Soarenity

As my brain continued ticking over, my heavy eyelids began to lift. Opening my eyes I murmured sleepily to myself, rolling to the side as I was quickly dropped out of my makeshift bed. I groaned from the sudden impact with the floor, opening my eyes as I was greeted with Soarin’s home once again.

Yeah, still insane I thought to myself as I began to hear snickering coming from behind me. I turned around to see the familiar blue stallion currently sitting at the kitchen table quietly eating his bowl of cereal in an attempt to stifle his laughter. I rolled my eyes as I just laid there in a heap; maybe if I wanted to sink through the floor hard enough it would happen.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Soarin spoke as he got up and trotted over to my limp form, looking down at me with a smirk, “Have a good sleep?” he asked.

“What do you think?” I asked incredulously, looking up at him with another deadpan look. His smirk only got wider the longer I stared at him, “Fine! I’ll get up,” I huffed, throwing the warm covers off me as I wobbled back to my feet.

“You want some breakfast? I got toast or cereal,” Soarin questioned as he trotted back over to the kitchen to make me something. I shrugged, not seeming to really care what I stuffed down my stomach at this point. Soarin smiled and put some bread in the toaster before heading back over to his seat. I trudged towards him, opting to sit in the chair opposite the stallion.

“You’re really not a morning person, are you?” Soarin asked with all seriousness as he raised his eyebrow. I shook my head as I tried to keep my eyes from shutting closed once again. Soarin suppressed another oncoming giggle, most likely from the way my hair was and how my current facial expression must have been.

“So, are you excited to start your first job in Equestria?” Soarin enquired.

I nodded. “I guess,” I said simply, looking over at the toaster that still wasn’t ready, “I hope it won't be that hard.”

Soarin smiled. “Well I’ll be able to introduce you to most of the team today, Fleetfoot should be around on training and Spitfire’s always in that damned office of hers during Academy season.”

I nodded again, nodding seeming to be the only conscious reply I could make in my current state of mind. Luckily, the toaster finished its latest batch as Soarin got up to collect it, “You take butter and jam?” he asked, looking back to me as he made his way over.

“Yeah, I though not too much jam,” I responded, my body starting to perk up from the aromas of freshly made food. Soarin came back over a few moments later as he set the plate of toast down in front of me, cut into more sizable chunks.
“Thanks,” I said with a smile as he proceeded to sit back down himself.

“No problem, Bex.” He grinned, I smirked back at him, making a mental note to think up a nickname for him as quickly as possible. As I dug into my meal, my mind began to stock itself up with more questions.

As I took my first bite into the toast I began my onslaught of inquiries, “So, I'm assuming you wanted to become a Wonderbolt since you were little?” I asked, giving Soarin a questioning look.

Soarin sighed nostalgically and nodded happily, “Yeah, ever since I was a little colt jumping up and down at my first Wonderbolt show, I didn’t think I’d actually get to be part of the team, but that’s where my dedication to chase my dreams kicked in.”

“Was the training difficult?” I asked, thinking about all the famous athletes back home, who all had their own hard struggles to fame and fortune. Again, the stallion nodded.

“Well, the training was hard, but the auditions were the hardest. Sometimes there were twenty contestants or more at the tryouts, you had to get everything perfect to even be considered. I had won the young flier's competition the year previous, so I think that helped a lot, but it was by no means easy,” Soarin said with a sigh as a grin spread across his face, “But that just makes the reward of getting that uniform even better, you feel like you are the best around because you fought so hard against everyone else to get there.”

I smiled at that. Soarin had so far seemed like the laidback type, but I could tell that under that there was a stallion with a heart and mind to do great things, it was invigorating to say the least.

“So what about you, then? Had any aspirations of your own?” Soarin asked, leaning back on his chair.

I chuckled, now it was my turn to spill the beans on my life's story, “Well, I guess when I was little I always wanted to be a dancer. I loved doing things related to music, but when I hit high school all that changed. I had a few good moments, but when I graduated I felt different, dancing was still something I was interested in, but I didn’t know if it was something I could commit to… so I took up a job at the local theatre. I felt it gave me the environment I wanted to be in, but... I haven’t danced in a long time.”

Soarin nodded his head as I sighed internally, working things out had never been my strongest suit. “Well, sometimes when you don’t know what you want, you just need to stop thinking about it,” Soarin countered.

“What do you mean stop thinking about it?” I asked, slightly confused by what he meant.

