Dashing in the Skies

by Sky Melody

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Soarin, Rainbow Dash, Romance, Princess Luna, Fleetfoot, Main 6
Length: 10117

All Soarin wanted was a nice relaxing holiday. All was fine, but now there's a storm on the horizon and only he and a certain mare can stop it.

All Soarin needed was a rest. A nice quite relaxing break in an interesting place.
Well it's certainly interesting to say the least. However, a town packed with crazy ponies is not what he asked for.
All was going well until Monday morning at precisely 10:16am.

Now there's a storm on the horizon and only he and a certain mare can stop it.

And what's with these weird ponies following him?

So much for a relaxing holiday...

Hope you enjoy! Any points for improvement are helpful so thanks! :D

Published 2015-02-08 23:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-04-11 16:34:55 UTC

Chapter 1: Surprise the Holiday Adviser

The damp, dark corridors were just the beginning of the black abyss that was Sector X. Black Night slowly but steadily walked, each hoof making a clip-clop noise as it touched the ground. Occasionally glancing around, making sure not to be watched. Everything was going well until…

“What made you think you could sneak around without being noticed huh?” a voice came from his right. She walked out of the shadows into the dimly lit hallway. Night flinched and then groaned in response before facing the small mare.

“What do you want?” Night said, slightly glaring down at the smaller mare.

“You talking to me? What I wanna know is why my brother is out sneaking around the compound in the middle of the night!” she yelled quietly.

“It’s none of your business. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“Yes, I should but I’m not and neither are you. Now tell me where you’re going!” she shoved him slightly, signalling him to tell. Night stood still and sighed.

“What does it matter to you where I’m going? I could ask the same to you, Purple Dust.”

“I know you could but you’re not going to. Tell me where you’re going before I make you wish you never left your bed!” Purple Dust threatened, rearing up on her back-legs and making fist motions in the air.

Night chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Looks like somepony got up on the wrong side of the bed today.”

“Look, just because I’m a lot smaller than you, doesn’t mean you can joke about me. Got it!?” she glared up at him.

Night started to walk forward. “Look, just go away.”

“Well, that’s not a nice thing to say,” She said following him. “I’m not going to bed until you tell me where you’re going.”

“Bad luck for you then, I’m not going to tell you so you better hurry up and leave before Blitz or Moonlight find out you left.”

“I know you’re not going to tell me which is why I’m following you. Blitz and Moonlight won’t care if I leave. I do it all the time.”

Night stopped and sighed before bending down till he was at the same height as Dust. “Look, I know you want to investigate me, but I’m doing some investigating of my own and I really really don’t want to get caught doing what I’m about to do so please please will you just leave me.”

“Okay, I’ll leave, but only on one condition,” she smirked and flew up to face her brother directly, “You tell me exactly what you’re up to.”

Night growled slightly before continuing to walk.

“Hey, it’s not very nice to ignore people y’know!” Purple shouted.

Sure, Night loved his sister, not that he would ever say it out loud, but she was really really annoying and always knew how to get on his nerves.

Then again, he couldn’t blame her, it wasn’t her fault that she was like how she was. Things were different before, and he could only wish that someday they could be like that again. He doubted anything would be different again after all the stuff that happened to them, but maybe things would be better. If anything it was his fault for disturbing her time alone. She needed it. If only…

Night glanced behind him to see Dust running to catch up with him. He shuddered slightly and felt a wave of sympathy wash over him. The reason why she came out and wondered around late at night…

“Hey, look I’m sorry sis. It’s just, sometimes I forget y’know? I try not to think about…’it’ that often…” He trailed off.

“Look, it’s okay,” she looked down for a minute before looking up with a smirk on her face. “So, y’gonna tell me where you’re going or do I have to sneak around after you?”

“Urgh, fine I’ll tell you, but its best you don’t come with me. Okay?”

Silence was the only response that greeted him and Night was beginning to grow restless. His mission was only meant to take him half an hour at most and here he was, one hour later, having barely got halfway there yet.

“Dust, ignoring me isn’t going to do anything, look I said-“

“Shhh”

“What? No you can’t start shushing me and-“

“Shhhhhhhhh!”

“No, you-“Dust jumped up and clamped her hoof over his mouth to prevent him from talking. Her ears twitched and she flared out her wings and began to twitch each of them every few seconds.

“We need to leave. Now.” Dust said seriously and started to drag her brother, as best she could, in the opposite direction. Night was too strong and he pressed both legs firmly on the ground to prevent him being pulled. He had a mission and he intended to finish it.

Night shoved his sister’s hoof away from his mouth. “What’s the problem?” he whispered.

“Midnights coming,” she stated simply before tugging her brother along. Night didn’t resist and began to quickly and quietly make his way back to Sector A, the place he was supposed to be.

They both kept at a quick pace and walked through the winding passages of Sector X, sometimes taking a wrong turn from the lack of lighting and signage.

Night bent to be level with his sister, “Shouldn’t we be back in Sector A by now?” He had been following his sister for the journey and hadn’t stopped once to question where they were going. She was the one who knew most of the sectors like the back of her hoof.

Dust turned around slowly and gave her brother a sheepish grin. “Um, hehe, I was following you…”

“What?!”

“I. Was. Following. You.”

“WHY on earth were you following me? I’ve been here for longer than you and I still get lost going to the bathroom at night!”

“Well you were the one who came out here in the first place so I just thought you knew where to go…” She traced small circles on the ground with her hoof. Dust spread out her wings and continued with the small circles on the ground. “It should be this way,” she said as she pointed, with a hoof, in the direction they just came from.

“Urgh,” Night groaned in response and started to make his way down the hallway as Dust scampered after him to catch up. He could tell it was going to be a long night.

Soarin whistled to himself as he trotted down the very dark blue hallway of the Wonderbolt compound. He often found himself going down this particular hallway as it was the hallway that led to the meeting room. Every week Spitfire would call them to meeting at some point where they would be informed of new shows, weird happenings and lots of boring stuff that he could never be bothered to listen too. It was always the same anyway.

“Hey Soarin,” Fleetfoot greeted as she caught up with him. “How’s it going?”

“Good…” Soarin replied raising an eyebrow at Fleetfoot as she failed to suppress her laughter. ”What’s so funny?”

“Oh.” She giggled, “Nothing you need to worry about…”

“Really?”

“Of course. Would I ever lie to you?” She smiled smugly.

“Yes.”

“You’re not meant to say that!” She subtly veered off the subject.

“So, remind me what she called us in for? I can’t really remember. I think my brains acting up.”

