Yet another day dawned, by now I’d given up pretty much all hope of this being a simple dream and accepted how crazy my life had become. It had been a week since I was first introduced into this world, since then life had seemed to settle down albeit just a little. Sleeping on Soarin’s couch had become second nature, even though he had offered me a guest room on multiple occasions by this point. I’d usually knock out the moment I came in after a day of work anyway, but it was still nice of him to offer. Talking of work, It had been pretty much what I had been occupying myself with since I’d began living here, the work was stressful but steady. Despite this, I still let Soarin show me a few new members of the team, one of whom was actually my own secretary.

Well, strictly speaking she was the secretary for all the backstage staff like myself, but a secretary nonetheless.

Summer Shines or ‘Sunny’ as we called her was the first of the many other species I’d met since coming to Equestria. Soarin had explained to me how bat ponies had moved into Equestria following a certain battle with Celestia’s sister who I still hadn’t had the chance to meet, not that I particularly wanted to after hearing about her world domination plans, but Soarin had reassured me she was a changed pony. Still, despite what I had learned, Sunny was just as nice as the other ponies I’d met, after getting over constantly staring at those fangs she had proudly displayed, I had began to steadily learn more about her. The questions of sleeping in coffins seemed to hit off a few good conversations at least.

“You doing alright there, Miss Rebecca?” Sunny asked as I looked up from the desk, my workspace thankfully not as piled up as Spitfire’s… yet.

“All is good,” I replied happily, putting my pen down for a moment to stretch out my hand; today had so far turned out to be a rather long one.

Sunny smiled at my response, “Good to hear! Anything you need?”

I shook my head, “No thank you Sunny, the last five hundred cups of tea you brought me were just fine.”

A light tinge of pink hit the mare’s orange cheeks as she looked away a little before replying, “Alright, well in that case I just have one thing, Soarin wants you to meet him outside the gates in ten minutes.”

I raised my eyebrow, “What for, exactly?”

The mare shrugged and smirked for a moment, “Beats me! But between the two of us, Miss Rebecca, I think he has something planned for you.”

I nodded as I stood, flashing a grin back towards her, “You and I think very much alike, Sunny.”

With that, the bat pony simply nodded before softly leaving the room and back down the hallway. I looked out towards the nearby window. The sun was beginning to set, but there would still be light for another hour at least. My mind began to whirl as I locked the door to my office before proceeding in the direction of the main entrance.

Throughout the week that I had now been on this planet, Soarin had always met me back at my office, so why wasn’t he here this time? Regardless of this issue however, I’d managed to navigate myself out of the building with ease now that I had gotten to know my way around. It didn’t take long before I reached the exit and pushed open the door; I scanned the front entrance, seeing the stallion in question over by the gates giving me a friendly wave.

“Sunny says you have something planned for me?” I asked with a smirk as I approached.

Soarin beamed, “She knows me too well, but you’ll have to follow me to find out!” he teased before opening the gates, “Ladies first.”

“If you didn’t have that smug grin on your face, I might have called you a gentleman,” I smirked back, walking past the gate threshold as I looked out towards the city. Soarin quickly closed the gates behind us before nodding to a guard on our way out.

“So you still drinking that cloud potion stuff in the fridge?” Soarin asked.

I giggled, “I think you would know if I haven’t,” I replied, gesturing to the cloud below us.

“Heh, guess you’re right,” Soarin responded with a light blush on his cheeks, “it’s just so natural for me, I completely forget I’m even walking on clouds sometimes.”

I did have to hand that one to the stallion. Even though it had only been a week, I felt the same way, it was like wearing braces for the first time... well maybe after the pain of eating any sort of food goes away.

Instead, that pain had been replaced with the fear of falling to death, but with Soarin trotting alongside me I could keep the anxiety to a minimum. I took a look around the area we were walking along to clear my head from the thoughts of potential doom, the centre of Cloudsdale or at least what I could only imagine was the city centre had slowly begun creeping into view over the horizon.

I’d seen a lot of Cloudsdale on our various walks over the last week even just to and from work, but I was still so fascinated by the roaming cloud parks and not to mention the bustling sound of ponies flying around. I felt like I was almost living inside a beehive with the way in which everyone was so co-ordinated in their flight patterns, almost as if there was no hesitation from them as some soared past at ridiculous speeds while many opted to simply hover around chatting. It was hard to explain without just seeing it, but it was definitely something that these pegasi had made a natural part of their daily lives.

