Twilight placed her hooves against the silver stallion's chest. She didn't know his name. She didn't know where he had come from. She didn't even know his face; it was concealed by a half-mask that covered all but his eyes of blue ice. All that mattered is that he had saved her from her prison, and now they were safe in the jungle in the dead of the night.

His eyes were enough. Their muzzles pressed together as they nuzzled each other before he stole her breath with a kiss. She reeled, tensing and relaxing, and pulled his chest against her own.

She felt his hooves on her flanks, squeezing a soft moan from her lips. She thought herself more reserved, but there was no resisting his caress.

Their bodies were one, limbs entangled as they drank in one another. A concerto of violins strummed a chord with each mutual flick of their tongues. Every brush of their fur lit sparks of color into the dark of the night beyond.

Twilight pulled back her head, eyes wide as she gazed down the mysterious stallion.

"Take me," she whispered, the light dancing in her eyes. "I can't wait another moment."

"Twilight..." he murmured, leaning forward to steal another kiss. Shivers ran down her spine as her name escaped his lips. She closed her eyes and pressed herself against him

"Twilight." His voice grew sterner, but she closed her eyes tighter, waiting for the unison that would make her feel whole.

Three loud bangs rang out like someone had smacked a gong. "Twilight!" She squinted her eyes open, bewildered in part by the words, but more at how bright the night-time jungle had gotten. The stallions hooves were replaced by the coarse blankets and sheets of her bed— not exotic or exciting in the least.

She shot up in bed and let out a loud groan. The windowpane just a step from where she lay shuddered thrice as a hoof knocked on it, catching Twilight's ire. Behind the glass door of the library’s porch sat Rarity and Fluttershy. Rarity had a panicked look on her face, her mane was frazzled, and she pranced back and forth in place. Fluttershy tried to hide that she was there at all. The sun beyond was orange, only just peeking over the horizon. With a deep, disgruntled sigh, Twilight lit her horn up and opened the window, letting the two ponies in from the lingering morning air.

"Oh thank goodness you woke up," Rarity prattled immediately, stepping into the library and over to Twilight's bedside. "Twilight, we have a serious problem."

Why wasn't there a spell to skip mornings. Too much... movement... and words, and just... morning. "Myeh?" she mumbled, lying her head back down against the pillow.

An airy yawn sounded from across the room as a tall, lanky Spike sat up, peeking his head up over the foot of the bed. "Good morning... uh..." he started to say, stopping as he laid eyes on the two frantic intruders. The rest of his greeting was promptly replaced with a guttural groan. "Ugh. Don't tell me you all have to save the world again? Can't they wait until, like... eleven?"

"Spike!" Rarity yelped, recoiling and turning to face the bookshelf in the corner of the room, hooves immediately flying up to her mane. "I didn't know you were still sleeping in Twilight's room. Aren't you a bit old for that?"

"Where else would I sleep? On the floor downstairs between the shelves?" He stood up and stretched his long limbs into the air, giving a yawn before resting his eyes on Rarity, still battling her mane with her hooves. “Here, let me get you a hairbrush… Anyways, I can’t really trust myself to wake up without Twilight yelling at me to get out of bed,” Spike continued as he walked to the armoire on the other side of the room, retrieving the brush and returning to the bedside. “But I could get used to having you two do it instead. Much less… shouty.”

"But in such a small bed?" Fluttershy stepped between them, walking from the balcony on the right side of the room to the foot of the bed where Spike lay in the back. "It's practically just a blanket and a pillow..."

"I dunno, I kinda like sleeping on hard stuff," he said with a shrug. "Guess it's a dragon thing, since we're meant to sleep on gold and gemstones and all."

Twilight blew the mane out of her eyes. Why did it feel so hard to wake up? Even Spike was up and coherent and...

Her mind traced itself back to the dream. She pushed the blankets off herself, but the flushed, full feeling of warmth lingered still. ‘Oh no...’ The dots began to connect. The air around her was sour with sweat and arousal. "Ugh..." she uttered rolling over and staring at Rarity. "So that's why you're here?"

Rarity gave a pained, quivering smile. "Oh, partly my dear. But it's... eh... a little more complicated than just that… Um, Spike, could you be a dear and run downstairs and make some tea for us girls?"

Twilight stuck an abject hoof into the air. "Coffee for me. Please. Thanks."

Spike grumbled something inaudible but traipsed out of the room with a parting yawn.

Rarity smiled and sat on the side of the bed, Fluttershy following up onto the foot of it. "Twilight, dear, you might not want to sit up for this. I presume you've already noticed that... erm..."

"We're in season," she grumbled. "Doesn't it usually come a couple weeks later than this? I really don't need this right now..."

Rarity brought a hoof to her mouth and coughed into it. "Yes. But... you keep a calendar, no?"

Twilight nodded.

"So... you remember what day it is?"

"Uhh..." Twilight rolled her eyes upwards. It was spring. March. "March 4th?"

"Yes, dear, but what is March 4th? What did we all plan for this weekend?"

Twilight blinked as the memory hit her and sat up in bed, wings unfurling in record time. "Oh no." With a couple flaps she was airborne, hovering around the room in small circles. "Oh no, oh no, oh no... We can't go to Cloudsdale like this!" She looked around the room as her brain panicked itself awake.

The wooden door at the end of the room slammed open just as Rarity opened her mouth to interject, and Applejack came stomping through. "I ain't goin' to Cloudsdale like this, no way, no how. I hate the clouds, I hate the thin air, I hate this damn heat and there ain't no way you're gettin' me in that balloon."

The ponies stared slack-jawed as Applejack huffed her mane out of her eyes and sat her haunches down in the center of the room.

"But Applejack, we never go to Cloudsdale!” Pinkie whined, stepping through the open window from the second story balcony. “I've been excited about this trip for weeks! Lighten up, let yourself have a little fun!" Pinkie singsonged the last word, skipping over and sitting next to the slack-jawed ponies now staring her way.