Soarin grinned, “Well, sometimes to know what you want, you have to just forget about the consequences and take a leap of faith. You never have to commit to anything for the rest of your life that you don’t want to do, so sometimes taking that chance and forgetting about all your fears can make you finally see what you’re born to do. That’s how I got my cutie mark.”

“Cutie what, now?” I asked quirking my eyebrow at the stallion.

He proceeded to stand up again and turned to show me his flank, proudly displaying a lightning bolt striking between two purple clouds. I marveled at the sight, never seeing anything like that before.

An amused expression washed over my face as I spoke, “So you’re telling me if I try really really hard and take a leap of faith I get a special mark on my butt?”

Soarin laughed as he face-hoofed in embarrassment. I couldn’t help but laugh along as I reasoned with him, “I do get what you’re saying though. Perhaps when I get back home I’ll give it a shot.”

“That’s the spirit!” The stallion grinned as he came down from another giggle fit. “Also, before I forget,” Soarin mused, heading over to the refrigerator once more as he grabbed what looked like a test tube filled with a green-looking liquid. He turned to me before handing it over, “One of Celestia’s guards dropped a few of these off this morning, drink one a day and you’ll be able to walk on clouds, it’s like a potion.”

I nodded before looking at the vile drink as I scrunched up my nose with disgust. Soarin chuckled at the sight, sitting up to take his cutlery and mine before transferring them to the kitchen sink. He picked up his jumpsuit on the way back and put it on, smiling over at me. “So are you gonna be ready to go in a few minutes?” he asked, taking a look at my disheveled state before smirking, “okay, make that a few more.”

Judging by the rising sun in the sky, I could only think we’d gotten to work just on time as Soarin and I wandered towards the front entrance of the Wonderbolt headquarters. As he opened the door for me, I walked in to see a few ponies trotting around, making the place feel a lot more alive than it did before. I once again followed Soarin through the corridor as he began pointing out everyone we went past.

“That’s Misty Fly, High Winds, and oh! That’s Fleetfoot, hey Fleet!” Soarin shouted over to a pale turquoise mare who looked over to us as Soarin waved a hoof for her to join. She eyed me curiously as she approached, gesturing to me with a hoof.

“This the newbie?” she asked. Soarin nodded to her as she turned to introduce herself, “The name’s Fleetfoot, but most ponies around here call me Fleet,” she began, holding her hoof out as I shook it happily, “I see you’ve already met Cheese Ball.”

Oh I got you now, Soarin I thought evilly as I smirked, turning to look at the stallion whose right eye seemed to twitch slightly at the name.

“Cheese Ball?” I asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible, “Why would you call him that?

Fleetfoot giggled, as if seeming to recall a funny memory whilst Soarin paled in comparison. “Oh, no reason… though let's just say Spitfire and I had a field day with that prank!”

“Could we move on?” Soarin asked with an audible groan enough to make us laugh.

“Alright, don’t get your jumpsuit in a twist, Soar,” Fleetfoot responded with a bat of her hoof as she turned to me, “Anyways, nice to see you, uh…?”

“Rebecca,” I confirmed as she nodded.

“Well it was nice to meet you, Rebecca. I’ll see you guys at the chow hall later on, gotta go do some laps to keep the wings in check,” she said gesturing to them as she trotted away whilst playfully winking at the stallion. I couldn’t help but giggle again as I saw Soarin's now slightly irritated look at the mare, he rolled his eyes as we began walking towards Spitfire’s office.

Conveniently, the captain’s office wasn’t that much of a walk between mine, or Soarin’s for that matter, it didn’t take long before we were outside and Soarin took a few steps forward before knocking on the door. Moments later, a voice came through the closed entrance.

“Come in.”

With the cue given, Soarin proceeded to swing open one of the doors as he trotted in with me close on his hooves. I was immediately shocked by the large pile of neatly organised paperwork that was stacked up on a desk, with what seemed to be like a very busy mare looking over a few pieces of documentation. Her fiery mane and golden fur, which was hidden behind a blue Wonderbolt vest radiated an aura of authority. Briefly her eyes looked up at us, quickly going back down to the papers again as she spoke.

“She the newbie?” Spitfire asked plainly.

