Soarin knew from both context clues and her personality that Vinyl would most likely sleep through most of the morning, but it still took him off guard just how late that would be. Even though he had vastly overslept until nine in the morning, Vinyl was still snoring loudly and sprawled out on the bed. Because of his rigorous Wonderbolts schedule, anything that occurred past ten in the morning wasn't considered "early" anymore for Soarin. However, for the young DJ, anything that occurred before two in the afternoon was too early to bother with.

Groaning, Soarin stirred next to Vinyl, making sure he didn't make too many movements or noises. When he thought back on it, though, he didn't see the point because of how heavy she was sleeping. The first thing he felt when he sat up on the edge of the bed was a splitting headache from the drinking the night before. It was difficult for him to remember the minute details, but as he turned his head around to look at Vinyl's body under the sheets sleeping like a log, he smiled and all of the important bits refreshed themselves in his mind. The smile got even wider and a slight bit goofier when he remembered that she was his marefriend now. Spitfire didn't hold a single concern in his head anymore; there was no doubt that he couldn't have a better mate than the girl before him.

Deciding it would be cruel to wake her so "early", he settled for just leaning down and giving her a gentle kiss on her marshmallow cheek that was barely protruding from the covers. Unsurprisingly, Vinyl didn't react to it at all.

It took him a while to find his bearings because even though it was well on its way to noon, the cloudy and stormy weather outside gave the room little to no ambient light. He found his legs to be a bit wobbly from the alcohol and remembered why he never drank more than once per week; practice would've been impossible if he drank as much as Vinyl did. It made him wonder how Vinyl managed to keep such a relatively slim figure.

He pondered the quandary even further when he made his way to her kitchen and tried to find something for breakfast. However, the only thing that seemed fresh as he rummaged through the cabinets and her refrigerator were microwave noodle cups and frozen pizzas. He scratched behind his head as he closed the fridge, thinking of ways he could get his hands on a genuine breakfast.

Even though he detested the idea due to his lethargy, he knew that the only way was to go out.

As he suspected, the first few minutes of flight were painful both for his wings and his stubborn hangover headache. He could usually control his flight in the roughest of conditions, but he found himself wobbling a bit even from the slightest turbulence.

Not only that, but his normally keen air-senses didn't notice the two fliers in Wonderbolt uniforms descending above him until they were just a few yards away. He blamed some of it on the thunder above him and guessed that they must had been scouting around for him for quite some time, waiting for him to pop out in the open.

"Lieutenant Soarin?" A strong yet slightly crack-ey female tone masked with concern and curiosity called out from above. It would've made Soarin jump in surprise if it weren't for the sound of her wings giving her presence away beforehand. He recognized it instantly and smiled as he turned his head, still flying as straight as he could.

Rainbow Dash was accompanied by her fellow squad-mate, Meadow Flower, both wearing their training uniforms. She was a bit soft around the edges, but they both knew whoever did what was necessary to wear the Wonderbolts uniform was tough where it mattered. She stayed quiet for the most part and let her squad leader speak out of respect. He didn't know much about her other than that she was part of Rainbow's squad.

"Hey, Crash. Skipping out on practice again?" Soarin saw the opportunity to embarrass her in front of her squad-mate and took it. As expected, it made Rainbow blush a bit in embarrassment, but Meadow just flew alongside respectfully, not reacting much outwardly. It confirmed his suspicion that she kept that nickname away from her subordinates. "I guess they sent you to bring me back, huh?"

"N-no, sir..." Rainbows embarrassment caused her to stutter. "Actually, Captain Spitfire instructed me to relay a message and to tell you to come back when you're ready." She used as little slang and as much proper pronunciation as she could, as she did around all of her superiors. Just hearing Spitfires name made Soarin cringe slightly.

She handed him an envelope with a Wonderbolts seal on the back. It was a rather official letter and Soarin began to get nervous, thinking that it was some sort of disciplinary discharge from skipping practice. Though, once he thought about it for more than two seconds, he assured himself that Spitfire wouldn't do something that severe to him.