"Bluh... A... W... What! How did you all even get in here!" Twilight blabbered, landing herself back on her bed to steady herself.

Applejack cocked an eyebrow at Twilight. "Spike let me in."

"Fluttershy carried me up," Rarity chimed in, catching an 'I-didn't-mean-you' look from the disgruntled alicorn.

Pinkie Pie stuck out her tongue. "Duh! Heat rises!" She rolled her eyes. Without a word more of explanation, Pinkie started shivering violently and gave an experimental sniff. "Oooh! Tea time!" She cartwheeled through the room and disappeared as quickly as she had come.

Rarity raised her hoof in the air and cleared her throat. "This is all entirely besides the point, my dears. We've been planning this trip to see the Wonderbolts for months. Dash is always there for us when we need her, and we all know something trifling like being in season is only going to be a challenge for that mare..."

"I...I'm not in season, Rarity," Fluttershy chimed in. "I never am."

Applejack huffed and stomped her hooves against the wooden floor. "Well ain't you just the lucky one?"

Rarity's eyes widened as the words left Applejack's mouth, but Fluttershy only sighed, turning away from the rest of the group. "I guess I am sort of lucky. It does seem like the season is awfully troubling for you all. I can go to Cloudsdale alone with Rainbow Dash if the rest of you can't make it. I'll be sure to take care of her."

Twilight let out a long breath of relief. "Alright! Perfect. Fluttershy can just go in our place, and—"

"Twilight! Think rationally!" Rarity stood up, all eyes on her, and began pacing around the room. "If Rainbow’s eye caught a nice-looking stallion she could out-fly Fluttershy in a second if she had the mind to. So whether we like it or not..." She cast a quick glare towards Applejack. "We must all go to Cloudsdale with Rainbow Dash."

Ignoring the disapproving glare, Applejack stood up from where she sat. "I. Ain't. Going. This ain't up for discussion, Rares." She punctuated her words with a stomp. "I ain't just being selfish; I can't control myself like this, and I ain't the kind to go off willy-nilly with any which stallion I happen to meet."

"Which is why I'll be watching over you all evening, and why you'll be doing the same for me," Rarity said, returning Applejack's harsh stare. "But regardless, we have a duty to attend."

"I might not really 'get it' the way you two do— my heat is usually pretty tame compared to the average," Twilight said, raising a curious hoof, "But I've got to say, Rarity, you're pretty adamant about this."

Rarity pushed her snout into the air. "As the rest of you should be. It's basic friendship, Twilight. More than she'd ever admit, Rainbow Dash cares for us deeply. She's always there for us when we need it, and that includes cutting into her training regimen to make time when we need her help."

Rarity looked around the room, her snout crinkling at the blank faces staring back at her. "Applejack, surely you remember last year when Braeburn and his orchard found itself under duress of that awful plague?"

Applejack narrowed her eyes and turned away from the unicorn, refusing to answer.

"The train would have taken days. His orchard would have been gone. Who flew you all the way out there in a matter of hours? Who saved your family's business in Appleoosa?"

"Y'all know who..." Applejack grumbled, still facing the wall.

Rarity turned to the other side of the room, where Fluttershy and Twilight sat together on the bed. "Fluttershy, have you ever flown eight hours straight carrying another pony with you?"

"Oh, no... I can't imagine I could fly even a couple minutes carrying another pony," Fluttershy replied, playing with her hooves. Her eyes darted between Applejack and Rarity. "Um, I bet something like that isn't even a big deal for Rainbow Dash, though..."

Applejack groaned and slumped to the floor. “Fine, fine, I see what you’re gettin’ at, Rares, and you’re right. She does deserve it. But that don’t make it any easier to just up and abandon my wits with nothin’ to count on!”

“Why, Applejack...” Rarity huffed, stretching her snout upright. “Nothing to count on? You have my word I will watch over you!”

“Your word?” Applejack snorted. “Your word ain’t gonna do nothin’ to stop me from gettin’ what I want if push comes to shove. Nah— I need more than that. I need a deal.”

“Fine,” Rarity said with a roll of her eyes and a wave of the hoof. “As if a silly little deal is more sacred than a lady’s word, but I’ll indulge. What do you propose?”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed, a toothy grin adorning her face. “Heh heh… then here’s what I propose, little lady. If I crawl under the bedsheets with a pony I’ve hardly ever met before, you gotta do the same.” Now it was Applejacks turn to thrust her snout in the air, peering over her unicorn friend as if her words had solved a sphinx’s riddle.

Rarity’s jaw dropped for the briefest of moments before she regained control, taking a step back and lowering her snout, looking at the farmer from behind her bangs.

Fluttershy stepped forward between the two, a martyr for the daggers flying from each other’s gazes. “Now, Applejack, don’t you think that’s a bit much to put on the line?”

“Well I reckon that’s right on the money, Fluttershy. Sides, I know better than anypony here that I’d rightly be to blame, no matter what circumstances I’m pushed into,” Applejack said with a curt nod. “But way I figure it if someone wants you to do somethin’ when you know in your gut it just ain’t gonna turn out right they gotta be willin’ to call your bet.”

“Fine!” Rarity took a step forward and extended her hoof in front of her. “It’s a deal, if that’s what it takes.”

“Well, well, well…” Applejack clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Ya’ll got more gumption in you than I reckoned.” She took a ceremonious step forward and met Rarity’s hoof with her own. “It’s a deal, then— ya’ll won’t hear another lick out of me against it."

Rarity exhaled as if she had been holding her breath throughout the whole conversation. "Wonderful. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check on what's making the tea take so long..." Rarity said, trotting much more quickly than she had to towards the proper exit of the room.