In all my fascination, I’d hardly realized Soarin’s snickering as he stood there next to me. We’d come to a stop outside a large park area, with many sculpted statues and what I could only describe as cloud hedges.

“Don’t let my good looks zone you out, Bex,” Soarin calmly stated with a mischievous smirk on his muzzle. I suddenly snapped out of my reverie, quickly looking at his ever widening grin.

“Oh shove off, Soarin!” I chided, giving the stallion a playful push to prove my point; he stumbled and laughed off the gesture before beckoning me to follow him through the nearest path to us.

It was a short walk, but we took our time trekking our way along the cloud walkway. I kept an eye on Soarin all the while. He seemed a little more giddy than normal which was probably the answer to why he was acting so much quieter. In my head that only translated into the boiling anticipation and the slight fear of the unknown ahead.

The four main paths towards the centre all twisted and turned across the slightly inclined landscape, but all still ended up at the same end along the base of a large statue where an armoured pegasus proudly stood in the centre. It seemed as if it was designed in such a way that it almost seemed to be keeping watch on the ponies both above and below the sky.

“That’s Commander Hurricane,” Soarin began to explain as he gazed back at me, seeming to already know the obvious forthcoming questions. “She used to lead Pegasi back in the day before Equestria was formed, it was a long time ago though, mind you. But back then, legends told that she and her armies were some of the most powerful in the world. It’s a sign of strength that most pegasi, including the Wonderbolts, still carry around to this day.”

“Seems like there’s a lot I still don’t know about you guys,” Rebecca mused.

I'd never thought such a colourful and endlessly harmonic world such as Equestria would have a past that included the likes of armies and possibility of war. But then again, it was never like my own home had avoided the idea of ending hostility between nations, it was just incredibly difficult to make ruthless dictators and appointed ambassadors see eye to eye. In the midst of my thoughts I took another look from Soarin up to the statue now towering above us since we had moved closer, but out of the blue sky a flash of fire suddenly caught my eye. It almost seemed to be effortlessly falling from up there with a lot of power behind it. I thought about taking a step back, but with the grace of a hummingbird the blur in question landed right in front of us without a scratch.

“Surprise!” Soarin beamed as I looked between him and the mare; suddenly both her smirk and mane clicked into place within the deeper regions of my slightly panicking brain.

“S-Spitfire?! I-I mean, Boss?” I spluttered, trying to get the correct wording out of my mouth. She looked different without her uniform on, her light golden mane seeming to brighten up in the glowing remnants of the sun as it began finally setting below the horizon. She’d also done something to her mane, while I still recognized its fire-like design, the mare had chosen to style it with softer curls as opposed to the windswept spikes Rebecca had seen her adorn when in uniform.

“We’re out of work newbie, just call me Spitfire.”

Spitfire grinned, still keeping close to Soarin’s side as the stallion gave her a playful wing brush. Her voice was distinctly more casual, which thankfully cut any tension that was building up.

“She’s soft at heart,” Soarin grinned as he retracted his wing, Spitfire rolled her eyes in response but smiled at Rebecca all the same as the two trotted past her, Soarin continuing the conversation, “I thought the three of us could eat out tonight, usually it’s just me and Spitfire that go out after work at the end of the week, but since you’re now staying at my place, I thought why not bring you along?”

I mulled the idea over in my head and a smile came to my lips, I appreciated Soarin not wanting to leave me out of this, but I still didn’t quite know where the other two ponies stood. Spitfire and Soarin, while clearly good friends with one another, seemed a little something more affectionate, something that I was personally having a hard time putting a finger on with the lack of information I currently had.

“So, same place as always?” Soarin asked over my current thought process, looking over to his Captain.

“I don’t think we’ve ever gone anywhere else, why stop now?” Spitfire replied, beginning to trot slightly ahead of Soarin as we both began to follow her, one soul a lot more curious than the other as she continued. “Besides, it’s probably time that Rebecca sees the nightlife around here.”

