A Week In The Life Of Wing Nut

Thursday

An alarm goes off, instantly rousing everypony in the hotel room.

"Uuuhhhh..." Aero groans next to me.

"Uuuuhhh." Vertigo responds from the other bed.

"Ugh." I add to the conversation. "What time is it?"

"Six." Vertigo mumbles tiredly. "We have a full day of flying to do today, also we're preparing for the festival, so buckle up." she continues.

"Why?" I ask tiredly, beginning to sit up.

"Because the festival's tommorrow." Aero grumbles.

All three of us stumble out of the beds simultaneously, and without another word, we travel down to the lobby, where the breakfast is kept. After a few minutes we are awake enough to fully function. Aero and I sit down and eat some prepackaged cereal bowls, while Vertigo tracks down a Manehattan Times newspaper.

"Wing Nut?" Aero begins.

"Yes, Aero?"

"...Nothing. Nevermind."

"Um..." I say. "...Okay."

The TV in the breakfast area is playing a local broadcast recapping the previous Crystal Fair.

"...tomorrow, the horns will play, the jousting will commence, and the games will begin again." the news pony says. "Last year we had a great fair. Not only was it the first fair in over a thousand years, but it was also the first fair under the rule of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. It took a bit to get the fair going, but by the end of the day, probably everypony in the Empire had visited it. Even if only for a while."

Suddenly, Vertigo slaps a newspaper down on the table.

"Wing Nut, Aero!" She says excitedly. "You're in the paper!"

"The Manehattan Times?" Aero asks.

"No, the Crystal Empire one!" She opens the paper and begins to read it to us. "These two Manehattan Pegasi, who are winners of countless medals in the fields of entertainment and flying skill, will be performing tomorrow in the Crystal Stadium for the Crystal Fair. They, among others, will be flying in a series of aerial performances and competitions, in the first ever 'Crystal Festival Airshow'." She turns the paper around. "And then it has a photo of you two flying through some clouds together."

"I don't know about 'COUNTLESS' medals." I say.

"We do have a lot though." Vertigo answers.

"Yeah, we do." Aero adds happily. "Now we're famous HERE too." a huge smile stretches across her face.

"Alright, let's get eating now." Vertigo tells us. "We have to get to practicing."

It's 1300 now. I've been practicing so hard that I lost track of time. Vertigo's clipboard is now covered in a myriad of check marks, to the delight of our team, and onlookers alike. They may not know about our checklist, but they certainly seem to be enjoying the increasing quality.

"Alright." Vertigo says. There's only one maneuver here not checked off."

"Is it the end?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

"Yes. You still have yet to fly that maneuver perfectly." she tells us.

"We've got all day though, so It's okay. Right?" Aero asks.

"Actually, we've got another fifteen minutes, because we have to report to the stadium at 1330. Lets go!" Aero and I scramble into formation, fly up, and dive into the maneuver. We take each other's hooves, open our wings, and we fall bellies-down toward the ground. Right before we hit the ground, we line up our lower hooves, flap up, and kick off of each other, flying in two arches in opposite ways. We both backflip, and land on the ground.

"Should we have done something less ridiculous for the end?" I ask Aero.

"Nah." She replies.

"That was merely ok." Vertigo yells. "DO IT AGAIN!"

Several times later, she finally gives us the last checkmark.

"Well, you're ready for the show tomorrow. Now run straight through everything one more time. For good measure."

"One more time?" I ask, looking up at her as she hovers in front of me.

"Only one more time." Vertigo confirms.

"Ok."

"Wait, nevermind. We have to get to the stadium now!" Vertigo realises. "Come on!" Vertigo flies off in the direction of the stadium, while Aero and I get a running takeoff after her, still wearing of goggles. The three of us race to the stadium. Luckily the top is open, and we are able to fly right in to the middle of the field, where a crowd of pegasi is about to be briefed on the airshow. We land clumsily just in time to hear the speaker begin. He is a white unicorn with a two-tone blue mane and a red hat.