"Huh... Well, alright then." Soarin didn't dismiss her officially like he usually did because he could sense that Rainbow was concerned about him. The two had been flying more and more recently and had begun to form a friendship. Albeit, it wasn't as strong as the ones he had with his fellow lieutenants. It still was enough for him to let her speak her mind if she wanted to. A lot less could be said for most other recruits at her level.

"Uh... Sir, if I may ask..." Rainbow decreased her formal tone slightly. "Are you alright?"

It warmed his heart when his fellow flyers showed concern over him, even though he somewhat expected it, and he smiled.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just uh... Need to sort out some personal issues." He didn't want to go into detail since even the slightest leak of information could feed disastrous rumors.

Rainbow could tell that the real problem was a lot more serious, but she respected him enough not to pry into it further. She gave him a salute, which shortly prompted Meadow to salute as well.

"Understood, sir."

"Flower? How's your training going?" He bent a little rule of never talking to a leader's subordinates whilst their leader was present, but neither of the three really cared about such tedious regulations.

Meadow's reaction was beyond cute and it showed just how shy and soft she was. Her face went red and her ears perked up high in surprise.

"O-oh! Um... G-Good, sir... Very good." She put on a nervous smile.

"She'll be ready for squad lead P.F.T. in a week or so." Rainbow added, giving a little more descriptive and informative answer.

"Cool deal. Alright, you two can head back, I got some groceries to get. Dismissed."

Soarin gave her a comical and debatably half-assed salute and the two flew back up shortly after they returned it with more disciplined and rigid ones. He could hear Meadow mention something about the word "crash" as they flew away, which was quickly followed by a stern response by Rainbow. He chuckled and kept on flying. The sight of his fellow Wonderbolts still diligently carrying out their duties lifted his spirits despite the gloomy weather around him.

Getting back on track, he spotted out the local grocery store and descended gently. A couple of stray raindrops hit the top of his head and he tucked the letter underneath his wing as he landed to shield it. He thanked the overhanging roof that protruded several feet from the front entrance and once he was out of the rain, he opened up the letter, making sure not to tear the paper for no particular reason. The note inside it was informal as most letters from his inner circle of command were.

"Geez, you could've just texted me..."

He read slowly and meticulously once he saw that Spitfire had signed it.

Soarin, I can't put into words how sorry I am for what happened. I put two and two together and figured that it must have been you that snuck into my house last night-

"Yeah, no shit..." He said out loud and with slight irritation.

It was not only my fault for not picking up on how strongly you felt about me, but also for betraying your trust and breaking your heart and I make no excuse for what I did. I know it will be difficult for you to forgive me, but I value your friendship above everything else. I will continue training the others until you get back, so take some time off until you're ready. And don't worry; I'll make sure it's paid leave.

Your friend,

Cpt. Spitfire

P.S. Managed to nab a fried bass meal ticket for when you get back.

Although it was still fresh in his head, he appreciated how she didn't try to blame it on something else to dodge responsibility. Although, he wasn't surprised since that was just how Spitfire was. It sounded sincere enough and he knew that she'd probably do a better job of making it up to him in person in some shape or form.

Soarin chuckled at that last part, his mouth watering at the thought of his favorite mess hall meal as he folded the letter back up and stuck it in the back pocket of his jeans. It would've been enough to constitute an apology if the ordeal didn't happen so recently.

"Daddy, look! It's Soarin!" A little filly's voice caught him off guard and he looked down, smiling at how cute the little one was. The joy she had for seeing him was blatant on her bright face and her father, who had a professional businessman persona, looked surprised as well.

Soarin's first reaction was to sigh, knowing that it would turn into an hours’ worth of autographing from the people around him, but he suppressed it and smiled.

"Guess a bit a fan service wouldn't hurt first." He thought to himself.