As the three of us began to walk out of the city centre, the sun had finally been taken over by the moon. In the short time that this quick exchange between night and day had taken place, the street was quickly lit up with the warm and inviting scenery of lit restaurants and cafes that lined the main city streets of Cloudsdale. I had made sure to keep track of Soarin and Spitfire as they weaved about through the crowded streets that were now littered with ponies banding together around small tables outside the bars and restaurants, the buzz of chatter was in the air as the faint sound of laughter came from across the street. I was still trying to battle with oncoming thoughts in my head around the captain, Spitfire just never seemed like the pony you would see outside of work; almost like she lived for her job. I could understand with Soarin though that Spitfire would spare a little free time since the two were friends. At least on the bright side I could start adding Spitfire to the new list of ‘Ponies I know by more than just their brightly coloured flanks’.

Spitfire turned back, waving me into a nearby establishment as Soarin made his way through the crowded steps. I spared a passing glance at the few ponies who had begun looking over at me, a sense of both confusion and curiosity in the air as I passed by with the most sheepish smile gracing my lips. With it being only a week I’d still yet to master the art of just ignoring the stares or wide eyed looks that I would usually get around busy areas.

Once I’d reached the entrance, Spitfire kindly lead me through the front door and into the lobby of what I could only describe as a traditional restaurant, fancy chandeliers hung from the cloud ceilings that had been expertly sculpted, with small fountains in the far corners and live music towards the front of the dining hall. I stood next to Spitfire as Soarin had already began enquiring about table space with a waiter. I felt an awkward pause come on as I struggled to think of things to say, I had no knowledge of what Spitfire talked about in a casual setting.

Having no idea and little room to be confident around my growing anxiety, I began to get nervous.

Come on, Rebecca! Think! This is your chance to get on the good books with your new boss!

“So, uh… Hey Spitfire, what made you want to join the Wonderbolts?”

Like she hasn't been asked that a million times!”

Spitfire looked over to me with a raised brow, which quickly dissolved into a small smirk as she gestured to the pale blue stallion ahead of us, “Me and Soar always dreamed of getting into the Wonderbolts since we were foals, it’s how we started getting to know each other in class. Long story short, I think it's worked out for the both of us.”

I chuckled a little at that, at least this mare had a sense of humour. With the conversation started and the knowledge from last week still logged firmly away, I slowly began probing for some answers without going too far. “So, I’m guessing that means you and Soarin must have met pretty early on?”

Spitfire nodded knowingly, “You betcha, met him all the way back before we even learned to fly. Haven’t been able to shake him off my tail since!”

Spitfire then nudged my leg with a hoof, causing us both to let off a little more laughter.

“What’s this about my tail?” Soarin asked quizzically, strolling over with the waiter in tow, “I’ve got us seats upstairs,” he gestured to the stallion behind us. He was tall and looked undoubtedly professional, his tux and hair trimmed to perfection as he bowed gracefully in front of us before showing us the way to the upper level, which just like the lobby was beginning to fill up for dinner service. We were ushered towards a table overlooking the streets below, the stallion smiling as he pulled the seats out for us.

“Your table for this evening, ladies and gentlecolts! I do hope you enjoy your meal, another waiter will be with you shortly,” he spoke in a soft tone, which I interestingly picked up as being some kind of British accent as I watched him trot away.

Soarin seemed to notice my questionable gaze as he and Spitfire sat down in front of me, “It’s common for pegasi to be born all over Equestria these days, now you get them coming from all over the place, like Manehatten, Fillydelphia and Trottingham.” he grinned a little, “Imagine me with a Trottingham accent!”

“I dare to think what a disaster that would be,” Spitfire shot back as she playfully fluffed his mane up with a wing. Soarin quickly tried to fix it as I held back my oncoming need to laugh with Spitfire not faring a lot better, he quickly got her back with a soft bop to the nose which I found to be a cute act of revenge, but revenge nevertheless. It had also started the cogs turning once more in my brain as I tried to work out their stance on one another, however deep their friendship may be, I was determined to at least find out a little more information regarding them both, so long as it didn’t get me in any hot water that is.