“Or maybe it’s because you’re getting old," she laughed.

“I’m not that old, I’m only 25.”

“Are you sure?”

Soarin stopped walking and turned to face Fleetfoot. “Yes, why would I not know my own birth date?”

“Because you lost your birth certificate…” She held in a laugh.

Soarin grunted and headed away. He’d rather not remember the embarrassing story of how he lost his birth certificate. Fleet had been teasing him ever since she found out about it.

“What did Spitfire call us in for?” Soarin repeated his question.

“Meh, I dunno, something about a show and possible holiday I think.”

“Holiday?” he questioned, slightly quickening his pace.

“Yeah, a holiday but I doubt that’s true. We’ve barely had a break since the changlings invaded Canterlot and, what was his name, Tirek? Yeah, he kinda destroyed that small town,” she sighed before smiling again.

It was true what she said, they hadn’t had much more than a week of in the past year. The Wonderbolts were meant to be able to handle pretty much anything that came in their way, but they weren’t enough to defeat changlings. Ever since then, Spitfire had been extending their training hours, having a much more strict diet and limiting their time doing much else really. And then the Equestria Games came up, which meant more training, well at least for the lead squad.

He’d never felt so tired. Usually he was quite good with his sleep but lately he either couldn’t get to sleep, or when he did, it was too little to gain back all his strength. All the extra training hadn’t been helping either. The more he thought about it, the more he thought he could really use a break.

He couldn’t blame her though. She just didn’t want to see anypony get hurt when it could have been prevented.

Soarin and Fleetfoot entered the main hall and were instantly in a crowd of around sixty elites, twenty recruits and thirty staff members.

“We should’ve come earlier, I hate being at the back, you can’t see anything!” Fleetfoot complained.

Soarin chuckled, “We have wings remember.” He flapped his twice and hovered slightly above the crowd.
“Oh yeah, right.” Fleetfoot copied his actions just in time to see Spitfire walk out onto the stage in her Wonderbolt uniform.

“A-HEM!” Spitfire got all of the Wonderbolt’s attention before continuing. “Firstly, I would like to congratulate you all on keeping up on the training schedule and the new diet scheme in the mess hall. I would also like to say that, I think I speak for everypony when I say, we all deserve a break. That’s why, I’ve decided, that everyone in this room gets a two week holiday to wherever they want!”

Hoof-stomping erupted from the room as all the Wonderbolts and staff members cheered and whooped in delight.

“Aw yeah!” Fleetfoot cheered louder than the rest.

“YES!” Soarin shouted. He could finally have a well needed break. Now he just had to decide where.

“Train tickets for Manehatten, Fillydelphia and the Crystal Empire have already been booked. If you plan on staying elsewhere just come to my office before 6pm and I can arrange your tickets to there.”

“ERMERGERD I can see Flame, Shadows and Sky Dreams again!” Blaze shouted from behind Soarin, before doing a flip in the air. Soarin chuckled to himself. Blaze really did love birds. And her sister. Obviously.

The crowd started to quieten down as Spitfire waited to speak. “Once that break is over, we will go back to the normal training regime. Squads 1, 4 and 8 will have a show in Manehatten and squads 2, 7 and 9 will have a show in the Crystal Empire and a small one in Appleoosa."

“That’s all! I now suggest you all go and pack up your things. This break starts tomorrow morning!”

Ponies started to leave the hall and Fleetfoot and Soarin were quickly swept away with the crowd.

“Woah! Hey careful now!” Fleetfoot slightly glared at said pony that had pushed her. A pony called Surprise.

“Fleetfoot! There you are! Where’s Soarin?” Surprise asked excitedly.

“Let’s see, he’s over…er…over…” Fleetfoot looked around for Soarin in the crowd as it started to disperse.

Soarin pushed his way in the opposite direction of the group and walked over to greet them. “I’m here now.”

“There you are! Where are you staying for this break?”

“Um, I don’t know. I haven’t had time to think.”

“Yes! Precisely! And that’s where I come in!” Surprise smiled gleefully.

“You what?” asked Fleetfoot.

“I- Surprise Diapreme Monda Pie- am going to be your holiday advisor.”

“Um, okay?” Soarin would have questioned her but he had learnt early on in his Wonderbolt career to not.

“What kind of place would you like to stay?”

“Hmm,” Soarin thought out loud, “Someplace quiet, with not many ponies. Somewhere that’s a down-to-Equestria interesting town and-"

“No news reporters,” Fleetfoot added.

“I thought you liked the attention you got?” Out of all the Wonderbolts, Fleetfoot was the one loving the attention, flirting with the stallions and messing about.

“Of course I do! I just…want a change…”

Surprise brought out a quill and parchment from her mane and scribbled down notes before putting on glasses and pacing around. She stopped suddenly and smiled.

“I know where you can stay. Ponyville!” Surprise leapt in front of Soarin.

“Ponyville?” Soarin asked. He’d seen in in the newspaper before. Apparently it had become quite famous because Princess Twilight Sparkle lived there.

“Yeah, Ponyville. I’ll get Spitfire to book you two tickets.”

“Okay then. Thanks.”

“See’ya later alligator!” Surprise bounded off.

Fleetfoot burst out laughing.

“Wha- you know what, I’m not asking anymore,” Soarin groaned and left to go pack for his trip, leaving Fleetfoot rolling around the floor.

Ponyville. Sounds like a nice place. I hope it’s not too far from Canterlot though… I don’t fancy a long train journey.

Soarin yawned.

Maybe I can be treated as a normal pony for once….

Author's Note

Well, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. And if you didn't then please tell me why so I can improve. I have no idea if people will like this story or not, but I just so happen to be crazy enough to submit this, so I guess I'll find out soon enough :twilightsmile:

Chapter 2: To Ponyville We Go!

BEEP BEEP BEEP

“Urgh,” Soarin groaned. If there was one thing he didn’t like about being a Wonderbolt, it had to be getting up early. “Too early,” he muttered to himself as he turned off the alarm clock.

Soarin threw the covers off him and heaved his tired joints out of the warm bed. He yawned before going about his usual routine. The sun was shining through the curtains and birds were out singing their sweet melodies.

Soarin stretched out his wings. “Ahhh. Now that feels better.”

He was going to go through his usual routine of making the bed, brushing his teeth, preening his wings, combing his mane and finally having a snack to last him till breakfast. However, Fleetfoot seemed to have other ideas.

“Soarin! Open the door! The train leaves in fifteen minutes!”

“Fifteen minutes? I thought it left in an hour?”

“No it leaves soon and we’re going to miss it if you don’t hurry up.”

