Listening to a Friendby Steamed-GritsChaptersJust Another MorningBefore the ShowOdd Smoke: Part 1Odd Smoke: Part 2Asking QuestionsThe Start of an AdventureSpecial Day: Part 1Special Day: Part 2A Memory in VioletA Meeting Awaited by OneJust Another MorningThe morning was bright, you cover your eyes, but to no avail, the light still found a way to reach them. You sit up, your eyes adjusting to the light, you stretch your legs and yawn. Your mane starts to itch on your neck, so you reach back with one of your hooves and scratch it. You look around your room, at the blank walls, the cream coloured walls. You roll out of your bed and onto the floor with an audible thump. Your legs don't want to move, but you force them to let you stand. You had a long night last night with your closest friend, Ditzy Doo. She had you run and fly all across Ponyville on a wild goose chase, for her humour of course. Your wings don't hurt all that much, but your legs do as if they'd just been trampled by a dragon. Ditzy had you look for a book called "Many Bubble Types." She told you to receive this book from Twilight Sparkle, the purple unicorn that lived in the library, what she didn't tell you is that she told Twilight tell you that she loaned it to a somepony, but couldn't remember who. So Twilight made you go to everypony she knew to ask for the book, a book which didn't exist. You are wrenched from your thoughts as a staccato knocking comes from your door. You crack your neck, making three pops on each side, and start for the door. You head down the hallway it is filled with paintings of many famous ponies, like Hayvid Tennant, Bob Marely, Buck Norris, Whinny Hendrix, so on, so forth. You don't really walk that fast until you hear the same staccato knocking, same four knocks, same tempo, same pitch. You stop and wait for the next series of knocks, it comes sooner than the last, exactly the same. You sigh deeply. Only one conclusion could be made about who this was, Ditzy Doo. You continue to the door, walking a little faster now, you pray that it's not the pony that wore you out so badly last night. When you get to the door you look through the magnified peephole near the top. Your prayer had served no purpose, it is Ditzy. You look to the far right side of the door, to the brass chain lock. You debate whether or not to undo it before opening the door; you don't. You push down on the handle of the door with your hoof and pull it open. There stands Ditzy Doo, a grey Pegasus with a light yellow mane. Her eyes are amber, actually rather beautiful save one fact: they normally aren't both facing the same way. This fact only seems to bother her when other ponies call her "Derpy" or some other stuff like that. But right now your friend doesn't seem annoyed or angry at something, actually she has a large smile on her face. It was much larger than normal actually, you raise an eyebrow to show that you are questioning this. Ditzy actually manages to focus her eyes before she explains to you what's on her mind. "You know who the Wonderbolts are," She cocks her head to the side, the smile still on her face. "right?" You nod slowly, your curiosity starting to rise, you close the door and undo the chain lock to open it. You open the door to see her face is closer now, you back up a tad. "Yeah, I know who they are, never really seen one of their shows before..." "And you remember my friend Soarin that I keep telling you about?" You lower your eyebrow. "Yes, get on with it." Your friend's happy expression instantly disappears. "Fine, be that way." Her eye drifts away from focus, "Oh by Celesti-... Never mind, anyway, I found out that he's in the Wonderbolts!" Her smile returns as she says this, you can tell that she can't hold back her excitement. Excitement for what though? Her excitement rubs off on you and you feel that a smile is creeping on your face. "Yes, and?" This time your question is out eagerness to know, not out of annoyance. "He invited me to their next show, told me I could bring a friend, he sent me backstage passes and everything!" She squeals with pure excitement, "I haven't seen him in forever, and now I get to see him perform!" She runs up to you and wraps her legs around you in an almost suffocating hug, almost. She squeals once more before letting you go. "So, you want to go?" By now the smile on your face has vanished, you push her slightly and close the door. You turn around, thinking that she will leave, but you hear her four staccato knocks from before. You sigh and turn around, proceeding to re-open the door. When it is open you tell her that you don't want to go. "C'mon, it'll be fun!" Your friend gives you the most pleading face she can, "Please?" You close the door, this time forgetting to lock it, but you don't notice. You turn around and walk through the hallway full of paintings. You stop next to the painting of Hayvid Tennant when you hear the door open behind you. You turn around and see Ditzy in the doorway, almost in tears. "This is v-very imp-portant to me..." A tear runs down her grey cheek. Now you've done it, you made Ditzy cry. Your face drops from an irritated expression to a concerned one. "P-please, come with me." From the pose she was holding, her two front legs more to her left and her back to her right, you could tell she wasn't expecting you to say yes. But... You walk up to her and wrap your legs around her in a hug. "Alright, I'll go with you, please stop crying..." She was silent during the hug and after a few moments you let go of her and back up to see if she stopped crying. She did, but she looks very confused, the tears had stopped but you could tell that they were there in the first place. Both of her eyes are focused on you, but an eyebrow is raised. "What did you just say?" It is now your turn to raise your eyebrow. "I'll... Go with you?" The question she asked confuses you, you really don't know what she was asking or how to answer it. "To the Wonderbolts show..." As you say this she gives you another tight hug, not nearly as tight as the other one. She thanks you multiple times. This hug extends to a full minute, you cough to ask her to stop. She lets go of you, blushing slightly. "Sorry." She looks up at the sky, the sun still low in the sky, but reaching over the mountains. "I have to go, the show is tonight." She looks back at you, her large smile returned now. "I'll meet you here at dusk, 'kay?" Your response is a simple nod, which she giggles at. "Alright I'll see you at dusk then!" She gives you a small salute and flies off, swerving slightly, a sign that shows that her eye became unfocused again. You chuckle to yourself and close the door. You redo the chain lock and head back to your room. As you walk you listen to the sound of your hooves hitting the floor with each step. You arrive inside the room with the blank walls, in the middle is your bed. You lay down on your bed and pull the covers over you. You still have at least 6 hours until the show, and you are off work today, so you close your eyes and drift off into sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A knock at your door wakes you from your peaceful slumber. You sit up and stretch, your limbs not nearly as