Cough Syrup

by Closer-To-The-Sun

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Soarin, Romance, Comedy, Wonderbolts, Spitfire
Length: 4899

Soarin gets a job offer on the west coast for the summer. While Spitfire is happy for her comrade, she is beginning to feel some past emotions for him resurface.

"If I could find a way to see this straight,/I'd run away,/To some fortune that I should have found by now,/I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down," -Young The Giant, ‘Cough Syrup’

Soarin gets a great summer job offer to help other Wonderbolts train out in Las Pegasus. To celebrate, he takes all of the Wonderbolts to a bar and treats them to drinks. Amongst the cheer, Fleetfoot notices that Spitfire is not only drinking a bit much, but acting unlike herself. Will Spitfire be able to come to terms with what she's feeling and, for that matter, get rid of her cold?

Published 2013-07-28 09:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-08-05 02:25:20 UTC

Chapter 1: Goin' Out West

Ch. 1: Goin’ Out West

“Bartender! Another glass of Crown Royalty, on the rocks!”

“You sure that’s a smart idea, Captain? Getting another glass of whisky?” the blue coated pegasus asked her superior.

The light orange mare turned to her friend, “You don’t have to be so formal when we’re just hanging out at the bar, Fleetfoot. Besides, Soarin said he was buying for all of us Wonderbolts here, so there’s no way I’m not going to take advantage of this.”

Fleetfoot still gave an uneasy look, “But what about your cold? It sounded pretty bad.”

“Pfft….please it wasn’t that bad. Besides, a bit of alcohol helps, you know,” Spitfire waved her hoof nonchalantly. However, she did give a couple of soft coughs to the side. She continued, “Really!”

“Well, if you say so, Captain,” the blue pegasus gave one last glance to Spitfire before taking a sip of her appletini.

The crowd of Wonderbolts continued to chat in the busy bar for a while longer. Amongst the talking, laughter, and drinking, a pale blue stallion got up to quiet everypony down.

“Settle down, settle down. I’m sure all each and everypony is curious why I called you all here to The Loose Harness tonight,” Soarin spoke up.

“Because you wanted us to drink all on your tab!” a voice called out. Laughter followed.

Soarin was also sharing in the laugh, “No, no, that’s not it. It’s because I want to share some awesome news with everypony!”

“What, are you taking your love of baked goods to the next level?” Spitfire called out, taking a sip of her fresh glass of whisky. More laughter followed.

“Nah, nothing like that. I got an offer to go out to the west coast and fly over there!” the stallion mused happily.

Hooves came together, clapping for Soarin. Along with the cheering, Fleetfoot spoke up, “Awesome! What does the job entail for you?”

“The offer is basically for the entire summer. Go out to the base over near Las Pegasus and help around with training and what not. Nothing too extreme or anything. Who knows, they might ask me to stay on as permanent staff over there. To be honest, it sounds like just an awesome vacation, you know?”

Another voice called up, “Anything to get out of work here, right?”

Yet another voice followed, “More like anything to not have to deal with Captain Spitfire for a bit!”

The entire group of Wonderbolts came together in laughter. Even Spitfire herself joined in the laughter at the statement. Soarin, despite the smile and chuckle, insisted otherwise, “It’s not like that, and you all know it. I just wanted to give myself a chance to do something different and outside of Canterlot for a change.”

“Well, more power to ya, Soarin! Best of luck out there on the west coast!” a voice called out.

“Hear, hear!” a few ponies shouted in unison.

“And here’s to Soarin who’s picking up the tab!” another pony said allowed.

“Hear, hear!” even more ponies spoke this time, with a few glasses of different types of alcohol being raised into the air.

Soarin laughed, “Enjoy everypony, just remember we still got practice tomorrow.”

“Practice?” Fleetfoot scoffed, “Please, look at the Captain right now!”

A number of pony’s eyes turned to Spitfire, who was sitting at her barstool, taking a drink of her whisky. “What?” she asked with a shrug, “what’s wrong with a touch of whisky to relax?”

“That’s not how you nurse a cold, Captain!” a voice called out, causing laughter to follow.

Spitfire shrugged it of as she finished the small amount of alcohol in her glass. She turned back around to the bar all called out for another drink, “One more Crown Royalty, sir, neat please!”

“Anyway, enjoy yourselves everypony! Thanks for coming!” Soarin finished his speech to his fellow Wonderbolts. Trotting over to two mares, Soarin spoke out, “Hey, Spitfire! Fleetfoot! How are you two doing tonight?”