Soarin was able to get most of the things he went out for at the supermarket save for a couple exotic spices and herbs that he was spoiled with back at the officer mess hall. Still, Vinyl wasn't a particularly picky person when it came to grub. Just the eggs and hash browns alone would most likely put her in a blissful trance since she was used to frozen dinners and fast food. The added weight of the grocery bags brought back the slight dull pain in his foot as he landed at her front door again, and his sore wrist from the dozens of autographs he signed protested as he turned the knob to the front door.

The lights were still off. Vinyl was either a big fan of living in the dark, or she was still asleep.

Soarin smirked and shook his head in disappointment, opening the door and quickly putting the bags down on the kitchen table to ease the pain in his foot.

"Alright... Show time." He cracked his knuckles and went to work on the best bed and breakfast any girl could dream of.

Ten minutes later...

The smell of a champion’s breakfast had completely filled the kitchen and the living room and the faint sound of crackling food on frying pans echoed throughout the home. He knew more than most the size of Vinyl's appetite and cooked volumes accordingly, making sure there'd be enough for both of them. It'd been a while since he made breakfast for himself and it was the first time he had ever made breakfast for a lover. He felt anxious over whether or not she'd like it, but calmed himself down shortly after once he realized that him making food for her in and of itself would make her overjoyed.

"Whoa... No way..." Vinyl's groggy voice behind Soarin made his ears perk up and his head turn around with a smile. It was almost on cue with him finishing up. She was only wearing panties and a long saggy shirt since she understandably didn't care about her appearance in her own home. Her mane was a mess but it did more for her cuteness factor than anything else. She looked at him with a gentle and tired smile and half-opened magenta eyes scanned the kitchen, taking in everything he was doing.

She didn't need an explanation to understand what he was doing. She made her way to him and wrapped her arms around his back, hugging him tight and pressing her warm cheek to his chest. She was about a foot and a half shorter than he was, so hugs from her were always cute to him.

"Thanks babe... You're the best." She said with a little twitch of her ear.

Soarin gave her blue hair a bit of a playful tease before reaching back with one arm to flip one of the hash browns. Her hair felt surprisingly soft and malleable despite his assumption that she didn't take care of it as often as most girls did. As he was spending more time with her, the stereotypes and rumors about her were all beginning to disappear. Vinyl took the hint and let go of him so he wouldn't burn the breakfast he had been slaving over.

"It's the least I can do- Nah ahh..." He teased her by poking the tip of her horn when he saw her levitating her wallet and the grocery store receipt over from the kitchen table, presumably to pay him back for all the ingredients that he bought. He knew that it felt rather funny for unicorns to be poked there whilst using magic, so he made sure it was soft. She obeyed him with a little giggle and recoil of her head and put them back down.

"Aw come on, man... That had to be at least fifty bits..."

"Don't worry about it. Doesn't make sense for the girl to pay for the guy, does it?"

Vinyl’s ears went down from how sweet it sounded; it was a little reminder of what all happened the night before and the fact that he didn't forget meant a lot to her.

Soarin could easily see her nipples poking through her loose shirt and he was having difficulty controlling his morning wood because of it. Though, when he went back to work and eventually finished off the cooking, it gave him enough of a distraction to put it at bay at least for the time being. Vinyl was helping him plate everything up when they both heard the front door unlock and twist open.

"Goodness gracious, what a rehearsal..." Octavia's smooth and melodic accent sounded out as she walked through the door with her giant cello case, talking to seemingly no-one. She didn't seem to notice that Soarin and Vinyl were there, yet.

"Hey, Octy. Tough practice?" Vinyl said right before stuffing her mouth with a fork full of hash browns.

"Oh, you're up earl- Oh!" She put out another more surprised "oh", stopping herself when she looked over and saw both Vinyl and Soarin at the table. She began to appear rather self-conscious and nervous.

Even though Soarin was already loyal to Vinyl and wouldn't leave her for anyone, he couldn't deny that Octavia was one of a kind when it came to elegance and beauty. Her slim feminine figure accented by her collared button-up shirt and formal skirt stunned him for a half second before he answered, mostly because it had been a while since he saw her. When he usually spent time with Vinyl, it was either after Octavia had gone to bed or after she had gone to practice.

