Strange Tales from the Bedroom

Cheerilee grunted as she rolled out of her bed and cantered to her liquor cabinet. Her whole body ached, but it was a good sort of ache, the sort you got after a long work out… and she supposed in a way she had been working out. In a manner of speaking. She didn’t even mind that she was limping a bit—she just hoped it would go away before class started tomorrow. The last thing she needed was her students to start asking awkward questions. Well, more awkward than average, bless their little hearts.

“Can I get you anything to drink, Big Mac?” Cheerilee asked, looking over her shoulder at the stallion, who was stretched out on her bed, looking equal parts relaxed and satisfied with himself. Cheerilee smirked; she knew that look. Over the years, she had certainly seen it on her fair share of stallions.

“Nope,” Big Mac shook his head, and Cheerilee raised her eyebrow.

“Are you sure? I’ve got pretty much everything there is. Rum, Bourbon, beer…” Cheerilee paused and peered into the open cabinet, before pulling out an unopened flask, “I’ve even got an unopened bottle of last year’s Sweet Apple Cider, if you’d like that.” Cheerilee had no idea how much of a drinker Big Mac was, even if his family had been brewing cider in Ponyville for generations. Most ponies forgot just how young the town was, but Cheerilee knew it well enough, if only because she it was in her job description, sort of, to know. Up until Twilight Sparkle came into town, she was the closest the town had to a historian. “Or I could get you a glass of water, if you’d prefer. You must be thirsty after that, I know I am.”

Big Macintosh frowned thoughtfully, then shrugged, “Water’s fine, Miss Cheerilee.”

Cheerilee snorted, and shook her head. Always the polite one—however misguided those three fillies had been, they certainly knew how to pick’em. “Okay then, I’ll be right back.” She said, before trotting off the kitchen.

She didn’t own the place, not exactly; she certainly wouldn’t have been able to afford such a large house on her budget, if it weren’t for her parents sending her extra cash every month. But admittedly it wasn’t always the most private of places most of the time, and that had made dating a bit hard for Cheerilee. Thankfully, she had the place herself, at least until suppertime. Still, whatever problems the place had, they were small compared to the awkwardness that would have been present if Big Mac had taken her home, rather than the other way around.

Cheerilee knew almost all of the Apple family, at least the ones that lived locally, and had known them since she was a young filly going to the school she taught at now. Applejack hadn’t been a particularly close friend, but Cheerilee did know the mare, and she could only imagine how awkward it would be if she ran into her in the hallways of Big Mac’s house. Then there was Apple Bloom. If Cheerilee ran into her right now, she’d probably just die of embarrassment. Never mind the filly probably only had a vague sense of what adults did, it would be enough!

Plus, it’s probably not a good idea to encourage her, Cheerilee thought to herself as she filled a pitcher with tap water. Apple Bloom and her friends meant well trying to set her up with Big Mac, of course, but it could have ended a lot worse for both herself and Apple Bloom’s brother. Ultimately, between the two of them, they had decided to keep their relationship a secret for now—although they couldn’t resist a bit of fun at the fillies’ expense every now and again.

Perhaps when they three of them were older and more mature, Cheerilee would thank them, but for now it’d be for the best if they didn’t think they had a chance at getting their cutie marks in matchmaking or whatever. Assuming, of course, her relationship with Big Mac lasted that long.

Cheerilee carefully gripped the handle of the pitcher and started to head back to her room. If it hadn’t been for the love potion, Cheerilee had to admit she probably would have never have considered asking Big Macintosh out on a date. Partly because the two of them were very different ponies—she had a master’s in teaching, and he worked on a farm. Now that she had gotten to know him, however, she realized she had misjudged the stallion badly. It’s true he worked on a farm, but that didn’t mean he was stupid or slow, he just preferred to listen to talking, Cheerilee found. Once you got him to open up, however… well then he’d talk your ear off about all kinds of things, from politics to the latest in mechanized farming implements.

Getting him to open up—that was the trick, though.

As she pushed the bedroom door open, Big Mac leapt to his hooves and helped her put the pitcher safely on the nightstand while she fetched two glasses from the liquor cabinet. Truthfully, after a workout like that, her first choice was probably always going to be some sort of alcoholic drink, but if Big Mac was drinking water, it would be good enough for her too. Cheerilee didn’t want him to think she had a problem or something like that.

To Cheerilee’s surprise, as they settled back into bed, Big Mac spoke first, rather than remaining silence like normal. “While I was waitin’ for you to get back, I couldn’t help but notice that picture.” Big Mac pointed to one of the smaller pictures on her wall. She had a lot of them, and it took Cheerilee a second to pick out the other he was pointing at. “I didn’t know you surfed.”

“I don’t, not any more,” Cheerilee said as she focused on the picture. It was one of her older ones; nearly a decade had passed since. Cheerilee smiled to herself, those were the days!

“And I couldn’t help but notice you’re with a pegasus that looks a lot like…” Big Mac frowned and let his voice trail away as he thought. “I don’t know, but he looks familiar.”

Cheerilee laughed, “You mean Soarin?”

“Soarin, as in the Wonderbolt’s Soarin?” Big Mac asked, sounding and looking surprised. Cheerilee couldn’t blame him. Who would have thought she’d know the pegasus?

“The very same,” Cheerilee giggled, “although this was before he joined the Wonderbolts. We dated for a while.”

“You dated him?” Big Mac said, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Oh yes, it was a while ago now,” Cheerilee’s face turned sombre as she recalled her hellion days of youth. “Back when I was just out of highschool, I was a bit of a hoodlum, if you can believe it, and at the first chance I got, I moved away from Ponyville out to Las Pegasus. Naturally, I didn’t know anypony at the time, but I was young and I didn’t much care…”

**

Cheerilee looked around her as she stepped out of the airship and marvelled at the landscape. Las Pegasus was primarily, as its name implied, a pegasus town, which meant a good part of it was build out of clouds. But unlike Cloudsdale, which was hundreds of feet in the air and almost exclusively populated with pegasi, Las Pegasus had a sizable earth and unicorn pony population. Even though the majority of them were earthbound, they still strived to match their winged kin in sheer audacity. Rather than building close to the ground like the ponies in Ponyville did, Las Pegasus was dominated by towers that stretched high into the sky, and meshed with the various cloud formations, until the whole thing was one huge unified city structure.

She tried not to think of how far up she was.

Her airship had docked at one of the numerous towers, and she thought she’d feel safer once her hooves were on more solid footing, but the truth was now that she was off the airship, she couldn’t wait to get down to the ground. There was something utterly terrifying about being up so high, although she hadn’t felt it when she had boarded the airship in Canterlot. Maybe because Canterlot was build on a mountainside, it didn’t look as if it was as far of a drop, Cheerilee nervously mused to herself, before following the tiled arrows towards the customs and baggage.