We observed the menu, of which I was slightly interested for trying anything but salad at this point. I was slowly getting a hunger back for meat after this long, but having been swiftly introduced to Equestria’s… let’s say objective stance on the killing of animals, I thought it best to keep my stomach unhappy over the idea of a pony fainting at the sight of me devouring a chicken. In the end I chose a simple thousand hooved dressing with nachos, with the three of us all ordering wine of some sort. I began to feel more relaxed as I sat back a little in my cloud chair; I’d come to realise over the last few days how much people back home would be envious of me getting to try out this strangely plush yet spongy material.

“Enjoying yourself?” Soarin playfully eyed me as Spitfire looked up from sipping her wine glass.

I smiled, “I guess you could say I’m finally coming to terms with colourful talking ponies.”

Soarin grinned in response, “Don’t be getting too comfy now,” he playfully chastised. “Otherwise we’ll never be able to send you back on account of us having to pry you off the gates to the headquarters.” We shared a chuckle as he continued, “Besides, I’m sure it won’t be too long now given Celestia’s priority on the matter.”

For how much it surprised me, Soarin was right. It pained me a little to think that anytime now I could just be shot back to Earth, even though it had been just over a week since my arrival, my liking for the Equestrian world and more the ponies who I’d recently come to meet did cause a painful drop in my gut at the thought of leaving them all behind. My eyes cast down slightly as I thought over the idea of just asking Celestia for citizenship, or whatever the equivalent of that was in Equestria; would I need a passport?

“For what it’s worth,” Spitfire began, getting both mine and Soarin’s attention, she looked me in the eyes and I could tell she meant what she said. “You’ve done a good job so far with your work, a lot of ponies don’t understand the logistics or the time your job can take to complete.” I smiled at that as she continued, “It’s good you turned up when you did, a lot of the ponies who have been signing up recently for positions backstage aren’t even fully qualified, they just want to say they work with the Wonderbolts.”

I raised an eyebrow, “And they’ve been accepted?”

Spitfire laughed a little and shook her head, “You think me and Soarin poured everything we’ve got into this team to have it run by students fresh out of Cloudsdale College?” she began sharing an amused look with Soarin, “It’s hard to explain to ponies most of the time, but the Wonderbolts aren’t just a team, we’re our own community,” Spitfire stated proudly, “Our structure isn’t built on the principle of ponies filling the job for five minutes before moving on to greener pastures, that’s why jobs that do come up back-stage are only temporary on the discretion of me and the princess due to the Wonderbolts still being part of the guard. It’s a good tactic to weed out ponies who just want to mooch off the Wonderbolts name”

“Unless of course, you do a good enough job and show your dedication to sticking around,” Soarin finished as he and Spitfire smiled and nodded together.

“So my position has been filled before?” I asked, now very curious to hear about how her job was being monitored.

Spitfire thought back for a moment before shaking her head, “No, you’re the odd one out. The usual temporary job that we hand out is the one for grounds-keeping. But since the recent retirement of our last props and set designer, we needed the position filled fast in order to meet the next season deadlines.”

“Hence all of your current work,” Soarin pointed out, “Which as we’ve said, is very good for someone who doesn’t even live on this planet.”

I tried my best to stop the blood filling my cheeks from the praise, back home I wasn’t used to being commended for my efforts back at the theatre, let alone many other places in the world. The gesture didn’t go unnoticed by either Wonderbolt at the opposite end of the table, both of them were giving me large smiles in return.

The urge to hug them both was unprecedented.

Soon our meals arrived, it didn’t take me long to get stuck in. While I still would have prefered meat, this food was a great substitute. I looked across the table to see Spitfire and Soarin playfully chiding one another about the way they ate, Spitfire being a lot more formal than Soarin with his lack of using the cutlery that had been provided. I almost got the feeling that the pair were almost like brother and sister, more than anything. It seemed to relax me more than I had been at the start of sitting down to eat. Knowing this, I began to take another bite at the thought in my head as I leaned over in their direction.

“So, have you guys been going out like this for a while?” I asked casually, taking another bite out of my nacho dressing.

Soarin smirked, “I don’t think Spitfire’s ever let me have a Friday night to myself.”

“Oh come off it Soar, you know you just can’t resist coming out to try and get a chance not to do the morning training. If you somehow get hell to freeze over with me stuck in it, I’ll consider it!” Spitfire retorted, sending Soarin into a fit of stutters that soon just turned into laughter from all three of us.

