“Rainbow would you sit down?” Applejack asked watching her best friend, Rainbow Dash, pace back and forth across the train cart.
“I can’t AJ!” She squealed practically bouncing from hoof to hoof. “I’m just so excited” she sighed and dramatically fell into her seat. “I mean I get to see the Wonderbolts”
“Haven’t you seen them at least a million times?” Applejack replied rolling her eyes.
“Well, yeah.” Rainbow Dash said sitting up and bouncing in her seat, “But this is the first time I’ll see them in Appleosa!”
“Oh yeah, because that makes it so much different than any other place.” She raised her eyebrow.
“Well…” the mare tapped her chin thinking of a retort “No, but this is the first time you’ll see the Wonderbolts perform,” She enthusiastically threw her arms out towards her friend, “Aren’t you excited?”
“Yeah, I guess,” She shrugged, “But I think I’m more excited to see my cousin. I haven’t seen him since the Apple Family Reunion.”
“But these are the Wonderbolts!” She threw her hoofs in the air and nodded her head, “I mean there’s Spitfire, the captain, and Soarin’, her second in command, and who can forget about Fleetfoot, one of the fastest Wonderbolts who ever lived. Of course she’s not as fast as me, but still pretty fast.”
Applejack zoned out as Rainbow Dash kept talking. She was tired of how many times they had this conversation. So she stared out the window watching the scenery fly by.
A good five minutes had gone by when Rainbow finally realized that Applejack wasn’t listening. “AJ?” Rainbow waved her hoof in front of her face.
“Huh, what was that?” She asked shaking her head.
“Were you even listening?” She crossed her legs and scrunched her eyebrows together.
“Sorry RD,” The orange pony replied, “You just kept droning on and on.”
“Whatever” Dash got up from her seat, “I’m gonna grab a bite to eat, you coming?”
Applejack shrugged “Eh, I think I’m gonna hold off.” Yawning she continued “I’m gonna hit the hay”
“Alright AJ. Catch yah later,” with that the Pegasus zipped out of the room.
Applejack curled up on her seat staring out the window; slowly drifting off into a peaceful slumber.
Rainbow Dash made her way towards the cafeteria. Spotting Applejack’s brother and sister she walked over to them, “Hey guys, what’s up?”
“Oh just eatin’,” Applebloom said taking another bite of her sandwich.
“Sweet, mind if I join you?” She asked.
“Eenope.” Big Macintosh simply stated as Applebloom scooted over making room for her.
“Awesome, be right back” she said with a smile as she went to the counter to grab her food. “Um, I’ll have that daisy sandwich and a large order of hay fries.”
“Sure coming right up,” The lady responded. “Here you go, have a lovely day”
“Thanks” Rainbow went back to the Apple family and sat down. “So, you guys excited to see the Wonderbolts?”
“Eeyup” Big Mac answered.
“Oh yeah! Scootaloo’s gonna be so jealous,” The young filly commented, “I wonder if I could meet them!” She squealed.
“Hmmm… maybe, I mean I did save their lives once, they could owe me a favor”
Applebloom’s eyes widened, “You did?” And although her older brother stayed quiet he leaned forward towards the young mare his ear giving a small twitch.
“Well it all started the day of the young fliers competition,” she continued on with the story, leaving out a few parts about her slight panic attack before the actual competition. “Then her wings were gone, poof. The Wonderbolts dived down to save her but were knocked out by her powerful flailing arms. Then before they hit the ground I knew what I had to do!” She waved her hoofs enthusiastically and jumped on the table, “Swoosh, I came down there so fast I created a sonic rainboom, scooped them all up, and bam we all made it back to safety.” She grinned satisfactorily as she finished her story.
“Wow! That’s incredible.” The filly said in awe.
“You really are something Miss Dash” Big Mac drawled.
Rainbow snapped out of her daydream and realized she was standing on the table. She blushed and sat back down, “Aw, thanks guys.” She rubbed the back of her head with her hoof, “But it was no big deal, anypony would have done it if they could. ”
Shrugging Mac turned to Applebloom and asked “You done there?”
“Eeyup!” The filly giggled.
Mac rolled his eyes and got up “Alright, see you later Miss Dash”.
She waved but couldn’t take her eyes off of them as they left, completely ignoring her forgotten sandwich. “Rainbow?” a voice asked.
