Soarin' and The Blue Hour

Chapter 2: A Bright New Day

The next day, after their small celebration at the bar, the Wonderbolts left on the train for Canterlot. Everypony who wasn’t sleeping off a hangover was talking and enjoying the smooth train ride back; everypony save for Soarin’, who was too busy trying to figure out how he was going to ask Spitfire out. As the sun was starting to sink below the horizon, the train had finally reached its destination.

The train slowed to a halt, and not seconds after the doors opened, a white and yellow blur burst out expressing her joy to be back home.

“It’s nice to finally be able to sleep in our own beds again,” Fleetfoot meekly stated as she cantered off the train, bag in hoof, “Well… I’ll see you all later.”

“See ya Fleetfoot, and have a goodnight.” Soarin’ pulled Fleetfoot into a friendly embrace before letting her off.

After the rest of the luggage had been unpacked, and everypony said their goodbyes, Soarin’ found his chance.

“Hey Spits, you’re apartment’s kinda far, and it’s really late,” Soarin’ hesitantly said as he walked over to her, “How about I walk you home?”

“My! Such a gentlecolt.” Spitfire jokingly batted her eyes as she picked up her bag and started off with the blue pegasus into the dimly lit streets of Canterlot.

While the city was usually always quiet and peaceful at this hour, this evening the Equestrian Capitol was especially silent and serene. The dim lights of the street lamps gave off a tranquil ambiance, and for the most part, were empty; save for the two souls leisurely walking side-by-side, enjoying nothing else but each other’s company, savoring the hush that lay gently over the city. The buildings slowly passed them by as the apartment complex came into view, but the two ponies made sure to take their sweet time getting to that front door. However, all good things must come to an end.

“Well, thanks for walking me home,” Spitfire said as she stood in her doorway smiling, “it was nice.”

A slight smile slowly formed on the golden mare’s face as the blue pegasus stood there silent, a blank stare being his only response.

“Are you alright?” Spitfire asked edging slightly closer to her teammate, a hint of discomfort in her voice.

Soarin’ finally responded uneasily as he slightly shook head to wake himself from his daze. The blue stallion stood in place picking at the ground with his hoof, his eyes desperately searching for something, anything, to look at other than the eyes of his crush.

It shouldn’t be this hard to ask somepony on a date, Soarin’ thought to himself. He slowly lifted his gaze, his emerald eyes meeting the golden eyes of the mare in front of him. Nope! This was the most difficult thing anypony could ever do.

The golden pegasus slowly started to close her door as she said goodnight to the frozen pony, her words hanging awkwardly in the air.

Soarin’ quickly and softly stopped the door from closing with his hoof.

“Wait… Spitfire, I was wondering…” Soarin’ started to stutter as he slowly retracted his hoof from the door.

“Yes?”

The male Wonderbolt was starting to tense up, feeling his nerves getting the better of him.

“I was wondering if you’re doing anything tomorrow night- not that you aren’t because- Buck, what I’m trying to ask you is… would you… like to grab… some food?” Soarin’s head was mirroring his thoughts, bouncing back and forth avoiding the point he was trying to get to, “That is, I mean, would you like to get dinner tomorrow night if you’re free?”

Soarin’ quickly shifted his gaze downward, barely rocking back and forth on his hooves, waiting for the horrible sound of rejection.

“Well, I’m busy tomorrow night…” Spitfire started.

Soarin’s body started to droop, his legs started to shake, and his mind started to race; I knew this was going to happen! We’ve been best friends forever so of course it’s-

“But how about we grab some food Tuesday night?” Spitfire giggled as she interrupted Soarin’s wild thoughts, causing the stallion to freeze in place yet again.

Soarin' started stammering, unable to construct any coherent thought, let alone a sentence; his mind trying to grasp on what just happened.

“I’ll see ya Tuesday night then?” she giggled again, turning around, slowly letting the door close behind her.

“Wait!” Soarin’ caught the door, “What time should I pick you up?”

Smiling, the golden pegasus answered.

“Let’s say six.”

The blue stallion was making his way back to his apartment, dumbfounded, when the realization finally hit him straight in the face. He had just asked Spitfire out on a date.

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Tuesday was finally here, and Canterlot was brimming with life; the streets packed with shops and stores and ponies, mostly unicorns with the occasional pegasus or earth pony milling about. Soarin’ was weaving in and out, through the masses, paying no attention to the bustling activity of the city.

One of the upsides to living in such a posh city was that nopony paid him much mind. Without his notable Wonderbolt outfit, he was just another pegasus to these hoity-toity and uptight socialites.

Walking through the streets, Soarin’ was on a mission, repeating his mental checklist for the sixth time.

“Okay, I need to get some flowers and chocolates- because girls like those… right?” Soarin’ continued mindlessly walking, the traffic almost predictable.

“Then I pick her up, and we’ll walk over to the restaurant… Then we’ll…” the blue pegasus stopped to massage his temples, the ponies flowing around him.

“I actually have no idea what I am doing.” Soarin’ looked around and spotted a small bakery. “Maybe some food will help me calm my nerves.”

As the Wonderbolt captain entered the bakery, a small bell rang, alerting the owner. A heavy set unicorn came hustling into the main shop from the back.

“Hello there!” the unicorn bellowed, “The name’s Miller Bran! What can I help you with?”

“You have a nice little shop here.” Soarin’ approached the unicorn standing behind a glass counter filled with various baked goods of all sorts of size and make.