“To answer your question properly,” Spitfire began after the laughter had stopped, “Me and Soarin have a lot on our plates most of the day, this is usually the most free time we’ll get off during an ‘out of season’ month. It’s hard to really keep up with anyone who isn’t your best friend, who just so happens to be the biggest pain in the flank at the same time.”

We shared another laugh at Soarin’s expense. I was surprised this time not to hear a retort from the stallion, until my ears heard the faint whisper of something under the stallion’s breath as he turned to Spitfire with an almost knowing grin.

“You love me, really.”

My brain froze for a moment when he said those words, I stopped going back to my food as I watched the two ponies in front of me stare at one another. Spitfire only took a moment before she leaned over and nuzzled the stallions right cheek softly before going back to their own food, it was a simple gesture of affection, but my mind couldn’t help but be swarmed with more questions, not to mention Fleetfoot's words almost a week ago.

The rest of the night seemed to roll by quickly, we mostly discussed various things regarding work and how Soarin was going to start introducing me to the Equestrian mail service in order for me to contact the princess directly rather than through himself. It was something which didn’t seem to hard on paper, but in a new world I had doubts of successfully getting something to the ruler of the nation on a first try, but despite this, I was motivated enough to give it a go when I thought it was necessary to send one.

When the bill came, Spitfire and Soarin insisted they both paid the whole amount, which soon turned into another few retorts back and forth from one another. I almost feel glad I never had brothers or sisters of my own, if this is what life for them was like, I was happy to just sit and spectate.

On account of paying for their meals last week, Soarin finally gave in to allow Spitfire to pay for the meal in full. I felt bad for not being able to throw my own two cents, or ‘bits’ into the ring due to the fact of me not receiving a paycheck yet. I hoped in some way I would be able to pay both of them back once I actually obtained some form of currency, but that would have to wait until later. For now we kindly thanked the waiter and vacated the warmth of the restaurant and into the refreshingly cool air outside, a bit of the buzz had died down now that ponies had started to make their way home, but there was still plenty of activity going on. With the streets being slightly less crammed, I decided to walk next to both Soarin and Spitfire as we traversed the main streets back along to the center of town, passing by a few nightclubs that had started creating various lines along the streets.

Spitfire smirked as she nudged me, gesturing over to a particular nightclub with a bright orange sign, the bouncers eyed me as I walked by. My gaze quickly averting from them and glancing to the name of the club…

“Sunrise,” I mused out loud, Spitfire nodding with a small giggle.

“That’s the first club that me and Soarin ever went to,” Spitfire began as Soarin turned to glance his own amusing smirk at the place as they trotted past, “We’d thought since being newly recruited Wonderbolt reserves we’d go out and celebrate, needless to say afterwards we decided quickly that it wasn’t the type of scene for us.”

I chuckled, relating to the situation entirely. While I was a fan of both dancing and music, I couldn’t ever enjoy the overly-loud and claustrophobic spaces that clubs back home were like. I’d personally never gone to one myself on account of me and my friends not being the ‘party animal’ types, but I was still curious about them nevertheless.

“Was there any reason in particular that you guys didn’t like it?” I asked questionably.

Soarin chuckled as he came into the conversation, “Besides the drinks being way overpriced? No, it just wasn’t our style.”

“Or you could admit you two just love to protect one another, it’s too cute!”

“Fleetfoot?” I asked looking over to my left, seeing the arctic blue mare standing in the line to the club along with companion who I’d seen around work, but hadn’t yet had the chance to be introduced to.

Spitfire turned to Soarin with a deadpan expression. He simply rolled his eyes before looking over in Fleet’s direction, “I thought you and Misty Fly were going to a bar downtown tonight?” he asked quizzically. Getting a few looks from the other ponies standing in line as they recognized a few of the names.

Fleetfoot waved her hoof in dismissal, “Yeah, we finished that after the seventh drink,” she explained casually, giggling and bumping flanks with the mare next to her. Misty Fly looked a little more on the shy side as she smiled at me. I gave a small wave back and before Fleetfoot continued, “I’m guessing you guys had a nice time?” she turned to me with a smirk, “You can never separate them can you?”