Soarin groaned, “Fine, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Be quick!”

Soarin grabbed his saddle bag out from under his bed. He shoved into it, without much care, any essentials that he would need for his holiday. This included a toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, snacks, a book and some spare change.

“SOARIN!”

“Alright, alright, I’m coming,” Soarin threw his duvet back onto the bed and ran to the door.

He glanced back into his bedroom, of which he would be leaving for the next two weeks. The dark blue curtains hung lonely and the bed was barely made. An ancient chest sat at the end of his bed- a gift from his great-grandfather- as well as a chest of drawers of to the side, next to the door which led onto the en-suite bathroom.

He opened the door.

Outside was a very annoyed looking Fleetfoot, which was odd as she was usually smiling or making some silly joke.

“Where have you been?” she demanded.

“Getting ready. What’s got you all fussed up?” Soarin knew instantly that the words which had left his mouth should have not been used. He threw a hoof over his mouth and tried to cover up his mistake with a cough.

Fleetfoot growled, “You really wanna know?”

“Um”

“If you really wanna know, I didn’t get much sleep last night so you better stop asking pointless questions and get that flank in gear! Come on. Follow me!” she ordered.

Phew! I got out of that one easily. I know better than to speak like that to Fleetfoot when she had a bad night’s sleep. I guess I was-

“Ow!” a voice came from in front of him.

Soarin glanced down and saw a fellow Wonderbolt, lying on the floor.

He quickly helped her up, after realising that he had bumped into her when he was daydreaming. “Are you okay, Mist? Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going” he used her nickname whilst smiling sheepishly.

She brushed dirt off her shoulder before answering his question, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just on my way to meet Misty Fly, High Winds, Fire Streak and Wave Chill. We’re going to Fillydelphia!” she said with glee.

“That sounds nice. I’m going to Ponyville with, Fleet. Do you know where the others are going by any chance?” he asked. Soarin hadn’t had the time to ask anypony else where they were staying so he was curious.

“Well, if I remember rightly, Surprize is going to a rock farm, Rapidfire and Lightning Streak are staying in Canterlot, Silver Lining is going to Cloudsdale with a few members of squad 4, Blaze is going to Manehatten and the rest of my squad is going to Cloudsdale.”

There was one pony in particular that was missing from that list, Soarin remembered.

“Where’s Spitfire going?”

“Hmm,” she thought, “I’m not sure.”

“Okay then. Thanks.”

“Bye!” she waved to them before galloping of.

He turned to Fleetfoot. “Look, Fleet. I’m not going anywhere until I know where, Spitfire’s going on holiday. You know how she can be.”

“Okay, this is the one thing I’m going to let you do. Spitfire deserves a break more than any of us. Just be quick!”

“Thanks for understanding Fleet,” Soarin said before running down the hallway and up the stairs towards Spitfire’s office.

Why’s Spitfire not going anywhere? She deserves a break more than any of us. I hope she’s not going to make up the same excuse she uses every time we try to get her to go or do something.

When he got to her office, he opened the door quickly. With any other Wonderbolt office, he would have knocked and waited, however he had known Spitfire since he was a young colt and she insisted that he didn’t knock. Fleetfoot did the same.

Spitfire’s office was one of the largest in the building. In the centre was a large dark brown desk with a leather chair behind it. The walls were dark blue, like the rest of them in the compound, and on two of them hung paintings and a poster. Next to the door was a large blue sofa with a coffee table. At the back of the room was an average sized window with armoured shutters. Next to the desk was a filing cabinet which was filled to the brim with files.

Spitfire was sitting in her chair, in uniform. On either side of her were tall towers of paper and on her desk lay many graphs and forms.

She ignored his entrance.

“Spitire,” Soarin started to say.

She groaned and lowered her head slightly before raising it again and looking Soarin in the eye. “What do you want?”

“I want to know where you’re going on holiday?” he asked her, already knowing the answer.

“Nowhere.”

“Spitfire, you have to go somewhere. You said so yourself, everypony deserves a break.”

“I know, but I can’t,” she lowered her head slightly.

“Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Look at all the papers surrounding me. I have forms to fill, graphs to check, ponies to mail and letters to post!” she raised her tone of voice and started to stand up.

“That’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not,” Spitfire strolled up to him until she was right in front of his face. “I’m the one who organizes everything, I’m the captain. I need to do all of this. I don’t have time for a break! Don’t you understand?”

“I think that’s a load of horseapples. You. Need. A. Break," Soarin raised his voice.

“Look. I have got some work to do so just leave!” Spitfire shouted and glared at him.

“Fine,” Soarin agreed, with frustration and anger evident in his voice. He turned around and marched out of the door before slamming it behind him.

The moment he was outside he regretted what he did and said. His ears flopped down and he sighed.

Well that could’ve gone better. It’s not like I meant to shout at her, it’s just that she’s stubborn…well I guess I am more stubborn that Fleetfoot and Spitfire combined, but still. I was just trying to help…

Soarin glanced at the clock and galloped towards the entrance where Fleetfoot was supposedly waiting for him. He then took to the sky, with Feetfoot, to the Grand Canterlot train station.

“Okay, so I may have lied about the train leaving in ten minutes…” Fleetfoot grinned sheepishly earning an annoyed glare from Soarin. “Hey, it’s not my fault that Plumbelle’s Café sells the greatest fruit smoothies and lemon cakes in the whole of Equestria!” she whined. “I just wanted to make sure I got one…”

Soarin rolled his eyes. “Okay, but you’re buying me a fruit smoothie with blueberry pancakes.”

“Already on it,” Fleetfoot walked into the café to order their choices.

Soarin took this chance to admire the architecture.

The Grand Canterlot Station was the second biggest station in the whole of Equestria, the larger one being in Manehatten. The platform was on one side of the building and on the opposite side were lots of shops and cafes, ranging from food to souvenirs. The building was mostly enclosed with a massive sloping glass roof and four main pillars supporting it. These pillars were intricately detailed with carvings of the royal sisters, flowers and some of the most popular tourist attractions in Canterlot. The whole platform floor was made out of a light coloured marble and there were lots of lanterns around to light up the place at night. The station had not many ponies in it, as it was still very early in the morning.

He glanced over and saw Fleetfoot strolling back over towards him with a light purple bag on her back.

“Here. Catch,” she threw half the contents of the bag at him, which he luckily caught.

Soarin took a sip from the smoothie and then a bite from the pancakes. “Mmmm,” he said between chews until he had finished. “There is nothing like Plumbelle’s delights in the morning.”

“I agree one hundred percent.”