She jumped, startled to hear her own name “Huh?” She searched around quickly for the culprit, who happened to be none other than Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts. She put her hoofs up to her face and squealed. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” She realized that she was fangirling and causally as possible, meaning totally awkwardly, stretched her hoofs out in front of her “I mean uh, hey Spitfire, long time no see”
“Relax, it’s just me. So you seeing the show in Appleoosa?” She asked as she took a seat across from her.
“Oh yeah!” She pumped her hoof in the air, ‘‘my best friend has some family out there so she offered to put me up for the week,” Rainbow explained.
“That’s great, I hope you enjoy it. I’ve got to go make sure everything is all set up I think we’ll be there soon. Good seeing you.” She got up to walk away.
“Thanks, good luck!” Rainbow waved, but quickly remembers her conversation with Applebloom, “Hey before you go,” Spitfire turned around to listen “Do you remember the little filly that was sitting with me earlier?”
“Sure, I also saw you stare at her good looking young father” the Wonderbolt winked.
The light blue pegasus turned bright red continuing on “Well it was actually her older brother, but anyway I was wondering if I could get some backstage passes for them? She really wants to meet you guys”.
“Oh sure,” She said, “You wanna come back to my cabin? I’ll hook you guys up.”
“Great!” Rainbow said picking up her uneaten food and throwing it away.
As they walked to Spitfire’s cabin she decided to make some light conversation, “So you said that the filly was his younger sister?”
“Yup that was Applebloom, she has two older siblings, Applejack and Big Macintosh.”
“Ah, so you came with them to get cozy with Big Macintosh?” Spitfire gave Dash a nudge with her hoof and a wink with a quick laugh.
Rainbow again turned bright red “What? No,” She chuckled nervously “They just heard about the Wonderbolts coming here and asked if I wanted to come.”
“Oh, so he asked you?” She laughed again as Rainbow Dash continued to be flustered.
“What? No, I swear it’s not like that” She tried to defend herself but her light fur coat was almost a dead giveaway that it wasn't entirely true.
“Ok, ok, I'm just teasing you. Here we are, go ahead.” She tilted her head towards the door.
Rainbow went inside only to be awestruck by the sight, “Wow!” Inside her room there were dozens of flowers, gift baskets and cards. “This. Is. Awesome!”
Spitfire entered the room and shrugged “Yeah, I guess.”
“You guess?” her friend questioned.
“I don’t know, I guess after a while it just feels like people are sucking up to you because they want something. Or they can say “Hey I’m friends with a wonderbolt”. After a while it’s hard to know who your real friends are.” She sighed and then perked up “Anyway here are those passes you wanted,” She handed them over to Rainbow Dash.
“Oh… uh… Thanks” She forced a smile on her face while an awkward silence filled the room.
Thankfully it only lasted a few seconds before the door swung open, “Hey Spits, you in here?” a male pegasus entered the room. He was tall, his coat a dark green, while his mane took a complete 180 with an electric green, and his eyes were dark blue that matched the night sky.
“Hey Money Bags,” Spitfire walked up to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. “This is Rainbow Dash,” She said pointing towards her friend “Dash this is my coltfriend Money Bags”
“Nice to meet you Rainbow” He extended out his hoof.
Rainbow took it and shook “You too” She grinned. Hoping not to overstay her welcome she turned to Spitfire, “Anyway, I got to go but thank you for the passes”
“Anytime RD.” She waved as her friend left the room.
Back in her room she saw the Apple’s were packing up, “What took you so long Dash?” Applejack asked, slightly annoyed.
“Oh nothing, I was just getting these from a friend,” She pulled out five back stage passes for the Wonderbolts.
Applebloom’s eyes widened and she ran up to Rainbow Dash, “Oh my gosh!” She squealed, “Are these really what I think they are?”
“Yup, I met up with Spitfire after you guys left,” She responded.
“I can’t believe I’m gonna meet the Wonderbolts!” The filly yelled bouncing from hoof to hoof.
“Now Applebloom remember that they are just ponies like you and me,” Applejack said, but still couldn’t quite hide the smile spreading across her face.
“Yeah, I know, I know, but still,” She said, waving off her sister.
“Alright now that we got that out of the way, you all packed up and ready to go? We will be there in less than five minutes.” Applejack asked her younger sister.
“Eeyup, I got my coloring book, my playing cards and my pillow,” She smiled.
“Good now let’s go meet up with Mac towards the front,” She glanced at Rainbow Dash “Meet up with us after you’re all set, ok?”