Twilight smiled, glad to be done with the fervor and panic that had permeated her morning. She sat up, stretching her wings and yawning, and hopped down from her bed. Her magic wrapped took hold of the hairbrush that Rarity had abandoned on her bedside table, pushing it through her frazzled mane as she went to close the window that her friends had come through.

A peculiar sight caught her attention as she looked out the window. Rainbow Dash was hovering a building’s length away from her window, flying in slow circles and clicking her hooves together. Twilight stepped out onto the balcony.

"Rainbow?"

Rainbow's ears perked up and she turned her head to where Twilight stood. "Oh. Hey Twilight! Good, you're up!"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Whether I want to be or not. I'm surprised you are, though."

Rainbow covered the distance between them with a few flaps of her wings. "Ha! Me too. But it's impossible to sleep through... wait. Haven't you noticed yet?"

"Ugh. Let's just say it gave me a rather rude awakening," Twilight said, stepping back from the balcony and gesturing for Rainbow to land. "Come on inside. Everyone else is already here."

"Oh?" Rainbow's eyes widened. "For the trip? Huh. That's what I came over here to talk to you about, actually." She stepped through the balcony door and scanned the room. "I just wanted to say I would totally understand if you guys couldn't come on account of... well, you know. I..." Rainbow gulped and looked around the room. "I can handle myself just fine, usually, and I know Cloudsdale is really far to travel like this. If you guys don't want to come—"

"Hold your horses..." Applejack spoke up. "There ain't no way in hell ya are gonna get away with goin' off to Cloudsdale by yourself, heat or not." She tipped her hat and cast a sheepish glance to Twilight. "Way I figure, you deserve it more than we can say with just words. Sides, who's gonna keep you in check if we ain't there?"

Neither Twilight nor Rainbow could stifle their growing grins.

"Well, I guess that settles it then," Twilight said, letting out a long, tense breath, and wiping the sweat from her forehead. "We're going to Cloudsdale."

This was a horrible idea. Twilight kept her mind on her breathing; In and out. In... and... ah! She turned her face at the last moment, nearly bumping into a Stallion from behind, a pale warmth inside wondering what would happen if she had. The thirty-foot-wide pathways of Cloudsdale Colosseum were completely covered by ponies from ground to floor, pegasi flying more tightly knit than she had ever seen before. She wondered if they weren't just standing on one another.

Archways of smooth-as-steel cloud circumvented the sweeping corridors of the arena. Only fifteen feet to their left, ponies behind carts and cubbies and even airships shouted for patrons to come and partake in their greasy wares. To the right, the arena had games where one could fly in a wind tunnel to see how their speed matched up to the legendary wonderbolts, or where one could win prizes for flying through hoops or tossing balls through rings. It appeared that a four foot tall fence was the only thing between the edge of the colosseum and the literal skyscrapers in the metropolis beyond.

The crowd was an exercise in insanity for the Alicorn, keeping her tail sandwiched to the back of her hide while keeping her head down and doing her best to avoid the errant glances of passersby. A glance backwards told her that the others were doing just as poorly; they waded through in a single-file line with Fluttershy and Spike in the back. Every face pointed forward, waiting for the slow drip of ponies into the stadium to carry them to their destination.

Twilight's eyes widened as she felt a mouth clamp down on the tip of her tail, nearly pushing herself through the cloud floor in surprise. "Applejack! What the hay?"

"Don't ya'll start with me, Twilight,” Applejack whimpered. "I... I need a distraction. Just one look up and I'm face-to-face with a sea of... of... ugh! Rarity's the one who should be complainin', what with gettin' the tail-end of me!"

"H-Huh?" Rarity said, blinking and turning her gaze away from the pegasi floating above them. "Did somepony say my name?"

"Rarity!" Applejack flipped her head around to look behind her. "Q-Quit that! Keep your head down! Get a hold of yourself, filly!"

"Oh, shush, dear, there's no harm in looking..." Rarity purred, letting her head rock back and forth.

"Rarity's got the right idea!" called Pinkie Pie from behind her.

"Pinkie! Don't encourage her!" Applejack growled, stomping the ground to accentuate her point. Her hoof dug into the cloud layer below like it was made of powdery snow. "Ugh! Great damn Celestia I swear if I ever..."

Rainbow cackled from near the end of the line. "Oh man, Applejack, if you're getting so flustered from a couple of pegasi above you I don't know how you're going to manage the show. Real pegasus muscle flying near the speed of sound in spandex. I...Ehheh..." Rainbow shuddered and her face flushed deep red.

“Oooh… Don’t tell me you’re thinking what I’m thinkin’, Dashie?” Pinkie’s eyebrows bounced up and down and she turned to face Rainbow behind her, grinning wickedly when she caught a glance of her face. “Yup. You sure are thinking.”

Rainbow gulped, drooping her head as if trying to hide behind herself. “W-Well, can you blame me? These are the Wonderbolts we’re thinkin’ about here.”

“Oh, Dashie,” Pinkie crooned, swiveling her head upside down. “You can always trust Pinkie to never blame, judge, or taboo! Well… not since Zecora taught me better, anyways. I just wonder if we can’t get one of those Wonderbolts as a wonderful extra-special birthday present for Dashie.”

Rainbow Dash’s pupils receded to pinpricks, followed by a rapid barrage of blinks . “Y-You don’t think they would…”

Rarity rolled her eyes, looking back from where she stood in front of them. “No question. With a body like yours? The only one who even stands a chance of competing is Fluttershy. But if you’re not interested, Rainbow, you could always put in a good word for a friend…”

“Wait, what did you say?” Spike chimed in, suddenly paying attention.

“Well, why can’t both of you, silly?” Pinkie interrupted, bouncing in place.

“In actuality? C-Can you imagine the scandal!” Rarity gasped, her face flushing red. “Famous Wonderbolt and aspiring dressmaker? Why, the thought alone is just… just...” Rarity finally turned her eyes to the ground and gave a small shudder.