“Why thank you!” The unicorn straightened up showing off an enormous grin, his face beaming with pride. “My wife and I having been running this bakery together for the past twenty years or so, a small family business, which I’m hoping to pass down to my daughter one day! So, smell anything you like?”

Looking around at all the assorted baked goods, the pegasus’ stomach vocalized its sudden hunger.

“Everything just looks and smells amazing! I don’t know what I should get.” Soarin’ was nearly drooling, mesmerized by the food tempting him.

Soarin’ continued to peruse the rest of the shop, taking all the sights and smells in. If the food tasted as good as it looked and smelled, he would probably be knocked into a delicious coma.

“Mmmm… That pie looks delicious; I’d like to get some of that!”

“That will be four bits please.” Miller levitated several slices of pie onto a plate on the counter.

Soarin’ handed the baker the money. “So you said that you and your wife have been running this bakery for about twenty years, meaning you two have been married for quite some time?”

Miller happily answered Soarin’s question with a hearty laugh and a summarized story of his life living as a baker with his wife.

“Sir, I know that this may be weird,” Soarin’ started, “especially coming from a stranger, but can I ask you for some advice?”

“What type of advice we talking?” the unicorn chuckled, which in turn made Soarin’ smile and blush.

“I’m going on a date tonight with somepony special… somepony I’ve known forever, and I really don’t want to mess this up.”

“Ah! Young love eh?” The older pony trotted around the counter to where Soarin’ was standing, “Well my wife and I have been married for quite some time, but we’ve been in love for a lot longer. If you truly lover her and she feels the same way, then just follow your heart, and you have nothing to worry about!”

The unicorn laughed and placed a hoof around Soarin’s neck bringing the blue pegasus into a large hug.

“Thanks,” the Wonderbolt said, returning the friendly hug, “that actually helps me a ton.”

Soarin’ then scarfed up his pie and headed out the door, ready for his date tonight.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The show pony had never been more nervous before in his life, not even during his first show with the Wonderbolts. When it came to the concepts of love, he was lost.

Spitfire opened her apartment door beckoning the other to come in, before quickly disappearing into her bathroom.

Despite having been in this apartment countless times, the quaint and lightly decorated space seemed almost foreign tonight.

“Sorry,” Spits yelled from the bathroom. "I didn't expect you to be here so early."

Soarin’ only responded with an “I know” and a friendly laugh as Spitfire cantered into the living room.

Soarin’ just sat there, awestruck.

“You look… absolutely stunning!” the stallion stammered, trying to grasp the words necessary to fit the beauty in front of him.

The mare truly seemed set ablaze, looking as if beautiful embers smoldering under Luna’s starry night.

“You ready to go?”

Soarin’ shot up.

“Yes!” The blue pegasus picked up the colorful bouquet of flowers that he set down beside him. “And I brought you these.”

“Aww… Thank you.” Spitfire grabbed the flowers from Soarin’, their mouths coming so close.

It didn’t take long for the couple to reach the restaurant and luckily for Soarin’, who forgot to make reservations, the wait wasn’t that long.

The two pegasi were led through a dimly lit and sophisticated room. The soft drone of light conversation flooding the restaurant as the two ponies found their seats at a small table.

As soon as the two Wonderbolts found their seats, a unicorn came up to take their orders.

“Allo, monsieur, mademoiselle! What can I get you to drink?”

“Could we get a bottle of wine?” Soarin’ responded, slightly caught off guard by the waiter’s thick accent.

After placing their orders, the waiter cantered up to them, levitating a bottle of wine over to their table.

Soarin’ stared, into the eyes and face of what he thought was heaven itself.

“What are you looking at?” said Sptifire giggling, turning around, trying in vain to find the source pulling at Soarin’s attention.

The golden mare turned back around and looked into the eyes captivated by her.

“You remember the first time we met?” the blue pegasus said smiling and leaning onto the table, still entranced with the beauty in front of him.

“You mean when you crashed into me and sent us both flying over the edge of Flight School?” Spitfire exclaimed, bringing several eyes towards them.

Soarin’ grabbed at his sides and laughed.

“Yeah, that time…”

“I’m surprised you even graduated from Flight School,” Spitfire joked.

Soarin leaned back, laughing. “You can’t blame me! Until my family moved to Cloudsdale that was the first time I’ve ever been in the clouds. Vanhoover didn’t have that many pegasi.”

“Everypony there thought you were an Earth Pony,” Spitfire chortled, “You and that shy pony… ummm… what was her name again? Klutzershy?”

“You mean Fluttershy?” Soarin’ corrected, wiping a tear from his eye.

“That’s what I said.”

The two Wonderbolt captains were laughing up a storm, gathering the attention of most of the restaurant.

“No, you called her Klutzershy, you know that name everypony teased her with.”

“Oh yeah… I feel so bad about that, especially since she didn’t graduate with our class.”

“That was almost me if it wasn’t for you.”

“I whipped you into shape though!” Spitfire glowed with pride. “You had all the mechanics and technical stuff down, you just needed a little experience… well, flying.”

The waiter came up, levitating two plates of food.

“Your food.” The pony lowered the plates down to their respective ponies.

“Thank you very much” The two Wonderbolts said in-sync.

For Soarin’, the rest of the evening went perfectly, the two ponies just sat and talked through the night, even past closing; much to the chagrin of the unicorns working there. It seemed that fate had finally decided to give Soarin’ his special somepony.