"Good to see ya again. I hope I'm not intruding..." He knew neither of them would've had a problem with him staying over, but his overly-polite and respectful manner that developed from his military-like training caused him to say it anyway.

"Certainly not." She smiled and leaned her cello against the back of the couch, not wanting to be rude and walk off to her own business before chatting with him for a bit. "I just wish I would've known beforehand so I could've cleaned the place up a tad." She shot a glance over at Vinyl as she sat down at the table, but Soarin's new girlfriend was too drowsy to snip back at her.

"It was kinda a last minute thing. My bad." She answered with a mouth full of food. "Oh, and we're an item now by the way. So, uh... Yeah."

Soarin blushed slightly from how sudden and blunt she was about it even though he should've expected her to address it like that. Octavia's reaction was written so clearly on her face it might as well have been telegraphed.

"Oh! W-well, that's certainly... Surprising. Then again, I suppose you two have been seeing each other as friends for quite some time." Her expression relaxed after a few seconds and she smiled. "I hope the best for the both of you. It's about time Vinyl took a break from girls." She giggled and teased as she got up and Vinyl gave her a little grumble in return. "Oh, it seems your cell is buzzing, Soarin." She perked her ears up when she heard it vibrating softly against the back of the couch and then retreated back to her room to change.

"Oh, uh... Thanks." He got up and got butterflies in his stomach. For some reason, he could always sense when Spitfire was about to call him. It was most likely because the only two parties that ever called him were either his parents or his Captain.

He confirmed his suspicion as he looked down at his phone and saw the number. He let out a little sigh before he accepted the call and tried to brainstorm what to say. He was past the point of being mad at her and was just trying to cope at the moment, so he wouldn't have to worry himself about saying something he'd regret later.

"What's wrong, champ?" Vinyl noticed his reaction.

"It's her... I gotta take this, I'm sorry."

"That bitch... Calling you this early after that, you'd better-"

Soarin cut her off by holding a finger to his lips while putting the phone to his ear, not wanting Spitfire to overhear Vinyl's rough words about her.

"Good morning, ma'am." He said in his normal tone, not taking his emotional state as an excuse to devalue his etiquette.

"You know you don't have to call me that anymore... We're pretty much the same rank." Spitfire said in a tone that was much softer and sincere than normal for obvious reasons. She chuckled lightly to try to lighten the mood since she had no clue how Soarin was feeling.

"Sorry, still a habit." Soarin chuckled back in a similar way, leading up to a rather awkward silence as Soarin played with his hair a little.

Spitfire sighed over the phone.

"I know I should've called before I sent that letter... Dash got it to you, right?"

"Yes ma- Er... Yeah." He corrected himself.

"Alright..." She was apparently unsure of what to say, but Soarin didn't want to assure her yet. It wasn't for malevolent reasons, but because he wanted to hear her explanation come from her own mouth. "I know it’s kinda a dumb question, but how are you feeling?"

Soarin wanted to say: "How most guys feel when they get cheated on", but he bit his tongue.

"I'm alright. Just... Recovering, I guess."

"I'm sorry... I just..."

Soarin could almost feel the negative energy coming from Vinyl at that point and he was afraid she'd come over and take the phone from him.

Spitfire continued once she thought over her words again. "You know me, I hate excuses... Especially bad ones. But, that guy... He was... A jerk. Yeah, I know I was into it when... Well, you saw us... But, he basically told me if I didn't do it with him that he'd go to the papers and tell them what my nickname was. I dunno how he managed to find that out in the first place, but..."

Soarin's mood sunk after hearing that. It was a pretty lame excuse to say the least. Despite his unwavering trust in her, he also couldn't help but realize that it was something someone could've easily made up on the spot. Still, he gave her the benefit of the doubt due to his loyalty to his commanding officer.

"Please, just trust me... My reputation would've been ruined if he went through with it. Look, can I come over? This isn't something we should talk about over the phone..."

She sounded sincere enough but it was still too early for Soarin to let her off the hook.

"Eh, sorry, I'm at a friend’s house right now." He glanced over at Vinyl.