“Great, Soarin! Thanks for letting us all get something to drink!” the blue mare happily welcomed her teammate.

Spitfire turned her head to see Soarin. She smiled and playfully hit him with her hoof, “Hey, you, congrats on the offer in Las Pegasus!”

“Haha, thanks,” Soarin bashfully rubbed the back of his neck with one of his hooves, “But if it weren’t for all of you ponies, there would be no way that I would even be considered! Especially you, Spitfire.”

Spitfire waved her hoof casually, “Oh, come off it. You’re a great flyer, ever since you started flying back in Cloudsdale. You were awesome back in flight camp and all of that, remember.”

“Well, yeah, thanks to you helping me, Spitfire! If it weren’t for you, I’d be just another flyer with their head in the clouds with silly dreams,” Soarin insisted.

“Oh, you guys knew each other before joining the Wonderbolts?” Fleetfoot inquired about her fellow members.

“Totally! This mare right here is one of the best flyers in Equestria, hooves down! She set records that still stand back in school!” Soarin bragged, “She’s awesome!”

Spitfire became a bit timid yet snarky, “You’re building me up, pie boy.”

Laughing, Soarin placed his hooves on both of his fellow Wonderbolts as he bidded them farewell, “Either way, I have all of you to thanks. Speaking of which, I have other ponies to see real quick. Enjoy the evening!”

“See ya tomorrow, Soarin!” Fleetfoot called out. Turning herself around to sit in the barstool properly, she continued speaking, “Wow, I never knew you two were childhood friends. That’s really cool!”

“Yeah, a freaking fantasy,” the orange mare replied. The bartender came up and gave Spitfire her drink. After thanking him, the mare took a drink of the whisky.

The blue pony turned her head to face her superior, “I still think you should draw the line somewhere.”

“Oh, what do you care, Fleetfoot? It’s my body,” Spitfire’s attitude had turned bitter like the beverage she had been drinking.

“Ma’am? Are you alright?” Fleetfoot asked, tilting her head.

As her drink arrived, Spitfire looked at the whisky in the glass. “Peachy, just peachy.”

The blue pegasus nervously continued, “Are you really?”

Spitfire sighed as she stared at the alcohol, “Of course not.”

“Do you want to talk about it, Captain?” Fleetfoot meekly asked.

“I told you, don’t call me ‘captain’ when we are here,” she replied. The orange mare was then silent, allowing the noise from the rest of the ponies fill the air. However, she broke her silence with her coughing.

“That cough sounds pretty bad, ma’am,” the blue mare stated.

“I told you I’m fine!” Spitfire bit back. Her expression quickly changed from annoyance to melancholy. She continued with a sigh, “Sorry about that, you’re not the one I’m infuriated at, Fleetfoot.”

“Then, who?”

Spitfire turned her gaze to the blue stallion that was with them only moments ago, “A really dense colt….”

Fleetfoot followed Spitfire’s line of sight to see whom she was talking about, “Soarin? Why him?”

She didn’t reply. Instead, she took a large drink of her whisky.

“Oh my Celestia….do you have feelings for Soarin?” Fleetfoot spoke in a hushed tone to Spitfire.

Spitfire did not reply.

Chapter 2: Do You Want To

Chapter 2: Do You Want To

“Captain?” Fleetfoot pushed her question on to Spitfire, “Do you like him?”

Spitfire coughed. After it passed, she took another drink of her whisky, finishing the beverage off. “What did I tell you about calling me, ‘captain’? Anyway, to answer, it’s complicated,” the orange mare leaned more onto the bar, trying not to become dizzy from the alcohol she just took in.

“Complicated, huh?” the white maned pegasus seemed interested, “Do share!”

“After I get another drink. Barkeep! One more Crown Royalty, on the rocks this time!” Spitfire shouted out to the stallion behind the bar.

The brown pony behind the counter trotted up to the two female Wonderbolts, “Sorry, Spitfire, I’m going to have to cut you off. Don’t want your liver to fail on ya.”

A scoff escaped the orange mare’s lips, “Alright, alright, I’ll stop with the sauce. Can I at least get some water then? I’m sure I’m gonna need it.”

“Right away,” the bartender took out a glass and filled it with water for the Wonderbolt.

“Thanks,” Spitfire said as she took the glass of water. Taking a sip of the water, she sighed.

“Alright, so you got the drink, now spill, what’s with you and Soarin?” Fleetfoot edged on.