The wait took forever, and it wasn’t long before boredom and frustration at the airport’s officials replaced her unease at being so high up. It wasn’t until she finally made her way to the elevators that Cheerilee remembered that particular fact, no thanks in part to the walls of the elevators being made out of glass rather than some sort of solid material. Whoever thought that was a good idea deserved a quick kick in the head. True, it was a beautiful vista, but Cheerilee thought she’d much rather enjoy the sights looking up at them, rather than down. Then she caught sight of the Applewood sign on the hills outside Las Pegasus, and she couldn’t help but let out an excited squeal—which drew her funny looks from the other passengers in the elevator.

Well screw them, Cheerilee thought, I’m finally here, I’m finally free!

School had always been a bit of a drag for Cheerilee, the lessons were too easy to do and the teachers, especially Mr. Ruler Snap, were total squares. They wouldn’t understand coolness if it came up and slapped them. Or kissed them. Or both. She had friends in Ponyville, it was true, and eventually she’d have to settle down and find work somewhere, but right now, Cheerilee only wanted one thing; adventure! And she was this close to getting it.

Once she was outside, she let out another squeal of joy, before reminding herself that it wasn’t really cool to squeal. “This is so radical,” Cheerilee said, trying to sound disinterested, as she looked up at the billowing clouds and towers that surrounded the airport. “Utterly awesome.”

“What is?”

Cheerilee spun around blushing; talking to herself was definitely not cool, either. She’d have to work on that—the last thing she wanted was to be seen as a country square by Las Pegasusans. If the speaker thought she was an idiot, however, he didn’t show it. He was, not unexpectedly, a pegasus, a particularly handsome one with a pale blue coat and dark blue hair. And he was smiling at her.

“Uh—uh…hi!” Cheerilee mentally grimaced. Nice going, lame-o. “I mean, ‘sup.”

“Not much, new to the city?” the pegasus said with a grin.

“Ugh, was it that obvious?” Cheerilee felt even stupider.

“Nah, you can always tell the newbies from the jaded folks,” the Pegasus said, offering her a wing. It took Cheerilee a second to realize he wanted her to shake it like a hoof. “I’m Soarin, by the way. That’s spelt like it sounds, but without the gee.”

“Cheerilee,” she said, shaking the wing delicately. Pulling his feathers out, even by accident probably wouldn’t go over well. “What brings you down to the ground, Soarin? If I had wings I’d never land.” Cheerilee blushed, what a stupid thing to say.

“Can’t fly all the time, dude,” Soarin laughed, shaking his head. “’sides, there’s loads of fun stuff on the ground.” The pegasus winked at her, making Cheerilee blush harder. “I was just saying goodbye to my buddy, she’s got to go back east.” He looked at her curiously. “What brings you here to Las Pegasus?”

“Oh, you know, I’m just…” Cheerilee’s mind started to race as she tried to think of an excuse that didn’t make her sound like a square. She didn’t have anything much in the way of a plan once she got there, but she knew what she’d like to do—clubs, parties, hanging out, whatever the cool ponies were doing. After a second Cheerilee shrugged dismissively, “just looking for a good time.”

“Well, plenty of good times around here,” Soarin said, flexing his wings. “But if you’re looking for a happenin’ place to be, swing by Sharkhead Beach tonight. We’re going to be havin’ a bonfire and the hottest DJs and shit, it’ll be great.”

“Oh yeah?” Cheerilee grinned; this was the sort of thing she wanted—cool parties and even cooler crowds. “I’ll be there.”

“Great!” Soarin gushed, before he glanced at the thick looking wristwatch on his foreleg. “Shit, I need to fly, girl, I’ll see you later!” Before Cheerilee could so much as say ‘bye’ Soarin lifted off in a gush of dust and wind, faster than any pegasus she had ever seen before. She watched his flight for a moment, before he was lost between the cloud caps around the towers.

Then she glanced around to make sure no pony was watching, before letting out a delighted squeal and clapped her hooves excitedly. She hadn’t been in Las Pegasus a whole day and she was already getting invites to parties! Clearly, her teased mane and tail were doing the trick. To think, her parents called the style ridiculous! Honestly, were there two ponies less cool than her parents? Cheerilee rolled her eyes. Oh well, she wouldn’t have to see them again.

Now all she had to do was find someplace to stay! Cheerilee grinned to herself, this is gonna be great!

**

Cheerilee’s good mood didn’t last very long, though. Back when all her hooves were in Ponyville, the idea of buying a airship ticket and moving out to one of the trendy big cities like Las Pegasus or Manehattan seemed like a good idea. Cheerilee still thought it was a good idea, but now she suspected she hadn’t really thought it out. She didn’t know anypony in Las Pegasus. Well, that wasn’t true. She knew one or two ponies, cousins of hers, but she barely knew them, and from what she had heard about them—hearsay from her parents and what not—they were as square as any of the townsfolk back in Ponyville. They owned or worked for some big corporation, something to do with steelworks. Utterly boring. And, not exactly conducive to trying to reinvent herself.

Therefore, her plan had been simple; buy a ticket to Las Pegasus, rent a hotel room somewhere, and get a job bartending or something like that, where she could be part of the scene. Back in Ponyville, the plan looked good. Except she hadn’t counted on the cost of everything, or at least the cost of renting a room in a major city.

In Ponyville, a hoof full of bits would get you a room in any of the inns at the middle of the town for a week or more. Here, to get a room for even a single night had taken almost all of Cheerilee’s money. If she didn’t eat, she might be able to have the room for a second day, but after that she’d be out on the street! The room was nice enough, with all the features anypony could ever hope to have in a hotel room, but still, what was she going to do now?

She didn’t know, and tonight she didn’t care. True, the smart plan of action might have been to go out immediately and start canvassing the city for any job openings, or even a cheaper place to sleep, but after the multi-day journey, what Cheerilee really wanted was a nap without the annoying thump-thump-thump of the airship’s rotors in her ears. When she had finally woken up several hours later, it was about time she should start to head down to the beach, and she wasted no time in heading out.

Sharkhead Beach wasn’t hard to find, although Cheerilee did have to stop several times to ask for directions as she made her way through the winding roads and between the skyscrapers to the Western Ocean. But once she started to near the place, there was no mistaking it. She had arrived just as Celestia was starting to put the sun to rest, and as Cheerilee reached the bluff overlooking the beach, she paused for a moment to watch it go down. Ponyville was so close to Canterlot that almost every filly and colt had been taken to see the Summer Sun Celebration at least once, and of course, Cheerilee had seen the sun rise and set like normal, but it hadn’t been until that moment that she really appreciated the sheer beauty of a sunset. She didn’t let her gaze linger on it for long—after a second, she looked down at the main attraction; the beach party.