Soarin nodded as we came a little closer to her desk, “Yeah, this is Rebecca,” he said gesturing to me, before doing the same with the mare in front of us, “Rebecca this is Spitfire, she’s-”

“Your boss,” Spitfire finished with a smirk as she set down the papers, holding her hoof out as I quickly shook it not wanting to keep her waiting. “So Celestia wants us to take you on as the new stage props manager, well, let’s see if you’ve got what it takes,” she said, handing over the papers she was just reading. I took them in my grasp, reading over the inventory and what looked to be like the layouts of a stadium.

“Our next show is in Vanhoover, you’ve got three weeks to try and organise how much stuff we’re gonna need and where to set it up,” Spitfire began, “now it’s not as easy as it sounds, we need them placed just right to make sure the stunts go smoothly, so the team is trusting you to do a good job, okay?”

“Yes ma’am!” I said quickly, making Spitfire smile in appreciation.

“Good, now as for you, Soarin,” she said turning to the stallion with a deadly grin, seeming to make him wish he hadn’t shown up at all, “I’ve planned a few little training exercises for you and Misty Fly to do today, so hop to it.”

Soarin sighed, seemingly a lot less intimidated, but that was probably a given because of how long they both seemed to know one another. At least that was the best guess I could give with what little I knew about the pair's relationship. I logged that away to ask for later, but for now I quickly sat up and made my way out with Soarin, intent on beginning my work as soon as possible.

“So I’ll see you at lunch, then,” Soarin said as we reached my office, I looked to him and nodded approvingly. He turned to me and smiled, putting a hoof on my shoulder, “Don’t get too stressed, Spitfire likes to intimidate the newbies so that you work hard, but if you have any problems don’t hesitate to talk to her or me about it, okay?”

I smirked back. “Thanks, Cheese ball.”

Soarin's smile deflated into a straight face, making me giggle and roll my eyes, “Okay, okay I get it.”

The stallion rolled his eyes as he turned and flicked his tail in my direction as he trotted away, flashing me a grin before turning away down the corridor. I looked back at my paperwork and set a determined look upon my office before walking in and beginning my day, hoping that I'd be able to prove myself in this alien world.

A few hours rolled by and dawn soon turned into midday. I could tell from the heat that quickly accumulated in the room that it was definitely summer time in Cloudsdale. I scanned over the documents Spitfire had given me as I made a few final notes of my own. Suddenly a knock at the door caught my attention. I reared my head up to see Soarin leaning by the doorframe, his posture seemed slightly more exhausted than usual.

“Everything alright, Soarin?” I asked.

“Yeah, but Spitfire really had it in for us today,” the stallion said as he massaged one of his wing joints.

I smirked. “And here I thought you were supposed to be Mr. Big Shot.”

Soarin stared blankly at me for a moment before suddenly changing his posture by puffing out his chest and taking a more relaxed tone, as if I hadn’t noticed. “I totally am!” he beamed as I giggled at him, seeming to still find him cute under all the handsome exterior.

“So,” Soarin began, smiling, “you still wanna go for lunch?” he asked.

“Sure!” I responded, leaving my papers on the desk as I got up and walked over to him, straightening out my clothes. I was going to have to wash them soon. Luckily my jeans were durable and the cardigan was seemingly smart enough to turn up at work with.

“So what are you hungry for?” Soarin began as we trotted down the stairs and back into the foyer of the building. Just as I was about to reply, a very familiar mare spotted us not too far away.

“Hey guys! You heading out for lunch?” Fleetfoot asked as she trotted over.

Soarin nodded, “Yeah,” he stated simply before looking to the mare who now had a smirk on her lips. The stallion sighed as I tried to comprehend what Fleetfoot was doing.

Finally Soarin spoke, “Let me guess, you want something from Donut Joe’s?”

“Exactly!” the mare said as she gave a small yet very adorable pout, “please?”

Soarin nodded as Fleetfoot jumped over and gave the stallion a brief hug, “Thanks Soar, I’m gonna go wash up, just give it to me when you come back to the training grounds. Have fun, you two.”

“Sure will, Fleetfoot,” Soarin replied as the mare gave us both a wave before trotting away. We turned and began heading for the exit. Fleetfoot seemed like a very proactive mare, I was beginning to like her a lot already.

We headed outside of the building and towards the central city streets. Soarin seemed to know where he was going so I didn’t question it. Instead, I took more of my time to look in wonder at how a world like this was even possible. It amazed me how cloud mass could be turned into such vast structures like skyscrapers and government buildings, though most of the population flew around, Soarin kept on his hooves next to me as we treked along the near empty streets that hadn’t seemed to see much use at all.