Spitfire looked down at the wooden surface of the bar. “Soarin and I go way back. The two of us grew up in Cloudsdale and met on the middle school flight team. It was pretty cool back then, we had a friendly rivalry. We would always try to one up each other. It was simple then.”

The blue mare grinned, “That sounds like it was really awesome.”

“It was, until puberty had to stomp its hoof down. I saw Soarin as more than just a teammate and a friend, but as a stallion,” Spitfire took a drink of her water.

“So?”

The fiery mane on Spitfire flew around as she quickly turned her head to Fleetfoot, “So? Don’t tell me you haven’t had feelings for somepony.”

“Well, actually I’m seeing somepony now,” Fleetfoot’s face grew a pink tint as she began to act bashful, “He really is something….”

“How in Celestia’s name did you meet this special somepony?” the orange pony raised an eyebrow.

Fleetfoot sheepishly smiled, “Oh, we just happened to bump into each other in Ponyville….well, rather I happened to crash into him. Oh, he’s just so handsome and rugged, and so dreamy….”

Spitfire rolled her eyes, “Sorry I asked.”

“I’m sorry, Spitfire, go on.”

“Anyway, when I saw him as more than just a friend, things just got weird for me. It’s why I tried to distance myself from him. We were still friends and what not throughout school, but I just had to hide how I felt and all,” Spitfire sighed heavily into her water glass, “Went the coward way about it. Not exactly happy about that.”

“I see,” the blue pegasus nodded as she listened.

“And from there, the two of us just happened to get in the Wonderbolts. Nothing else much to say that,” the orange mare finished with a cough, taking a drink of her water.

Fleetfoot was quiet as she nodded. Both ponies sat in silence after Spitfire’s ending statement, unsure of what to say.

Across the bar, music began planning from the jukebox. A few stallions started dancing and signing along with the song. Their voices carried across the bar, “When I woke up tonight, I said I’m gonna make somepony love me. I’m gonna make somepony love me. And now I know, now I know, now I know, I know that it’s you. You’re lucky lucky, you’re so lucky!”

The main riff of the song was causing Spitfire to tap her hoof on the surface of the bar. “Do you know who plays this song, Fleetfoot? They sound really familiar.”

“Yeah, they’re Friesian Ferdinand. This is one of their more well-known songs, ‘Do You Want To’,” Fleetfoot recalled.

Spitfire started to hum the tune along with the stallions who were drunkenly singing over by the jukebox. With another cough, she continued,“Oh, okay then.”

Fleetfoot was also swaying along to the song. However, she continued her question, “Ma’am, if you don’t mind me asking a similar question that the song is asking, but do you want to tell Soarin how you feel?”

Spitfire took another drink of her water as the song’s music and lyrics continued to cause her to move. She continued to look down and away from her teammate. Her hoof continued to keep the beat as she answered, “Half of me does, yet the other half doesn’t. I’ve liked him since, well, you know. But I’m worried that it will complicate friendship, that’s exactly what I was thinking back then and I still am worried about it.” The mare looked over to see that all but one other Wonderbolts had left the bar, leaving Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Rapidfire who was sitting on the far end of the bar, flirting with a pony. Spitfire added one last thing, “And now that I’m captain of the Wonderbolts, I could do so much worse.”

“I guess I see why you are hesitant about telling then, Spitfire. It can’t be easy to hold on to those feelings for so long,” Fleetfoot commented.

The orange mare mumbled incoherently before she finished her water.

“Maybe I can help you out with telling Soarin how you feel,” the blue Wonderbolt stated.

“Huh?”

“Think about it! I was able to tell my coltfriend how I felt after my concussion and now look at us; we’ve been dating for a number of months now! He’s just so wonderful. Kind, caring, gorgeous, and he has such a way with words too,” Fleetfoot’s words were full of love as she spoke of her special somepony, “Oh, I simply can’t wait to see him again with his bold red coat!”

Spitfire glared at the blue pony, “First off, you’re a helpless romantic. Second, I don’t need your help with this.” Turning her head away, Spitfire coughed a couple times after her statement.

“Are you sure? Don’t you want to tell him how you feel before he leaves?”

“What’s the big deal? He’s going to be gone for the summer, that’s it. If I really have to tell him anything, I can wait until he gets back. Otherwise, I have no reason to tell him anything,” Spitfire explained herself as she hopped down from the barstool.

Fleetfoot looked concernedly to her superior, “If you say so, ma’am.”