"Hello, flyers. My name is Shining Armor. You may recognize me as the ruler of this fair empire, but for now, I'd like you to see me as a manager. Welcome to the Crystal Empire, to you foreigners out there." He yells. "And more importantly, everypony! Welcome to the first ever Crystal Festival Airshow!" A dozen enthusiastic pegasi cheer and stomp. "So, tomorrow, as I seriously hope you know, is the Crystal Festival. All of you are exceptional flyers, and that is why you were invited here today, so I presume you all have a performance prepared for the show. If you don't have one ready, please fully open your wings so I can see you." every single pegasus with open wings folds them swiftly, and the ones with closed wings don't move at all. "Excellent. So, I expect all performers to be at the stadium, in the green room, tomorrow at seven-thirty in the morning. For those of you that haven't been here before, there is a walkway that leads from the stadium to the Crystal Tower. At the end of the walkway, coming from the tower, you will see a blue door on the right. It leads to the green room, and also to a stairwell that leads to the field. Meet me there, bring what you need for the show, and wait for a manager to tell you or your team to go. The show will be run in sections. Each team will take a turn flying, followed by the soloists, then everypony together will fly three laps around the field, so the audience can see you. The airshow should end at around one o'clock, and after it, you are free to roam the festival or give out autographs or joust, or- Oh that's right!" He looks extremely excited. "Everypony participating in the airshow will recieve a pass to enter the jousting tournament at 2 o'clock, during the fair. You may use the pass to either compete or spectate, so choose wisely. Any questions?"

I turn excitedly to Aero. She knows what I'm thinking.

"No." she tells me.

"Why not?" I ask her.

"Because it's dangerous."

"And flying isn't?"

"We make money off of flying"

"I'll make some off of jousting too."

"NO." she says sternly.

"Fine." I pretend to submit. I'm not going to tell her that I'm competing whether she likes it or not. Shining Armor continues the briefing, going on about what order we will be flying in and other things. I zone out.

1. The not-so-brief brief is over and the three of us are trotting down the road together. We're just wandering, looking for a place to eat, buy a souvenir, a museum, something. And then I find it.

"Look." I say, stopping and motioning to the store window. "A glass shop. Maybe they can replace the lenses in your beat-up old goggles, Aero." She looks at me tiredly, then at the shop window, as I look at the beaten up old goggles on her head.

"Ok. I'll get them repaired." She says.

"I'm going to go back to the hotel and sleep." Vertigo says.

"Ok."

"Bye, Vert."

Aero and I enter the shop and approach the counter. There is a maroon crystal unicorn standing there.

"Hello, welcome to 'Red Ruby Glassworks'." He says to us. "If there's anything I can do to help you two, just let me know."

"Actually, there is." I tell him. "Is it possible to replace the lenses in these flight goggles?" Aero places her goggles on the counter and the shopkeeper takes a look at them.

"Hmmm." After a few moments he looks up at us. "Yes, This is a very simple fix. I could have this done in about two minutes."

"Cool. How much would it cost?" I ask happily.

"About ten bits. Or..." he responds excitedly. "I could replace the glass lenses with crystal ones. That would cost about fifty bits, but they wouldn't scratch, they would be clearer, and they're better protection. That would take about the same amount of time." I look over at Aero, who begins to speak.

"That would be great, actually."

"Could you replace mine too?" I ask.

"Sure." He says merrily. I drop my goggles on the counter along with Aero's, and he takes them through a door behind the counter. Taking a look around the shop, I see that all of the shelves are stocked full of colorful, beautiful, crystal and glass statues. I see sculptures of ponies, dogs, pegasi, unicorns, alicorns, hydras, and even some of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.

I summon Aero over to me. "Aero, take a look at these." She comes over and looks at the figurines.

"These are cool." she says, looking all over the shelf at them.

"Yeah, they are!"

"So, Wing Nut." she asks me, with a sudden burst of nervous happiness.

"Yeah?" I respond.

"Are you nervous?"

"About the show?" I ask. "Should I not be?"

"Not about the show."

"About what then?"

She pauses for a moment, almost stifling a smile. The light reflecting off of the glass and crystals is shining in patches everywhere, projecting a pretty pallet of blues, greens, and reds all over her white coat.

"About everything."

