The Wonderbolts were performing for Royalty one day. Soarin' had performed his 720 loop and barrel twist in formation with the others. But he was only focused on one thing today. The princess of the night... As he flew with his thundering cloud trail behind him, he had a burning desire to break formation and declare his love in the sky right there, in big cloudy letters. "Luna, I love you!!!" But he was too determined at the moment to impress her with his perfomance. After a few more maneuvers and his signature death-defying dive, he and the other Wonderbolts had finished their routine. As he and the others were landing, he noticed two alicorns with flowing astral manes approaching him, and his heart began to race faster than in any performance he had ever been in. The taller of the two had gone over to one of his partners, Spitfire, to congratulate her. But Luna had chosen to talk to him out of the entire crew. "That was quite a performance, how do you all manage to perform such spectacular tricks?" Luna asked him.
He was shaking quite a bit and he noticed her looking at him with a worried expression. "Oh I'm fine, it's just the adrenaline from the show", he lied. "But yeah, we practice every weekday, I'm glad you enjoyed the show!" He was in a complete mix of excitement and absolute wonder at her admiration of his performance, and her beauty. His gaze had drifted up to meet hers and in that moment of staring, he quickly became fearful that she would detect his emotions and his gaze droppped to the ground. He didn't see her confusion as she wondered what he was thinking.
"Well, I really would enjoy seeing another performance of you all! And, if I may, I would love to fly among your group if I could." She said.
He instantly responded," Yes, of course!!! Anything for you princess!!!" He instantly regretted his decision as he thought of how he sounded way to eager.
"That would be absolutely exciting! Thank you, um... I'm sorry, I never got your name. What is it?" She asked him.
"Soarin... My name is Soarin." He was absolutely ecstatic, but he was careful to contain it. He hadn't been as excited since Rainbow Dash saved his pie at the Grand Galloping Gala. He watched Luna as she walked to her sister, and after a quick exchange of words, they left together back to the stands.
He went over to Spitfire and she immediately asked him," You have a crush on Princess Luna, don't you?"
"Wha, how did you know!? Was I obvious?! Oh no, I invited her to fly with us!!!"He said in a panic.
"Relax", she told him," I could tell from your flying. You were a little off and you kept looking towards her. But don't worry, I know you, and you were moving way to fast for anypony in the stands to see." After a few moments, he was calm again, and the Wonderbolts went off to rest for the rest of the day, except for Soarin as he was repeating his encounter in his head.
The next day...
Soarin was flying high in the clouds. He was flying alone, so free and in a state of absolute bliss. And then, as he was gliding above a cloud, he noticed a shadow. He looked up and yet, he saw nothing casting it. He heard his name called and he looked around, only to see the clear open sky surround him. He looked at the shadow as it grew darker, and suddenly, he realized something. The shadow was being emitted upon the underside of the cloud. He neared it and called out," Who's there?" As he was about to pierce the cloud, someone else did. Up popped Luna's head, as she said, "Hello Soarin!" "Well hello Luna" He told her as the two alligned themselves to fly side by side. He looked at her, and she looked at him. They shared a passionate stare, slowly closing the distance. They never broke their stare as they slowly embraced, and as their faces neared each other, he woke up. It was a bright day outside as he thought about his wonderful dream. He could only pray that the afternoon be as pleasent.
That afternoon...
Soarin had gone out earlier in the day to buy a few items to make it a more prefferable afternoon. He had a picnic blanket in his saddlebag as well as a few bottles of apple cider, a few dandelion sandwhiches, and for dessert, an apple pie. He was hoping to turn that evening into a more personal one, and create a relationship between each other. He had a message sent to the castle with by one of the reserve members of the Wonderbolts, a blonde mare with crazy eyes that he could not recall the name of, to set up a time and location with his love. He went to the open hilltop that he selected, and he set up the picnic blanket and all the little treats he had bought earlier that day. As he waited, he practiced in his head what he would say. "So, princess, how is your evening? I've prepared a quick little meal for us 'I like that one'... Hey Luna, 'no that's to informal'..." He didn't notice her chariot pull up as the blue alicorn waved off her guards and approached. "Hello Soarin." He jumped as she broke his concentration. "Um, hello Luna, I mean Princess! I'm sorry, please forgive me for that" He was in a state of fear as so many thoughts consumed his mind. 'Did I offend her? Did I just say that? What if she sends me to the moon!?'
"It's quite ok Soarin", she said after noticing his panic, "You can call me Luna, I'd actually prefer it." She told him with a smile. He still mentally kicked himself, but he was comforted by her words.
"Well, princess, I mean Luna, I've set up a picnic for us if you want to eat."
She looked confused," I'm sorry, I thought all the Wonderbolts would be here?"
He quickly responded, "I'm sorry, the others had practice and they said I should fly with you, seeing as how you've asked me and all. I hope that's alright?"
She lost her confusion as she told him," It's fine, I just expected the others to be here as well. This is fine though!"
He offered for her to sit down, and she did. He sat down after her He offered her one of the dandelion sandwhiches and she happily accepted, immediately opening it and taking a small bite. As she was eating the sandwhich, he opened a bottle of the apple cider and poored her a glass. She took a few sips after she took it from him. She emitted a small burp, to which she immediately blushed and turned away. "Oh my, please do excuse me, I didn't think it would be so fizzy."
He emitted a small chuckle as he gazed upon her, thinking of how adorable she was. He began to notice her features even more now than before, due to him looking at the ground during their first encounter. He noticed her beautiful blue mane, with its violet hue. He also took notice of her lacking her royal tiara and necklace. As she looked away, he couldn't help but to stare at her green eyes, those gorgeous pools of emerald. And suddenly, he was staring directly into those eyes, and for that split second, he was entranced. He broke the gaze only to be brought back to reality with her asking him, "Well?"
He asked her, "Hm, what's that now?"
Luna repeated herself," Are we going to have some of that pie? It does look quite delicious."
"Of course!" He took out the spatula he had brought along and went to cut her a slice. As he was cutting her slice, he noticed that a lot of time had passed and it was nearing sun-down. He knew that she'd probably have to return to the castle soon to begin her duties with the moon. As he thought this, he sped up his actions to serve her the pie. She seemed to take notice of the time as she told him, "It's starting to get late. And we never had a chance to fly..."
Upon hearing this, he immediately felt a shame for himself, not being able to fulfill his promise to Luna. He was thinking that instead of having a great time, he got too distracted with a stupid picnic. He began to feel a growing sense of self hate begin to arise when suddenly, he felt a hoof upon his shoulder.
"Will you be available tomorrow perhaps?" She asked him with a smile.
"Uh yeah, I can get time off. Yeah definately!" His spirit rose to an all new high as he realized that he hadn't blown it. They finished the pie, most of it being eaten by Soarin, and they waited a short few minutes before Luna's chariot had arrived. As she trotted towards it, she turned towards him and said, "Thank you for the picnic, even if we didn't fly today, this was still quite a lovely suprise."
"Oh, it was nothing, I just thought it would be nice to fave a meal before we were to fly. Again, I'm sorry about it not being today, but I promise tomorrow, it will happen!" And after a quick wave goodbye, she mounted the pegasus-drawn chariot and was transported off, into the slowly darkening sky. Soarin had one thought for the rest of the evening. 'I actually pulled it off!' And for the rest of the evening, he was one of the happiest stallions in Equestria.