“Sure, I’ll be up there in ten seconds flat”
Rolling her eyes Applejack left the room with her sister in tow. Rainbow Dash threw everything she had brought with her half-hazardously into her saddlebags. Racing up to the front to meet up with the rest of the Apple family.
“See,” She exclaimed, “ten seconds flat”.
“Wow, who would’ve saw that coming” Applejack mentioned flatly.
Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out while the conductor announced, “Now stopping at Appleloosa. Hope you have a pleasant stay.”
The group stepped off the train looking for Braeburn and as if by magic he appeared a little to close to comfort. “Howdy y’all! Welcome to Appleoosa! I’m so glad you could be here.” He hollered giving each family member a hug “And Rainbow Dash you’re as good as family here,” He said pulling her into his arms, catching Dash by surprise.
Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle at her friend’s stunned expression. Luckly for Rainbow Dash, Big Mac cleared his throat loudly when the hug went on a bit to long for her liking. Braeburn let go of Rainbow and took a few steps forward “It can’t be?” He asked looking off into the distance.
“What is it cuz?” Applebloom tilted her head to the side.
Without a response, he took off toward a group of ponies getting off the train, “Spitfire?” He yelled.
The yellow mare looked up “Braeburn?” her eyebrows came together puzzled at the sight.
“Wow, is it really you? Did you actually make it?” He said giving her a hug.
The rest of the Apple family and Rainbow Dash caught up “What the hay?” Rainbow asked, “You guys know each other?”
“Uh, yeah,” Spitfire started to explain, still somewhat in shock, “We go way back. I was born in Fillydelphia and moved to Cloudsdale when I was ten. Braeburn was my best friend.”
“How come I never knew that?” Applejack asked.
“We were so young at the time and you never really asked.” Braeburn defended. “I can’t believe you actually made it! When we were young that’s all you talked about. Flying for the Wonderbolts, you thought going to Cloudsdale would be your shot.”
“Well look at you! You started up a whole new town. And look at all those apple trees.” Spitfire commented.
“Hey Spits, who are these guys?” Soarin walked up to the group, followed by Money Bags.
“Oh hey, this is my old friend Braeburn” Spitfire introduced, “We were best friends when we were foals. And if I had to guess this is his family. And of course you know Rainbow Dash.”
“Nice to meet you Braeburn. The names Soarin.” He said shaking his hoof.
“And I am Money Bags, Spitfires colt friend”
Money Bags seemed to put a little to much emphasis on the word coltfriend, which threw Braeburn off a little. And there was something about him that seemed almost familiar, sending off little alarms in his head, but introduced himself anyway. “Nice to meet you fellas, this is my family, Big Mac, Applejack, and little Apple Bloom, and it sounds like you already know Rainbow Dash.”
“Hey! I’m not little,” the filly complained.
“I know you,” Soarin stepped towards Applejack.
“Yah do?” The mare in question tilted her head.
“Sure,” he gave a sad smile, “I guess I look pretty different out of uniform” He let out a nervous laugh. “I ate one of your pies at the”
“Grand Galloping Galla!” AJ gasped, “I do remember you. You were my only customer that night.”
“You know if you like pie you guys are always welcome to come for dinner at my place,” Braeburn offered.
“If your pie is half as good as Applejack’s I’ll be there in a heartbeat!” Soarin winked at the orange mare.
“Aww, thanks sugar cube,” Applejack blushed.
“Alright my place is right next to the huge barn just North of town. Yah can’t miss it,” Braeburn explained “See you there tonight.”
“For sure,” Spitfire smiled giving Braeburn one more hug before departing with the rest of the Wonderbolts.
“Wow, I can’t believe you know the captain of the Wonderbolts!” Applebloom exclaimed.
“I just can’t believe she actually made it. That’s the only thing she would talk about when we were kids.” He explained once again, more for himself than anypony else.
“I just can’t believe one of the most famous pegasus in Equestria has a thing for earth ponies,” Rainbow Dash said chuckling.
“Huh? What do yah mean?” Applebloom asked innocently.
“Don’t you go spreading rumors now, you know she has a coltfriend” Applejack cautioned.
“Oh, I wasn’t talking about Spitfire,” Rainbow smirked and pulled in close to Applejack whispering, “I think you and I both know which one I’m talking about”.
The comment made Applejack stop in her tracks and stammer, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh don’t I?” she raised an eyebrow, “So you didn’t, as Rarity would put it, seem to see how his face lit up when he saw you and there was that dreamy look in his eyes,” Rainbow exaggerated.