“You know what they say, Rarity…” Pinkie said with a grin. “Controversy sells! That’s why I make my cupcakes extra-super delicious. People can’t believe their tastebuds, so they go and tell all their friends to make sure for them!”

Rarity opened her mouth to interject but a deafening roar erupted from the ponies in the crowd. “Heads up, girls!” Twilight called from the front, pretending to ignore their bickering. “It looks like they opened the gate!”

Clouds. Applejack wasn’t sure exactly what it was about ‘em, but she never did quite trust clouds. Just isn’t natural for a pony grounded her whole life to be standin’ so far up in the sky just like it was the earth. It was a creeping kind of uncanny that made her appetite smaller and her hooves shakier than they had any business being.

Yet there she was, sandwiched into a cloud seat like it was the last dissipating cloud in the sky keeping her from plummeting to an ironic earthen death. She’d have preferred a hard, uncomfortable wooden bench with the heads of nails sticking out of it any day. Firm. Dependable. She pushed her hoof into the seat behind her, which seemed to suck up her flesh.

She shuddered and pulled her hoof out, shaking it off as if it had been covered in slime.

An announcer over a megaphone blared something she couldn’t care less about. On any other day she could see herself sitting forward, smiling warmly, enjoying the sunshine on her face, watching the pegasi do their thing.

She hid most of her head under the brim of her hat, not bothering to watch the show above. Though the sun was baking her alive, her sweat came cold and clammy.

The worst of it all was her friends. They all were seated more-or-less nicely, legs all crossed of course, putting on as best a smile as they could manage. It was like it was an itch they could hum and ignore.

Not for herself. Inside, raging waves of heat stole her ability to think and made it seem like her ponybits were shifting around. She panted like she needed something to drink, but no amount of water would quench her thirst.

She sat forward, sprawling her body out on every inch of the seat she could manage, and turned an eye towards Rarity. Rarity…

She was smiling, genuine smiling at how plum and pleased she was. She ran her eyes over the audience like vases in a store, smirking each time she found one that would fit on her proverbial mantle. We have a duty to dash, she says… we NEED to be there. Applejack felt a boiling inside, but it sure as sugar wasn’t from the sun this time around.

The announcer said something that brought the audience to whooping and hollering. There were so many damn ponies around.

Like a bolt of lightning, three pegasi flying in triangle formation erupted from the bottom of the stadium, leaving a crackling trail of smoke behind. Applejack cocked an eyebrow.

That is, until the gust that followed them hit her, stetson flying from her head and swirling up into the air. She jumped up at it immediately, but it blew just out of her hooves, and off to the rows behind her.

Applejack’s nostrils flared and she reared up on her legs, uncaring about the spectators whose view she blocked. She opened her mouth and prepared a curse so devious that mothers ten rows back would have to evacuate.

“Um, Applejack?”

Applejack blinked, staring face-to-face with Spike, who happened to be the one occupying the seat behind her. In his claw he held a familiar brown hat.

“Cloud pixies try to take this from ya?” Spike’s words were answered by a swipe of the hoof, and in a second the hat was atop Applejack’s head again. With a simple push a leather string affixed it firmly to her chin, and Applejack turned, climbing down from her perch. With only a smattering of hot, angry breaths, Applejack turned and walked into the halls of the stadium.

As much as she hated the clouds, Applejack kept her eyes pinned to them like they were beautiful fields of grass. She just needed to walk. Any direction would do, so long as she didn’t leave the actual stadium, unable to find her way back to her seat, but the only thing that could bring her comfort was sheer mechanical repetition.

Well. There was another thing. She blew at the mane that fell in front of her eyes, whisking the thoughts as far away as she could.

Of course, the thoughts were in a playful mood and felt like trampling over Applejack’s mental orchard some more. The more she tried to round them up and tell them to shoo, the more they laughed in her face.

What I wouldn’t do for a stallion who could round these critters up like the varmint they are and… oh damnit! She shuddered as she evicted the dream-stallion, two feet taller than her and twice as muscled, dripping from his recent casual dip in the lake, from her… damnit damnit damnit!

Just as she was about to go insane, she felt a beautifully distracting push on her side. Before her stood a middle-aged, wall-eyed stallion who happened to be clearing his voice.

“What?!” she barked, reeling back immediately at the intensity of her own voice. “Er… heh, I mean…”

“Move, lady. You’re standing in front of the condiments,” he said, cocking an eyebrow and pointing a hoof behind her.

“C...Condiments. Right. ‘Scuse me,” she said, hastily tipping her hat and stepping to the side… only to barrel into the chest of another stallion, twice as big as the last. Peanuts went everywhere, scattering to the stadium floor where hundreds of hooves preceded them.

“What are you, blind?!” he growled, words muffled slightly by the now-empty tray of peanuts, glaring down at her for a moment before bending onto his forehooves to gather them. “Tourists…”

Applejack just groaned and lifted her head, scanning around her before she jolted again. Not a square inch of her vision remained static for more than a second, as pegasi both walked and flew in every spare vacancy that the stadium could provide.

The confused farm mare did a full 360-degree turn before stumbling to her haunches. She looked back to the ground, breathing heavily, and closed her eyes, begging the pounding in her ears to cease.

Parasprites were better than this. Stampedes after all-nighters were better than this. Hay, if Discord popped his face through the clouds to say hi, she’d at least appreciate the distracting company. How many times had she stared death in the eyes? And here she sat, hooves over her ears like a damn deer in the middle of a hoofball stadium. The ponies around her were probably lookin’ at her like she was a twigged out mare who snuck past security... Nopony with enough sensibility to notice an honest-to-goodness fish out of water and lend a…

A hoof tapped her shoulder. She lifted a hoof from one of her ears, but no sound reached her mind. She chanced a peek, letting the world fade back in a haze of color.