sore as they were earlier. You hop off of your bed and start into the hallway. You have a feeling that you know who it is, but you still take your time down the hallway. Whoever is at your door knocks again, two knocks, almost legato. You raise an eyebrow, it's not Ditzy Doo, then who is it? Your speed increases slightly as you walk through the hallway. You reach the door and look through the peephole, it's a pale azure, almost white, Pegasus with a navy blue mane. You unlock and open the door. "Hello, I don't believe I've met you before." Your greeting doesn't go unnoticed. "I'm Soarin, Ditzy's friend." He dipped his head in greeting. "She told me this is where her closest friend in Ponyville lived, the one she invited to the show, is that right?" You nod in response, also to have him continue. "I'm here to tell you that we will be meeting down near the Everfree forest before the show, Ditz already knows this. Feel free to come if you want." You smile slightly, "Ditz'll be picking me up before then, so I'll be there." "Alright then, I'll see you there." Soarin grabs the door's handle between two hooves awkwardly, as if he'd been taught to do that, and closes the door as he leaves. You look through the small window next to the door to see the amount of light outside, it was bright, a few small clouds in the sky. It looked like it was noon. You turn around and look at the hallway that holds paintings on it's walls. You wonder if you should go back to sleep or do something else. You stand there for a moment, pondering. You shrug it off and walk through the hallway and into your room. You hop back onto the bed and quickly fall asleep once more. Before the ShowThe sun had passed it's climax in the sky and is now descending very slowly, the sky is reddening as dusk approaches with night on it's tail. It is roughly five at the moment, Ditzy will be at your door at any moment. You are in the shower, trying to wake yourself up completely and get rid of this small amount of weariness left over from your many hours of sleep from today, but still thinking of all of these things. You turn the water flow off and wait for it to stop falling on you, when it does you give yourself a brisk shake and flap your wings a few times until you are almost completely dry. You reach up to your mane with a hoof and squeeze out a good amount of the water remaining. You quickly dry yourself off with the softest towel that you have, enjoying the feel of it. You hang up the towel to dry and you hear four staccato knocks, you know instantly who it is. You walk through a different hallway, this one not nearly as long, with musical notes painted on the walls, Beethoofen's 9th. You reach the door and undo the chain lock while using your hoof on the handle of the door. The door swings open with Ditzy in the doorway. Your wall-eyed friend has her usual smile graced upon her face, one of her eyes are looking expectantly at you, the other looking at something in the distance. You think to yourself that she looks somewhat cute but think nothing more of it. She is the first to speak of the two of you, "You ready to go?" is what she begins with. You nod in response, "Alrighty then! Let's go!" You aren't ready, however, for what she does next. She walks around you and grabs your tail in her teeth and starts to drag you. You look back at her, not shocked, not angry, just slightly annoyed. "Ditzy, what are you doing?" You ask her, but all she does is look back at you and giggle. After her giggle she continues to walk, which prompts you to ask again "Ditzy Doo, seriously, what are you doing?" this time no response came from the gray mare. You sigh and spread your wings, there is a slight breeze that you feel flowing through your feathers, it feels good. You make a movement that has come more naturally than blinking to you, you churn your wings up through the air, then back down, creating lift for you to take flight. You flap a few more times, not only making lift, but also thrust, moving you in the opposite direction of what Ditzy Doo wants, but you turn yourself around, dragging her now. You hear a very audible squeak when your friend is lifted into the air, you can feel her flailing below you. She is panicking, forgetting that she has wings altogether. You firmly plant your hoof onto your face at this, making no comment. It takes Ditzy Doo a few moments before she remembers she has wings and you hear the flapping of her wings behind you, you also feel her let go of your tail. Within a few minutes she is next to you and clouts you playfully behind your ear, you chuckle when she does. "Ha, ha, very funny." Despite her tone her face betrays her, as you can tell that she is very close to laughing herself. You develop a very large smile and mock her sarcastically. "I love you too Ditz." You chuckle after you say that. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After a few minutes of flying the two of you arrive at the Everfree Forest, you shudder at the sight of the unnatural place. Trees grew on their own and animals care for themselves without anypony's help, a horrible place it is. You scan the area, looking for blue jumpsuits. It doesn't take you very long to find them, they are at the very edge of the Celestia forsaken place, chatting among themselves. You and Ditz land not too far off and walk the rest of the way. When you get closer you note that there are three of them there. As soon as you are almost right next to them the very pale beige one with a yellow mane, which has brighter yellow streaks, greets you happily, "Hi, so you must be... um..." You introduce Ditzy and yourself to her, her blue eyes widen as she hears your friend's name. "So you're Ditzy Doo?" She asks while looking over at her. "Soarin has been saying that you'll be chatting with us!" She seems to be a very... ecstatic pony. you think to yourself. You don't notice, but as you were thinking that Soarin walked up to you with the other of the Wonderbolts, a yellow Pegasus with an orange mane with lighter orange highlights and sienna eyes, she dipped her head in greeting, specifically targeted to you. You automatically understood that she already knew Ditzy, you reflect her action to her. The yellow mare then spoke, "Shooting Star, no need to be so jumpy." she looks at the two of you, "New recruit." You and your wall-eyed friend nod in feigned understanding. "Anyway, I'm Spitfire," she gestures to the new recruit, "this is Shooting Star, and you already know Soarin." You barely notice that the pale azure Pegasus nods when she says this. You are paying attention to Spitfire, you had a brow raised. Before she can start asking questions you take your attention from her and change it to Shooting Star, you jump in surprise because she's watching you. You shrink away slightly, you ask her if she can stop watching you. She narrows her eyes at you, them only being narrow blue slits, blue slits of suspicion . . . At least you think it's suspicion. She walks up to you and whispers in your ear almost silently, not wanting anyone else to hear. "I'll speak to you after the show." There is a seriousness, an almost coldness, in her voice that sends a shiver down your spine. You look over