“Eenope” Applejack face turned bright red while she caught up quickly to her family.
The rest of the trip was rather uneventful while everyone had a moment to think about the upcoming days.
Author's Note
Hope you guys like it, I've been working on it for a long time. There is plenty more to come it just has to be edited first. Please comment if you see any grammar or spelling mistakes.
Thanks:)
When they finally made it to the house, Braeburn was putting the pieces together on who this mysterious stallion was. He had a pretty good idea but he wanted to be sure before he confronted him. “Alrighty, here we are,” he announced. “Guest rooms are upstairs to the left, bathrooms right across the hall. Go ahead and get settled, dinner will be ready at six.”
While the girls went upstairs, Braeburn pulled his oldest cousin aside. “I was thinkin’, did that stallion, what was his name… Oh yeah Money Bags look familiar?” he asked.
“Eeyup.” Big Mac answered.
“You don’t think?” He paused for a second to gather his thoughts. “Apple Strudles’ ex?”
Big Mac sighed and hung his head. “Eeyup.”
A look of disgust emerged on Braeburn’s face. “We can’t let that good for nothing snake in the grass ruin another pony’s life!” He stomped his hoof. “Especially not somepony as important as Spitfire.”
“Eenope,” Mac answered simply.
“So tonight, we confront him in front of everypony!” Braeburn smiled wickedly.
“Eenope. We can’t go meddlin’ with the heart. We need to tread carefully or we’ll end up breakin’ more than bones,” Mac explained hoping to calm his cousin down.
Braeburn sighed, “Yeah I guess you’re right. I still won’t let him get away with this.”
“Neither will I cuz,” Big Mac put a comforting hoof on Braeburn’s shoulder before heading upstairs to check on his sisters.
Hoping to get his mind off the current situation, Braeburn went to the kitchen to start making dinner. His mind was racing with all of the things he would like to say to Money Bags.
Half an hour had passed and everyone had settled in. “Hey Applebloom, would you mind setting the table?” Braeburn asked.
“No problemo cousin!” The filly nodded.
Just then there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it!” Braeburn shouted. He opened the door and greeted the three ponies, Spitfire, Money Bags and Soarin. “Please come in and make yourselves at home.” He said as he led them to the newly set table. “Dinner will be out in a few minutes.” He then left to go finish up.
Shortly after, the rest of the family and Rainbow Dash came to the table to join them.
“Hey guys, glad you could make it,” Rainbow exclaimed as she gave a hoof bump to Soarin.
“Glad to be here,” He replied.
Just then Braeburn came back with the food, “Here we are, apple fritters, mash taters, and green bean casserole for everypony.”
After everyone had their plates full of goodies, Soarin addressed the elephant in the room. “So, how did you two meet?”
“You wanna tell it Spitfire?” Braeburn asked.
“Sure, well it all started in kindergarten. We lived in Fillydelphia, as I’m sure most of you know it’s mostly an earth pony city, and some ponies weren’t to kind to Pegasi.” Spitfire explained.
“Oh no, were there bullies?” Applebloom asked.
“Yeah there were. I begged my parents for me not to go to school but they wouldn’t have any of it.”
*Flashback*
“Please! I don’t want to go to school Daddy!” The young Spitfire cried.
“Please sweetheart it will be fine,” the older pony explained for what felt like the thousand time.
“No it won’t. They will make fun of my wings,” Spitfire ruffled her feathers nervously.
“You are going to school and that is final!” Her mother stomped her hoof.
“FINE!” Spitfire screamed, slamming her bedroom door. She quickly ransacked her closet trying to find something to cover up her wings with. “No, no, no, no!” She exclaimed, exasperated.
She finally found at the bottom of her drawer, an old sweater her grandmother knitted for her. “There, I guess it will do. It’s kinda itchy though.” But without another thought, she grabbed her backpack and marched out of her house, only briefly pausing to glare at her parents. She slammed the door and marched off to school.
Her angry march quickly turned into a slow shuffle as she considered this might be the last walk she would ever take. As the schoolhouse came into sight, her anxiety doubled and she glanced around every so often as if someone was going to expose her wings at any moment. Her hooves started to sweat and she could hear her heart pounding as if it crawled up to her ears. Keeping her head down, she quietly went into the line with the chatting foals bubbling with excitement.