Well, at least that improved her mood a lot…

“ALL ABOARD!” the conductor shouted, signalling everypony to get on the train.

"Well, to Ponyville we go!" Fleetfoot raised her smoothie and Soarin chuckled.

Fleetfoot and Soarin hurried to the train, a long journey ahead of them.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed it! :twilightsmile: This was going to be longer but I cut out a few scenes to make it flow better. They'll be in chapter 3 instead. :yay:

If you notice any mistakes, please tell me and I'll change them :twilightsmile:

Chapter 3: The Friendship Castle

“Well, here we are,” Soarin said as they both stepped off the train. It had been a long tiring journey for both of them. They left Canterlot at 7am Saturday morning and arrived there 5am Sunday morning.

Soarin looked around at the unfamiliar place.

The trees and fields surrounding the town seemed to go on endlessly and there was plenty of wildlife around. Most of the homes had roofs made of hay and straw as well as a river running through the edge of the town. He could see there were lots of ponies crowded around in the market-place and a few pegasi in the sky.

“I like this place,” Fleetfoot commented.

“Yeah, it sure is a nice place,” Soarin agreed. “How old is it?” he asked, noticing that there hadn’t been much development of buildings and most of them were made of wood.

“I think something like one hundred years old.”

“This place is still pretty new then,” Soarin replied.

They both stood admiring the landscape for a few minutes. Canterlot didn’t have much countryside and they hadn’t seen such a nice place in ages.

It was at this moment that Soarin realised something.

“Hey, Fleet?” Soarin said.

“Yeah, what?”

“Where are we staying?”

“Uh, I don’t know.”

“Oh, maybe we should try and find a place to stay then. I don’t want to sleep in the streets.”

“Good idea!” Fleetfoot said enthusiastically. “Let’s ask her, she looks nice,” she pointed to a yellow pegasus with a long light pink mane.

“Fleet wai-“ Soarin started only to see Fleetfoot running up towards the now terrified looking mare.

“Eeeeeep,” the mare cowered down and hid behind her mane.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Fleetfoot half shouted as the mare started shaking.

“That’s not making anything better,” Soarin scolded Fleetfoot before turning to the mare. “Hey, are you alright?” he asked quietly, slightly lowering himself to the ground. The mare didn’t move so Soarin offered her a warm smile. The mare slowly smiled back and then stood up straight. She awkwardly shuffled her hoof and looked around.

“What’s your name?”

“Um, my name’s Fluttershy,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

“Oh, um, my name’s Fluttershy,” she whispered a little louder.

“That’s a nice name,” Fleetfoot complimented before smiling, to which Fluttershy returned.

“We were wondering if you knew of any places we could stay? We’re on holiday,” asked Soarin.

“Is there an inn?” Fleetfoot added.

“Um, well there is an inn but I’m pretty sure that’s going to be full. Princess Luna is coming for a visit later today and lot of ponies came here to see her. I have a best friend though; who I’m sure wouldn’t mind lending you a room to stay in.”

“Okay then. Thanks a lot. Where can we find this friend?”

“Oh, she lives there,” Fluttershy pointed to a large castle-like structure in the distance.

“Isn’t that Princess Twilight Sparkle’s Castle?” asked a surprised Fleetfoot with her mouth slightly open.

“Yes it is. She’s one of my best friends. Just say that Fluttershy sent you.”

“Um, okay then…” Soarin managed to say, his jaw also dropping like Fleetfoots'.

Staying is Princess Twilight Sparkle’s Castle!? Is that even allowed? Surely there must be some kind of law against this thing. Who goes up to a castle of royalty and asks to stay for a while? Nopony.

“Well, I guess we better get going then. Nice meeting you, Fluttershy,” Soarin spoke up.

“Yeah, bye!” Fleetfoot said.

“I’ll see you around then. Oh and um, if you don’t mind…would you mind asking Twilight if she has seen my copy of ‘Critter Challenges’ anywhere?” Fluttershy stammered.

“Yeah sure.”

“Thank you,” she waved as she walked into town. Soarin and Fleetfoot waved back.

“She was nice. We should probably go to the…castle then…” said Feetfoot. They started to walk towards the castle.

Black Night was in the gym with some other ponies, none of which he knew.

It was a fairly small gym with a low ceiling and plenty of equipment crammed in the small space, including treadmills, benches, weights and mats, for the few ponies that did gymnastics as warm-ups. All of it was brand new and a lot of it had yet to be used.

Seventeen.

Eighteen.

Nineteen.

Black Night pushed the bar up for the final time, sweat dripping down his forehead. “Twenty!” he groaned as he struggled to keep the bar up. His hooves slipped and the bar went down on top off him.

“Horseapples…” he swore loudly and attempted to get the bar off him.

“Need a little help?” asked the one pony he did not want to see. His sister.

“No…I’m fine,” he groaned loudly as he freed himself from the bar. “See? I got this.”

“Pffft. You’d be stuck without me and you know it,” Purple Dust walked over to a nearby shelf and picked up a large weight before lifting it up and down.

I’d never say it out loud, but she’s right. She’s always right.

“How much did you lift?” she asked as she changed the weight to the other arm.

“One hundred and forty pounds,” he said with pride as he started to do wing-ups on a nearby mat.

“Meh. That’s nothing. I can lift one hundred and forty- five pounds with one arm.”

Night was not about to have his achievement be ruined by his little sister. “Prove it then,” he challenged.

Night watched his sister place the weights on the bar, move the hoof-clips to the middle and position herself on the bench next to him.

There’s no way she can-

His jaw dropped and his eyes widened as he watched in dismay. His little sister, who wasn’t that much larger than a filly, was lifting five pounds more on one arm, than what he could on both.

“H-how…” he stared in disbelief.

“It’s called skipping lunch every once in a while,” she smirked. “And this is what you call sweet victory,” she pumped her hoof in the air.
The doors were pushed open, suddenly, with a loud screech.

“Everypony listen up!” the pony, called Blitz, shouted.

All eyes turned to him and waited for him to continue.

“I don’t know which one of you did something,” he glanced at Black Night and Purple Dust, “But Midnight wants you all to go to Sector H, at three o’clock. Don’t be late!” he rushed out of the room.

“That doesn’t sound good…” Night said.

“Yeah, I know, that’s obvious. I bet it was you sneaking about the other night!”

“Shhhh. Keep your voice down! Nopony is meant to know that. Besides, we didn’t get caught. Did we?”

“I don’t know, Night…I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I’m bringing my cape at three.”

“Well, here we are,” Fleetfoot looked up at the large building towering above her. The Friendship Castle was a lot larger when in front of it.