in the direction of Spitfire, Soarin and Ditz, none of them noticed what just happened. You turn to look at Shooting Star, but she's already walking away, shaking her head, her yellow mane bobbing to and fro. After all of this you are just standing there, obviously confused. Odd Smoke: Part 1At this point of day there was no more sun in the sky, the moon just barely rising. You are following Ditzy to the show that she claimed will "blow your mind". Doubtful, very doubtful. The two of you are standing at the front of a crowd, the Wonderbolts brought you to the show before anypony else just to be in the front. Around you everypony is cheering their lungs out, especially the cyan pony next to you. You look over to see if you recognize them, you do. The cyan pony is none other than Rainbow Dash, one of the weather ponies for Ponyville, the biggest fan of the Wonderbolts. Of course she's in the front of the crowd. You look back up to the stage, ready for the show to begin. The stage is dimly lit with lights of gold and red; all around the crowd comes to a staggering hush. You hear Rainbow Dash squeal in joy even before the show starts. You hear a voice come from behind the stage, the announcer. "Fillies and gentlecolts, are you all ready for the best night of your lives?" As he says this the roar of cheering rises up from the almost silence of before. They were obviously ready. "Great! Because the Wonderbolts have a new recruit full of life and energy, put your hooves together for Shooting Star!" The cheers in the crowd, to your surprise, grow even louder than not even six seconds ago. You look up to see your new friend come before the audience right when she flies out from behind the stage. Her yellow mane resembles what she was named after; a shooting star, she does a few tricks and spins by herself before making her landing. There is a large amount of cheering for the newcomer to the Wonderbolts. It was now the announcer's time once more. "Now, welcome our veterans; Soarin' and Spitfire!" The lights start to dim down and you look to the stage, expecting a similar performance to Shooting Star's. A crack of thunder from almost directly above you catches your, and almost everyone else's, attention bringing them to silence. There is a gathering of storm clouds above you, seeming to be holding onto the next. Flashes of lightning are making their own show inside of the thunderclouds, seeming to want to upstage the Wonderbolts. But to your surprise you hear a voice from inside one of the clouds. "Let's go!" Following soon after these words a song that you aren't able to recognize begins to play, a signal for the clouds to change in shape to become a lightning bolt. Out of the cloud two flashes of colour burst, both blue, one holding a streak of darker blue, the other with orange. The two, now recognizable by their colours, twist around each other, leaving behind a helix of smoke and lightning. The lights from the stage shoot up to them, reflecting off their suits and manes more, almost blinding you. You shield your eyes with a hoof and almost in the same second you hear a loud cheer from the crowd, so you look once more. You see Spitfire careening down toward the ground, everyone thinks that she is diving. She isn't. She is obviously falling, blinded by the light that did the same to you. The rainbow-maned pony next to you noticed this as well, so she tries to fly in to save her, but is held down by everyone else in the crowd. You glance at her and back up to Spitfire, almost panicking until you see how high up she is. You let out a sigh of relief and push your way out through the crowd as fast as you can. When you are outside of the crowd you spread your wings and take off. You aren't as fast as any of the Wonderbolts or Rainbow Dash, but still, you will make it to Spitfire in time. You flap your wings as hard as you can, churning the air around them to propel yourself through the air. You look directly in front of you to make sure that you don't crash into any obstacles. To your surprise there aren't any obstacles at all, it's a straight shot to the stage; you take this chance to observe your surroundings. Below you the crowd is still watching Spitfire, expecting her to perform some sort of trick. You look ahead of yourself again to see that Spitfire is falling faster than before. You think that you can fly no faster, but still try, beating down the air underneath your wings with full force, it works. To your surprise you fly much faster than you've flown before. Still looking to Spitfire you notice that there isn't much distance between you and her, so you continue your wingbeats at the same strength and speed, unable to flap any harder. As you get closer you hear the screams of Spitfire and the dissuasive comments of the crowd, Screams first, jeers later. you think. You now are but an inch away from her, you reach out for her with your neck. She notices you. The orange-maned pony reaches out and wraps her hooves around your neck, causing you to drop half a foot from the impact, but you recover. You look at her, she is clinging on for dear life and her eyes are still dilated from the light, causing you to feel sorry for her. You look around for a good place to land, which you find not four seconds after beginning your search, for the crowd had opened up for you. You slow your flight for your descent, holding out your wings in a glide. You take a quick look at Spitfire and ask "Anything hurt aside from the obvious?" She rolls her eyes, "Yes, my eyes obviously, but also my left wing, I think I sprained it or something." She let go of you and dropped to the ground. "Thanks." Odd Smoke: Part 2You make your landing soon after Spitfire, feeling the ground make contact with your hooves. You nod to the yellow pegasus and reply, "Not a problem Spitfire." You put on a smile, which quickly fades from your face as you start to feel lightheaded. Your knees wobble a bit, making you feel as if you are standing on top of jelly. You don't notice but your body spasms... Until you feel a sudden jolt of pain tear it's way through your entire being. It's is a burning, excruciating pain, but you only mutter one simple word. "Ouch..." You see the world before you begin to rotate to the right when you realize that you are falling, everything seems to slow down in it's rotation as thousands of incomplete thoughts go through your head. after what seems to be five minutes you hear a thud in one of your ears and everything goes dark. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You awake in a comfortable bed in a blindingly white room, all the lights are on, causing it to be even more white. You scan the area for any giveaways as to where you are. Your vision is blurred from hopefully the whiteness of the room, but you still manage to see a yellow and orange blur. You blink four times, your vision clearing with each blink. When your sight is as clear as most days you see that the yellow blur is Spitfire; she is looking at you with a very distressed look on her face, but there's more to her expression than just that... Her mane is down, not like during the show when it was standing straight up, her eyes are dull and glassy, showing just how tired she is; she must have been here for at least a day. Spitfire notices that you are awake and quickly develops an enormous smile; she wraps you in a light hug. "Anything hurt aside from the obvious?" She releases you and lets out a small titter. "I'm hurt?" You ask immediately after processing her question, you look under the covers of the bed for any kind of bandaging or casting. You are about to look at your left wing when you hear Spitfire burst into a fit of laughing, so you look from under the covers. You see the yellow pegasus rolling on the ground with her hooves on her ribs. After a moment she stands up and wipes a tear from her eye, done laughing now. "I was kidding! You weren't hurt too badly," she points to a calendar on the wall, "but you have been unconscious for two and a half days." You examine the calendar only to see that she is right. You look back to her, now only having two questions on your mind, so you ask the first of the two. "Spit, how long have you been here?" "Two and a half days, why?" This left one question. "Why did you stay here for two and a half days? We've only known each other for half a da-" "Three." "Three days!" "Well," Spitfire begins to explain, "you saved me." She swallows; you can tell that there's more reason, but you don't press her. She might want to explain on her own. She does, so she continues, "Also... I may or may not have been laid off for ditching the show to bring you to the hospital..." You furrow your brow, somewhat confused. That didn't sound like a good reason to be fired. "Oh, come on now," You began to press, "that can't be why you got fired." "It is, I left without telling anypony where I was going, and to everypony else you looked perfectly fine. I tried to explain when I went back, but nopony listened." She smiled sheepishly. "So, i got fired." Her gaze gives off a look of pleading, genuine pleading, not like when somepony that lives between two buildings asks for money to go get a drink with, but sincere pleading. "I lived in the hotel rooms rented out for us, so now I have nowhere to live... Can I live wi-" Before she could finish her question Nurse Redheart enters the room, she is carrying a clipboard in a white saddlebag. Funny, white bag, white room, white pony. You think almost aloud, but you bite your tongue to assure that the words stay private, to not offend her. The nurse stops in her tracks when she sees that you are awake, she smiles at both you and Spitfire. "Glad to see that you're awake." She then grabs something off of her back, something that you never noticed, it was a tray of food. "I brought you food for every meal ever since you went unconscious, upon request of Ms. Spitfire here. She was hoping that you'd awaken sooner than you did." You look at Spitfire, to see if this was true; she had a smile on her face and she nodded, so it was. Nurse Redheart continued, "You know, you have a great fillyfriend in her." Upon hearing this you feel your heart stop, you also see Spitfire's face go red and her eyes become constricted. Your head whips to Ms. Redheart so you can face her and you retort. "She is not my fillyfriend, I am not her coltfriend, we are not together! What gave you that idea?" "Ms. Spitfire of course." You feel your own face become warmer, obviously blushing. In your mind you have a thousand questions, for Nurse Redheart and Spitfire, but you focus on the ones for Nurse Redheart. "Okay, so when do I get out of here?" You are somewhat irritated, which carries to your facial expression and voice. Nurse Redheart sees and hears this, so she becomes a little embarrassed for going off of the word of one pony. "You won't be getting out for another day, tomorrow at lunch, so get plenty of rest." Asking QuestionsIt is two o'clock in the afternoon at the Ponyville hospital, thirteen hours after you were told to stay at the hospital for another whole day. Turns out that you were hurt, which Spitfire told you you weren't, you had stretched many tendons, muscles and ligaments in your left wing. You had been told to stay off of that wing, not to move it at all, and you haven't moved it once, you just sat there in your bed most of the time but you have not been able to sleep at all during that time. Spitfire left ten hours ago to get some sleep of her own, turns out that she had been awake for the entirety of the time of when you were unconscious. You are currently sipping out of the straw of a juice box, it is apple juice. You feel the sweet liquid flow over your tongue, quenching any thirst that you had. From this sensation of liquid you thought of oceans, fish, and oceanariums. Oceanariums normally have tanks of fish for you to watch, but they also have shows of dolphins and seals performing tricks. Tricks... The show three-ish days ago had tricks in it as well. At that show you saved Spitfire... Why did Spitfire tell Nurse Redheart that you were her coltfriend? "Why did she say that?" You ask aloud, still not caring. There's nopony around to hear it anyway... Or so you think. "Why did who say what?" The response comes from your left, you look to see who had asked that question; it is Rainbow Dash. A pony who was at the show, she saw you save Spitfire... but you barely even know Rainbow, so why is she here? You raise your eyebrow to show your questioning of this, she doesn't catch on. You sigh and ask her with words from your mouth. "Rainbow, what are you doing here?" The cyan pegasus smiles, which you can easily tell is that of a fabrication, and makes her explanation; the fabrication. "Oh, nothing really. I've just come to see my best friend in the entire world!" As she speaks those last seven words, Rainbow Dash points directly at you. You narrow your eyes, meaning for her to know that you know that was a lie, she seems to understand in a heartbeat, but she makes no attempt to correct it for another two hours. After said two hours pass, Rainbow finally breaks under pressure and tells you the truth: "I came to see you because you are obviously the one who saved Spitfire." She grinned, "Unless, that is, there is another pony in Ponyville that looks exactly like you." You roll your eyes, that's exactly why you thought she was here. Rainbow grinned herself at this point. "So, did she sign your cast?" In the same instant that she says this, she makes her way to your left side. "Speaking of, where is your cast?" She places one of her hooves underneath your wing and lifts it sharply... It is the wing you were instructed not to move; you hear a sharp sound, it was a mixture between a crack and a pop, at the same moment you feel pain that resembles being stabbed four times in your shoulder. Within an instant a tear rolls out of your eye, you hear somepony screaming, it sounds like they had just been through the worst pain they had ever felt in their life. They did, the screaming is coming out of your mouth; the pain is pouring through your body as if your blood were made of acid. Rainbow jumps back, obviously knowing that she did something wrong. She looks around before saying that she'll go get Nurse Redheart. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At this point you have to wait yet another two days, all thanks to Rainbow Dash... She was still in the room, but you weren't talking to her at the current moment. The cyan pegasus had apologized at least thirty times, but you just lay there in your bed, staring at the ceiling. It has been twenty minutes since your wing was put back into place and you were given painkillers for the obvious pain that you have felt and were going to feel. Thanks to the painkillers stated previously, the pain has been numbed out almost completely. You are thinking about all the questions that you want to ask Spitfire if you ever see her again, questions like "Why did you tell Nurse Redheart that I am your coltfriend?" and "What are your thoughts about me?". Speak of the devil; directly after your thoughts about the yellow pegasus come to a close, you hear the door open, you know who it is before even hearing her voice, which comes shortly after the door closes. "Hey there guy... Why are you still in here?" She inquires. You give off an audible sigh, you aren't able to sit up, so you stay on your lower back while you speak. "Nothing really, Rainbow Dash popped my wing out of place while my muscles were still healing." You turn your head to glare at the rainbow-maned pony at your side, "I have to stay another two days because of her..." Spitfire hesitates a moment before asking. "You want to know everything, right?" To this you nod as visibly as you can. You heard her sigh. "Alright, I'll tell you everything tomorrow evening..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are still inside your room, it's been twenty-eight hours since the little "incident" with Rainbow, twenty-eight hours since Spitfire told you that she'd come about now... Where was she? You are sitting up now, staring directly at the door, not expecting it to open at this point... But it does, bringing Spitfire in with it. The filly with the flame-coloured mane is smiling at you. You ask her to tell you everything, she makes no attempt to stay silent about any details that she gave her word to tell you about. Spitfire began with this: "I told my boss that I left the team to be with you." The Start of an AdventureYour eyes widen in disbelief, Spitfire had basically just told you that you were more important than a job that rolled in bits every hour. 'I left the team to be with you.' were her words that she spoke to you that now left your mind blank. You shake your head, you don't know whether or not you interpreted that right... No way did she feel that way about you... But she did tell Nurse Redheart that you were her coltfriend... And she also told you before that she was fired, not that she left the team! Which one was the lie here? You look up to the orange-maned mare in front of you and collect your thoughts before speaking. "Alright, I don't quite think I heard you right, can you please repeat yourself?" You smile. "I mean, I thought I heard you say that you wanted to stay with me and that's why you don't have your job?" A blush collects on her face, to her it must have been obvious that she'd been misunderstood. She scratches the back of her head lightly with her left hoof. "Sorry, I should have worded that better... What I meant to say is that I told my boss that I wanted to stay in Ponyville and resigned from my position as the captain of the Wonderbolts." A nervous grin grows on her lips. "Doing tricks for other pony's entertainment was starting to get a bit boring, y'know?" You nod, although you have no clue what that would be like... She continues. "And I kind of told him that I'd be staying with you.." You blink a few times before the bag of figurative bricks hit you. She decided to live, without mutual consent, with somepony that she just met at the cost of her job! What kind of pony does that, especially if they have a well paying job? "You didn't decide to ask me first?" "We were going to leave while you were still out... I had to think of something." She sticks out her tongue. "But you don't even know my name!" You had introduced yourself to the other Wonderbolts, but not to her... "I had Rainbow Dash tell me, she's always trying to look for a way to get into the Wonderbolts." "You lied to her and told her that you were still the captain?" "I didn't tell her anything, she just ran away squeeing like a school filly, she'd just done something for her hero!" You hear a snicker leave the ex-Wonderbolt's lips. "It was actually really funny!" You raise an eyebrow while she laughs obnoxiously. "She'll be back in an hour I'd guess." She snorts as she continues to laugh, she is definitely not the most refined pony you had ever met... You sigh deeply and close your eyes. You want to process all of this; Spitfire shakes you lightly and calls out your name, but you pay no mind to her at all. You just lay there, keeping all pressure from your wing, and drift into the black void of sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are now out of the hospital, twenty nine hours after Spitfire had explained everything that happened with her job. You were standing outside of Ponyville Hospital with Spitfire, the pony that you have only known for about a week... The mare that you are letting live with you in your house. You have a feeling that you are going to regret this... But you'll deal with that when it comes to you. You take a deep breath, fresh air. You hadn't smelled fresh air since you were put into the hospital, not that you were forced to, you just didn't want to leave your bed. Spitfire gestures with her hoof away from the hospital. "Lead the way, oh generous one!" Her smile is bigger than Pinkie Pie's at a party, it was kind of off setting... "To your- err... Our house!" She begins to march in place which causes you to snicker slightly. You make a motion with your neck for her to follow you and begin on your way to your house. "Yeah, our house." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are able to see your house from where you are now, just a few yards from it actually. When you get to the door you receive a surprise that is not a pleasant one: the front door is unlocked. You open the door and see that all of your paintings are gone... Okay, one of two things could have happened... You think to yourself. One: Somepony could have come in and robbed me of all of my stuff... Or two: D- You cut yourself off when you see a gray and yellow blur in the corner of your vision. You sigh. It's two. "Yo, Ditz! What happened to all of my stuff?" You call to the mare that you now know is here. You hear her squeak as she shuffles into your full line of sight, she looks kind of depressed... She looks directl-... As close to directly as at you she can. You can see it in her eyes, she is going to make up a story, but you let her do it. "I am so, so sorry... The Cutie Mark Crusaders came in here and tried to get a mayonnaise painting cutie mark..." Spitfire leans to whisper into your ear. "Cutie Mark Crusaders? Mayonnaise painting? What in the name of Celestia is that?" "You'll learn about the CMC later... As for the second thing, I have no clue... I guess we'll just have to listen to find out" You whisper. Ditzy Doo continues with her fable. "The mayo got all over your paintings and ruined the oil in the paint... I