“Howdy!” A young colt with a cowboy hat and vest said. Spitfire didn’t say a word, hoping this young colt would just go away. “Oh no!” He exclaimed. “I said somethin’ wrong! My momma is always tellin’ me I open my mouth way too much.” He sighed.
“You didn’t say anything wrong,” Spitfire said. She quickly realized her mistake; she talked to him. Slightly panicked, she decides on a different approach, “I just don’t wanna talk to anyone.” she lifts her nose up in the air, hoping to let this colt know she is not interested in making friends and have him go away.
“Well why not?” He asked, shaking his head in disbelieve.
“I just don’t like nopony.” She said matter-of-factly.
“Oh… I’m real sorry ta hear that.” the colt sighed, kicking his hooves on the ground looking dejected. “I thought we could be friends. But if you don’t wanna, I guess I understand.”
Feeling sort of bad for the colt she replied, “Well I guess I can at least talk to you.”
“Well great!” He perked up, “I’m Braeburn. That’s B-r-a-e-b-u-r-n. I’m gonna be an Apple farmer just like my daddy. But first I got ta get an edu…edu…education. But I’m really smart. I know how to count to 30 and my ABC’s. I’m also really strong, cuz I’ve been applebuckin’ all summer. And I love baking! I love to make pies, fritters, turnov…” His mouth was suddenly covered up with a hoof. “…hmmmhmmrmmph!”
“Stop… just stop. I said I was gonna talk to you. Not the other way around.” Spitfire uncovered his mouth.
“Oh sorry.” Braeburn apologized.
Spitfire rolled her eyes. “It’s ok. Anyway I’m Spitfire!” She said.
“Well nice to meet you Spitfire!” Braeburn exclaimed. “So are you excited?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Braeburn asked, as if that was the most ridiculous answer in the world.
“Cause everyone is gonna make fun of me.” she explained.
“Why would they do that?” Braeburn asked concerned for his new friend. Spitfire shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. “Well if they do then I’ll tell them to stop. Okay?” He smiled.
Spitfire looked up “Really?”
“Sure! You’re my best friend.”
“Thanks,” Spitfire smiled, feeling slightly better.
The bell rang and the teacher came out to lead them to class.
*Flashback ended*
“And that’s how we met,” Spitfire finished.
“I can’t believe you never told me that.” Soarin commented.
Spitfire cheeks turned pink, “Well it wasn’t the best day ever. Let’s just say things went downhill from there.”
“What happened?” Applejack asked, intrigued.
“Well we all sat down for circle time,” Spitfire began.
*Flashback*
“Now children I want you to sit in a circle and we will go around and tell each other what we want to be when we grow up.” The teacher explained.
The foals chattered with excitement as some blurted out what they wanted to be, all except for Spitfire. She knew exactly what she wanted to be, a Wonderbolt. But she could never tell if it meant exposing her wings.
“I’m only going to call on quiet friends,” her teacher said strictly, the class suddenly became quiet. “Hmmm… how about Spitfire? What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Panicked, she looked around the classroom hoping for some kind of answer, “A doctor!” She cried.
“That’s great,” the teacher said.
“Uh... yeah.” Spitfire said nervously picking at her sweater. As the teacher went around the circle, Spitfire’s attention was towards the sky. She knew she lied and she felt bad about it. She didn’t want to be a doctor. She wanted to fly with the Wonderbolts, the freedom of the air. The wind whistling in her ears as she flew. That was the life she was destined for. While thinking about this she was unconsciously ripping her sweater, making a hole in it.
After all the foals got their turn, they read a book about different jobs. Then the teacher sent them back to their desks and asked them to draw their future jobs.
“Spitfire?” The teacher asked.
“Huh?” She said coming out of her daydream. She quickly realized she was the only one sitting on the carpet and made her way back to her desk. “Oh no!” She exclaimed as she saw the hole in her sweater.
“What’s wrong?” the teacher asked concerned.
Not wanting other foals to notice, she said “Oh, uh. I gotta go potty.”
“Ok, go ahead. Just take a buddy with you so you don’t get lost.”
“Uh… uh… Braeburn” She said picking the first classmate to come to her mind.
Spitfire walked quickly out of the room, Braeburn hot on her heels. As soon as she got to the bathroom, she slammed the door behind her and ran towards the mirror. “It’s ok. I can do this,” She told herself. She tried to fix her sweater, but the more she pulled the more it fell apart. Soon it was not much more than a few poorly strung together pieces of yarn. “No. No. No!” She fell onto the floor and started to cry.