“So,” Soarin began, “You decided what you’re hungry for yet?”

“Oh yeah,” I countered, my mind thinking of the many possible foods and delectables that I loved to consume, though this world was different, so I doubted things such as meat were really on the menu. As I continued to ponder, my eyes wandered over a nearby ice cream shop, small ponies of all age groups were overcrowding the stand that was handing out the delectable treats… my mouth began to water.

Soarin too, saw the general direction of where my gaze had wandered off to and proceeded to let out a small chuckle, “Guess you’re in the mood for something sweet, I suppose we can get something at Donut Joe’s too.”

The thought of donuts seemed to settle nicely with my stomach. I smiled and nodded in agreement, “Sounds good to me!”

After making our way across the city, we descended downwards towards Canterlot once again. I could see by the route Soarin took that this was a regular lunch outing for him, perhaps Fleetfoot asked for these things more than I’d previously thought. The second time flying with him wasn’t as crazy as the first, maybe my body was starting to get used to this new method of transportation.

“As your flight captain, I thank you for choosing Soarin Airways,” the stallion announced as we landed just outside the small cafe shop in question. I made sure to be careful as I got back on my feet, looking to Soarin as he showed me into the establishment. It was quite a simple layout, but I wasn’t expecting much.

A stallion turned towards us at the sound of the door opening, his smile widening when he noticed Soarin behind me, “Well if it isn’t Fleetfoot’s favourite delivery guy!”

“Hey Joe,” Soarin said with a smirk as he waved to the unicorn. He then motioned a hoof to me, “I’d like to introduce you to Rebecca, she’s our new stage props manager.”

The stallion beamed as he looked towards me, seemingly comfortable with me being a whole new species to him, “Always nice to meet new folk in my shop, the name’s Joe if you haven’t seen the sign outside,” he said with a light chuckle. “I guess Fleetfoot will want her usual brown icing with sprinkles, right?”

“You got it!” Soarin replied as we cantered over to a few of the bar-like stools next to the counter. As the stallion disappeared into the kitchen, I decided that now might be a good time to get to know some more things.

“I never asked,” I began, turning to Soarin with a smile, “how come you’re so comfortable around Spitfire?”

The question seemed to amuse the stallion as he chuckled slightly before replying, “Well that’s kinda what happens when you’ve known a mare nearly all your life. Spitfire and I went to the same school, shared the same classes, we also hung out a lot due to our paths crossing with junior Wonderbolt training camps and things. We got to know each other pretty quickly, and before I knew it, we became best friends, even though she’s my captain, and Fleetfoot’s for that matter… we get away with a lot more than we really should,” he laughed lightly, but seeming to throw out an air of hesitancy. I raised my eyebrow, seemed as though he wasn't giving me the whole truth about their friendship, but I could respect that given the time we'd known one another. I once again logged it away in my mind for another time.

I decided to change the subject, “So how did Fleetfoot come around?”

Soarin pondered back, as if trying to find the right point in time. “She came in around the same time that me and Spitfire joined up, I don’t think I really got to start knowing her until she and Spitfire became friends,” he shook his head playfully, “those two are hell together, you give em an Idea for anything catastrophic and you can bet your flank it’ll happen to some unfortunate pony.”

I smirked evilly, “Is that why they call you Cheeseball?”

Soarin rolled his eyes and nodded, suddenly no longer in the mood to continue. Just on cue, Joe appeared from the kitchen, a bag held in his teeth as he set it down on the counter, “There we are, I added in a few extras for you two, on the house since this is her first time,” he smiled.

“Thanks, Joe,” Soarin smiled genuinely, replacing the bag for a few bits. The stallion happily took the currency as Soarin and I made our way back towards Cloudsdale, we waved goodbye to Joe as we left the store. I couldn’t help but wonder how many more ponies Soarin knew in and around Canterlot, back at home you took a lot more caution in getting to know randomers. I smirked, thinking about what this world had on “don’t talk to strangers”.

It didn’t take long for us to arrive back at the Wonderbolt headquarters, Fleetfoot looked as though she’d been waiting since the moment we left as Soarin and I entered through the main doors, the giddy mare eyeing the package in Soarin’s mouth.

“You guys don’t know how long I’ve waited for this!” Fleetfoot complained as she made a grab for the bag, taking it out of Soarin’s grasp.

“That’s what you say every time!” Soarin exclaimed with mild amusement as he turned to me, “Well you can have my donut, I’m gonna go do a few more laps of the track before Spitfire wonders where I’ve gotten to, I’ll see you both later,” he finished with a wave before heading off.

