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Chapter 1 – The Day to Him (Spitfire)

This is the day. There was no way I was going to let this pass up. Packing up my gear, I checked on my team to make sure they were suited up and ready to head out. Soarin was ready as usual, and Fleetfoot was complaining at the door on how slow we are.

“Come on! You said you wanted to go there as soon as possible!” She lectured, trying to make me feel like an idiot.

“Make sure you didn’t forget anything Fleetfoot.” I warned her.

“I have everything in my bag!” She claimed. “Geez, you said you wanted to meet up with this guy, but you all take f-o-r-e-v-e-r.”

“Why are you so raring to go?” Soarin questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“I have a lot of stuff to, so I can’t waste time.” Fleetfoot stated. “But there is no way I’m gonna miss seeing Spitfire try and hook it up with the human.”

“Fleets.” I said sternly.

Fleet backed up and said, “Hey, don’t make it sound like we don’t know! How you bring in all of his mail and tell us about what he writes every day is enough to tell all of Equestria how much you fallen for the kid.”

“He’s not a kid!” I claimed. “He just became 20.”

“Well, if all of us don’t want to be late, then let’s go already.” Soarin complained.

With all of us in agreement, we raced out to the flight ring. Along the way, Soarin started asking questions.

“So, how did you two meet anyways?”

“Oh, this story again.” Fleet moaned.

Looking up, I started to recall back a couple of months ago. “Well, remember that one pegasus? Rainbow Dash?”

He raised an eyebrow but nodded. “Yeah?”

“She brought him with her to one of our flight shows for his birthday. I happened to see him when we were out performing, and again when he was looking for us.”

“Why was he looking for you guys?” Soarin asked.

“He wanted an autograph.” I answered.

“… You… started hanging out with a fan?” Soarin said, not believing it. “You meet up with a lot of fans. What makes this one different?”

“Let me tell you what happens.” I shot back. “See, when we first met, none of us knew what the heck a human was. Sky came in and I ended up socking him the face. Didn’t know he wasn’t a monster or something at the time.”

“You… punched him?” Soarin spoke in disbelief. “How are you two even friends?”

“Well, after he said ow, and his pink friend was checking up on him, I realized my mistake. So I apologized and took him backstage to get him patched up.”

“I still find it hilarious that you knocked him right in the eye.” Fleetfoot giggled.

“Yeah, and the dude still gave a big grin as if I didn’t do anything wrong. His friend left to tell his group to hold on a bit longer, so we got to talking in the meantime. He told me all about his world, and how he magically came here without a clue.”

“What happened after that?” Soarin wondered.

“Well, after he told me that, I asked him how he was liking this world. To be honest, he seemed to be the guy who would love this place with that goofy grin of his.” I stated, remembering his smile. “But… He actually had a rough time.”

“How so?”

“He was always getting picked off the crowd. Being the only human meant the privileges of being the odd one out. He was the talk of the town, both good and bad. I felt sorry for the guy, and also kinda understood him a bit.”

“Yeah, well, being a Wonderbolt can be pretty similar to what he’s going through.” Fleetfoot agreed, imitating the usual banter we receive. “‘What were the Wonderbolts doing during the dragon attack?’, ‘Couldn’t they stay conscious to save the whiny unicorn from falling?’, ‘They can’t seem to do anything right!’”

Reaching the place, we head inside and unpack everything we needed. Readied our rooms, and waited for Sky and Rainbow Dash to show up. While we waited, I continued my story.

“The worst part is its right from the start. Dude didn’t have a choice, he was already left out. It took a couple of years for every pony to get used to him and accept him. He still gets the usual critique though.”

“Okay…” Soarin nodded. “So, you related to his problems. And then…”

“Since I could relate having to deal with some demanding ponies, I thought he might be cool to have a little chat with. I gave him my mailing address, and we’ve been pen pals ever since.”

“Well, maybe after today, you can be pen *lovers.” Fleetfoot teased.*

“… You’re *really getting on my nerves Fleets.” I warned her.*

“So… that’s the only reason why you like… Sky?” He made sure, tilting his head in confusion. “Is that really it?”

“There’s more, but I’m not gonna give you the whole story off the bat.” I declined. “That’s way too much to talk about, and we don’t have that kind of time.”

“They’re a bit late though.” Soarin thought, turning to the door and back to me. “Alright, one more question then.”