"Oh, y-yeah that's cool..." The disappointment in her voice was unmistakable. It wasn't every day that someone as illustrious and textbook as Spitfire stuttered.

Soarin didn't know whether or not she'd want to try and rekindle their romantic relationship again, but he hoped that she wouldn't since telling her that he was practically unavailable thanks to her blunder might've broken her heart.

"But uh... Before I go, I just wanted to say that I think it's best that we keep ourselves as friends... Not just because of all the drama it'd cause, but I really don't blame you if you don't trust me after this. It'd be better that way."

"Yeah, you're right. And hey, I'm okay. Just... Don't beat yourself up too much, boss. I'm not gonna let something like this get in the way of our friendship." Soarin made sure to put that part in before she hung up.

Spitfire paused for a second after hearing that and when she spoke again, it seemed like a thousand pound burden had been lifted from her shoulders when she spoke again.

"Thanks, Clipper... I'll uh... I'll catch you later I guess. P.T. Tomorrow at zero-six-hundred?" She asked hopefully.

"Eh..." He knew that Vinyl would want one more night with him, which would include drinking, which wouldn't be good for early morning P.T. "How bout you and I work out after night chow tomorrow. Give us a chance to talk alone?"

"Yeah... Yeah that's good. Alright, I'll see ya there. Over and out." She replied after hanging up.

"So what was the excuse?" Vinyl asked sternly shortly after Soarin put the phone back in his pocket and sat down on the couch.

He exhaled strongly and sat back down with her. Despite her seeming upset, she still joined him on the couch, easing up close to him and giving his shoulders a little rub. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on it, realizing that in hindsight, asking Spitfire for a one-on-one chat in front of his girlfriend wasn't the best idea. Though, Vinyl didn't seem to react to it much.

"Well, she said she was blackmailed by the guy; he threatened to leak some pretty embarrassing info about her to the papers if she didn't fuck him.

"Dude, that's what everyone says. You don't seriously believe that, do you?"

The one fault that Soarin saw in Vinyl was her habit of holding grudges. It was near impossible for her to be understanding or to make amends if someone wronged her in a rather major way, and it was manifesting itself quite strongly.

"I dunno..." He sighed and leaned his head back, enjoying the shoulder rub. "She's never lied to me before and I don't think she would about something this serious..."

The comradery and trust between Soarin and Spitfire was stronger than steel. It felt strange to Soarin, almost sinful, to even consider the proposition that she'd lie to him about anything.

"Celestia... I really want to go over there and knock her teeth in. I mean come on, who does that to someone like you? I mean, yeah, she has an excuse, but I'd never cheat on you for some dumb bullshit reason like that."

Soarin put an arm around her and pulled her close, both as thanks for her implication that he was a good person and to calm her down.

"It's alright, it's alright... She definitely feels bad about what she did. I could tell."

Vinyl couldn't help but simmer down once she felt his warm embrace around her and she nuzzled his chest. She let out a little sigh. He thought it was really cute and sweet how defensive she was getting over him.

"Fine... But you're spending the rest of the day with me." She smiled and chuckled.

Soarin never took it as a demand or a way for her to force him to stay because he wanted to do the same. As usual, Vinyl took the opportunity from being so close to him to trace her little fingers along his abdominal muscles and chest. The light tickling feeling of it against his thin layer of belly fur made it hard for him to not pop a boner. The only thing keeping him from returning the sensual affection was Octavia, who hadn't been heard from for some time. Although, nothing could've stopped him from tilting her chin up with his finger and planting a light and romantic kiss on her lips.

"You know I can’t say no to that." He said softly after kissing her for several seconds and then got a strange look on his face. "You didn't brush your teeth this morning, did you?"

Vinyl's cheeks went red out of embarrassment and her ears flattened.

"M-my bad..."

Even though he was only joking, she got up and quickly went to the bathroom, leaving Soarin by himself. He smiled, thinking about how odd it was that she only gave one fleeting care about her hygiene when he was visiting.