Rarity sat beside her on the floor, smiling a knowing smile. A pearly-blue bubble surrounded them, opaque enough that the world outside was just a series of passing shadows.

“You know, it’s not easy to watch over you when you run off like that,” Rarity hummed, the first sound that floated into Applejack’s ears.

Applejack looked at her hooves, and focused her vision. She let out a breath. Two. Three. A sickly shudder passed through her body as she slumped to the ground, spine released of all of the tension it had harbored. She rested her head on her hooves and just let her breaths come.

“There’s a lot of bits about me that ain’t easy, Rarity. I appreciate it even more cuz’ of em.” Applejack sat up and poked an experimental hoof at the bubble that surrounded them. “Whatever this is, don’t stop doin’ it.”

“It’s a sphere of concentration. I use it when I work, though usually it’s a lot bigger than this. I figure you get the idea, what with the name and all…” Rarity made a point of keeping her voice low, standing to her hooves, the glossy sphere moving a foot up with her.

Applejack blinked. “Is this how you’ve been right comfortable all day? Cuz' otherwise I just don’t get how you can up and compose yourself despite bein’ in season.”

Rarity giggled and raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I can’t really. But that’s the beauty of it— making ponies believe I can. Little tricks like this help when I need them to. Besides, heat is always much worse for Earth Ponies, you know. For Pegasi it comes in short and extreme waves, Unicorns usually start seeing things and can’t quite work their magic as well as usual, and for Earth Ponies it’s an unchanging swamp of anxiety and literal, physical heat flushes.”

Applejack furrowed her brow, rising to eye-level with her friend. “Where’d ya’ll learn that?”

Rarity laughed, turning and standing side-by-side with the farm pony. “Same place you should’ve: public school.”

Applejack turned her vision to the ground. “Oh. Yeah. Granny took me n’ Mac out of those lessons, if I recall properly.”

“Tsk.” Rarity shook her head. “Knowing about your own body is important! Though, I guess I can’t blame you for it. Knowing Granny Smith, she had her own cryptically-metaphorical way of explaining it to you.” She chanced a brief smile, glancing into Applejack’s eyes. “I have to bring this down for us to walk back to our seats, you know. Think you’ll be alright?”

Applejack cleared her throat, and nodded, ears finally standing back up atop her head. “Yeah. I just needed a second alone away from the hustle and the bustle and… Yeah. I’ll be fine. Thanks, Rares.”

“You’re very welcome,” Rarity said, giving a brief smile. “Now, I just wonder where Pinkie Pie ran off to… she came out here with me but it seems we’ve gotten split up.”

Applejack shrugged. “I wouldn’t be worried. Out of all of us, that pony can take care of herself like this.”

“I only hope she doesn’t get into too much trouble,” Rarity mused, her eyes rolling upwards as if she were imagining something squeamish.

Pinkie Pie spat out the cloud-metal bolt that she had pulled from the air-vent covering. Sticking out her tongue, she rubbed it up and down with her hooves, squinting and stifling her coughs as best she could. Cloud metal could definitely use a bit more frosting.

Laying her entire body against the floor of the duct, she slowly pushed the grate open with a hoof, making sure no squeaks gave away her position. She looked down to the floor of the locker room below— it was dimly lit, littered with Wonderbolts uniforms that were not in use. She couldn’t hear anything directly below. It was safe to say that the coast seemed clear…

She stuck her head out right above where the door to the locker room was. The room continued on the other direction for a good fifty lockers before careening off to the left, shaped like an ‘L’ in it’s entirety. No ponies in sight.

Shuffling her weight to her haunches, Pinkie Pie lowered herself as far as she could, then dropped, hitting the ground with a solid smack.

“What the fuck was that?” a stallion’s voice hissed from around the corner, the words resounding through the small room. Pinkie Pie froze, looking up to the grate nearly eight feet above her— she’d been unable to bring her pogo stick, cutting off any potential to escape back through it.

“N-Nothing… I know the sound of that door like the back of my hoof,” said a mare’s voice, heated and breathy. “Now come on, we’ve only got ten before we need to be out there for the finale, and I cannot fly like this.”

“Eh. If you say so.” The stallion grunted and the faint sound of a smack just barely reached Pinkie’s ears.

Pinkie crawled along the floor of the locker room until she reached the corner of the bend that separated the mystery ponies from sight. With each hoofstep, a fantastic, familiar squelch of flesh-on-flesh grew increasingly audible to Pinkie. She couldn’t stifle her grin. This was almost too perfect. She peeked her head around the corner...

Pinkie’s gasp would have given her away in an instant if her face wasn’t sandwiched to the floor.

Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts, was being rammed up her tailhole by a white stallion harder than Pinkie had ever seen a pony take it before. Her face was repetitively smushed against the locker she leaned against, mouth clamped over a hoof. “Oh fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck…” she mumbled with each thrust, a steady stream of liquid dripping from both ends of the pony.

Pinkie Pie grinned an evil, diabolical grin.

If she was going to strike, it had to be now; time was of the essence.

With a hop, skip and a jump, Pinkie twirled from around the corner, sashaying over to the lockers on the other side of the room and banging her hoof against them.

Their mutual scream was too good to be true. They jumped off each other in a flash of color, frenzied eyes darting around the room before they both rested on a certain devious pink mare.

Pinkie Pie fell onto her back, snorting heaps of laughter.

“Who the fuck...” Spitfire near-blabbered, slamming her hooves against the ground.

Pinkie Pie giggled, rolling over onto her back and oinking like a pig at the mare. “S-Sorry… sorry… I couldn’t help myself. It’s… It’s just…”

The two ponies jaws dropped open, turning to look at one another, blinking once, and turning back to Pinkie.

“Oh don’t worry. I’m not here to break up your little hoedown.” Pinkie Pie snorted one final time before standing up and bowing down, swiping at the air in front of her with her hoof. “Pinkamena Diane Pie at your service. Master baker, funlover, and Element of Laughter.” She winked. “If you couldn’t tell.”