Carefully balancing on her hooves, Spitfire slowly started trotting towards the door, “I do. Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow at practice, Fleetfoot.”

“Yes, Captain!” Fleetfoot raised her hoof up to salute.

Spitfire turned around to speak, “I told you to not call me tha….oh whatever, I give up.”

Chapter 3: Only One

The next evening, Fleetfoot was in the Loose Harness, seated up at the bar where all the Wonderbolts had gathered the night before to celebrate Soarin’s good news. Happily humming to herself, she drank a mug of cider.

The door of the bar opened up, in which a fiery maned pegasus entered in, still wearing her Wonderbolt uniform. “Barkeep, one wheat beer please. Celestia knows I need it,” she instructed as she trotted up to where the blue pegasus was seated. With a cough, she sat down next to her.

“Goodness, Captain, you look worse than before,” Fleetfoot welcomed her superior.

The orange mare didn’t reply. Instead, she just struggled to get on the barstool and keep her balance. She finally managed to after hanging on to the bar itself.

“You look awful, ma’am,” Fleetfoot tried again to start a conversation.

“Well, I feel awful. Couldn’t you tell during practice?” Spitfire coughed to the side after she firmly spoke.

“Sorry.”

Spitfire sighed, “Ah, don’t be. I’m not mad at you or anything. Right now, I’m annoyed at myself. A self-induced hangover and my persistent cough.”

A small smile appeared on the blue mare’s face, “Don’t worry about it, ma’am. Have you taken something for that cough by chance?”

With a nod, the captain was about to reply. However, her beverage arrived at the same time, to which she took a sip before she began, “Yeah, I took some cough syrup earlier. Still waiting for it to kick in.”

“I don’t think more alcohol is going to help with it though after last night,” Fleetfoot warned, as she took a drink of her beverage.

“Hey, you’re still drinking after last night. That doesn’t look like your normal cocktail, for that matter,” Spitfire pointed out with her hoof.

Fleetfoot sheepishly smiled, “Well, I’m trying something new since my special somepony works on an apple farm and all. They even brew their own special brand of cider in Ponyville. It’s really popular there. I’m trying to get more used to the taste, I guess.”

“Again with this somepony of yours. You’re such a helpless romantic, Fleetfoot,” the orange mare went to take a large drink of her wheat beer.

“What about you, captain? Have you done anything about Soarin?” the pegasus urged on, hoping she would talk about her romantic life.

This surprised the orange pony, “What? It’s been literally one day. What could I have done?”

“Well, you could have told him how you feel about him.”

Spitfire raised a hoof up to her face, “I don’t think you really understand this relationship I have with Soarin, alright? We aren’t here to discuss my personal life. We are here to have a drink, got it?”

“Y-Yes, captain!” Fleetfoot saluted out of fear.

The two pegasus mares sad in silence as they continued to drink. The only interruption between them was an occasional cough from Spitfire and the sound of the glasses hitting the surface of the bar.

Elsewhere in the bar, the jukebox came to life, starting to play a song. The simplistic riff caught both of the Wonderbolts off guard. The band’s loud and rough sounding music did manage to perk Spitfire’s interest.

“Fleetfoot, do you happen to know this song?”

“I think its Surfer Buck. I’ve heard it a number of times,” the blue pegasus thought, “I remember a few of my friends told me about them some time ago.”

“Huh,” was Spitfire could say. She continued to listen to the song. One lyric from the song, however, struck her as she listened in.

The jukebox played on: “If you're gonna do it then do it,/Otherwise you just might lose your nerve./ I swear that ocean it swallowed me fully,/And it might have to follow you home.”

Those lines struck a chord for the orange mare. Looking down at her half-empty glass of wheat beer, she began to speak again, this time in a meek tone, “You really want to know?”

“Huh?” Fleetfoot turned her attention back to Spitfire.

She repeated, still staring at her beverage, “You want to know why I haven’t done anything about Soarin?”

The blue mare was a bit hesitant in replying, “S-Sure….”

“I’m scared,” Spitfire admitted, “I’m scared of losing him as a friend. We’ve been friends since grade school. He’s the greatest pony in my life and I can’t risk messing up what we have.”

“And yet, you want to let him know how you feel about him,” Fleetfoot interjected.

“It’s not that simple!” Spitfire bit back harshly, “I can’t just trot on up to him and say ‘oh, hey there Soarin. Guess what? I’ve been head over hooves for you since our first year in high school and I hid it from you ever since!’ It just feels wrong on a number of levels to me.”

