us. Steam from the train blocked our vision as we stepped off and onto the platform. Not being able to see, Pinkie missed the first step and face planted into the concrete, yet she got right back up as if nothing had happened with a suitcase that appeared from nowhere. Just like a Las Vegas morning I remembered as an early teen, the sun was slowly raising in a bright blue sky with little to no clouds in sight.

"Hey guys," Soarin yawned as the steam cleared. A sleeping Rainbow Dash was on his back, snoring away and kicking her hind leg every few seconds. "Here she is, Las Pegasus just like I promised!" the stallion Pegasus announced, gesturing upwards. We craned our necks up to see the tops of hotels and casinos from behind the train station. At least that's what I could see; I didn't know if the rest of them could see at least what I saw.

"Boy am Ah glad ta get off that train!" Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle bounded off the locomotive happily and began to trot around.

"Sweetie Belle, that's no way for a young mare to behave in public," Rarity gracefully stepped off the train, shaking her mane free of bed head until it returned to its posh look. Since it was a gambling town, I mentally bet that Spike would offer to take Rarity's bag and carry it to the hotel, and I would've lost the bet.

"We're here for one night!" I blurted. "What in the hell do you need twelve bags for?" I questioned as Spike took half, now having eight bags along with his and Twilight's. Rarity scoffed and trotted up close to me.

"We'll see who's laughing when you don't have enough room for souvenirs!" She sang and gave five other bags to Sweetie Belle. Soon enough, Fluttershy, Lyra and Bon Bon arrived with their luggage, ready to head into the city and to our hotel. Fluttershy seemed a little nervous, (more so than usual) so I offered to have her walk in between AJ and myself.

"Oh boy, I can't wait to go see our hotel!" Bon Bon said excitedly, clapping her hooves together as she tightened a strap on her suitcase.

"I just need a little bit a refreshing nap before I can do anything else, Bonnie," Lyra winked, rubbing her cheek on Bon Bon's. All of the adult ponies, minus the sleeping Rainbow, looked around awkwardly while the three fillies cocked their heads in confusion.

"You just slept for four hours," Sweetie Belle countered, "why would you need another nap?" she questioned. Applebloom and Scootaloo nodded in agreement. Soarin then cleared his throat, getting ready to announce the answer.

"Well, what she really means Sweetie Belle is-" Rarity's magic clamped down hard on the stallion's muzzle, shutting his trap.

"Thanks Rare," Applejack commended, wiping her brow of sweat.

"What? Come on, we just want ta know why she wants ta sleep more!" Applebloom begged. Applejack, Rarity and Twilight shook their heads, denying the fillies any chance of getting a good reason. Soon though, Soarin began to freak out. Rarity forgot that she was keeping him quiet and that she was cutting off his oxygen supply, even closing off his nostrils with her magic.

"MMMM,MMM,MMM!" I felt a little scared for Soarin and more importantly for Rainbow Dash who was just lazily sitting atop his back. The stallion began to flail and dance around, trying to get Rarity to release his muzzle.

"Oh! Apologies darling," Rarity quickly canceled out her magic, allowing Soarin to suck in a deep breath, but not before spinning around in a circle and coming to a complete stop. This resulted in a launched Rainbow Dash whose head collided with a street light. We all seethed at just imagining how painful that had to be for the pony.

"YOUCH!" The cyan Pegasus groaned, rubbing the side of her head. Her eyes were dancing all around, trying to focus in on us while she shook her head. "Well, that's one way to wake up your girlfriend," she seethed at Soarin and stamped on his hoof after he joined her to see if she was okay. Fighting back tears, Soarin sucked on his hoof until the pain went away. It wasn't supposed to funny since both ponies got slightly injured, but Scootaloo and I shared a good chuckle from the early morning show.

"Twilight?" I called, "Do you happen to have an ice pack for the poor guy?" I asked. She nodded and unzipped a pack from a cooler inside her suitcase, levitating it over to the Wonderbolt Captain.

"An ice pack for HIM!?" Rainbow snarled at me. "How about one for me who hit a light pole at thirty miles per hour, huh?" She shook her hoof at me.

"Okay, before some of us try to kill each other, how about we get to our hotel?" I suggested. I hoped this would be the only bit of turbulence to happen any of us on this trip.

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(Maredalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Ivan's POV.)