It might have only just started, but it already looked like everything she had ever wanted, the sort of thing that never happened in Ponyville; there had to be at least fifty ponies, and three bonfires already slowly burning. The barbeques and coolers were off to one side, with clusters of ponies gathered around them in loose lines, while the other ponies were dancing or playing Frisbee or volleyball. Even from a distance, she could hear the music thumping. It was the heavy, thumping beat that made Cheerilee just want to dance and sway. But it’d be lame to dance by herself. On the bluff of a cliff overlooking a party.  Cheerilee found herself blushing as she hurried down the side of the bluff and over to where the other ponies were—she was going to have to work on this ‘idiot tourist thing’ if she was ever going to fit in around here.

As she got closer, the music got louder and louder until it felt like it was thumping inside her chest, and she could start to smell some of the treats being cooked on the barbecues, causing her stomach to rumble. She had slept through lunch and supper, and she hadn’t stopped to pick up anything to eat on the way over. So naturally, after a moment’s consideration, she cantered over to the nearest line, and waited her turn.

It took several minutes, but finally Cheerilee found herself practically drooling over the selection at the barbeque. The cook was a yellow-green earth stallion with a friendly expression and an apple cutie mark—he reminded Cheerilee of the Apple family back in Ponyville. It wouldn’t surprise her if he was one; the Apples seemed to have at least one member in every city and town throughout Equestria. Of course, it helped that he was serving number of apple and apple related products, although not the baked goods Cheerilee was familiar with; what exactly was an ‘apple burger’? Or for that matter, ‘apple fries’?

“What can I get you?” He asked gesturing to the selection. Cheerilee harrumphed for a moment, and glanced along the table and barbeque. She was so hungry she felt like she could eat anything, but at the same time she didn’t want to get something and not like it.

“I’ll have one of those, I guess.” Cheerilee pointed to the burgers with her hoof. At least the apple burgers looked mostly normal.

“Sure thing,” He smoothly picked up one of the apple slices from the top rack and put it between two buns. “That’ll be thirteen bits.”

Cheerilee felt her eyes widen with horror, she hadn’t brought her bit bag with her, that was back at the hotel—she hadn’t wanted to have it stolen, not to mention walking around with saddlebags wouldn’t be terrible cool. You could only do so much with saddlebags, after all.

“Um, well,” Cheerilee stammered, “I think I forgot my b-bit bag… urm…”

The stallion frowned, and started to pull the plate away. “This ain’t no charity, filly, if you can’t pay, you can’t eat.”

“But I’m hungry!” Cheerilee grumbled, and reached out to grab onto the plate’s edge. It was foolish really, what was she going to do, grab the burger and run off to eat it in some dark corner?

“So? I’ve got to eat too—now move along!” The stallion wiggled his hoof under her nose, before yanking the plate out of her hoof and setting it back on the table. Cheerilee stared at it for a moment, then snorted dismissively and tried to walk away while looking dignified. Cheerilee could feel another blush coming on, and deep down she was rather mortified. She hadn’t gone two steps before she slammed into another pony.

“Whoa there,” Cheerilee blinked in surprise as she found herself staring the blue pegasus she had just walked into. Then she recognized him as the stallion who had given her the invite right away—there was simply no mistaking Soarin’s wide, goofy grin or athletic body. “What’s going on here?”

“This fool mare forgot her wallet,” the cook said, shaking his head.

“Is that so?” Soarin said, giving Cheerilee an extra wide smile. “I know you; you’re the newbie from the airport, aren’t you?” Before Cheerilee could answer, Soarin turned back to the cook. “Tell you what, put it on my tab, would ya Gravy? And give me one too, oh, and two beers.”

Gravy stared at Soarin for a moment, before shrugging. “so long as somepony pays, I’m fine with it.” Gravy passed Cheerilee back her plate, and served up a second one for Soarin. Then he bent down behind the table and pulled out two bottles of beer, and passed those to Soarin as well. Cheerilee hadn’t even considered asking for beer before—back in Ponyville the drink of choice was cider, and that went for Cheerilee as well. Different places probably had different tastes. Soarin nodded his thanks to Gravy and headed over to a flat rock some distance away.

“Cheerilee, wasn’t it?” Soarin asked as he dropped the bottles by the rock and flopped down on top of it. “I guess I should have told you the food wouldn’t be free.”

“I’ll pay you back,” Cheerilee promised as she sat down beside the rock and tried not to sound too grateful. It wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful, of course, but she didn’t want to gush either. “Just as soon as I get a job.”

“A job?” Soarin chuckled. “Girl, I thought you came to hang in the city of pegasi?”

“I did, but that was before I spent half my savings on a stupid hotel room.” Cheerilee sighed, before biting into her burger. It was surprisingly good, rich with sweet juices and flavours. Before she thought about what she was doing, she wolfed the rest of the burger down, only to realize she hadn’t paused to savour it. It’d probably be her last meal for a while, and she still felt hungry.

“Pff, hotel room? I call that gettin’ tricked by business!” Soarin said, bumping his hoof against Cheerilee’s withers. “Look it, I can see this is stressing you out; I’ve got a couch, it’s not much, but why don’t you come crash with me?”

“What, really?” Cheerilee felt her eyebrows shoot up on her forehead. She had only just met the pony—and there was the small problem that any place Soarin called home was probably going to be mostly clouds.

“Sure! I’ve got this beach house down yonder,” Soarin said, gesturing vaguely down the beach. “I wouldn’t want you to come all this way, only to find yourself dragged down by the man and workin’ all day.” Soarin shrugged and picked up one of the beers, before cracking the cap off it and taking a swig.

Cheerilee took the other beer and opened it as she thought. Crashing on Soarin’s couch wouldn’t exactly resolve her money issue, and she’d probably still need to find work somewhere soon, but at least she wouldn’t be worrying about living on the streets in a day or so. Besides, Soarin seemed nice, and she liked him. “Well, if you’re serious, it sounds great, Soarin,” Cheerilee said, before taking a quick drink from her beer. The taste wasn’t quite what Cheerilee was expecting, but still enjoyable. Perhaps she’d have to broaden her horizons in the future when it came to drinks. Who knew what she was missing out on?

“Excellent!” Soarin’s grin grew wider. “You’ll have to deal with my roommate, though, he’s a bit of a grump at times.”

“Probably still better than living on the streets,” Cheerilee mused between drinks.