Vinyl had apparently bumped into Octavia on the way there because Soarin heard a light-toned "Ooh!" when she went back.

"Goodness, someone’s in a hurry..." Octavia remarked as she passed her in the hall and entered the living room, wearing a rather cute white tee-shirt that had "Cello: It's like violin but cooler" on the front and some plaid pink pajamas.

"Isn't it funny? She only really cares about hygiene when I'm over." Soarin chuckled as Octavia sat down on a reclining chair next to the couch he was on, holding a cup of something that was steaming hot. He assumed it was some sort of tea since she typically preferred that over coffee.

Octavia chuckled as the sound of Vinyl furiously brushing her teeth could be heard in the background.

"I wish she thought the same way all the time, love." She took a moderate sip, curling up her tail around her back and crossing her legs under her butt.

There was an awkward silence between the two as Soarin leaned his head back against the back of the couch and stretched his wings a bit. Silent moments tended to happen quite a bit between them, but it was mostly the fault of Octavia since she normally wasn't an extrovert, even inside her own home.

"So, I assume your relationship with Vinyl came rather... Recently?" She asked with a relaxed tone and closed eyes. It was hard for Soarin to tell whether or not she was mildly upset or just intrigued.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Well, I mean... We've been friends for a while, obviously, but... I guess it just kinda happened last night." Soarin chuckled. The more he thought about it, the more silly it felt to take such a huge step in a relationship so abruptly. Still, he had every intention of keeping the promises he made.

"I see... By the way, shouldn't you be in... Practice, or something?" Octavia instantly realized how rude that sounded and backpedaled. "I- I mean, it's always lovely having guests-"

"Oh, I get it. Tired of me already?" He teased and chuckled.

Octavia's embarrassed expression changed. She raised an eyebrow and smirked. Even though she was as innocent and kind as Celestia herself, she knew when she was being picked on.

"And I thought one comedian in the house was bad enough." She answered back, making him laugh a little in return. Once he stopped gradually, he eventually explained his answer to her question before. "But, yeah. I, uh... Kinda skipped it today."

"Oh?" Octavia's ears perked up and she looked at him directly, assuming that it had to be a serious reason for him not to go because of who he was. "Is something the matter?"

Soarin contemplated whether or not it was a good idea to start spreading rumors any further. Vinyl was one thing, but Octavia was another. It wasn't as if he didn't trust her, but he didn't know how much of a gossiper she was compared to his new girlfriend.

Octavia understood his silence and got up, sitting next to him on the couch. It wasn't as close as Vinyl was sitting, but it was a nice, friendly distance that helped him relax a little more.

"You can tell me, dear. I promise I won't tell anyone." She put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a comforting smile. One of the few things the two roommates had in common was their ability to comfort their guests and make them feel at ease no matter what was wrong with them. It was one of the many reasons he loved visiting their home.

Soarin took a deep breath and let it all out, explaining what happened with him and Spitfire. The emotional pain of remembering everything that happened was still fresh, and he still wished that it was the last time he'd have to explain it. Octavia was obviously shocked and concerned for him.

"So... How did that lead you to coupling with Vinyl?"

Soarin smirked. He always loved it when she used such Elizabethan and dated terms for every day words. Most others would've thought that she meant sex, but he knew from context clues and the fact that she was so shy about sex that it just meant hooking up.

"I guess... I was kinda broken and she was just there to help put me back together." He responded in a rather cheesy and sappy way and it seemed to have an effect on Octavia. Her ears flattened and she got a big smile on her face.

"That's very sweet of you to say, darling... I must admit, Vinyl has her ups and downs, but she certainly is good at cheering people up, isn't she?"

Vinyl came back out of the bathroom right after he finished explaining the bulk of what happened. Her hair looked somewhat damp and her fur looked much cleaner than before. She had apparently went the extra mile and showered right after brushing.

"Yeah, she is." Soarin made eye contact with Vinyl over the couch and it made her stop.

"What about me?" She looked confused and in the cutest way possible. Soarin and Octavia both chuckled a bit.

"It's nothin'; just talking about how much you helped me out last night."