On the other side of the door Braeburn waited patiently for his friend. Soon he heard her shouting. Then he heard her crying. Not knowing what to do, he paced back and forth. He didn’t want to go into the fillies’ bathroom; everyone knew that there were cooties in there. But then he heard sobbing from the other side. As his pacing increased in speed so did his wild imagination. “What if she’s in trouble?” He asked himself. “What if there’s a monster in there? What if the monsters gonna eat her? But I don’t want cooties. Then the monster could eat me too! What if he’s the Cootie Monster?” Another heart wrenching sob reverberated through the door. Right then and there Braeburn made his decision, “Charge!” He yelled as he burst through the door. “Back away from her, you scary cootie monster!”
Spitfire looked horrified, “I’m not a monster!” She cried. “I’m just a pegasus. You’re the monster!”
“What? I’m not a monster!” Braeburn brought his eyebrows together.
“Yes you are. You are just going to make fun of me.”
“Why would I do that?” He asked.
“Because I’m a pegasus.” She explained.
“I’m not supposed to make fun of ladies. Daddy said it ain’t right.” Braeburn said.
“So you’re not gonna make fun of me?” She asked, hopeful.
“Of course not.” Braeburn smiled.
“But what if the others make fun of me?” She asked slightly afraid. “What if they think I’m ugly or a bad pony?”
“I don’t think you’re ugly. I think you’re really pretty.” Braeburn blushed. “And if others can’t see that then I guess I still have my promise to keep.”
“You would really tell them to stop?” Spitfire asked, “Even after knowing my secret?”
“Sure.” Braeburn thought for a moment. “But maybe this might help.” He took off his vest and handed it to her. She quickly put it on, grateful. “There now nobody but us will know.” He grinned.
*End Flashback*
“Really Braeburn?” Applejack asked flatly.
“Hey, in my defense I was only five.” He replied.
“So did the other kids find out?”Applebloom asked.
“Oh yeah, it didn’t take long. But you know what?” Applebloom shook her head curiously. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t?” She asked tilting her head.
“Nope! Because if you have good friends that stick beside you then there is nothing that you should worry about.” Spitfire said confidently.
“Wow, I guess you’re right.” Applebloom replied. “So can I ask you a question, Ms. Spitfire?” Applebloom said.
“Sure you can, fire away!” Spitfire responded.
“What’s the best part about being a Wonderbolt?” Applebloom asked curiously.
“The best part about being a Wonderbolt, huh?” She prompted, “Well it would have to be you guys, the fillies and colts.” She smiled.
“Really?” Rainbow Dash asked her eyes wide in surprise.
“Sure it is. I’m sure you have somepony who looks up to you Dash,” Spitfire explained.
Rainbow thought back on her own experiences with foals, her fan club, coaching the flag teams for the Equestria Games, and of course Scootaloo. “Yeah I can see how that would be awesome.”
“Yeah, they really look up to you. They want you to succeed. They wanna be like you,” she sighed, “for better or worse.”
“What do you mean?” Applebloom asked innocently.
“It’s kinda hard to explain,” She turned slightly red and scratched her hoof behind her head.
“I think I can explain.” Soarin’ stepped in, “You see, although Spitfire is our captain she still has to report to ponies, upper management; they aren’t the friendliest ponies.”
“Well what makes ‘em so mean?” Appleboom probed.
“Well, they mostly care about making a profit. Not everypony sees eye to eye and that can lead to a few bumps in the road. They want to be the best and if somepony turns out to be better they can “enlighten” us and remind us that they are in charge and our jobs could be on the line.”
“That’s just awful!” Applejack said, sour-faced.
“That’s showbiz,” Spitfire proclaimed.
Conversations about farm life, Wonderbolts, and everything in between were made. What felt like minutes soon became hours. When Applebloom started to yawn, Applejack glanced at the clock realizing how late it had become. “Well it was really nice having yah over but I gotta put Applebloom to bed.” Applejack said.
“Aww,” Applebloom groaned but quickly gave in. “Goodnight everypony.” She waved as she trotted off to bed.
“She’s a good kid,” Soarin said to no one in particular.
“Yeah, I know we got real lucky with her,” Applejack responded.
There was a silent moment, not awkward just a pause in the conversation. The moment eventually passed and Braeburn asked, “Now boys how about we head on to the saloon for a drink?”