“That’s the spirit!” Soarin leapt up into the air and started to hover—although he was considerate enough not to angle his downbeats so the sand flew up into her face. “Listen, I’ve got to go hang with a few peeps and shoot the breeze, you just enjoy yourself, ya hear? I’ll come get you a bit later and show you the place.” Soarin gave her a wink and a wave as he buzzed off over the partygoers.

Cheerilee just sat there for a couple of minutes, nursing her drink, and slowly she started to grin. Even if it didn’t solve all of her problems, she couldn’t help but feel like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. And crashing on friend’s couches had to be one of the raddestways of staying somewhere—not to mention she had just made a new friend on her first day in the city. A friend with his own beach house. She momentarily frowned as she got to the bottom of her beer—of course that one beer and burger were the only things she was going to eat or drink tonight, assuming Soarin didn’t swoop in to be generous again.

She trotted off to find a trashcan for the beer bottle, before turning to the dancing ponies swaying to the music on the beach. At least the dancing was free! Cheerilee thought to herself, before plunging into the crowd.

**

When Cheerilee woke up the next morning, it took her a moment to figure out where she was. Then she smiled. The party must have lasted until the wee hours, although she had no way of telling the time when Soarin finally came to find her as the party was starting to wind down. But it had been late, and even now her muscles were sore and stiff—although that might have to do partly with spending the night on Soarin’s couch. It was more than big enough for her to stretch out on, but it was a bit lumpy and old looking. Still, it was free.

Cheerilee sat up, threw off her blankets, and got up, stretching a bit. She could hear and feel her spine popping, but at least it got some of the stiffness out of her muscles. Finally, she took a moment to look around the room.

It wasn’t as if Cheerilee had ever really seen a beach house before, Ponyville was landlocked and no one had ever bothered to building such a thing on the shores of any ponds or reservoirs that surrounded it. Yet, Soarin’s Beach house was pretty much what Cheerilee would have imagined. Last night she hadn’t got a good look at it from the outside or the inside, but it was very open and airy, with lots of sunlight coming in through the windows that overlooked the beach.

Most of the furniture was old looking, and all of it was mismatched, looking as if they came off street corners. On the walls, there were a couple of zebra masks, but Cheerilee suspected they were probably fake. But what really dominated the room were these strange, oblong boards of wood, all of which were colourful and garishly painted. Some of them hung on hooks on the wall, while others just leaned up against it. Soarin sure had some strange tastes in art—they looked okay individually, but they didn’t really match the décor or one another. Cheerilee snickered to herself. Décor? She was turning into Rarity! Besides, who was she to question what her host thought was good art?

Stifling a yawn, Cheerilee cantered around the couch and wondered where the washroom was; she couldn’t hear Soarin up, but given how much partying he had done last night, that didn’t really surprise her. Cheerilee frowned at the two exits of the room, before picking the farther one.

It led to a hallway dominated by pictures and little else; despite what her bladder was telling her, Cheerilee couldn’t help but slow down and look some of them over. Most of them, to no pony’s surprise, featured Soarin, along with other ponies. Sometimes they were just group shots, other times they were doing some sort of activity—like hang gliding or mountain climbing. Why a pegasus would do either was beyond her. What was really interesting, besides Soarin’s eccentric tastes in sports, was the sheer variety of places and ponies. Some of the pictures were clearly taken in Las Pegasus—including one featuring the Applewood sign in the background—but others were from what looked like Cloudsdale, and beyond. Several of them had Soarin with several ponies from Saddle Arabia, and one with several Zebra tribemares.

Cheerilee pursed her lips as she finally tore herself away from the pictures and hurried down the hallway in search of a washroom—only to find herself in the kitchen, and it wasn’t empty.

Sitting at the kitchen counter, and looking over a copy of the Las Pegasus Times, was what Cheerilee assumed with the mysterious roommate that Soarin had warned her about. Except he hadn’t said she had already met him; it was the yellow-green earth pony from last night. He didn’t look up right away, until he reached for his cup next to the paper. Gravy stared at her for a brief moment, before snorting and rolling his eyes.

“Good morning anonymous mare number seven hundred and fifty-two,” Gravy said as he turned back to his newspaper. “Hope you… slept well.”

“Wh…” Cheerilee stopped herself and frowned. Did she really want to get into an argument with this idiot? “Where’s the washroom?”

“Down the other hall, on your right,” Gravy gestured vaguely with his cup and Cheerilee headed down the hall he had indicated. Finding the appropriate room wasn’t hard, thankfully, and before long Cheerilee was back in the kitchen, ready to start the day properly; with a cup of coffee.

“Help yourself,” Gravy muttered as Cheerilee poured herself a cup. It wasn’t the best coffee she had ever had, and if she spent any amount of time there, she was going to have to teach these colts the proper way to brew a pot.

“What did you mean?” Cheerilee asked as she sipped her coffee and eyed the cupboards; if she was going to be a guest of Soarin’s, perhaps she could make herself useful making breakfast. “And what do you colts usually eat for breakfast?”

“Making breakfast? That’s a first. Eggs would probably be fine,” Gravy said. “And I meant you’re the seven hundred and fifty-second mare Soarin’s brought home.”

Did Soarin really have that many—Cheerilee’s train of thought cut off as it dawned on her what Gravy was saying, and she blushed hard. “Oh,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant. Thankfully, she didn’t have to face the stallion as she started work on breakfast for the three of them. She wished Gravy had been a bit more specific, but she decided that simpler was better, and scrambling the eggs.

“Aww,” Gravy sneered, or at least, it sounded like he was sneering. “Don’t tell me you thought you were special?”

“I—”

“Whoa, what’s that smell?” Soarin’s voice rang out. Cheerilee glanced over her shoulder in time to see the pegasus trot into the room, looking as if he had just rolled out of bed. Soarin yawned and blinked, then grinned at her. “No way, Cheerilee, you don’t have to cook!”

“If your lay wants to cook for us, let her cook!” Gravy said, waving his coffee cup in the air. “I have to put up with this crap enough as it is, I might as well get a good meal out of it.”

“Lay?” Soarin said, sounding mystified, before it seemed to dawn on him what his roommate was saying. “Oh! No, no bro, you’ve got it all wrong. Cheerilee’s just crashin’ on our couch for a while, that’s all.”

“And I’m more than happy to help out, where I can,” Cheerilee added as she finished the first batch of scrambled eggs and started adding some cheese and other odds and ends to the eggs. “I’m not sure why you’re so grumpy, Gravy.”

Gravy grumbled something under his breath, which Cheerilee didn’t catch, although Soarin just chuckled.

“Gravy here’s just a sourpuss,” Soarin said with a laugh, “his parents should have named him crabapple!”

“You’d probably still get my name wrong,” Gravy said, “it’s Gravenstein, not Gravy!”