Fleetfoot began opening the bag, eyeing Soarin as he trotted away and out of earshot before speaking again. “He’s so into you,” she suddenly spoke.

My mind fuzzed out as I stared towards the mare; she handed me a donut before continuing, “I know Soarin, and if there’s one thing that he hides the worst, it’s liking someone.”

I tried to think of any response worthy of what had just been said to me.l “Um… okay?”

“I mean don’t get me wrong,” Fleetfoot stated, taking out her own donut as she began biting into the soft treat, chewing before she continued, “Soarin is a softie sometimes, but you can easily tell when he’s got the hots for a mare.” She eyed me with a smirk.

My mind was constantly trying to figure out where all this had been coming from. Over the last twenty-four hours of knowing the stallion I could hardly recall any kind of romantic gestures he’d made towards me, nor had he really made any advances on me so far. Then it suddenly hit me.

Was I being pranked?

Words from Soarin rung through, and I could immediately put the pieces together on how this had come around. Fleetfoot continued grinning at me as I quickly felt like I had to make some sort of response. I decided to play along with the little game at hand.

“Oh really?” I asked, trying to sound as hopeful as I could.

Fleetfoot’s grin only got wider as she tried to hide her giggles, I could only grin in my victory behind the mask of my pretend fangirl act. “Well,” she began, “he might ask you out sooner than you think.”

I nodded, smiling. “Sounds good to me!”

With that, Fleetfoot grinned and began heading in the direction Soarin had gone moments ago, softly humming to herself as she went, “Rebecca and Soarin sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G”

I couldn’t help but let a blush run to my cheeks as I overheard, letting her go out of eyesight before making my own way back to the office to finish off my day’s work. My head couldn’t stop thinking about what I had just been told, while I knew damn well it was a joke, never before had my mind really considered any of the ponies I’d met in a romantic way. I began to think of Soarin and my first impressions on meeting him. While I thought he was handsome, I couldn’t really find any other distinguishing features I found myself attracted to, at least not for now, anyway. As I got back to my work, I felt like for the remainder of the day no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get the thoughts out of my head.

My first day on the job had thankfully gone by in a flash; while there was a lot of work to be done, it felt a lot less stressful than the much more mediocre job I had back home. I made it a plan if I didn’t take up Soarin’s idea to try dancing again, I would definitely apply for a desk job in the future. As I sat back on the stallion’s couch, eating a bowl of freshly made pasta, my mind kept trying to turn back to what Fleetfoot had said, I felt as though I couldn’t stop but trying to investigate further, even though I was fairly sure no romance was going on between him and I.

My eyes wandered across the living area to the kitchen where he was, currently washing up his own bowl. We’d eaten in relative silence once more, but we hadn’t had a lot of conversation from my sudden lack of brain power. I kept trying to see any sign or gesture that Fleetfoot might have picked up on.

“Hey, eyes are up here you know,” Soarin announced with a smirk, my brain quickly flipping itself back to reality as I averted my face for a moment, wishing I would just stop this daydreaming. Soarin seemed to register my action, coming over as he sat down on the chair opposite me.

“Seems like you have something on your mind,” Soarin began, “wanna talk?”

I suddenly froze, Soarin was probably the last pony on my list to talk to about my current situation. I sighed internally as I forced a smile, “I guess I’m just feeling a little homesick, is all.”

Soarin nodded, thankfully not pressing anything further, “Well, you’ll be out of here soon anyway, I’m sure Celestia will have some brain-nuts on it right now,” he replied, his tone hopeful as he gave me a reassuring look. My smile widened as I felt a small weight lifted off my shoulders. While it wasn’t what I wanted to know right now, it was something I wanted to at least hear from another pony other than the goddess herself.

“Thanks, Soarin.”

“You can call me Soar, you know,” the stallion began, “everyone else does, I don’t mind it.”

I mulled over the proposal, thinking it was a good enough exchange for the nickname he gave me already. I nodded approvingly as he smiled, taking my plate and leftovers before going back to the kitchen. I smirked a little as the thought crossed my mind of Soarin wearing a maid’s outfit, he sure would suit one with the way he acts around me in his own home. I laughed internally at my own joke, laying back onto the couch as my body already began preparing itself for another bout of sleep. As my eyes set back on the window once more, a thought began crossing my mind.

What if I did want to stay here?