“Shoot.”

“Does he… have a mare friend?” He said, giving me a raised eyebrow. “Or did you never ask?”

“He never mentioned any in his letters.” I said, sweating a bit. “So, probably not.”

“Careful Spitfire.” Fleetfoot cautioned. “You don’t want to be in that kind of awkward situation when he already has a mare friend, and you just go and suddenly ask him out.”

“Well, I how do I be subtle about asking a question like that?”

She gave me a shrug and said, “I don’t know, that’s for you to figure out.”

Just as she said that, the doors open up and the two came in. We got up and greeted them. Trying my best to stay professional, I acknowledged Rainbow first since she was the one doing the auditioning.

“Nice to see you again Rainbow.” I told her.

“Same here!” She replied. “You don’t know how cool this is for me to be here!”

“We all expect a good performance out there.” Soarin stated.

“So don’t try to screw it up.” Fleetfoot joked.

“She won’t. Trust me, she’s a natural aviator.” Sky assured them.

“Nice to see my pen pal again.” I smiled before giving a hug to him. I held the embrace for a while before letting go. “How’s everything going?”

“Top of the world.” Sky answered. “My best friend is going to fly out there, and I get to spend some more quality time with you since my b-day.”

“That’s great to hear!” I smiled. “We’ll be watching Rainbow from this room. It has a great view, and we’ll see everything she does at the perfect angle.”

Sky looked to Rainbow Dash and said, “Sounds cool, right Rainbow?”

“Yeah. Sounds good to me.” She replied.

Fleetfoot waved to Rainbow Dash and said, “Okay, follow me then. I’ll show you the starting point.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and followed Fleetfoot, but not before waving to Sky. After she left, we sat down and waited for the show. Sky was sitting right next to me, and was holding onto a pair of binoculars. I snickered and said, “Dude, we’re not *that far from them. You’ll catch a good angle and view, so you don’t need those things.”*

“Oh, sorry.” He chuckled. “I’m just really happy for Rainbow. She’s been waiting for a chance like this. After a few more try outs, you’ll have to let her in.”

“You sound really sure of her.” Soarin stated.

“Rainbow isn’t just the fastest, but she’s also creative! All kinds of cool techs and tricks up her hoof! Sure, she may not be very disciplined, but that’s because she flies as if there’s nothing holding her back. Freedom to do whatever, you know?”

“That does sound nice.” I admit. The idea of not being told what to do. No responsibilities. That made it sound like paradise. And my wings wouldn’t have to rust on the same old flight routine.

“You really admire Rainbow Dash.” Soarin stated. “Say… Are you two by any chance… dating?”

“No. I’m not dating anyone at all actually.”

“Oh, I see.” Soarin nodded, winking at me.

I blushed a bit as Rainbow Dash began her stunts. Sky was looking at his friend fly all over the place, making lightshows of spectrum dazzle left and right. She was making quite a scenery. So fantastic, that it made it the perfect moment for me to ask Sky. After she did her signature Sonic Rainboom, Sky cheered for her. Turning to me, he said, “Isn’t she amazing!?”

“Yep. She sure is.” I nodded. “Um, Sky?”

“What’s up?”

“Listen. I know we’ve only gotten to know each other through mail and all, but… I think we can be a lot closer, don’t you think?”

“Whoa… did you see that?” Soarin muttered.

“Sure.” He said, smirking. “We can hang out sometime. Maybe I’ll visit more of your shows and-”

“Not that kind of bonding Sky.” I chuckled. “No, more like… not during work, and more to just… us.”

“Uh… guys?” Soarin muttered.

“You and me?” He said, making sure. “You mean… like-”

Suddenly, we heard a crashing noise outside. Sky and I looked to see Rainbow hit the ground hard. Sky gasped and ran downstairs to check on her.

“Rainbow!” Sky cried out.

I didn’t just stand there doing nothing either. I got the others to get the medical staff and patch up Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t too banged up; just knocked her head into the cloud pillar a bit too hard. But Sky was a bit frantic about her, apparently not used to seeing her on the cot. Being on edge, he was not in the mood for talking. With the day almost out, I found that my only chance to ask him totally ruined. It’d be too awkward to ask now, but this meant I had to wait even longer before getting a chance like this again.

This… really sucks…