Cheerilee giggled to herself as she finished up the first batch and served them onto a plate. She thought about giving them to Soarin first, before setting the plate down in front of Gravy—or Gravenstein. Sourpuss or not, hopefully she’d be able to ingratiate herself with the stallion, and maybe he’d be a bit pleasanter and easier to live with. “I’ll get yours next,” Cheerilee said, looking at Soarin. Her friend wasn’t really looking at her though—he was busy staring out the window with a huge grin on his face.

“No rush, Cheers,” Cheerilee blinked as she did a double take. Soarin seemed like the sort of pony to give nicknames to everyone he met, but Cheers? Her uncle called her that! “Oh sweet Celestia, look at those waves out there, Gravy.”

“I noticed,” Gravy commented, sounding somewhat annoyed. Cheerilee wondered what was special about the ocean waves as she started on Soarin’s breakfast. “But—”

“No buts, my very radical pony,” Soarin cut his friend off. “I’ll go round up the gang—the surf’s totally up!”

“Soarin, you can’t keep missing work!” Gravy said with a hiss, “or at the very least, I can’t. You’ve already got me to book off next week when the surge is coming through here; you can’t take time off now.”

“When the surf’s up man, the surf’s up,” Soarin said, sounding as if he was repeating a rather profound piece of wisdom. “Mother Nature waits for no pony.”

“What are you two talking about?” Cheerilee asked, as she started to add in the extra bits to the next batch of scrambled eggs.

“What are we talkin’ about? Surfing of course!” Soarin looked like he was ready to jump of his seat with excitement. “The greatest gift Celestia ever gave ponykind!”

“Never heard of it,” Cheerilee said truthfully.

“Oh wow, really?” Soarin looked like he was going to freak out. “Never heard of surfing?! You’ve been missing out!” His frown turned back into a grin in the blink of an eye. “I’ve got an idea, how about I teach you to surf?  My buddy left her board here and everything, it’ll be perfect!”

“Oh, uh, sounds cool?” Cheerilee hid her frown by looking away from her host. What the hay was surfing? Now now, Cheerilee, a voice inside her head said firmly, didn’t you come all this way to experience newer, awesome stuff? Soarin is pretty darn cool, if he likes it, this ‘surfing’, it must be badass. Cheerilee chuckled to herself. Now she was going crazy. “I should probably hit the hotel for the rest of my stuff, though, before they throw it out in the trash.” Cheerilee slid the second batch of scrambled eggs onto a plate, turned around, and passed it to Soarin.

“No problem, Cheers,” Soarin started wolfing down on the meal before he even sat it down. “It’ll probably take me an hour to round up the gang, even with these wings.” Soaring flicked the appendages. “You’re just going to love surfing, I just know it!”

By the time Cheerilee managed to make her own scrambled eggs, Gravenstein had packed up and left for work, muttering all the way about lazy idiotic pegasi, and Soarin had zipped out to find his friends, but not before lending her his key, so she could lock up after herself. The night before, Cheerilee could have sworn Soarin’s beach house wasn’t all that far from where the party had been, but it took her nearly an hour to retrace her steps back to the burnt out remains of the bonfires, and another hour to weave her way through the city to her hotel room.

The receptionist gave her a hard stare as she checked out—probably because Cheerilee hadn’t slept in the hotel room she had paid for the day before and complained about the cost every moment she was doing so. Admittedly, she did feel a bit put out for wasting half her bits on it, but at least now she wouldn’t be penniless by day’s end.

When she finally got back to the beach house, Soarin was already there on the patio and waiting with five other ponies, of all sexes and types—including a tried looking thestral—along with the painted boards Cheerilee had seen in the beach house’s den.

“Yo Cheers,” Soarin spotted her right away, and waved his wing tip at her as she pushed the patio door open and stepped out onto it. “This is the pony I was telling you about, guys.”

“Hello,” Cheerilee smiled nervously. It was one thing to hang out with strangers at a party—there you were just another face in the crowd rather than somepony.

“Let me introduce everypony—“ Soarin said, before rapidly naming off each of his friends. Cheerilee tried to follow but after the third pony, she was completely lost. Still, she put on a brave face and nodded anyway. There’d be plenty of time to learn all of Soarin’s friends later. She hoped. “Anywho, that’s everypony.” Soarin finished, clapping his hoof against the patio deck. “Let’s get surfin’!”

“I still don’t know what surfing is,” Cheerilee pointed out, before immediately regretting it. Good job looking cool, you idiot, she thought to herself as the Soarin’s friends burst out laughing. At her.

“Celestia’s crib, Soarin’, where did you find this kook?” One of the unicorns snorted as she eyed Cheerilee suspiciously. She was green, and Cheerilee decided to nickname her Spearmint, since she seemed to be rather sharp.

“Guys, chill.” Soarin’ flicked his wing dismissively. “I know she’s new to it, but we all were at first.”

“It’s one thing to be new, Soarin, it’s something else to completely ignorant,” the Thestral said, sounding tired. Perhaps Pillow would be a good nickname for him. Since he looked like he desperately wanted one. “She’ll just hold us back. No offense,” he added, glancing over to Cheerilee.

“Lookit, if you guys want to go catch some waves on your own, that’s fine by me, but I promised Cheerilee I’d teach her to surf.” Soarin sounded serious—surprisingly so, although, to be fair, Cheerilee had only known the pegasus for slightly less than twenty-four hours. “And a promise is a promise. And besides, you all know we need another pony if we’re going to enter that contest.”

“Yeah yeah, the only thing she’d win us is last place,” Celestia Lite said, another unicorn like Spearmint—except the mare was unusually leggy and thin, and her coat was brilliantly white. Even though she wasn’t an alicorn, Cheerilee found herself reminded of Celestia; although her mane and tail were pink rather than the rainbow of colours the princess had. “We’ll catch you later, have fun playing with the newbie.”

Cheerilee bit her lip as she watched the five ponies grab a board each and hop down off the patio onto the sand. Soarin watched them go with a frown on his muzzle, and Cheerilee watched Soarin. She hoped she hadn’t caused trouble for him with his friends—just because they were a bit mean to her didn’t mean they weren’t good ponies.

“Um, maybe I should just sit this out, Soarin,” Cheerilee said meekly, “I appreciate the offer and all, but I don’t want to cause you to get in trouble with your friends—”

“Nah, don’t you mind them,” Soarin shook his head and turned to Cheerilee, once more grinning widely. “I just know you’re going to love surfing.” Cheerilee opened her mouth, but Soarin cut her off before she could formulate her question. “Surfing, basically, is using a board like this—” Soarin slapped one of the two remaining boards still leaning up against the patio railing “—to catch waves and ride them.”