The hotel wasn't too far of a walk from the train station, and it was worth not hailing a taxi carriage. Like a pack of cars at Talladega, we all walked two to three wide down the wide sidewalks of the city, soaking in the how beautiful this place was at morning. Just a little sneak peek of what we were waiting for when Celestia lowered the sun and all the lights would go up with Luna's moon. We did get a few stares on the streets as we walked them though. Of course, that was probably because Twilight was here with us and there were still ponies that had yet to see me in person.

The fillies wanted to stop at just about every souvenir stand to see what they could bring home back to Ponyville, but Applejack, Rainbow and Rarity pried them away, telling the trio that they had all day today and morning tomorrow to get as many souvenirs as they could fit in their luggage. Knowing what these girls were capable of, I wouldn't be shocked if they could cram an entire store into their suitcases. "Girls, I'm sure the hotel as its own gift shop," I patted Applebloom's head, "right, Twilight?" I asked, hoping I was right and I wouldn't sound like a liar.

"Well, I did read up on some of the attractions our hotel has," she replied sheepishly as Soarin and I held the doors open for the mares, fillies and Spike. Twilight didn't say another word once Soarin and I entered the hotel lobby, probably from still being nervous about acting 'perfect.'

"What'd you find out, mom?" Spike questioned, moving out of the way of a few other tourist ponies. As we all walked along the marble flooring of the beautiful lobby, Twilight looked a little relieved that to us, she was keeping her promise.

"As most hotels go, the Maredalay Bay features a huge pool resort with areas completely dedicated to sunbathing," the alicorn explained.

"Oooh!" Rarity clapped her hooves together in excitement. "Oh, I'm sorry darling. Do go on," the white unicorn grinned in embarrassment. Twilight tapped her hoof, trying to remember what she had researched.

"The hotel also has a full time caricature artist that will draw you as anything you want." Pinkie Pie grinned in excitement and danced in her spot, ready to burst with excitement like on Hearth's Warming. "And this one's for Fluttershy," Twilight giggled, "the hotel's main attraction is a fish reef complete with a glass tube that runs under the water and through the middle of the reef. You can see fish above, to the left, to the right and underneath," the purple pony pointed to a poster advertising the attraction.

"Do we get to feed them?" Fluttershy asked as excitedly as she could.

"No, but we do have a touch tank where you can pet all sorts of watery creatures," a hotel employee replied from behind the check in desk. The desk clerk was a light brown unicorn with a yellow mane and green eyes that looked normal and not too overly happy. "We've been expecting you, Captain Soarin," the mare added.

"Why thank you, uh, Jitterbug," Soarin trotted over to the desk, leaning his left foreleg on top. "Are our rooms available to check in? A few of us need to take naps if you know what I mean," the stallion winked, nudging the mare with his elbow.

"Uh-oh," I grimaced as Bon Bon and Lyra glared at the stallion. If they wanted to kill him over that, I'd probably look the other way for him not knowing when to keep his mouth shut. "Dead stallion walking," I whispered to Applejack; she covered her mouth to stifle her snicker. Jitter Bug gave an awkward smile in response to Soarin before scrolling through a rolodex and picking out a card.

"Ah yes, The Wonderbolts and friends for New Year's Eve day," the mare recited her card. She then put the card down for Soarin to sign and produced a box of room keys, setting them all aside for us. "Here are the keys for your guests, Mr. Skies," Jitterbug beamed.

"Your last name is 'Skies?' I asked.

"Got a problem with that, Cougar?" Soarin spat out the pen after he was done signing for the rooms.

"No, I just didn't know you had a last name is all," I smirked. I don't believe anyone could blame me for that anyway; Fluttershy had only one name as far as I knew, and not counting 'Princess' in their names, Luna, Celestia and Cadence didn't have last names either. And I'm not counting Cadence's married name.

"Fair enough," Soarin grinned and tossed a key to Rainbow Dash. "Here's our key, Dashie," the stallion announced as his marefriend caught the key in her teeth. "A key for your room," he hoofed one to Fluttershy, "one for you two," and one to Twilight and Spike. "Are the fillies sharing one room together, or is it sister with sister?" Soarin questioned, holding the remaining box in his free hoof.

"I believe sister with sister so we know they won't sneak off in the middle of the night," Rarity stated, making Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo droop their heads.

"Woah there, Rarity," Rainbow shook her head. "I think we can trust our sisters to share their own hotel room. Besides, Soarin and I do need our privacy," she added.

"If you need privacy, then it must be really bad for Scootaloo to see or hear," I joked, "normally you don't give a crap about what you do in public," I grinned like an asshole. If Rainbow Dash had fingers, I'm sure I would be getting a double bird right about now. "But seriously, I don't mind if Applebloom bunked with us, Applejack."