Spitfire grinned wolfishly, “Well that depends, do you want to spend the whole morning with Misty running a fifty lap practice race with a hangover? I’m sure you’ll be struggling to separate yourselves as well.”

Fleetfoot huffed and crossed her hooves at the comeback, “Meanie,” she replied, sticking her tongue out. Soarin chuckled while Spitfire and I shared amused grins, “Why can’t you play fair Wonderbolt!?”

“Because I’m the captain,” Spitfire stated smugly, causing a few more ponies in the line to share a few glances at the group. I could see over a few crowds that began whispering and pointing over at us.

I could see that Soarin was beginning to pick up on it as well. Meanwhile Fleetfoot was still giving Spitfire a playful set of very convincing evil eyes, I almost felt like laughing at the scene. I could see what Spitfire meant when the Wonderbolts regarded themselves as their own group, as for Soarin saying that him and Fleetfoot get away with a little too much, it was beginning to sound like a understatement. In the midst of my thoughts, Soarin gently nudged Spitfire with his wing, whispering something into her ear as she looked over to the eyes beginning to turn on us. Fleetfoot looked over and suddenly noticed the same thing.

“Oh buck! Now we’re gonna need to find a new place to go party!”

With the awkward situation swiftly handled, in which I mean by me trying not to drown in a sea of ponies as Wonderbolts shot off in different directions as to disperse the oncoming crowd, both me, Soarin and Spitfire made it back to his place in one piece, with the only issue being a slight case of indigestion pain. The thought that just simple days out could turn into this made me feel somewhat bad for the more well known ponies in Equestria, but then again celebrities in our world could just be recognised with a face, at least these guys wore full jumpsuits during their time in the spotlight.

“Remind me to dye my hair blue tomorrow and pretend I was out with family,” Spitfire stated as she looked over to an out of breath Soarin, who had taken the liberty of leaning against the stair banister in order to prop himself up.

I sat down on my now usual spot on the couch. Looking between the two ponies as they quickly regained their strength, “So I’m guessing that’s why you guys never wear your suits outside of work?”

“Exactly,” Soarin nodded as he rubbed his stomach slowly.

In a few short minutes the tension in the air had calmed, Soarin trotted over to me as he sat down on the couch along with Spitfire. He wrapped a wing over her, giving her a sidelong hug as we all recovered in silence for a few moments. I could see the cuteness in the act. My mind was quickly thinking back on this night, it had been one of the more entertaining days of this week, but at the same time one of the most confusing. It had definitely given me a lot to think about over the next few days, but on the bright side I at least could say I got to know these two a lot more, I smiled as I looked over to the pair.

“Fleetfoot is going to get it for being so loud,” Spitfire smirked, shaking her head playfully as Soarin laughed. I made a note to remember to keep a close eye on the mare when we went to work tomorrow. Luckily for both us and the soon-to-be unfortunate mare, tomorrow was a Saturday, which meant that we didn’t have to turn up to work until late afternoon.

“Who was that other mare with her?” I asked curiously, thinking back to the slightly timid mare who had smiled at me.

“Misty Fly?” Spitfire asked, to which I nodded as she continued, “She’s on the primary team with all of us, she’s a little shy if you’ve never met her before. Once you get comfortable around her though, she becomes a whole different pony.”

“You make it sound like she’s an evil villain of some kind,” Soarin smirked as Spitfire laughed a little, playfully poking the stallion.

“What I meant was, she’ll surprise you once you get to know her,” Spitfire elaborated while Soarin was still trying to get her back, the little playfight going on as I stood back and laughed a little. We all had another drink to re-hydrate ourselves after the sudden cardio session, it didn’t take long for the conversation to die down once time started ticking on again. It was getting late, the dullness in my brain signalling that it was time to start getting ready for bed.

I wasn’t the only one in the same state; after a while Soarin finally started making his way upstairs with Spitfire in tow, he turned around to offer the guest room again, but I was already out cold on the couch by the time I laid my head down beneath the blanket. The stallion and mare took another amusing look at each other and then me before heading upstairs.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed this latest installment. I'm trying my hardest to write as much as I possibly can while my time is free.

Thanks for reading you amazing people ~ Rumble