As she came around the couch and sat next to him on the opposite side of Octavia, he realized how his words could've been taken sexually, especially since they did have a ton of sex the night before.

"I- I mean, uh... Emotionally." He corrected himself, but it was too late.

"Oh, yeah. You helped me out a lot..." She teased, it being closely followed by a playful slap on her thigh from Octavia.

"Vinyl Scratch!" Octavia exclaimed with a bright, red face.

Both of the girls giggled a little and Vinyl snuggled up to him again. Even if it was her best friend, she still felt jealous towards any girl that came close to him.

"Has Spitfire tried to contact you since the incident?" Octavia changed the subject tactfully.

"Well, yeah, she actually called me right after you went back to your room or whatever."

"Basically gave some lame-ass excuse and tried to get sympathy with him. Bitch..." Vinyl crossed her arms and rolled her eyes as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Ah, ah... Language..." Octavia sounded like a mother trying to discipline a child, but Vinyl just sighed and tried to relax.

"Well, I guess she's not too far off. She said she was being blackmailed with something, but... I dunno." Soarin was beginning to doubt her story more and more even though Vinyl didn't buy it straight from the start.

"Goodness... Did she say what the thing was?" Octavia decided to go down the rabbit hole a little further.

"She said it was her nickname. I guess it's kinda embarrassing, but I don't know why she'd do something that drastic to cover it up... I mean, almost everyone knows what my nickname is by now and hers isn't that much worse than mine." If she was lying, what Spitfire was really trying to cover up must've been much more important. Though, Soarin felt as if she still should've held faith instead of selling her body in return for media silence. Doing something that drastic for such a small bit of relatively unimportant information didn't make a lick of sense to him. "Did she... Do you think she was lying to me?"

"I'm not sure..." Octavia chewed on her finger a bit and thought. "It certainly doesn't sound like a well-put-together story, and there are quite a few gaps that don't make much sense... I'm sorry, love, I know how much it hurts to lose trust in someone." She put a hand on his shoulder again in a comforting way.

Having two beautiful girls on either side of him talking with him and comforting him in so many ways was like aloe on a burn for him and he knew that there was no better place to be than right there between them. Still, the weight of Spitfire possibly lying to him after everything they'd done together was breaking his heart all over again. He sniffled slightly and felt embarrassed from getting even slightly emotional in front of the girls.

"I just... I can't believe she'd lie to me like that... She couldn't have..." He looked down and tried to keep his lip from quivering.

"Hey, I mean... Maybe she's just as freaked out as you are and she couldn't explain it right? I dunno." Vinyl, even after downplaying Spitfire the whole time, tried to help cheer him up.

"Or maybe the thing she doesn't want leaked to the public is so secret that even you don't know about it? That's why she didn't want to tell you, because she didn't want you knowing?" Octavia pitched in as well and scooted a little closer to her despite multiple territorial gestures from Vinyl when she so much as looked at him.

"Y-yeah, I guess..." Soarin tried to relax and get his emotions in check, taking a deep breath and pinching his temples.

"Well, either way, you deserve some time off from the Wonderbolts, at least for today. You can stay here as long as you like until you're ready to go back, dear." Octavia said with a reassuring smile.

Once he began recovering, he noticed that Vinyl had basically went from leaning her head against his shoulder to all-out hugging his arm and nuzzling it. He knew that Vinyl showed her affection much more physically than verbally, so he just smiled and scratched behind her ears a little to show his appreciation.

"Thanks, you two. You really are the best." Soarin gave Octavia a one-armed hug since his other one was being sexually assaulted by Vinyl, who was trying not to growl at her friend for stealing a hug from him.

The new couple could both hear crickets chirping outside of Vinyl's bedroom window as the sun finally died out over the horizon after a long day of cloudy weather. The night was rather peaceful with not too many people out and about, which made it that much more quiet for Soarin and Vinyl whose window was right next to the main street of Ponyville.