“Ride them?” Cheerilee frowned and looked out over the ocean. Ponyville didn’t have anything like that, even their largest lakes weren’t close to being considered ‘big’. Those lakes had waves too, but they were nowhere as large as the waves Cheerilee could see forming and crashing apart offshore. They were supposed to ride them? On a piece of wood? Cheerilee swallowed nervously. “Isn’t that kind of dangerous?” Cheerilee asked as she turned back to Soarin.

“A bit, but that’s part of the fun!” Soarin patted her on her flank with his wing. “What’s the point in living, if there isn’t some risk involved, eh?” His expression softened slightly. “Don’t worry Cheers, when you fall in I’ll be there to help you—you do know how to swim, though, right?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Cheerilee nodded; she did know how to swim, but her experience with swimming was primarily in the watering holes and ponds around Ponyville. She wasn’t really sure how strong of a swimmer she’d be in the ocean, but she also didn’t want to come off as a square either. Pillow was right, she really didn’t know anything.

“Excellent!” Soarin grabbed one of the two boards; it was a shade of orange that reminded Cheerilee of a sunset, with a black racing stripe down the middle—it took her a second, but then she realized the symbols near the tip of the board were stylized versions of Soarin’s cutie mark—a winged lightning bolt. It must be his personal board. As he flipped it over, Cheerilee could see there was a fin pointing out of the rear of the board too. “We can go over the details later, but let me show you how you stand on one of these—that board’s yours, by the way, if you want to practice.” Soarin pointed to the other board with his hoof as he laid his board down onto the patio.

That board looked much the same as Soarin’s, except that it was a dull white with a blue racing stripe and the stylized music notation—Cheerilee thought it was two eighth notes joined together or something, but she wasn’t an expert. After a moment’s hesitation, Cheerilee put the board down on the patio besides Soarin’s, as the pegasus hopped onto his and started to explain the ins and outs of balancing on the surfboard.

All together, it seemed like an awful lot of information to take in—and much of it, Soarin warned, had to be done to be learned. Nevertheless, Soarin was amazing patient with her, answering all of her questions, including the ones she was certain were idiotic or stupid. Cheerilee wondered if she’d ever be able to do that. With a snort, she shook the thought clear of her head. She’d dwell on that in the future.

But eventually she had to get in the water.

“Come on Cheerilee, it’s great!” Soarin called. The minute Soarin had decided the lessons were done, the stallion had grabbed his board and darted out over the ocean under his wing power, before dropping the board and landing on it. Now he was bobbing out a few dozen meters into the ocean, waving his hooves at her while Cheerilee stood just inside the surf, her hooves slowly sinking into the waterlogged sand. “It’s not cold or anything, I promise.”

Cheerilee grimaced, as if she hadn’t heard that line before half a dozen times, right before she jumped into an utterly freezing pond or river. Still, she hadn’t come all this way just to stay at home, and Soarin had been kind of enough to give her a chance... Cheerilee sighed and with a deep breath, galloped into the surf.

Under the waves, the sand sloped downward very gradually, and by the time she was out to where Soarin was floating, she was only up to her neck in the water. To her surprise, it actually wasn’t that cold, although it certainly wasn’t anywhere as warm as the air. On the other hoof, it was rather refreshing—it had been starting to get muggy out, hotter than what she had experienced growing up in Ponyville.

Soarin grinned at her cheekily as Cheerilee struggled to keep her board from floating away. She was glad it was attached to her hind-leg with a lash—finally she managed to jump on it awkwardly and push it down under her, pulling herself up on top of it before the naturally buoyant piece of wood. Within seconds, she lifted out of the water—at least her front end. Her legs still dangled over the side in the water.

“Alright, let’s get going,” Soarin said, before spinning around in the water and assuming a similar prone position on the board. Cheerilee copied him, and started to paddle out to sea. They could catch waves closer to shore, but they wouldn’t really give her the experience of actually surfing—at least according to Soarin—so they had to get out further. Unlike Soarin, however, who was using his wings to propel himself along, Cheerilee only had her hooves, and it was exhausting work.

It took them nearly half an hour—at least by Cheerilee’s estimation since she didn’t have a watch—to get to a spot where Soarin though they could catch a ‘good wave’, although she really wasn’t sure what Soarin was looking for. Still, it was good to rest her forelegs and let her muscles relax.

“D-do you do this often?” Cheerilee panted as she flexed stretched her forelegs out on the board top, out of the numbing water. Soarin didn’t seem to be even breathing heavily as he sat up on his board and scanned the ocean-ward horizon. “Surfing, I mean.”

“Every chance I get,” Soarin sounded like he was only half-paying attention. “Lot of pegasi don’t like it, but not me, I think it’s the bomb.” Soarin flashed her a grin. “And you’ll love it too, once you’ve got a chance to ride a real wave. Don’t worry; you’re doin’ great so far.”

“Thanks,” Cheerilee hauled herself up and out of the water too, assuming a position like Soarin.

“No problem girl, I—oh here we go,” Soarin pointed at a large swell of water headed their way. Soarin dipped his hooves into the water and started to turn his board around. Cheerilee copied the stallion again until she was in a similar position, although pointed in another direction. Soarin had warned her to be careful not to get too close to other surfers.

Cheerilee glanced over her shoulder, and, as Soarin had showed her on the patio, started paddling towards shore as the wave started to push the board up against her chest, and forward. Now came the hardest part; standing up without falling off. It had to be a quick, smooth motion, and Celestia knew Soarin had made her practice enough times on shore. She glanced over her shoulder, then at Soarin, who was tensing up in preparation. As she watched, her friend leapt to his hooves, swaying a bit then angling the board away, down the edge of the wave. Here goes nothing! Cheerilee gritted her teeth and hopped up herself.

She was nowhere as graceful at it as Soarin had been, and she ended up nearly throwing herself off the board before she got it under control, but then… As the wave started to break, Cheerilee shifted the board to force it further down the massive swell, at a bit of an angle to prolong the ride as much as possible. It was amazing; this must be what it’s like to fly, she thought as she started to grin. Really fly, that was, under her own power and not in some sort of machine. Within a few moments of standing up, Cheerilee was already moving pretty fast, and she shifted her weight a bit to run it ever so slightly, heading further along the wave.

Once Cheerilee thought she was stable enough that she wouldn’t crash, she glanced over her shoulder in the direction Soarin had gone—and watched as the stallion flipped the board over the top of the wave front and back down. He must have caught her looking, because he started to wave his wing at her and shout something, but the roar of the ocean drowned him out.

Laughing gleefully, Cheerilee turned back to the wave in front of her—only to realize Soarin was probably shouting a warning. In front of her, the wave was breaking and curling over, forming a tunnel of water—one that Cheerilee could see had no exit. Gasping, she tried to turn the board around, but the act of trying to make such a sharp turn only threw her off the surfboard and into the collapsing wave.