The blue pony took a sip of her cider, “Because of the history you have?”

Spitfire nodded with a cough, “Yeah. We have such a history together. In middle school, we would go to downtown Cloudsdale after classes and just hang out. We’d go to a secret place outside the cloud factory, watching the newly formed clouds and watch them fly by, saying what they look like. I mean, we were just friends. And then puberty came in like a hurricane and messed things up for me.”

“I see. It really must stink having that happen to you,” Fleetfoot commented

“That’s an understatement. I just….I just want to tell him how I feel without having to worry about messing things up. I’ve been his superior since I became captain of the flight team in high school. I don’t want to make things weird.”

“Then why don’t you? He is leaving tomorrow for Las Pegasus. You won’t be technically over him as captain then,” the blue pony suggested.

Spitfire opened up her mouth, about to object but stopped herself, “That’s….not a bad idea….”

“Then I’ll take credit for it!” Fleetfoot giggled slightly as she took another drink of her cider.

“But….what am I going to say?” Spitfire rested her head on her hooves that were propped up by the bar.

“How about you practice on me?”

“Huh?” the orange pegasus turned to look at Fleetfoot.

“Just practice what you want to say to him on me. Again, for practice so you don’t have to think on the spot,” Fleetfoot gave a comforting smile.

“I guess that could also work. Alright, let’s try it,” Spitfire turned her head forward again and closed her eyes. She then began speaking again in a very hushed tone, “Soarin….I….I know this sounds weird coming from me and all but….well….we’ve been friends for like, ever….and I….I love you, Soarin. You’re the only one that I can honestly say this to….I never really had the guts to say this until now….but I do love you and….and I always have….”

Fleetfoot began to clap her hooves together, “That was really beautiful, captain.”

Spitfire opened her eyes with a small smile, “Heh, thanks Fleetfoot.” A single tear rolled down her cheek.

“Are you crying?” Fleetfoot leaned in to look.

“N-No….it’s just a side effect of my stupid cough….” Spitfire quickly wiped the tear away from her face.

Fleetfoot giggled, “Aww, Captain Spitfire is showing emotion! Quick, somepony get a camera!”

Spitfire blushed slightly, “Oh, shut your hay hole.”

Chapter 4: Floating Vibes

The next morning, Spitfire woke up with a pounding head. After a few hours of waiting for her hangover to pass, the orange mare went out to the Wondebolt’s training ground. Taking her time, as to not shake up her stomach contents or to cause herself to trip, she made her way over to the track. Looking at the empty field, she began to trot around the track. Her pace, however, was limited due to her persistent cough. Amongst her trotting around the track, she heard a voice call out to her.

“Hey, Spitfire!”

The pegasus looked to the source to see Soarin in his Wonderbolt uniform over near the bleachers. The blue stallion was waving to Spitfire.

Changing her direction, Spitfire glided over to her teammate, “Hey, Soarin, what are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same, we’re off on the weekends, remember?” the stallion spoke with a smile both on his face and in his voice.

Spitfire smirked, “Obviously, but I usually come over here early every morning to work out a bit to start my day. This morning, however, I kinda woke up a bit more….”

“Drunk?” Soarin joked. The mare glared at Soarin for his comment. His response to Spitfire was a burst of laughter, “What? Did I hit the nail on the head?”

Spitfire rolled her eyes as she continued, “Anyway, I just don’t want to break the habit, no matter how late I do this….or how annoying a cough might get.”

“Well, good to see you’re dedicated to that.”

“What about you, pie boy? Don’t you have to head out to the west today?”

Soarin smiled as he looked across the track and field, “Yeah, I have to get going soon, but I just can’t bring myself to leave this place just yet. A lot of good memories here, ya know?”

The mare also turned to look in the same direction, “I know what you mean.”

The smile on the stallion’s face seemed to glow as he continued, “I know we came from Cloudsdale and all, but this field alone feels like a second home. All the time we spent here practicing, training, and all of that. Haha, remember when we first came here for training?”

“Yeah, what was, five years ago when we showed up here?” Spitfire thought.

“Five years. Right after we finished up with high school, we both applied for the Wonderbolts. For the time trials, we kept squaring off against each other. Since they did that, I just kept trying to keep up with your speed and, well, look at me now, a true, blue Wonderbolt,” Soarin reminisced. He closed his eyes as he chuckled a bit, “I honestly didn’t care about really getting in, more just to try and make it so you have to do your best against the other fliers.”