“Um, you knock.”

“Er, yeah, sure,” Soarin reached his hoof up to the large purple door and knocked.

“Spike! Can you get that for me please?” a voice came from inside. Shortly after the door opened and they were greeted with Spike the dragon.
“Hello, I am Spike the mighty, great, talented, fearless and brave, protector of the Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Spike, you are my assistant!” the voice yelled back.

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered to himself. “How may I help you?”

“Um, Fluttershy sent us here. Can we please speak to Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

“You want to speak to the princess?” he gave them his best serious look, which failed. “Well, if you want-“

“Spike! Just let them in already! Enough of the small talk.”

“Fine…” he opened the door wider and let the two pegasi in.

Inside, the castle seemed to be even larger. They were standing in a hallway with large stained glass windows on the side and a large velvet purple rug, extending all the way up to the main room at the end. A couple of small chandeliers hung from the ceiling. A few tables were below the windows with vases of colourful flowers on them.

Spike ran forward to the main room as Fleetfoot and Soarin glanced at each other awkwardly before following.

We’re in the Friendship Castle! Heck, I’m in the Friendship Castle! Even Spitfire doesn’t just casually get invited to a royalty castle, and I might be staying in one! I’ve only ever been in the Solar Sister’s Castle before, and that was for the Grand Galloping Gala. I bet none of them will believe it when I tell them that I and Fleet stayed in the Friendship Castle. If we stay in the Friendship Castle…

This place is pretty cool though, a bit too purple for my liking, but still…

“Hello, I’m Twilight Sparkle, it’s nice to meet you,” she exclaimed whilst smiling. “Hey, aren’t you two…Wonderbolts?” she thought out loud.

“Err, yeah we are, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Soarin awkwardly extended his hoof, which she shook.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, call me Twilight. I have a friend, who I’m sure would like to meet you at some point. Anyway, what brought you here?” she asked whilst lifting books off a coffee table, with her magic, and placing them back onto a nearby bookshelf.

“We’re on holiday and were looking for an inn to stay in. Fluttershy, said that you wouldn’t mind letting us stay here… Now if you don’t want us to stay here, then that’s absolutely fine and-“

“That’s fine. I have plenty of spare rooms,” she smiled. “Spike, could you clear two rooms for, um, what are your names?” she smiled sheepishly.

“I’m Soarin and this is, Fleetfoot.”

“That’s it! Spike, could you clear two rooms for Soarin and Fleetfoot? The rooms opposite Rainbow Dash and Rarity’s guest rooms will do.”

Rainbow Dash…that rings a bell…

Rainbow Dash! How could I forget the cute sassy mare that saved my life twice and saved my dessert? The mare from Rainbow Falls who I talked with in the hospital, when my wing was injured. Yeah, that’s her! I must try and speak to her at some point and-

“Soarin, Equestria to Soarin are you there,” Fleetfoot waved her hoof in front of him.

“Bwuh,” Soarin was broken from his daydream.

Fleetfoot chuckled, “So what were you daydreaming about then?” she smirked.

“Um, nothing,” he replied, a tinge of red showing on his pale fur.

“Awww, look, Soarin’s just found love!” she squeezed his cheeked together with her hooves, which Soarin batted away.

“N-no, it’s just-“

“So, who’s this mare then?”

“Wha-“

“Rooms ready!” Spike called.

Thank Celestia I was saved by Spike. I don’t want Fleetfoot to get any ideas about my love interests. And I totally do not have an interest in Rainbow Dash. I just want to get to know her because she’s cool…

“Follow me,” he called, to which Soarin and Fleetfoot followed him up the stairs and along the central corridor.

The corridor was very similar to the one in the entrance, except that it had a blue strip running down the middle of the floor. The walls were intricately detailed with patterns and above most of the rooms there was a cutie mark, indicating which pony went in each room. Even his and Fleetfoot’s cutie marks were above a couple of doors.

“Here are your rooms. Make yourself at home,” he started whistling and making his way back towards the main room.

Soarin stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. His eyes widened as he took in the entire room.

It was a fairly large room with a double bed, covered in a blue duvet and pillows. There were a couple of windows on the opposite wall, with a sofa between them. On the floor was a large deep purple rug with a chest of drawers on the side. Next to it was a door with led onto a bathroom. There was a sweet smell of blueberries and candyfloss in the room.

Well, looks like this is the place I’ll be staying in for the next week. I think I’ll try and find Rainbow Dash later to chat and stuff. Maybe I can meet some of her friends and this Rarity pony. This sounds like it’s going to be nice, relaxing holiday. Nothing can go wrong…

Author's Note

Okay, next chapter Rainbow Dash and Princess Luna will actually be in this story, if things go to plan. Hope you enjoyed it! :pinkiehappy:

If you spot any mistakes please tell me and I will change them!

Chapter 4: Making New Friends, Meeting Old Ones

Soarin trotted down the central corridor and back to the main room of the Friendship Castle, where Twilight was still re-shelving books.

“Um, Princ-, er, Twilght?” he asked.

“Oh, hi, Soarin, what do you need help with?” she smiled at him..

“Well, I was going to look around Ponyville, but…”

“But?” she made hoof motions, signalling him to continue.

“I don’t know where the front door is…” his cheeks tinged red from embarrassment.

Well, things could be worse if Fleetfoot heard that. She and Spitfire would never let me hear the end of it. Oh, and losing my birth certificate.

“Oh, it’s over there,” she pointed to a hallway with a large arched doorway at the end. “I really should get, Spike to put some signs around here. Even I get lost sometimes,” she thought out loud.

“Aha. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Then he remembered something. “Oh, have you seen Fluttershys’ copy of ‘Critter Challenges’ anywhere?”

“I don’t think-“her eyes lit up briefly and she ran over to a bookshelf where she took a book in her magic,” Here it is.”

“I could give it to her,” Soarin pondered. Twilight nodded her head before placing the book inside of a saddle bag. She gave it to him.

“That’s a good idea. If she’s not in the market-place, then she’s probably at her house. It’s on the outskirts of town and there should be lots of animals about.”

“Okay then,” Soarin said in-between tightening the saddle bag straps with his teeth.

He made his way out of the room and outside, where he went to the market-place, in the centre of town.

Even though it was seven thirty in the morning, the market-place was packed full of ponies, all rushing around, trying to get the best deals of fruit and vegetables as well as a few ponies buying furniture, such as sofas and lamps.