“I’m in!” Soarin exclaimed.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac drawled.
Money Bags turned to Spitfire, “What do you think?”
Spitfire sighed rolling her eyes, “Yeah go ahead and have some guy time,”
“Thanks, sweetheart,” He said as he planted a quick kiss on her lips.
“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t stay out too late boys, we’ve got a busy day tomorrow,” Spitfire explained as they started out the door. She sighed and stared off dreamily at the now closed door.
“Hey, sugarcube,” Applejack said, pulling Spitfire back to reality.
“Oh, sorry,” Spitfire blushed.
“No harm no foul. Bit for your thoughts?” She asked.
”I was just thinking that he could really be the one. Yah know?”
“To be completely honest, I don’t really know,” Applejack sighed, “I guess I have only read about true love in fairy tales, never experienced it firsthand.”
“Seriously?” Spitfire asked shocked, “You’ve never had a coltfriend?”
Applejack turned slightly red, “Well, no. Ever since my parents passed I don’t really have time for that kind of thing. Trying to keep the farm running and raising Applebloom. Don’t leave time for much else.” She sighed, “But enough about my problems. So you really think he could be the one?”
“Yeah he is always there for me when I need him. He is sweet and kind,” She sighed dreamily, “And he believes in me, and my dreams.”
“Pardon me, Spitfire. But ain’t you already living your dreams? Bein’ a Wonderbolt and all?” Applejack asked puzzled.
“The Wonderbolts?” Spitfire brushed off, “They were my dream, but some days it feels more like my nightmare”
“With your bosses?” Applejack confirmed.
“They are a large part of it, but just not knowing who your real friends are is also hard.”
“I guess I never really thought of that.” Applejack pondered, “So if the Wonderbolts isn’t your dream, what is?”
“I want to open up a flight camp for foals without pegasus parents.” She explained, “Did you know 30% of pegasus foals are born to earth ponies or unicorns?”
“I had no idea.” Applejack said, absorbing the information.
“Most of their parents can’t teach them to fly so they never go to flight school, since it’s in Cloudsdale.” She continued, “The majority just think flight will happen on their own, and to a certain extend it does. But in order to become skilled in it, you have to have someone to instruct you. So I want to open a camp on the ground.”
“That sounds great!” Applejack smiled.
“Thanks, I love working at the Wonderbolts training academy, it’s one the best part of my job, and I love foals. It would be perfect.”
“Does anypony else know?” AJ asked.
“Yeah a few, I’ve been looking for a place to set up this camp. I have a few places in mind, possibly Baltimare or Ponyville, since they have a high population of earth ponies and unicorns. I'm leaning more towards Ponyville though because I have a feeling parents wouldn't mind sending their foals to a small town. So both the mayors know what I am planning, and of course Princess Celestia. Money Bags and Soarin both know too, and I guess now you. I’m planning on retiring this year. I know Soarin wants in, since both of our contracts end at the same time we can work on it together.” She explained further.
“So… uh… Soarin likes working with foals too?” Applejack stammered.
Spitfire smiled knowing smile, “Yeah he loves them. Wants to have his own someday, just needs to find the right mare.” Spitfire winked making Applejack blush.
“I’m sure that won’t be difficult,” Applejack said, “I mean with him being a Wonderbolt an’ all.”
“Harder than you would think,” Spitfire shrugged.
“What do yah mean by that?” Applejack tilted her head.
“Oh, he is just looking for a pony that is down to earth, so to speak.” Spitfire said.
“Well, I guess it’s hard to find one up in the clouds.” Applejack chuckled.
“I suppose so.” Spitfire laughed, “Anyway I should get going. It’s been great getting to know you Applejack.”
“Likewise. And good luck tomorrow.” She replied.
As she left, Applejack went upstairs to check on Applebloom. She smiled when she found her asleep. Covering her up with the blankets she quietly sung,
“I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
May you never take one single breath for granted,
Celestia forbid love ever leave you empty handed,
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.
I hope you dance... I hope you dance.”
Applejack kissed her forehead and a small smile appeared on her sister’s face. As Applejack got up, she looked back on her sleeping form and a tear formed in her eye.
Going back to her room she found Rainbow Dash was fast asleep. She quietly tiptoed into her bed and fell into a restless sleep.
Author's Note
Hope you like it. It was a fun chapter to write. :)
A thanks to my editor Dawned Passion for helping me out.