"And we'll take Scootaloo then," Rarity announced, floating a room key over and placing it in her travel purse.

"Okay, that makes things a whole lot easier," Soarin dug around the ever emptying box for more keys. "One for you two," Lyra also used her magic and levitated a key into mane. "One for you three," the stallion threw a key at Applejack which she caught in her hoof without blinking, "and one for Surprise's twin," Soarin gave out the final key to Pinkie Pie.

"It's a shame Luna and Celestia couldn't come," Spike said, "or their colt friends for that matter," he added.

"Or the rest of your family," Fluttershy said to Applebloom and Applejack. "At least Big Mac and Cheerilee can keep Granny Smith company," the yellow Pegasus smiled.

"Ah know. Ah was gonna ask Checkered ta take me ta the race track 'n help me bet on who was gonna win," Applebloom agreed.

"No gamblin' fer you lil sis," Applejack scolded, "ya gotta be 21 or else yer gonna be in 'o heap 'o trouble." I patted Applebloom's head again as she pouted, trying to get her to stay happy while on vacation. Jitterbug then rang a silver ball, calling upon a small army of bell hops to the front desk. Clad in red suits and tiny red hats, the stallions gathered up our luggage onto carts and took the card from Jitterbug to find our rooms.

"One more thing, Mr. Skies," the front desk mare cleared her throat. "Your squad mates arrived about twenty minutes ago and are awaiting your arrival in our casino located in that direction," the mare pointed her hoof to a large area with slot machines, poker tables, blackjack tables and a few roulette wheels with various ponies surrounding them. "These three can go in accompanied by an adult, but not alone," she added, referring to the fillies.

"I'll keep my eye on them," I promised to the mare. Come to think of it, she hadn't really acknowledged me all that much, or even Spike. Whatever the case was, her fur seemed to crawl when I said I'd watch over the fillies and Spike had his hand on the back of Twilight's head. Yet, I didn't have time to think about it as I looked up to see everyone except Applejack was already halfway to the casino. The orange mare motioned for me to move it and held back to walk next to me as we followed our friends. Up ahead, Pinkie Pie was acting like her usual self, bouncing around like Pepe le Pew with a smile on her face when she suddenly froze. Her tail shot straight forward like a dog's tail and she lowered herself down like a lion waiting to pounce.

"Everypony stop!" She commanded, forcing our group to freeze in awkward positions. "I sense a disturbance in the frosting," she added, putting her ear to the floor and cramming a cup cake in her mouth. She then started moving again with her ear planted firmly on the carpet as she 'sensed' her way around the casino. Not knowing what to do, we all stood in our spots where Pinkie commanded us to. That is until Rainbow had enough and started to follow Pinkie Pie, starting a chain reaction of all of us moving again.

"Uh, this is strange even by Pinkie Pie's standards," Scootaloo trotted quickly to catch up to her sister. As Pinkie Pie drug her ear along the carpeted flooring, most of the gamblers sitting at the slot machines ceased pulling on the one-armed bandits to stare at the strange pony.

"She'd make one hell of a hunting dog," I said to Applejack before getting 'shushed' by Pinkie. Still dragging her along the floor and not getting rug burn, the pink party mare rounded a corner before she apparently collided with something.

"AHA!" The party mare exclaimed, but she wasn't the only pony who said that. On the other side of the slot machines was a white Pegasus mare with a yellow mane and tail stylized precisely like Pinkie Pie: Surprise. "TWINZIE!" Pinkie and Surprise shrieked loudly. The clones sat up on their haunches before hugging each other tightly.

"You might want to cover your-" another pony from behind Surprise began to say, but it was too late.

"EEEEEEEE!" Both mares squealed as they hugged one another. "It's so good to see you in pony again!" Surprise started to hop around in a circle with her doppelgänger. "What's it been, 2, 3 weeks?" She questioned.

"Too long if you ask me!" Pinkie exclaimed with a toothy grin. "Do you have any wild and crazy plans for the day before your big, triumphant return?" the mare gushed. "I'm gonna go check out Colta-Cola World first; they have an all you can drink sample bar!" She shook with excitement.