It was a fairly large market for such a small town. There were different stands with multi-coloured banners, all spread out. They were selling things such as fruit, vegetables, flowers, saddlebags, baked goods, carrot related food and apple related food. In the middle were the town hall and a few benches, where ponies were sitting down and chatting with one another.

He smelled the sweet aroma of apple fritters and cherry juice and his stomach growled.

I haven’t really had a proper breakfast have I? I guess something slightly on the unhealthy side won’t matter if I don’t do it often. It’s not like Spitfire’s here to shout at me.

His ears drooped slightly as he remembered the argument he had with her.

I need to fix that as soon as possible. I might make a visit up there sometime next week and apologise.

Soarin’s stomach growled again, reminding him that he needed to eat something.

He made his way over to a nearby stand and gazed over its contents.

It was hard not to notice that the items on the stand came from an apple farm. There were apple fritters, apple cakes, apple juice, apple pie, apple strudel, apples, apple squash, apple dumplings and apple crumble among many more products.

“Um, could I have two apple fritters please?” he asked, getting two so that Fleetfoot wouldn’t complain about not getting anything.

“Ya sure can,” the orange pony said as she tossed two apple fritters into a brown bag and passed them across to him. She looks familiar, Soarin thought. “That’ll be four bits fo’ ya fritters.”

“Thanks,” Soarin gave the bits to her. “Hey, were you at the royal wedding?” he asked.

“Ah, sure was. Hey, ain’t you one of them Wonderwings or somethin’?”

“Wonderbolt. And, yes I am.”

“I thought ya looked familiar,” she glanced behind Soarin and saw one of her best friends. “Fluttershy, there you are. I was wondering when you were gonna show up,” she smiled.

“Um, hi. I didn’t want to interrupt or anything…”

“Hi and you didn’t interrupt us. Here’s your copy of ‘Critter Challenges’ by the way, Twilight did have it,” he smiled and passed her the book, which she put underneath her wing.

“Thanks, Angel hasn’t been eating his dinner lately and I needed to check if I’m making it wrong or if he doesn’t like it,” She faced Applejack. “Can I have five apples please?”

“Here, ya go,” she passed her a bag filled with apples. Fluttershy gave Applejack a small amount of bits.

“Thank you.”

“Hey Soarin, are you goin’ to the party tonight?” Applejack asked him.

“Party?”

“Yeah, there’s a party tonight at abou’ five. It’s at the Friendship Castle as a welcome gift ta Princess Luna. Last time she visited, not everypony was too friendly ta her, so, we’re makin’ it up to her.”

“Um, I don’t know, I mean Fleetfoot and me haven’t been invited so-“

“WHAT?! You weren’t invited to the Princess’s welcome party? Well, you are now, here are your invites,” A bright pink pony appeared in front of him and passed him two blue invitations.

Soarin jumped and flapped his wings a couple of times, then landed and placed a hoof over his heart. “You scared me,” he stated.

“I didn’t mean to, sorry. Hi! My names Pinkie Pie and I throw the best parties in Equestria and work in Sugarcube Corner and-” she exaggerated a gasping sound whilst leaping in the air, “HEY! I don’t know you. Are you new? Do you have a friend? Where are you from? I’ll be your friend,” she smiled widely.

“Um, I’m Soarin,” he answered confused.

“I need to throw you a Welcome to Ponyville party!”

“Errr, I’m on holiday, and thanks but I’d rather not have a party dedicated to me. I’m trying to keep a low profile…”

“Awwww, but parties are fun! I know, since you’re staying in the Friendship Castle my friends and I can stay till after the welcome party finishes and then it can be a smaller party!”

“How did you know where I and Fleet were staying?”

“It’s Pinkie Pie, jus’ don’t question it and y’all be fine,” Applejack replied.

“So, you wanna come to the party? Do ya?”

“Sure?” Soarin answered as more of a question than anything else.

“Okie dokie lokie! I need to run girls,” she faced Applejack and Fluttershy before talking, ”I’ve got another party to plan and party planning waits for nopony!” she bounced off and waved at them. “Bye Soarin!” she shouted.

“She’s certainly…energetic,” Soarin chose his words carefully.

“Well, that’s Pinkie Pie for ya,” Applejack started to serve another customer as Soarin and Fluttershy move out of the way.

“I think I’ll be off now,” Soarin turned to look at Fluttershy.

“Oh, okay then. Bye,” she smiled at him.

“Bye, tell Applejack I said bye as well!” he added as he started trotting into the middle of the market.

Soarin had some exploring to do. He had barely seen any of the town other than the castle, train station and market-place.

It was certainly harder to get around on foot than he thought. There were no real designated roads, so the occasional cart or wagon would near him and he would have to move out of the way.

The ground eventually got boring for Soarin and he was pretty sure he’d been walking in circles for half an hour. Then again, the houses did look very similar in design so it could just be a mistake on his part.

Soarin decided he’d had enough of the ground and spread out his wings. He gave them a quick shake to rustle his feathers a bit, since he hadn’t flown at all in the past day, which was a lot for a pegasus like him.

He took to the sky and his wings quickly caught the wind and he started to glide around the edge of Ponyville.

It certainly has a different view from up here. I should have flown up here earlier. He sighed contently.

Soarin performed a few tricks in the sky; the odd flip and barrel roll as well as a couple of dives. He shut his eyes briefly and glided with his wings stretched wide apart.

Unfortunately, this was just enough time for him to not pay attention.

He opened his eyes just in time to see a pony in front of him. He tried to put on his air breaks, but it was too late, and he collided with her.

“Eeeeeaaah,” the pegasus briefly screamed before landing on top of a cloud, which Soarin landed on shortly after.

“Hey, watch it-errrrr…” the pegasus started to berate him, before realising something. Soarin raised an eyebrow before realising who it was.

Hey! It’s Rainbow Dash! I just happened to bump into her. Wow! She looks much cute-errr, nice-looking up close than I thought and clearly a fan of the Wonderbolts. I hope she’s as nice as I think she is and, oh she’s still staring at me…

“Are you alright?”

“Ohmigosh, ohmigos-er, I mean,” she stopped staring and shook her head, “I mean, hi, the names Rainbow Dash,” she put on a fake normal look and failed to suppress a gleeful smile from coming to her face.

“Um, the names Soarin?” he replied as more of a question.

“Yeah, um, so what brings you to, uh, Ponyville then?” she bounced slightly.

“Oh, well me and Fleetfoot are on holiday at the moment.”

“Holiday?” she raised an eyebrow, “Why come to a town like Ponyville and not somewhere like Baltimare or Manehatten?”

“Those places are nice and all, but I wanted to get away from the publicity and fan-mares for a bit…”

“Oh,” Rainbow felt a tinge of guilt rush over her and she felt bad.