Thankfully, at the last moment she managed to breathe deep before she went under, but by the time she fought her way to the surface, her lungs were burning. Cheerilee tossed her head back as she broke the surface and took a couple of shuddering gasps before she looked around for her board. It hadn’t gone far, and it only took her a couple of seconds before she was flopped out on it. Her muscles were aching and it felt like she was a piñata. For a couple of moments she just sat there and rested, rocking with the smaller waves as they came, until she heard a buzzing.

Looking up, Cheerilee saw Soarin madly flapping his wings behind him, causing the board the skip along the surface of the ocean like a rock—to her surprise, the stallion looked rather concerned.

“Are you okay, Cheers?” Soarin called as he got closer, turning and spraying water over Cheerilee to bleed off his speed. She didn’t mind, she was already soaked—probably ruined her hair too.

Was she okay? Cheerilee frowned as she thought the question through; true, her body ached and she was probably the wettest she had been in all her life, but… under all that there was something else. A certain desire, an eagerness; she wanted more! Cheerilee grinned widely at Soarin as the pony finally got within talking range. She opened her mouth to assure her friend she was fine, but burst out laughing.

“Cheerilee?” Soarin asked, now sounding even more concerned.

“That. Was. Awesome!” Cheerilee finally forced out, slamming her hoof against he board’s surface. “Let’s go again!”

Soarin’s worried expression evaporated. “I knew it; I knew it! As soon as I saw you, I said to myself, here’s a natural born surfer!” Soarin’s grin subsided slightly, “are you sure you want to go again though? That was a hay of a wipe-out, it looked like the wave sucked you in and gave you a good washing.”

“I’m on one piece, aren’t I?” Cheerilee retorted, before letting go of the board and repositioning herself on it so she could paddle properly. “Come on, I’m already soaked, there’s no point in quitting now.”

“Aw yeah,” Soarin’s grin returned, “just remember to check the handedness of the wave before y’all ride off into it.”

“That,” Cheerilee gritted her teeth as she started to paddle back out to where they could catch the waves, the one they had been riding had deposited them quite close to shore, “is something I’ll keep in mind.”

**

By the time Cheerilee and Soarin finally allowed themselves to be swept to shore, Cheerilee’s legs were shaking, and her mane and coat were completely soaked. More than anything she felt like she could crash onto Soarin’s couch and sleep for at least forever, if not two forevers. However, Cheerilee was also starving, and more importantly she was somewhere between soaked and dry, and the parts of her that were drying out were starting to become stiff and crusted with salt. The idea of salty water was new to her, and the sensation of her fur being stiff with salt crystals was more than a bit unpleasant.

Thankfully, the solution to both problems was back at Soarin’s place. Soarin offered to whip something together to eat, while Cheerilee took a shower. Given the coffee she had… enjoyed that morning, Cheerilee was somewhat sceptical that the pegasus could make a meal, but with her body protesting every step she took, she didn’t exactly have much choice in the matter.

After spending most of the day soaked to the bone, it felt rather strange at first to step into the shower’s spray at first, but then the warm water started to wash away the sand and salt caking her body and by the time Cheerilee was drying herself, she felt completely refreshed. Well, not completely. Her muscles still ached and she was still weary to the bone, but at least she didn’t feel like she was going to drop over any second.

Once she was reasonably dry, Cheerilee wiped the steam off the bathroom mirror off with her towel to get a look at the damage to her mane. Unfortunately, the salt water and the insane tumbles she took had pretty much destroyed the work she had put into her mane and tail. The hairs hung limp and floppy, sticking out at odd angles—and reminded Cheerilee of the way some of Soarin’s friends had their manes styled. In the end Cheerilee decided to leave it; if she was going surfing again, and she certainly was, it wasn’t worth the effort to fix it.

To Cheerilee’s surprise, Soarin had decided to make grilled corn for their meal, despite the fact that she was certain that there hadn’t been corn in the refrigerator or pantry when she had hopped in the shower. It was also surprising; however, that Soarin seemed to be preparing far more than just enough for himself and Cheerilee—even if she expected Gravenstein to join them. After all, it wasn’t as if it was a date or something silly like that. Just the thought made Cheerilee blush.

After a moment’s thought, Cheerilee realized the rest of Soarin’s friends were probably going to be joining them. They did seem to store their boards there, and Soarin’s beach house would be a natural choice to hang out at, since it was so close. Never mind that Soarin and Gravenstein both knew how to cook, even if they didn’t know how to brew a pot of coffee. Hopefully they wouldn’t be so… dismissive of her.

Sure enough, as Cheerilee’s stomach started to growl for the umpteenth time, and just before Soarin assured her the meal would be ready to eat, Soarin’s friends stomped up the patio stairs. They were laughing and talking loudly, and didn’t waste any time dropping their boards off up against the railing and barging their way into the kitchen.

“Hey guys,” Soarin said, waving his wing lazily. “Food’s almost ready, just take a seat.”

Cheerilee half expected them to march back out the door and sit outside, but instead they pulled up cushions and all of them sat around the kitchen island, putting Cheerilee in the awkward position of being sandwiched between Celestia Lite and a brown earth stallion Cheerilee decided to call Hot Coffee. Cheerilee hadn’t spent more than a few minutes with these ponies, and she could already tell by the way the stallion was eyeing Celestia Lite he was clearly interested in her. What a dope, Cheerilee felt like rolling her eyes, but resisted the temptation.

Eventually she was going to have to learn these ponies’ names, if only because it was going to be rather embarrassing if she started to call them by their nicknames by accident.

Soarin saved her from thinking too much by plopping a well-cooked corn cob down in front of her, and every other pony at the table. It was a bit difficult eating with her shoulders pressed up against the other ponies, but she managed, and to Cheerilee’s delight, it tasted as good as it smelled.

About halfway through her second cob, Gravenstein returned home, and Soarin served his roommate up as well, although Gravenstein merely scowled at him and didn’t say anything in the way of thanks.

For the most part, everypony besides Soarin—and Gravenstein, if she counted the slightly less severe frown Gravenstein gave her as a greeting—ignored Cheerilee. In fact, it wasn’t until Cheerilee was finishing her second cob that anypony bothered to even ask her a question.

“So, newbie, how badly did you wipe out?” Celestia Lite said, as she dabbed her lips lightly with a cloth. For someone who spent her time hanging out in the surf, Celestia Lite certainly seemed high class—her cutie mark was even a trio of fleur de lis, one of the royal symbols.