"Thank...Celestia," I heard a light blue Pegasus stallion groan as the rest of the cadets and squad mates trotted over to us, making our group incredibly large. "If I had to hear, 'When is Pinkie Pie coming? When is Pinkie Pie coming?' one more Celestia damned time, I was gonna punch Rapidfire in the throat!" Lightning Streak threatened. The red Pegasus standing next to Lightning did a double-take, looking at the spikey maned stallion with both anger and confusion.

"What the Tartarus did I do to you?!" the larger stallion demanded.

"Soarin told me if I was angry enough to punch something I should punch you because you're a crybaby," Lightning explained. Right as Rapid was about retaliate, Lightning noticed me and stuck his hoof out. "And if it isn't the coolest human, good to see you, Cougar," the also light blue stallion grabbed ahold of my hand and shook it. "And Soarin mentioned you and your lucky marefriend; congrats to that," he winked.

"Thank you, Lightning," I released his hoof to see Applejack standing proudly next to me. "I'd watch your back from now on if I were you," I pointed out Rapidfire with steam coming from his nose and ears standing behind Lightning. Though, Rapidfire calmed down when he saw Soarin and Rainbow Dash watching him with judgmental eyes.

"About time you got here," Rapidfire butted Lightning Streak out of the way with a grin. "I was afraid I'd have to take control of the 'Bolts until you showed back up," he chest butted Soarin.

"You weren't going to get my position when I had it, and you won't get Rainbow's," Soarin stood his ground. "Now just drop it, or else I'll force you to share your room with Surprise."

"Oooh, yes please!" Surprise begged, tearing her attention from Pinkie. Rapidfire looked as if he was about to hurl and backed away, albeit pissed off. While Rainbow and Soarin met up with their fellow flyers, one in particular caught my eye. More specifically, a cute, dark purple furred mare with a nerf colored mane.

"Hey Lullaby," I waved to her, "are you excited for your first Las Pegasus air show?" I asked her. The Pegasus' wings clamped onto her body as she waved back to me, shaking a little.

"Y-yeah," she gulped. "Just a little nervous and excited about being in Las Pegasus for the first time," Lullaby explained. "Th-that's all," she added, grabbing a cup of water off a slot machine.

"Oh, well you don't strike me as the gambling type," I replied. She shook her head, sipping the cup of water with her shaky hoof. "Maybe you could join Fluttershy at the fish reef?" I suggested. "You could relax a little before your show; Fluttershy's a really easygoing, kind pony," I added.

"I know, Rainbow Dash has told me about her," the purple pony waved to Fluttershy.

"I don't mind if she joins me," Fluttershy smiled, "it's always fun to have a friend to talk with about animals," she smiled warmly, seeming to make Lullaby relax.

"Well, you seem nice," Lullaby smiled and shook Fluttershy's hoof. "And I didn't plan on losing all my bits to a slot machine or getting drunk off my flank today," she joked, "like Silver, Rapidfire and Wave Chill here."

"Hey, alcohol is a very serious business young mare," Silver Lining nudged Lullaby. If I had to pick a favorite male Wonderbolt that didn't have a close connection to my friends, Silver would be the one. He sort of reminded me of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He seemed to ooze intelligence, selflessness, helpfulness and wisdom just from one stare.

"Unless you drink it like soda like Wave here," a familiar janitorial pony elbowed Wave Chill in the ribs. He rolled his eyes, shoving Feather Duster away and rubbed his ribs.

"Who let the damn janitor tag along?" the stallion grumbled. Lightning's twin brother, Fire Streak, then got in between Wave Chill and Feather Duster, staring down the Wonderbolt.

"Soarin gave me the okay to buy my marefriend a train ticket and she got to come with us, got it Wave? Or are we gonna have to take this outside?" The white stallion flared his wings at the Pegasus that insulted his marefriend.

"Rainbow, how have you not checked yourself into the looney bin yet?" I bent down to ask the cyan mare. "I couldn't handle more than eight hours with these guys, no offense," I added.

"Believe it or not, Pinkie's letters let me escape back home, and at least Lullaby's intelligent words help me relax," she explained, hoof bumping her former roommate.

"I guess fighting crazy with crazy keeps you sane?" Spike scratched his head, trying to get a handle on Rainbow's explanation. I then noticed High Winds and Blaze standing in front of Lyra and Bon Bon, all four doing the classic 'mirror' movements as they studied each other. Soarin once mentioned to me (for whatever reason) that High Winds and Blaze swung the same way as Lyra and Bon Bon, which meant that they at least had one thing in common to talk about. I wasn't the only one who noticed this as Lightning Streak pointed out the Ponyville couple to anyone who would listen.