“Wait, what?” Spitfire turned her attention back to Soarin after coughing a couple times.

“I never really cared to be a Wonderbolt. To be honest, my real dream job would have been working at the cloud factory like my dad back in Cloudsdale. But don’t get me wrong, Spitfire, I still love being a Wonderbolt!”

“You didn’t want to be a Wonderbolt? Are you kidding me?” Spitfire couldn’t believe what she heard.

The stallion replied, “Nope. I gave it a shot since you really wanted to get in. I figured I’d go for moral support for you and maybe give it a shot. Never thought I’d get in.”

Spitfire raised a hoof up to cover her eyes. An annoyed sigh escaped from her lips, “I don’t believe you sometimes….just….the things you do….”

Soarin laughed again as he placed a hoof on top of his comrade’s head, roughing it up, “Oh come on, you know you still love me underneath that rocky exterior!”

The mare’s cheeks turned red at his comment. Quickly shaking herself out of the trance, she shoved Soarin away from her and remarked bitterly, “Oh, come off it.”

“Haha, I knew you were still in there! Well, I need to go get the rest of my belongs packed up and sent out. I’m really glad I got to see you one last time before I headed out for the summer, Spitfire,” Soarin warmly smiled.

“Y-Yeah….”

With a hoof in the air, Soarin gave a causal salute to his superior before turning to trot away, “Take it easy, Captain Spitfire.”

Watching him turn and start to trot away, the mare called out, “Wait, Soarin! Hold up!”

The stallion paused and turned around, a confused expression on his face.

“Look….there’s….something I need to say to you….”

“Is this about what I did at the bar two nights ago? I thought I made it clear that I can’t be responsible after I had a few glasses vodka. I am sorry about that,” Soarin apologized.

“No, it’s not about that….wait, what exactly hap- nevermind, I rather not know right now,” Spitfire spoke, “This is about me….I-I need to get something off my chest….”

Soarin was still puzzled, “Um, alright.”

Spitfire carefully placed her words as she looked downward at the ground, “I….I need you, Soarin….”

“What?”

The orange pegasus rose her voice for a moment before continuing in a soft tone, “You heard me! I-I need you….and I think it took your leaving for me to realize it.”

“What do you mean?” the stallion asked.

“Don’t you get it, pie for brains? I love you, alright?” Spitfire finally looked up to see the blue pegasus looking back at her, “Do I have to scream it out at you for you to figure it out? I love you. I have since high school….and I’ve kept in since. And….I realized since that you’re really the only one that gets me….so….yeah Soarin, I really do love you….”

Soarin looked at Spitfire and her blushing red cheeks, “I never knew you felt like that….”

“Yeah, well….now you do….” Spitfire coughed a few times.

“Why didn’t you say anything back then?”

“Because I didn’t want to screw up our friendship. You were my best friend since middle school and through high school, I didn’t want to mess that up with weird emotions like that,” Spitfire admitted, “and then me becoming captain of the Wonderbolts, that would just make thinks even more weird….”

“Oh, okay….” was all the stallion said in response.

“So, yeah….what now?” Spitfire looked onto Soarin, hoping for a reply.

The stallion was silent for a few seconds. Finally breaking the stillness, Soarin spoke, “Well….I guess I should get back to moving….”

“Oh….alright then,” Spitfire’s words were detached and sorrowful.

“But, keep an eye out in your mailbox, Spitfire,” Soarin added.

The mare’s ears perked up, “Huh?”

“Just keep an eye out at your mail, captain,” with a warm smile on his face, Soarin gave a form salute to his superior, “I’ll see you after the summer, ma’am.”

Before Spitfire could ask him any question, the stallion glided off from the field.

About a week into the summer, Spitfire was returning late home from Wonderbolt practice. Sitting down on the couch, the mare was going through her mail. A particular letter caught her attention, a light blue envelope postmarked from Las Pegasus.

“What is this?” Spitfire raised the letter up to the light, trying to see what’s within.

Opening the envelope, she found a single piece of parchment. She read the words scribbled on it:

Dear Spitfire,

Hope things are going well with the Wonderbolts. The west coast is pretty cool and my temporary job is awesome. And so you know, I’ll be back in a just a few weeks. And I hope your cough will be gone by then.

Speaking of which, can’t wait to see you again. Wouldn’t mind seeing the mare that I love when I get back. Hope that helps you figure out how I feel about you, captain.

Love,
Soarin

END