“Element of…” the stallion stepped forward and cocked an eyebrow. “Element of Laughter. Like Element-of-Harmony Element of Laughter?”

Pinkie smiled, showing her rows of teeth all the way to the back. “The one and only.” She squinted as she examined the unfamiliar pegasus. He had sunflower yellow hair that ran from the center of his head to the back of his neck in a curly mohawk. “Ooh!” Pinkie purred and took a couple steps towards the pair. “I love stallions with poofy hair.”

The stallion let out a short laugh. “Okay. This mare is fucking crazy. I’m going to get security…”

“No!” Spitifire nearly screamed, her voice shrill. “Surprise, we have like five minutes before we gotta go on. You… you can’t leave me like this.”

Pinkie Pie giggled. “Oh don’t worry. I won’t be here for long. I just… heh… dropped in to ask you for a teeensy weeensy favor. And as soon as I get a yes, I’ll be out of your hooves.”

The stallion apparently named Surprise sighed and put his hoof to his face. “Celestia… another crazy fan.”

“Yup! Crazy is what I aim for. But, if you don’t mind me saying, it looks like I’ve got you by the balls! In more ways than one!” Pinkie Pie snorted, subduing another fit of giggles.

Surprise couldn’t help but snort along with her.

“Fine! Fine! What’s the favor!” Spitfire cried, throwing her hooves in the air. “Anything! Seriously, anything to get you out of my mane.”

Pinkie Pie snapped upright, marching back and forth in full business-mode. “Here’s the dealio, Wonderbolts! As you were probably unaware, the Elements of Harmony have a shared heat cycle— it’s an unfortunate side effect of being able to generate laser beams of friendship. I need stallions— good stallions, with good reputations, so that none of them think twice before going public with what I’m about to ask you for.”

“As many as you can bring. Be at the Sky High Pub no later than nine tonight! If anypony asks, it’s a meet-and-greet with VIP guests, aka moi and my girls.” She tapped her chin as she considered the specifics of the arrangement. “But most importantly!” She turned to Spitfire and narrowed her eyes. “Is that other captain guy taken?”

“S… Soarin?” Spitfire’s eyes popped, but in an instant she was on the floor laughing. “Ahaha. That stallion? Good luck. You couldn’t find a mare from Canterlot to the Crystal Empire who could hold him down for more than, like, a week, tops.”

Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes and waved her hoof in the air. “Yeah, yeah, great, just make sure he’s there. And… last but not least…” Pinkie batted her eyes and growled at Surprise. “Make sure you’re there, curlyboy. That is, if you’re not too tired out from being Cap’n’s workhorse.”

Surprise’s stallionhood throbbed, smacking into his belly with a resounding thump. His face flushed red just as Pinkie licked her lips.

Spitfire whined and bent back down on her forelegs. “Great, fine, I’ll make it happen! I swear! Now please, please leave before I die.”

“No problemo, Captain! But, uh… I never said you had to stop while I was talking. Silly ponies...” Pinkie Pie winked, turned, and skipped out of the room.

Spitfire narrowed her eyes as she felt Surprise drop his weight on top of her again. The pink mare left as quickly as she had come but Spitfire was still going to have to one up her. She grit her teeth and flicked her tail. Good thing winning races was her special talent.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Fluttershy voiced from the back of the group. ”Staying in Cloudsdale longer than we need to, I mean…”

The six walked along the path of the commercial district of Cloudsdale to the Sky High Bar, the soft glow of the magical lanterns above lighting up the storefronts in an exciting array of color. Though it was far past sunset ponies came and went as if it was rush hour, some prancing in and out of buildings like they were too comfortable with the activity and some walking slowly, swiveling their heads around them, gazing in awe at the sights. Groups of ponies congealed even on the ceilings of lofts, peering over the edges, drinks in hoof and smiles on their faces.

“Are you kidding?! This is a great idea!” Rainbow Dash flew circles around the group. “We’re going to meet the Wonderbolts. The Wonderbolts, Fluttershy!”

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. “I’m sure they’re just ponies underneath all the fame, Rainbow. Really, I’m just still wondering how Pinkie managed to pull this off!”

“It was easy!” Pinkie chimed in from the back. “I just told them it was Rainbow’s birthday. They know who she is.”

Rainbow came to a screeching halt, jaw dropping open. “They… they do?”

“Rainbow, you’re ruining your mane…” Rarity huffed and pulled the pegasus down with a glimmer of her magic. “Of course they do. After the years of Academy, and the tryouts. Really, the only reason you weren’t signed a Wonderbolt after the first Academy trip was politics and networking.”

Rainbow shrugged, skipping forward, unaccustomed to the pace of her friends. “Nah. The first Academy I was brash. Ambitious. I thought I was the best. I’m totally cool with taking a couple years to sand the edges of my awesome raw natural talent if that’s what they’re looking for.”

Applejack blinked. “Wow, Dash. Half of that was awful level-headed of ya.”

A cocky grin plastered itself over Rainbow’s features. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t get used to it. But still! The Wonderbolts!”

The six rounded a corner to the gleeful squeak that followed Rainbow’s words. Twilight cocked an eyebrow at the enormous bar, easily three stories above the rooftops of the other buildings, though that wasn’t much in a Pegasi town like Cloudsdale. Buildings naturally expanded in whichever direction was suitable, considering the lack of importance of foundational integrity and the plentiful building materials. The only cost was a wind speed limit around places like Cloudsdale, which was of nominal concern to a metropolis full of weather-controlling beings.

Still, Twilight considered herself lucky for being able to visit. Hardly any Earth Ponies or Unicorns found the means to make the trip— so few that Twilight was honestly surprised there were cloud-paths connecting all the major sections of the inner-metropolis. She made a mental note to ask Rainbow when she wasn’t so preoccupied.