couldn't stop them... Sorry..." You smile and shake your head. "Let me guess, you were eating a sandwich after you waxed the floor and slid everywhere, spewing the mayonnaise onto all of the paintings?" She flinches, you hit it right on the mark, she sighs. "Yeah... But..." "But what?" "I just don't know what went wrong!" Special Day: Part 1"...ke up!" You slowly begin to become aware of a voice near you. "...ude! ...ome on, ...ke up!" You are drifting in and out of sleep as whoever is speaking to you starts to shake you. "Yo!" Your eyes shoot open to a yellow blur... A yellow blur that now has a white streak high on it. "Yes! You are finally awake! Took you long enough." You blink a few times to make out the image before you. It's Spitfire standing squarely above you on your bed. The ex-Wonderbolt has a huge grin on her face and is wearing a party hat. You smile in return at the words you know are about to leave her mouth. "Happy birthday dude!" She flaps her wings and jumps off of your bed toward the table at the other end of the room, she picks something up from it with her teeth. You feel a soft rush of air as she turns around and blows into a kazoo that she is holding in between her lips. You chuckle. The two of you have lived with each other for about three months now. It is just past the end of Winter, you'd had good times, and bad over the quarter year thus far... You are actually thinking of asking Spitfire if she had any plans for Hearts and Hooves Day in a couple of weeks, but that could wait. You two are partners in crime, closer than if you were pressed between Big Mac and an apple tree, you didn't want to ruin that. "Thanks Spit," You scratch the back of your head. "but you should be careful 'cause you know what will happen in," "Three," She begins. You nod, "Two," You both sigh and smile simultaneously. "One." As the two of you finish the breath of a word you hear a loud thump on the wall next to the front door. "I'll get it, I mean, it's not my special day, now is it?" Before you can reply she turns and walks out of your room to go let Ditzy Doo in. You smile after her, thinking of the things you could have said... But you let it go. And before you know it, everything fades out to black. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "...ke up!" You hear a voice come from somepony near you... Again "...ude! ...ome on, ...ke up!" This is happening again, really? You think to yourself as you feel a pony, whom you presume you already know the identity of, start to shake you. "Yo!" Your eyes shoot open to a yellow blur... The same yellow blur. You sigh. "Yes! You are finally awake! Thank Celestia! I thought you were dead!" Spitfire is sitting at the foot of your bed with a plate of what you hope is filth from the garbage disposal on a chair next to her. She sees that you are looking at her plate of mysteries and addresses it. "It's breakfast! Dude, you gotta try it! It's apparently some sort of Fillypino food, my cousin gave me the recipe!" She then gives it a skeptical look. "Though I think I may have messed up somewhere in the mix..." She gives a nonchalant shrug. "Oh well. Eat up!" Spitfire stands and scoots the chair around your bed to where it is nearing your head. As the revolting mixture gets closer the reek of it hits your nose, giving you the evil sensation that is a sure cause for retching your guts out. but you resist. You pull off a weak smile simply out of courtesy for Spitfire. "Just remember, it's only been two days, but if you want you can have me cook you breakfast every day!" The yellow mare giggles before twirling around to walk out the door. Leaving you with the plate of pure evil. You let out another sigh, since when did you agree to letting her bring you breakfast for any day? That doesn't really matter now, she already made this... Whatever it is... And you'll just tell her not to do this "nice gesture" for you again. You press down on the bed with your hooves that are on the same side of the bed as "breakfast" and roll yourself out of bed. You land neatly on all four hooves and stretch out your wings. You admire your feathered appendages for a short moment before asking yourself the question "How long will Spitfire be staying with me?" You jump over your bed with your wings reaching outward as you glide to the opposing side. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After the gruesome task of choking down whatever it was that Spitfire seemed to have scraped from the bottom of the refrigerator, you now find yourself walking around Ponyville. You don't even remember agreeing on walking with her, honestly you remember it going somewhat like this: "Bro," You cut her off. "Why are you calling me bro?" She shrugged. "Fine, dude." Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Guess what!" You decided not to respond to her for a few seconds, giving her the dramatic pause you guessed she was hoping for. "What Spit?" "Oh, so you can call me Spit, but I can't call you bro?" "Precisely." "Man, that hurts me right here." She pointed to her center. "Your heart or your spirit?" "Neither! It's my stomach... You ate all of that good looking food so now I'm hungry..." She grinned a wolfish grin. You cleared your throat. "Anyway, what were you saying?" Her grin grew wider and more sly. You had a bad feeling about that... "You're walking with me." "I'm doing wha-" Before you could finish your question Spitfire already had you by the tail and had bolted out the door. You shake your head vigorously. This was your life now you had to get used to it. Every so often, or as your mom used to tell you, you will run into obstacles, you have to deal with them. You look over at the yellow pegasus that is practically the paragon of happiness by herself. Maybe she is your next obstacle? Special Day: Part 2"Dude! Come on!" Your yellow companion whines. "No Spit, I don't like going in there!" You shake your head vigorously, you are heavily set in your opinion of the building standing in front of you. Spitfire stamps the ground with her two front feet repeatedly like a foal. "Aww, but why not!?" You shake your head. "It just makes me feel uncomfortable..." Following this statement you shudder. Spitfire snickers. "I'm going in, and you can't stop me bro!" "Don't call me bro..." As you say this you look down dejectedly. "Still going in!" The bell on the door rings when Spitfire pushed the door open. "Welcome to Carousel Boutique!" A voice happily chimes when Spitfire opens the door. "This place is evil Spit!" You explain, trying your hardest to stop your friend from being corrupted. "Rarity is a demonic hag-witch out to eat your soul!" "What!?" Comes a loud exclamation from a pony inside. "Please, oh please, tell me that isn't who I think it is!" She pleads in her transatlatting accent. You hear the "clop" of her hooves with each step she takes, until she meets the obstruction that you have for a companion at the door. You take a few steps until you're behind Spitfire in the doorway to see a flash of a white coat on the other side. "Oh my gosh," She starts hyperventilating, "are you Spitfire?" "Umm... Yes, yes I am." The yellow mare puffs out her chest in pride, almost as if she'd never