Oh god, I’m a terrible pony now. Who thought that a Wonderbolt would not want to be around fan-mares and I just became one. Great way to impress the Wonderbolts, Dash…

“I’m sorry…” she apologised.

“Wait, what? You did nothing wrong,” he stated.

“But I thought, you know what, it doesn’t matter,” she waved a hoof and stood up.

“So…” Soarin tried to start a conversation.

“So…” Rainbow also tried to start a conversation, “met anypony here yet?”

“Oh,” he smiled and also stood up, “I’ve met a shy mare called Fluttershy, a bouncy one called Pinkie Pie, another farm mare called…Applejack, I think, and I met the princess, can you believe that?” he bragged slightly.

Gotta make myself look good, he thought.

“Yup, I’m one of her best friends as well,” Rainbow subtly bragged back whilst edging closer with a playful smirk plastered on her face.

“You’re best friends with Princess Twilight?!” stood back and dropped his jaw slightly.

“Yeah, I am. You seem to have met all my other friends apart from Rarity.”

“Rarity? Yeah, somepony mentioned something about her. I’d like to meet her," he shut his jaw completely.

“Well, I can help you with that. I’ll show you to where her boutique is if you’d like?”

“Yeah, sure. Its only noon anyway,” he glanced upwards at the sun.

“Race ya,” she challenged and got down in a racing stance.

“You’re on,” he challenged back.

“3, 2, 1 GO!” she shouted and fired off into the distance.

“Hey, no fair!” he shouted and sped after the prismatic maned mare, towards the boutique, which belonged to Rarity.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed! Sorry, this took a little longer, I'm a tad busy with school and stuff. The next chapter was going to be with the party, but I had to break the end few scenes off this chapter. So, what I think I might do is join those scenes with what was going to be the first scene of chapter 5. And then upload the rest of that as chapter 6.

Anyway, thanks for reading and feel free to point out any mistakes or improvements! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 5: Oh, well this is awkward...

The sky was clear and the clouds were floating about, gently being pushed by the breeze as the two pegasi raced through the air.

Omigoshomigoshohmigosh, yes! I’m winning! Wait, how? It’s a Wonderbolt I’m racing…

Rainbow raised an eyebrow and glanced behind her at the light blue Wonderbolt not too far behind her. He was neither gaining nor decreasing speed. Hmmmmm, I wonder…

Rainbow stopped flapping her wings and glided for a few seconds before continuing to flap her wings, only slower than before. Soarin did the same and slowed down his wing-beats. She tilted her head slightly, in confusion, before coming to a complete stop on a nearby cloud. Not too long after, Soarin landed next to her.

“What gives? I thought we were meant to be racing?” She asked him, whilst raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, well, I realised I don’t actually know where the boutique is, so I just started following you instead,” Soarin smiled sheepishly. I probably should know where it is; I think Fleetfoot pointed it out on the way to the Friendship Castle.

“Ohhhh,” she chuckled, “my bad, I forgot you only arrived this morning,” She smiled sheepishly, before pointing with a hoof. “It’s that building in the distance.”

Soarin followed her hoof, to see a slightly odd shaped building in the distance. “It looks like a carousel, in a weird way,” he commented.
“That’s probably why it’s called the Carousel Boutique then.”

“Ah, makes sense,” Soarin smiled.

“So, you still wanna race?” Rainbow flipped her mane to the other side of her neck.

“Yeah, go!” Soarin fired from his spot as he dove off the cloud.

“Hey!” Rainbow jumped off the cloud after him.

It was just them and the sky. The wind felt like it was strongly blowing against her, when in reality it was just her speed. The clouds started to become a blur as she sped up towards Soarin. At this rate I’ll end up breaking the sound barrier!

With every second passing Rainbow was nearing him. Everything else seemed to fade out of existence. It was just her and the sky.
The wind whipped around her athletic form, and blew her mane and tail back. The air was forcefully pushing against her face and hooves, but she couldn’t stop now. She was so close, yet so far…

“Urggghhh!” Rainbow slightly miscalculated her distance from the ground, and had a rough landing. She did a short tumble before falling on her front. So close…

“You okay?” asked Soarin, bending over and offering her a hoof.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she helped herself up, shook her mane out and brushed some dirt of her coat. Rainbow spread out her wings and had a quick glance at them to check they were still preened to an okay standard. Once satisfied, she turned back to face Soarin. “No fair, you cheated.”

Soarin chuckled, “Yeah, but so did you last time.”

“Oh yeah, okay then, we are equal…And this is the Carousel Boutique! Although I’d watch out if I were you, its home to one of the CMC.”

“CMC?”

“Oh, right. It stands for Cutie Mark Crusaders. Their goal is to get their cutie marks. I’d watch out if I were you, they’re an interesting bunch and one just happens to be my little sister,” Rainbow started to walk towards the door.

Before she knocked, a sound of crashing and banging came from inside the room, closely followed by Rarity’s scream.

Rainbow hesitated before knocking.

“Aggggghhhh,” Rarity groaned before continuing in a forced normal voice. “I will be right there! Let me just…sort out some things first.”

“Rarity, I’m sorry,” a voice belonging to Sweetie Belle replied. Rainbow put her ear to the door.

“Sweetie! I told you before; don’t start playing about when I’m working. I know you wanted to help, but you weren’t really much help, I mean, look at this place.”

“I’m sorry,” Sweetie Belle replied sadly.

“Hmmmm,” Rainbow thought out loud, “Rarity! It’s me, Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh! Rainbow,” Rarity could be heard running over to the door and opening it, where she then greeted her best friend. “My apologies, I thought you were Flower Wishes, looking for a very specific-“her eyes widened as she looked up at the slightly taller stallion, awkwardly standing behind Rainbow. “Oh, my…Come in, come in, now!” Rarity ushered them into the boutique.

The floor was covered in needles, sewing threads, multi-coloured fabric, silk, glitter, pencils, pots, pens, drawings and a few dresses as well. One of the curtains had been pulled down- with a guilty looking Sweetie Belle sitting by it- and a table had fallen over. A couple of ponyequins had been knocked over, adding to the mess on the floor.

“Wow, Rares,” Rainbow commented.

“Heh, sorry about the mess, Sweetie wanted to help, but it didn’t really work,” she smiled sheepishly. “Sweetie,” she looked over to her sister, covered in glitter, “I think you need a bath.”

“Okay Rarity!” Sweetie bounded over an up the stairs.