Cheerilee took a bite of her cob, buying herself time to think. She considered lying or stretching the truth, but perhaps if she admitted her lack of skill honestly; it might help her connect with Soarin’s friends. She also thought about asking for a third cob even though she was well stuffed now—they were good eating and good distractions if you needed to buy time to answer a question. Cheerilee suspected she might need a lot of that.

“Pretty badly,” Cheerilee gave a half-hearted smile, “the first wave I rode, I went right into the tunnel as it was collapsing.” Not wanting to sell it short, Cheerilee hastened to add, “It was pretty fun though; I can see why you ponies like it.”

“She’s a natural,” Soarin said, as he sat down at the only remaining spot at the island with his own cobs. “You should have seen her—she might have wiped but she rode it like she was born doing it. Not to mention she didn’t hesitate to climb back on.” Soarin flashed Cheerilee a smile, and she blushed a bit at his praise. She hadn’t been that good. “I wish you guys had seen her, rather than bailin’ on us.”

“Soarin, we were trying to get ready for this contest—it’s cute you’re trying to teach your fillyfriend and everything, but we need focus if we’re going to win!” Spearmint leaned on the table and shook her hoof in Cheerilee’s direction. “This might be the only day we get to practice before the storm, and you wasted it, like a Discord damned fool.”

“I didn’t waste it!” Soarin said as Cheerilee added, “We’re not dating or anything.”

“Seriously?” Pillow shook his wings, snapping out of the trance he had been almost all evening. Cheerilee wondered if thestrals slept during the day or something. “You mean to tell us you’re not even getting tail from this kook?” Pillow flinched and glanced at Cheerilee. “No offense.”

“Right,” Cheerilee said dryly, and tried not to blush. “What’s this contest you guys keep bringing up?”

“These surf-heads are talking about a contest that some of the local businesses are putting on ahead of the storm.” Gravenstein explained, stepping back into the kitchen. “Storm surges produce some of the best waves.”

“Surf-heads? You’re in this thing too,” Hot Coffee pointed at the Gravenstein with his hoof, “and where the hay where you today anyway?”

“At work, like I’msupposed to be, like we’re all supposed to be,” Gravenstein dropped his plate into the kitchen sink, and turned around to face the group.

“When the surf’s up, bro, you’ve got to take advantage of it,” this pony was another pegasus, who looked a whole lot like Soarin. The two ponies were almost the same colouration in their coats and manes, and Cheerilee wondered if they were twins or something. Perhaps she’d call her Breezy. “Can’t fight Mother Nature.”

“Says the weather pegasus,” Gravenstein snorted and shook his head. “Speaking of which, Soarin, Grills fired you for not showing up today.”

“Yikes.” Soarin didn’t sound all that upset or dismayed, at least not to Cheerilee’s ear. “Oh well.”

“Oh well?” Gravenstein said, cocking his eyebrow. “Soarin, if you can’t hold down a steady job, you’re never going to get into the Wonderbolts.”

“Look, let’s get back to this contest,” Celestia Lite tapped her hoof on the counter. “Are you serious about this thing or not, Soarin?”

“Of course I am,” Soarin said as he got up and headed over the fridge, “anypony want a beer?”

“Don’t change the subject, Soarin, we need to get another pony, if we’re going to enter,” Pillow rubbed his eyes with his hooves, then turned to Cheerilee; “Normally we’d be judged individually, but for this they’ve decided to make us compete as a team.”

“Yeah, our scores will be averaged,” Hot Coffee said, motioning at Soarin for a beer.

“So it’s not a weighted average?” Cheerilee asked—it probably wouldn’t be, but it seemed a bit harsh to judge a whole group by the failure of a single pony—or allow a group to coast on the success on a few.

The whole table stared at her. “A what average?” Spearmint narrowed her eyes at her, as if Cheerilee had grown a second head or something.

Cheerilee blushed and shook her head, “it’s—never mind, it’s not important.” She’d have to keep in mind these ponies probably weren’t into mathematics or similar things. Not that she was, strictly speaking. It certainly wasn’t particularly radical or far out to start going on about statistics.

“Right…” Celestia Lite said, breaking the awkward silence, before turning back to Soarin. “So we need a good surfer on the team so we don’t get screwed.”

“We’re already kind of screwed.” Spearmint shook her head, “VS was one of our best surfers, and I can’t believe she’s gone back east on us. And now, of all times.”

“She has her career to think about, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Soarin said, returning to the table and passing Hot Coffee his beer. “I mean, if I got an opportunity to join the Wonderbolts, I’d be out of here in a flash—I love you guys, but seriously, you can’t pass up opportunities like that.”

“Well, hold that thought, Soarin,” Breezy said, smirking, “it might interest you to know that I heard from Big Wings at work that Spitfire is going to be flying down as a guest judge. And they’ve added a party with her as part of the jackpot.”

Cheerilee flinched as Soarin spat his mouthful of beer across the table.

“What?”

“Well, technically she’s flying down to keep an eye on the storm, part of the regulations or whatever, but she’d going to step in and be one of the judges too, for the hell of it,” Breezy explained, for all her mannerisms earlier, she clearly wasn’t as laid back as Cheerilee had originally thought.

“I bet this kook isn’t looking too good now, is she?” Celestia Lite commented.

Cheerilee bit her lip, and wondered if she should say something. She didn’t even really want to be in—or cared about—this contest, although it was clearly important to all of Soarin’s friends, except perhaps Gravenstein. Of course, she didn’t really know all that much about the Wonderbolts or other parts of the Equestrian Military—that really wasn’t her area—but meeting one of them would probably be a good step in the direction of joining the group, or being given a chance to. Cheerilee glanced down the table at Soarin, who was clearly thinking hard. It’d be best if she just bowed out.

“Soarin,” Cheerilee began, but Soarin cut her off with his hoof.

“I said I wanted Cheers on the team, and I stand by that,” Soarin nodded at Cheerilee and smiled, “we’ll just have to work harder to get you ready for it, Cheerilee.” Soarin paused and glanced at the other ponies at the table. “Besides, it’s not as if we have much of a choice in the matter. This storm’s been scheduled for months, and every team’s already got their eight ponies—we can’t find anyone on such a short notice.”

“Fine,” Spearmint said with a sigh. One by one the other ponies around the table nodded or agreed as well. Cheerilee felt her heart flutter with excitement—and worry. All these ponies were going to be riding on her shoulders, depending on her to deliver and be a great surfer for them. It was a lot of responsibility, and she doubted any of the ponies besides Soarin and maybe Gravenstein, were going to cut her any slack if she screwed up. Plus she didn’t want to ruin her friendship with the stallion either.

“Well, newbie,” Breezy said, reaching across the table and gripping Cheerilee’s hoof. “Welcome to the team.”