"Wait a minute, two sets of fillyfoolers?" He grinned, "That's hotter than-" Fire Streak grabbed a deck of playing cards and crammed them into his brother's mouth. I feared that Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo had heard that, but they were giggling away at what Fire Streak did to his brother, so no harm no foul I suppose.

"You finish that sentence and mom will be buying you tail extensions, got it?!" The white Pegasus seethed to his light blue clone.

"Look," I finally said after realizing we'd just been standing here for about seven minutes just being introduced to all of the Wonderbolts. "It's nice to see you all again and it'll be nice to see your show tonight, but we're burning Celestia's daylight, so..." I hinted that if we wanted to go enjoy our one day vacation, we'd better stop acting like a reverse Waltons group. "And I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you officially," I pointed to a custard colored Wonderbolt with bubbly wings as a cutie mark.

"Oh, it's just Misty Fly," Surprise rolled her eyes. "No big deal, really," she actually seemed to grumble. Soarin was right: Anything can happen in Las Pegasus.

"I didn't get to officially meet you," a quiet voice sounded off from below me. Looking down, I saw a fuzzy and dark blue mare staring at me with sweet eyes. "My name's Cinder," she smiled.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked her.

"Ever since Surprise and Pinkie bumped heads," she replied. "It's nothing to be sorry about; I'm used to ponies not realizing I'm here," she explained.

"Oh, nice to meet you Cinder," I patted her mane.

"You know," Soarin apparently ignored everything I said, "Cougar's right! You're all here on vacation, especially my fellow Wonderbolts! If you wanted to do something wild and crazy before the new year began, then this is your last chance! Why don't you all skip final practice today and just enjoy yourselves for working so hard?" He suggested. "While Dashie and I practice," he added. Rainbow's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"WHAT?! Come on, I came here to enjoy myself a bit before the air show," she complained. Soarin then casually whispered into her ear before her face went from cyan to scarlet in about four seconds flat. "Okay, fair enough," she gulped.

"And I'd like to add something!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Let's just all go and do our own thing and not tell anypony else that's not accompanying you to keep this all a secret guessing game for tonight?" She gushed. A few ponies in our group had to shake their heads, trying to follow what Pinkie Pie had said.

"Awesome idea, Twinzie!" Surprise patted Pinkie on the back. We all had ideas of where to go first, but what would happen second remained a mystery. Although there was one pony we were sure of that had a whole day planned out.

"No offense Twi," Applejack wrapped a foreleg around her friend, "we know yer tryin' hard ta not let perfection take ya over, but what kinda schedule ya got fer yerself?" my marefriend asked. Instead of sweating nervously, Twilight puffed out her chest proudly like a Marine and sighed contently.

"Nope," she replied. "since Soarin said Las Pegasus is the place where anything can happen, I've decided to just walk outside and go with the flow. Do what the city chooses for me to keep me on the tip of my hooves," she announced with confidence. The next thing we knew, Spike was on the floor with his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

"DRAGON DOWN!" Surprise shrieked. "SOMEPONY DO THE HOOFLICH MANEUVER!"

"No, he's gotta turn his head and cough first!" Pinkie and Surprise jumped onto Spike and hopped up and down. If that shock was a just a mere taste of what this vacation was holding for us, then I was excited.

End Chapter 36

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And so, our characters' Las Pegasus vacation has begun. What's in store for our friends?

Next Time on FALLEN EAGLE

"Seriously Rapid, you've got a mare that wants to buck you without you having to pay."

Silver Lining and Wave Chill call out Rapidfire on why he 'hates' Surprise

"I...DON'T...SHARE...LYRA"

Just who is Bon Bon pissed at?

"So, how long have you had a crush on Cougar?"

Fluttershy confronts Lullaby about her crush on our story's hero!

"Sorry ma'am, no pets allowed."

Who said this and to whom? Was it geared toward Applejack or Twilight?

"You're going down old mare!"

Lullaby faces Button Mash in a battle to the death in: GALLOPA (A parody of Galaga)

"Haha, in order to catch a filly, I've got to THINK like a filly!" *Insert insane laugh*

Scootaloo plays 'Catch me if you can!' With Feather Duster through Las Pegasus

"CHEAP HOBO SUITS? YOU TAKE THAT BACK YOU...YOU...HUSSY!"

Rarity's successful fashion line gets mocked in a sophisticated Las Pegasus mall

"THERE'S TWO OF THEM?!"

How much collateral damage do Surprise and Pinkie cause?