"Everything?" I ask. "Meaning life as a whole?"

"Yes."

"Not really. I'm having a lot of fun with life, and with you."

She laughs nervously and looks back at the figurines. "Well. That's good. That's, uh..."

I have an idea of what she might be trying to ask me, but I can't be sure just yet.

"Is there something you want to ask me?" I ask innocently as I look at her.

"I..." she stutters. "I love you."

"Is that all?" I laugh. "We've been in love for years!"

"No, it's not all." she says, grinning ridiculously hard and looking up at the ceiling. I'm almost sure I know what's happening. Outside, a pink alicorn approaches the shop's window and looks in at us, but I don't give it any more thought than that. I have something bigger on my mind.

"Do you want to marry me?" I ask, looking into her eyes.

I can instantly tell that I guessed right. She looks at me excitedly and approaches without a word. She presses (more like jams) her snout against mine, closes her eyes, and begins to laugh.

"Yes!" She says. "You know me so well..." More laughing. "You can even tell when I'm going to ask something as crazy as that!" More laughing.

"I guess I do. So that means I was right?" I ask happily.

"Yes! I was about to ask that." Her laughs die down slowly. "So, what do you say? Would you like to marry the mare you've been friends with since elementary school?"

I stop and pretend to think hard. "Well, on one hoof..." I say, barely managing to keep my smile hidden. "I would be agreeing to commit entirely to you, but you're also the only mare I love, so that wouldn't really matter." Her smile is slowly fading. My joke is working. "I also would be living with you, meaning I would have to actually do my part for a change." She looks nervous. "We'd have to tell everypony, which is difficult and awkward..." She thinks I'm going to say no. "So... yes." She lights back up again. "We shall be wedded in the near future!" I announce to the tiny world around us.

"Congratulations!" a voice says from behind me. I turn around to see the shopkeeper leaning on the counter.

"Oh!" I exclaim. "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough." I told you the upgrades would only take a few minutes. The crystals were already cut."

"Yeah, I guess you did." Aero says.

"So, will you be paying in bits?" He asks.

"Yes." I say. I drop 100 bits on the counter and pull the two pairs of goggles in to my saddlebag. "Here you go."

"Thank you. Is there anything else I can help you with?" he politely adresses me.

"No, I think that's it." Aero responds. "Thank you." We head towards the door slowly.

"Good luck, you two." he calls to us as we leave.

"Thank you!"

The door closes behind us. Aero, who is standing next to me, leans her head over and presses it against my neck.

"You can't even wait 'till we get back to the hotel to try to seduce me?" I laugh.

"Nope." she responds.

1. Aero and I are lying in the bed watching some TV program on Appleloosa's history. I'm eating my turkey sub. Vertigo is lying on the other bed, her eyes have been switching between us and the TV every five seconds. She finally says something.

"With how close you two have been acting recently, I'd think you were getting married." she makes fun of us. "When's the wedding? I'll wear my pink dress." she laughs.

"We haven't decided yet. Also, if you wear that horrible dress I'll kill you." I say back to her, turning the joke around. She stops laughing instantly.

"Wait, you two are actually getting married?"

"Yup." Aero tells Vertigo.

"Since when?!"

"Fifteen-hundred hours."

"Congratulations, then..."

"Thank you." I say as I turn back to the TV, leaving Vertigo open-mouthed and speechless. Aero's eyes never left the screen.

"Maybe we should go to sleep. The fair is tomorrow." I break the momentary silence.

"He's right." Vertigo says. "We probably should."

"Well then, to sleep we go!" Aero says, flicking off the TV uncaringly with the remote in her hooves. She leans back and jams her snout up against my neck as Vertigo shuts off the lights. A period of silence ensues. I feel Aerodrome wrap one of her front legs around me and pull herself in close.

"I'm going to wear that dress." Vertigo says quietly from the other bed.

"Shut up, Vertigo." I respond. I feel and hear Aerodrome laughing slowly, and I think about what happened today. I lean my head in close to Aero and whisper in her ear.

"Saying yes to you was the best decision I ever made."

She smiles and rubs her nose gently on the bottom of my jaw.