been recognized before. You smile when you realize it's most likely because ponies don't recognize her with a well-kept mane. She smiles as well before speaking again. "I take it that you're the hag-witch, Rarity?" This is followed up by a giggle. Rarity, however, glowers at this. "Okay, no, no, no. I," She puts extra emphasis on herself "am not a hag-witch! Who ever told you this rubbish?" You push your way past Spitfire so that you are face-to-face with the purple-maned mare; you have a huge smile stretching across ear-to-ear. "Hey there evil hag-witch!" She squints back at you and grins. "Oh, why hello Jetlag, having a good time with your inamorata?" You blink a couple times. "Inamo-" You then feel the gears turn into place. "Spitfire is not my fillyfriend! My Celestia!" Spitfire pokes your shoulder with a hoof and you turn around. You see her frowning. "I-I'm not?" She starts sniveling. "No Spit, you aren't." You snicker, you can tell that she's faking. She catches on that you can tell and lets out a chortle. "You told me your name was Streamline, not Jetl-" "Let's not go into that." You scowl and turn back to Rarity. "We'll be leaving no-" Spitfire pushes her way into the dress shop. "Oh no we aren't! I want a dress!" You shake your head; she's lying, but you don't let her know that you can tell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are sitting outside of Carousel Boutique, waiting for the girls to be done playing dress-up and for Spitfire to be done spending YOUR bits when Ditzy Doo comes around wearing her mailbag over her shoulder. "Oh, hey there bro bro!" She has her cute little smile on her face. "How's it going?" You stare at her blankly for a short moment. "Bro br-" You shake your head vigorously. "Never mind, I'm just waiting for Spitfire, she's buying a dress from the hag-witch." Ditzy blinks confusedly a couple times before responding. "Hag-witch... that's Rarity, right?" You smile and nod before you think about her bag. "Ditz, aren't you supposed to be done with your delivery shift by now?" She looks at her courier and flushes. "Oh! Oh! Right!" The mailmare opens her bag and fishes a letter out of it. "Yrr've grrt rr lrrtrrr!" She says in a failed attempt to speak around the piece of postage she has in her mouth. She gives it to you and repeats. "You've got a letter!" She giggles and flies off before you can ask any questions. With the paper now in your hooves you stare at it, it has no return address... That is queer. You neatly open the flap of the envelope and remove its contents: a folded piece of paper. You question whether or not you should read it... you unfold it and read what is inscribed. It reads as such: Streamline, As you may be aware, even though I said we would, we never talked after the show. It's been a week now and I feel that we still need to talk. This is really important, so don't forget please! Remember where we first met? Right outside of Everfree Forest? Meet me there tomorrow night at six, don't make me wait! Also don't tell Spitfire or Ditzy Doo that we're meeting, it's just for you and me. Shooting Star You stare blankly at the page in front of you and ponder the words. "She wants to see me..." You say to yourself. "Who wants to see you?" You jump at the sudden voice behind you and close the letter. You spin around to meet whoever is behind you, it's Spitfire. "Oh! I didn't realize you were there Spitfire! What's up?" You smile nervously. Did she read any of that? "Really?" She scowls. "You're just going to ignore my question dude?" "Oh, huh? What was the question?" "Who wants to see you?" "Oh... umm... my mom." You feel your lips twitching, you don't want to lie to her, but Shooting Star specifically said not to tell her. "My mom wants me to go to Appleloosa to see her." "Oh..." Spit now looks downcast now. "So you're going to be leaving me soon?" You shake your head. "Of course not Spit, I'll write her a letter to tell her that I won't be coming out." She snickers. "Of the closet!" She then opens her wings and takes off. "See you at home! You're taking my dress!" "Dress?" You look down and see a bag with neatly folded blue fabric inside. "Of course Spit, of course." You shake your head and pick up the back "See you at home." You mumble to yourself before walking home. A Memory in VioletYou yawn as you get comfortable in your bed, the day had been long and you can't wait for some shuteye. Everything that happened... Spitfire dragging you around town, the brief letter from Shooting Star, and seeing Rarity again... Rarity... You close your eyes and drift into sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Jetlag..." A voice says in a disappointed tone. "You told me we'd go to Manehattan today..." This is definitely a dream. "Jetlaaaaag!" The voice whined. "Get uuuuup!" Your eyes flutter open slowly to see the beautiful white unicorn who looks almost as if she is about to cry. "Alright, alright, please stop complaining Rarity." You yawn while shaking your head in a violent manner. At this she seems to perk up, though she still apparently feels the urge to correct you. "I was whining, not complaining, though I doubt you want to hear me complain." Rarity wraps you in her magic and whisks you out of bed. "Now, are we going or not?" Without waiting for an answer the purple-maned unicorn tosses you into the shower and shuts the door. She wanted this. You sigh and shake your head. You did, in fact, promise Rarity that you two would go to Manehattan, however, you promised you would leave after sunset, not after sunrise. You twist the "hot" knob for your shower and wait momentarily for the warm rush of water that flows over you. "You're a little early, don'cha think?" You ask the mare on the other side of the shower door. "I mean, like, a twelve hour difference." "Oh, hardly." She puts plenty of emphasis on the "ah" in hardly. "It's only been eleven hours and a half." You roll your eyes. "Look, Rarity," You say in as little of a chastising tone as you can. "that's not much of a difference." "Yes, yes it is. I would much rather have someone be eleven and a half hours early." You can't see her face, but you know that she is scowling, she's in "Serious Mode". "Being twelve hours early is simply too early." "Oh, you are right dear," You mimic her accent. "however, anything earlier than ten minutes is simply too early." You give yourself the satisfaction of a barely audible chortle. You hear her giggle. "Jetlag, that was actually pretty good." She pounds on the door with a hoof. "Now, hurry and get out of there." "You just threw me in!" "I pushed you i-" "I get it, but you know what I mean." Sometimes her constant correcting gets on your nerves. "Fine, take your time, but we are leaving soon." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are at the train station... funny, it's more green than you recall it ever being. You look to the mare who is selling you your tickets to Manehattan, a cute brown mare who looks no older than you are. You've never met her before, nor do you wish to now, so you pay her no mind. She hoofs you your tickets and you are on your way. "Jetlag!" Rarity whines from next to you. You sigh. 