The party came to a stop in front of the bar. Colorful spotlights painted the whitewashed cloud-walls of the bar a myriad of different hues and granted the place an aura of excitement that permeated the entire city block. Pegasi were bunched in groups all along the wide clouds at the base of the building, all adorned with dresses and makeup just as colorful as the establishment itself. Though it was one of the oldest and most prestigious bars in town, the place exuded youth from every pore.

“Really, though…” Fluttershy said, not sharing in the various impressed looks that the Cloudsdale-naive friends had adopted. “Is this a good idea? I mean, Spike is all alone back in the hotel room…”

Twilight shrugged. “Spike is old enough to be able to take care of himself now. And while it really wouldn’t be any trouble to convince the owners that he was of-age for a dragon, it’s still not an environment I’d exactly be comfortable bringing him to.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to continue, but Applejack stepped in between them. “So, Rainbow: Cloudsdale bars got anything that can compete with our cider?”

“Not by a long shot.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “But nopony comes to bars for drinks that taste good.”

Rarity let out a boisterous laugh, trying to stifle her unladylike chortle with a hoof. “Ah, the scandalous truths of the nightlife. Well, no use in warming up the pavement any longer, girls.” Rarity grinned, a devious glint in her eyes. “Let’s see if what’s on the inside lives up to the image.”

“Wait,” Twilight said, holding up her hoof, standing between her friends and the expansive door beyond. “Considering the size of this place, it’s very possible we’ll be split up sometime after entering. Normally I would have more faith in you girls, but…” She paused and her horn lit up, wrapping the friends minus Fluttershy in a soft purple glow. After a moment, the glow seemed to pop, flashing outward into the night. “There. Now, don’t take this as encouragement, but that spell should ensure that we don’t have any… um… unintended repercussions tonight.”

Applejack stepped forward, furrowing her eyebrows. “Are you saying that your spell keeps us safe from gettin’ pregnant?”

Twilight flushed red, but nodded. “Usually unicorns only learn spells that assist their destiny or profession in some way, but I figured a spell like this would be… ah… situationally useful?”

Pinkie leaned forward to Twilight, a teasing grin painted across her face. “Ooooh… Twilight, you’re friskier than I thought.” Before Twilight could properly respond in any way other than becoming redder in the face, Pinkie danced by her, placing her hooves on the door. “Okay! No more waiting! Fashionably late gets a lot uglier in her thirties!”

Without another word, Pinkie threw open the door to the club.

“Isn’t there anypony in this place who knows calculus?!” shouted a voice from within, above the static uproar of the bar’s first floor. A stallion, primed to the brim with lean flight muscle, had his hooves high up over his head and stared accusingly down at a small stack of papers on the bar counter before him.

Twilight blinked. She recognized some of the ponies with him. He was a Wonderbolt. Too surprised to really think about what she was doing, she raised a hoof and called out from the door “I do!”

The stallion looked behind him to where Twilight stood, his smile wide and excited amongst the bewildered stares of his teammates. “Fantastic!” He swooped up his papers with a swish of his wing and dashed over to her side. “These are the mares we’ve been waiting for, right Surprise?”

Surprise was pitched over backwards on the counter practically laughing his flight suit off. “Oh… Oh, yeah, Fleetfoot, that’s them.”

“Fantastic!” he replied, snapping his head back to Twilight, his wide, excited eyes only inches from Twilight’s incredulous ones. “Come with me! We’ve got work to do!”

With a wave of the hoof and a flash of auburn fur Fleetfoot was out the door, practically dragging Twilight along behind him.

Rarity’s hooves flew up immediately. “Oh come on! We’re in the door for two seconds and the most bookish mare in Equestria is being whisked away by… by… him?!”

Pinkie Pie hit the ground laughing, rolling over and holding her stomach, the eyes of the bar-goers still glued to the ridiculous entrance of the Elements of Harmony.

Rainbow was still frozen in the threshold of the door, focusing on her breathing as she looked upon her idols not twenty feet away. A muscled blue body crept into the edge of her vision, but she passed it off as just another moving shadow in the busy bar.

“Hey,” Soarin said, flashing a smile. “You’re Rainbow Dash, yeah?”

Rainbow’s head turned to her side like it was on a rusty set of gears. “S-S… Uh…” She blinked and let out a laugh that was just too loud for how close he was to her. “Yeah! That’s me! The dashiest!” She gulped, her face flushing red as soon as the words left her mouth. “And… you’re Soarin!”

“Yep. That’s me. The Soariniest.” Soarin chuckled and nodded. “You’re pretty cute when you want to be, Rainbow. Wanna hit up the VIP bar on the fifth fl-”

“Yes!” Rainbow, suddenly aware that she had been forgetting to blink and breathe, sucked in a deep breath of air and batted her eyelashes. “I mean… uh… yeah. That sounds pretty cool…”

Soarin smiled and poked her side with the tip of his wing. “Great! I’ll race you there!” He winked and stepped away from her, flaring his wings out wide. “If you think you’re up to it, I mean.”

Rainbow broke her speed-nodding record and hunched over, extending her wings, poised to break her speed-flying one next. The two took off out windows on either side of the place with a boom that rattled every chair and table.

“I think I need a drink…” Rarity said with a groan that befit anything but the hours she had spent preparing herself.

Applejack ruffled her bangs with an upwards breath. “I’m right with you there, sister…” She followed Rarity in suit, the two of them taking seats on the elongated counter.

Fluttershy’s eyes darted around the walls of the bar from behind a swoop of her mane. The pegasus gulped as she looked over to the group of Wonderbolts. Some looked back at her, questioning looks on their face. She shuffled back against a wall of the bar, cycling her gaze between various inanimate objects in the room to avoid their speculation.

Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Her heart leapt in her chest. She snapped her head to the left, eyes wide, but blinked as she found no one standing before her. Another tap came, this time on her right shoulder. Again she looked, and saw only the blur of a pink hoof as it pulled quickly away.

“Pinkie…” Fluttershy sighed and looked around herself, finding the party pony perched impossibly on a neon sign that adorned the wall behind where she stood.

Pinkie Pie batted her eyelashes and leaned backwards, perching her head upside-down against Fluttershy’s. “Yes, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy scrunched her nose. “Pinkie, you know what places like this do to me.”

“Yeah. You’re right. Sorry…” Pinkie said, hopping down from the fixture and shrugging. “I just wouldn’t feel right leaving you all alone standing up next to this wall!”

“Oh, I don’t mind. I kind of like watching ponies in a place like this, actually… So long as they’re not watching back, that is.” Fluttershy gave a soft smile and lifted up a hoof, shooing Pinkie away. “I’ll probably leave in a little while anyways— I figure Spike could use some company. Anyways, I couldn’t stand between you and your fun.”

Pinkie Pie nuzzled her cheek into Fluttershy’s for a moment. “Aw, thanks Flutters. Enjoy your pony watching!”

Fluttershy watched as the party pony skipped away, drawing the eyes of every patron in the bar as she went. She was glad, in a way, that the eyes were following Pinkie— it meant that her friend was happy, and that they weren’t watching her.

An uneasy frown drooped over her features. She recognized the feeling— it was one that she hadn’t known in the years since she’d met the girls, aside from a couple rough days.

Even then, she could curl up on the couch with a blanket and just lie her head down and let it all seep away. For some it seemed that the couches were the bar stools and the blankets were the wings of other ponies, but Fluttershy found little comfort in the lifestyle.

With a final soft smile to the patrons who happened to glance her way, she turned and left the bar.

Pinkie plopped her hooves over the eyes of Surprise from behind, sidling her body in next to his. “Guess who?”

Surprise let out a heavy sigh, slouching forward. “You have no idea what it took to get all these guys here. You could at least give me a ‘thank you’ before you start fucking with me.”

“Ohh, there will be plenty of that, I’m sure,” Pinkie said, leaning forward and rubbing her cheek against his own. “But thanks, ‘Prizie!”

“It’s Surprise.” Surprise removed Pinkie’s hooves with his own, turning to her and giving her a blank stare. “And who thinks I’d be stupid enough to break rule number 1?”

“Rule number 1?”

“Don’t stick your dick in crazy.”

“Oh, trust me.” Pinkie grinned, bouncing her eyebrows twice. “I’m not even close to crazy yet.”

“Oh, I believe it. But I don’t intend to stick around long enough to find out.” He pulled away from her and stood up from the barstool he had been sitting at. He glanced over Pinkie a final time as he turned, eyes falling from head to barrel to cutie mark… and freezing instantly. “W...Wait…” Surprise stumbled back, looking over Pinkie as his eyes widened. “H-How did you get that cutie mark?!”

“What cutie mark?” Pinkie said, cocking her eyebrow and turning her gaze to Surprise’s flank. “That cutie mark?”

“No! This is my cutie mark!”

“Exactly! My cutie mark!”

“Your cutie mark… is my cutie mark?!” Surprise practically blathered as he stepped around the mare, inspecting her other flank to find the same three balloons. “Why do you have my cutie mark?”

Pinkie let out a huge gasp as if she hadn’t already noticed, and leaned into Surprise’s side, a wide smile across her face. “You’re a party pony just like me!”

“A party pony? Like, balloons for parties? No, my balloons are for flying!”

“Great! Cause I just happen to be in need of a flier, and your teammates just happen to be in need of a party pony!” Pinkie said, running a hoof through Surprise’s wing. “You’re strong enough to carry a pony on your back, right?”

Surprise pulled away from her and snapped his wing to his body. “Carry a pony on my… what?! What are you even talking about?”

Pinkie Pie smiled and gave him a nod. “So, your friends just flew off with my friends, correct? Correct. And your friends don’t know my friends. But they’re trying to know my friends so well that my friends trust them to take care of them for the night. I know my friends. You know your friends. We follow our friends, and we make sure that everything goes just right so that they can get friendly!”

“What? How does that even… why would you think I even…” Surprise bumbled, narrowing his eyes and raising a shaky hoof.

Pinkie sighed and rolled her eyes. “Look. Why is your name Surprise if you won’t even let the universe surprise you every once in awhile? There’s gotta be a reason we both have the same cutie mark, and we’ll never find out that reason if we both just say ‘buh-bye’ and bounce away! And everypony knows that the best way to find out secrets of the universe is to go on adventures!”

Surprise gave Pinkie a long, deadpan stare, ears twitching as he mulled over the words. “You know, that doesn’t make any fucking sense. But in a way, it makes more than anything else you’ve said…” He exhaled and let his ears droop. “Besides, the guys have been saying for a while that Fleetfoot seriously needs to get laid.”

Pinkie flashed a knowing smile. “Oh, trust me. So does Twilight. She’s just gotta put herself in a position to choose to, and she’ll never do that cooped up in safe old Ponyville.”

“They do seem perfect for eachother.”

“So…?” Pinkie singsonged the words, leaning forward and letting her smile grow as she waited for a response.

Surprise shrugged and finally let his bleak muzzle break into a smile. “Fine. Let’s make it happen.”

Pinkie jumped forward and planted a huge wet smooch on his cheek, wrapping him in her hooves. “Oh, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou—”

He quickly pushed her away and turned his head away from her, but Pinkie could see the redness lingering in his face. With a sigh, he mumbled “I can’t believe I just agreed to that…”

Author's Note

When I wrote this story I had not read far enough in the comics to realize that Fleetfoot is an actual canon Wonderbolt. I could have changed it before publishing but decided not to, so sorry for the confusion.