"Geez, Vinyl... I mean no offense, but there's really nothing to do at your place but eat, sleep and fuck." Soarin teased as he lounged out on Vinyl's bed. Miraculously, the two managed not to have sex that entire day thus far, but it only made things more boring.

"Yeah... Why do you think I'm out at bars all the time?" Vinyl snickered as she laid next to him on her back, only wearing a bra and pajamas since Octavia had already gone to sleep for the night. Soarin was finding it hard not to sneak some peeks at her soft yet shapely breasts every so often and he had a feeling that she was doing the same to his chest and muscles that were barely concealed by a thin white sleeveless shirt and the jeans that he'd been wearing that whole day.

"W- Well, yeah... But, why don't you go out with your friends and do other stuff?"

"The only real friends I have are you and Octy. Everyone else is just fake as fuck." She said in her typical blunt way and turned her head to the side to look at him. "'Sides, do stuff like what?"

"I dunno... Like uh..." Soarin thought of all the things that he usually did on his days off, marking off each one as he realized that Vinyl probably won't be a fan of them. Most of his leisurely activities involved having wings, which Vinyl didn't have. "Going to the movies, or like... Going out to eat?"

"Well yeah, Octy and I go out to eat sometimes, but... All she ever does is nag about how shitty her practice was or complain about why she can never find a good boyfriend."

The part about a boyfriend made Soarin feel slightly bad for her since she was such a beautiful and elegant girl; it made him wonder why she hadn't managed to get hitched yet.

"Sorry, uh... Awkward topic." Vinyl read his body language, again showing off her lackluster social cues and insensitive discussion subjects. "Wanna just hit a bar? I'll pay."

Soarin knew that it would be the best offer he'd negotiate with since he knew her never to be one for fancy dinner dates or romantic movies. She was a stay-home, good-time kind of girl; it was part of the reason he had such an interest in her. She was different than most.

"Sure, why not." Soarin shrugged and began to get up with a slight groan, but he felt Vinyl teasingly grab his bulge between his legs as he got up.

"Honk." She chuckled and hopped up as well, acting somewhat childish but in a cute way.

Soarin almost wanted to get her back by grabbing her tit, but remembered how easy it was to turn her into a horny mess. One iota too much, and she'd push him down in bed and ride him until the morning. He wanted to get some alcohol in him first since he knew he'd last longer that way.

However... He was beginning to feel the same way as her.

Just that one bit of teasing from her was enough to put his hormones into overdrive. He was beginning to feel it all throughout the day, but tried to ignore it so he wouldn't come across as a shallow horndog. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to hold back any longer once he realized that he had a full-sized boner that was protruding from the waist of his jeans as she was walking out of the room.

It felt odd to him since it wasn't that severe with any other girl. It wasn't that she had a smoking hot body, or the fact that she had the sex drive of a bitch in heat. It was because there was a special connection between them that caused them to want to make love to one another constantly. He knew the difference between being horny to fuck and being horny to make love. The only other time he felt it was with Spitfire, but the magnitude of it then with Vinyl was tenfold.

"I'm gonna grab a quick shower. B.R.B." She used texting lingo in a cute and quirky way and shortly after, disappeared behind her bathroom door across the hall, adjacent to her room.

Soarin groaned out of sexual frustration and fell back on the bed, not sure whether to make a move or not. He knew it was early into their relationship and one slip-up could cause her to turn off to his advances, but at the same time, something within him didn't care. More certainly to him, his boner didn't care, either.

At the same time, he thought about how laid-back Vinyl was about sex.

"She wouldn't take it the wrong way too bad, would she...?" He thought to himself as he stared up at the ceiling and his ears perked up once he heard the water turn on in the background and the glass door to her walk-in shower close. He'd had dreams of one day making love to a girl in the shower and now that the opportunity finally presented itself, it was hard to resist.

Suddenly, after a groan, his heart and his hormones combined pushed him out of the bed to go join her, throwing caution to the wind and wanting to show her his love in physical form.

Author's Note

If there are any grammatical or spelling errors, please send me a PRIVATE MESSAGE and let me know so that I can fix them asap. Thanks!