“Make yourselves at home! I need to run Sweetie a bath, and then I’ll make us all some tea, if you want,” she said in a slightly higher pitched voice than usual. Rarity then trotted up the stairs a little more happily than usual

“Okay,” Rainbow called back before turning to face Soarin, “Not sure what’s got into her, she’s usually not that excited about seeing me, I sometimes break her-“ I can’t tell him I crash into windows! She shook her head. “Um her…her,” Rainbow frantically looked around the room for something she could have broken. “Her…vases… with flowers in them. Yeah, her vases, I usually end up messing her flower arrangements up and then…the vases fall on the floor,” Rainbow put on her best smile. Please buy it, please…

“I don’t see any vases in here…” Soarin looked around, confused.

“Umm, that’s because they’re all broken,” a tinge of red came to her cheeks.

“That makes sense then?”

“Yeah…Hey, let’s make ourselves at home, like Rarity said,” Rainbow turned around and breathed a sigh of relief, before going and making herself comfy on a sofa, tucked away at the non-messy side of the room. Soarin followed her and sat next to her on the sofa. Soon after, Rarity came trotting down the stairs.

“Anypony want any tea?” she asked.

“Nah, I’m fine thanks,” Rainbow replied.

“I’ll just have some water, thank you,” Soarin glanced at Rainbow and grinned to which Rainbow returned.

Rarity joined them in the room, with a cup of tea and a glass of water, as well as a few biscuits on a tray. Soarin looked over the biscuit selection carefully, as Rainbow tried to suppress a laugh because of how serious he looked, before choosing a chocolate one.

“So, I just wanted to ask, how long?”

“How long what?” Rainbow questioned and raised an eyebrow.

“Oh don’t be silly, you must have kept it quiet for a while,” she smirked slightly, and then took a sip of her tea.

“Kept what quiet?” Rainbow was beyond confused. What on earth is she on about?

“Oh, you know. Quite frankly, I’m surprised you were the first Rainbow Dash, I was sure I would be…” she looked up and sighed.

“What on earth are you-OH!” Rainbow exclaimed as she realised what her friend was on about. Soarin looked over at her, from her sudden outburst. She started to blush heavily and used her wings to cover up most of her face.

“Wait, you’re not…?” Rarity asked and Rainbow nodded her head. Soarin glanced between the two mares and raised an eyebrow. “Oh…oh my, well this is embarrassing,” Rarity desperately tried to conceal a blush. “I think I’ll go and check on Sweetie Belle,” she left quickly.

“Uh, what was that about?” Soarin asked the flushed Rainbow Dash.

“She thought we were…an item,” she mumbled under her wings, it was just enough for Soarin to hear.

“Oh,” he started to blush and looked around awkwardly.

“Like that would ever happen…” Rainbow chuckled lightly and tried to make the situation less awkward.

Soarin laughed, “Yeah like ever…” he turned away from Rainbow. “Wouldn’t mind it though…”he muttered under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Um, nothing…” Soarin replied quickly.

Rarity came waltzing down the stairs and sat down on a nearby chair.

“My apologies, I should have never assumed so without asking first,” Rarity said.

“Its fine, Rares…” Rainbow gazed out the window at the cloudy sky. “Hey! Someone messed up the weather schedule. It’s not meant to be cloudy, the forecast was sunshine with patches of clouds and light sprinkles of rain in the outer areas of Ponyville!” she complained and flew over to the window, to get a better look outside. “Urggghhh,” she groaned, “now I need to find somepony to fix this at some point.”

“Hmmm, that’s odd…clouds don’t usually do much by themselves and they rarely clump together so much…” Soarin trotted over next to Rainbow.

Outside a few pegasi had started to clear some of the clouds and, slowly but surely, sunlight was starting to seep through.

“Hm,” Rainbow nodded her head in satisfaction. “At least that’s getting sorted out.”

“What?!” Rarity shrieked, “It’s two o’clock already? Sorry, Rainbow, I need to get ready for when Princess Luna arrives.”

“We should probably get going. Meet you at Sugarcube Corner then,” Rainbow smiled and motioned for Soarin to follow as they excited the boutique.

“Something tells me this isn’t going to be good,” Night said. He and Purple Dust were on their way to Sector H, where they had been told previously to go at three o’clock, only they were going earlier.

“That’s why I’ve brought my cape,” Dust replied as she stopped to adjust it.

Her cape as she called it was just that, a cape. However, due to her size and the fact that the cape was stretchy, she could easily wrap it around her and hide in the shadows if needed. It was a custom in their family to give a cape to any new-born child, as an alternative to a blanket, but it usually had the same purpose. It was only for when they were young, but she hadn’t grown much, and so could still use it. Night also had one but he just never used it because of his size.

“So, what’s the plan?” He leaned up against the wall and peered round the corner to check if anypony was coming. He then walked around, and beckoned for Dust to follow, to which she did.

“I don’t know, you’re the one that dragged me down here to help you with your ‘research’,” she said bitterly.

“Well, my ‘research’ is actually very important,” Night replied with pride evident in his voice.

“Why?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, lots of weird stuff has been going on here lately. Firstly, more of the sectors suddenly got put off-limits. We used to have free roam of just about anywhere. Know what happened to Blizzard Storm?”

“No, what happened?” She eyed him curiously and raised an eyebrow.

“Word around Sector C is that him and Moonlight were called to meet Midnight late afternoon a few weeks ago. Moonlight came out fine, but Blizzard Storm never came back. Ponies have asked…actually, I’ve asked her as well, but she denies ever being with Blizzard Storm in the first place.”

“Huh, interesting. It’s not like Moonlight to lie…”

“She doesn’t. I think she had her memory wiped,” Night turned another corner. “She doesn’t even remember what happened whilst she was in there and- see! Look at this,” he threw his hooves out as they approached a door at the end of the corridor. It was metal, with a large bolt across it, held firmly in place by a lock.

“When…her," he hesitated before continuing," …and I first joined here, before the training schedule was properly implemented, we used to race up and down here, pretending to beat down the bad guys,” he chuckled at the memory.

“I don’t remember that.”

“That’s because you weren’t here yet, you still lived with mum and dad…y’know, before it happened,” he smiled weakly at his sister.

“Well, I guess there was no point in coming here early; I guess we’ll go back to our sector?”

“Yeah, sounds like a plan.”

They both left Sector H and made their way back to Sector A.

Author's Note

Huzzah! :rainbowkiss: Finally this is off hiatus. I really enjoyed writing this, and I hope you enjoy reading it! Please point out any mistakes if you notice any, thanks :twilightsmile: also, is the whole 'thoughts in italics' easier to understand?