'What now Rarity?" "When is the train going to be here?" You don't answer her question, she'd been doing this for nearly a year; whining, complaining, generally just being annoying to you. You did not wish to speak to her. "Jetlag!" You give no response. "Jetlag!" Not giving in. "Jetlag." You shake your head this time, hoping she gets the message. "Jetlag..." You grind your teeth against each other, if she does that one mo- "Jetlag...?" You snap. "What do you want Rarity!?" You whip to your right to face the white unicorn only to see that she isn't there. You make a full turn, she stopped behind you. "I-I'm sorry Jetlag..." Her face contorts into a devilish smile and her coat becomes a reddish-white, odd... "I didn't mean to disturb you so much." Her mane shifts to black and all of the scenery to the violet her mane used to be. She blinks, her eyes now being two glistening, flickering flames of orange. "What can I do to make it up to you?" Her voice at least two octaves deeper now. "Umm... Rarity, are you alright?" Stupid question, you pound your hoof against your forehead. "Please," She has now lost her accent completely. "I'll do anything for you 'Lag." ...She never called you that. You turn around and start to walk toward the train, however, before you can reach it you are pulled into a swirling dark abyss. There are ponies, what you hope to be ponies, shrieking and wailing all around you, their blood splashing out of seemingly empty spaces into your face. There are manticores lumbering past you in full pelt and a hydra fighting to the death with timber wolves. There is a thundering roar that comes from ahead of you, a giant blue dragon is flying toward you with it's claws outstretched and it's teeth bared. You feel a shiver start at the bases of your hooves and climb to the tips of your ears. You close your eyes and cower before your demise. Before the dragon reaches it's mark, you plummet deeper into the abyss. Down. Down. Down. Until you feel a heavy thump on your chest. Your eyes flutter open to see a phoenix with it's beak in your face. It squawks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your eyes burst open with a start. Your chest is heaving in the wake of your nightmare. A smile breaks on your lips. There she is. Spitfire. "Morning bro! Bad dream?" A Meeting Awaited by One"What do you mean you have to go out alone today?" Asks the yellow pegasus in front of you. "Are you doing something important today?" She narrows her eyes briefly and develops a wolfish grin. "Or someone?" You feel the heat in your face instantly rise, it's obvious to both parties that you are blushing—hard. "Wh-WHAT?" You exclaim immediately. "How could you even ask that? I-I-I . . ." It's hard for you to imagine, but you are flustered beyond words—literally! You manage to sputter a few sounds before actually saying something. "I-if I were to do anyone it'd be y-." You cut yourself short . . . But you aren't fast enough, you see Spitfire's face redden substantially and her eye become wide, so wide that they look like they might pop out of her head. I'm going to regret this . . . You think. It is now her turn to sputter like a fool. "Wh-wh-wh-WHAT!?" A hoof meets your face at blinding speed followed within the instant by a flash of light. "Jetlag . . . You are such a pervert!" You feel another collision with your face. "I was joking about that and then you bring up your sick fantasy of me!?" You close your eyes tight and brace yourself for the impact of a third blow that doesn't come. You sit there braced until you hear the slamming of your door. You sit there staring at the door for a few brief moments before it swings back open and In comes Ditzy Doo dragging Spitfire in by the tail. She lets go of the flame-maned mare. "Package for my bro bro!" She beams at you. You blink. "I'm still questioning the whole 'bro bro' thing . . . But . . ." You glance at Spitfire. "Why?" Ditzy rolls her eyes, yes, both of her eyes . . . separately. "Well, duh, that's obvious!" You blink a couple more times, pulling your most oblivious face. "I heard all of that and decided that you both needed to apolo-" "I don't need to apologize to a pervert!" Butts in Spitfire. "What did he say?" Asks your gray friend. Spitfire becomes flushed once more. "'If I were to do anyone it'd be you.'" Ditzy smiles at you, a huge, happy smile. "I called it!" You and Spitfire both stare at her. "Huh?" "Oh, nothing Spit, he just totally digs you." Spitfire blushes even harder and is visibly at a loss for words. Once more in the face her hoof goes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your face, despite the fact that it's been nearly four hours since Spitfire assaulted your face, still hurts. "I am starting to debate whether or not letting her stay with me was a good idea." You say to yourself before letting off a sigh. It is six in the evening and you are waiting just outside of Everfree Forest, just like the letter from Shooting Star requested. You are keeping an eye out for the pony that invited you—Shooting Star. Sheshould be here soo-. Your thoughts are cut short by a beige and yellow blur tackling you and kissing you. As soon as it stops you realize that this is the one you were waiting for. "You made it! You actually came!" She says with more glee than you thought anypony could hold besides Pinkie Pie. "I didn't think you'd come! I missed you!" You push her off of you and stare at her in confusion. "What are you talking about? A friend asked me to do something and I did." You smile sweetly to her. "Now what did you want Star?" Her smile widens impossibly. "You!" You blink a couple times. " . . . What?" "Oh, oh, sorry, I mean I want to get with you." You blush with the force of a million of Celestia's glorious suns. "I mean I want to be together with you . . . I'm bad at saying things. That doesn't help your blushing at all. "You WHAT?" She swallows hard before answering. "Well, I like you, like, like like you." She turns the slightest bit red. "I couldn't stop thinking about or dreaming of you for the past week, it's been horrible, not being able to see you." You blink slowly before making an immediate about face and taking your first steps to walking away. "So you'll think about it?" She asks. You stop. "I'm sorry Star, but I don't think of you like that." "What?" Says her now-shuddering voice. You turn on a dime. "Please don't cry . . ." "But, but, but, I like you like that, like . . . Like like you like that kind of like." "I'm sorry Star, but I don't." "It's Spitfire, huh?" She's stopped crying, but still sounds depressed. You stare at her for a few seconds. "What?" "Like, you like Spitfire, like, you like like Spitfire . . . Like that, huh?" You contemplate it for a second before giving your answer. "I . . . I guess I do . . ." "Really?" "I think so . . ." "Like like her like that?" "I . . . Yes." She smiles a wolfish smile. and yells out to whomever is behind the bushes. "You get that?" Who got wha-" Out come Spitfire and Ditzy Doo, Spitfire giving what looks to be roughly twenty bits to Ditzy as if she lost a be-. They were betting? Author's Note Sorry for the hiatus guys! I was working at a Boy Scout summer camp for two months, but I'm back now!
Just Another MorningThe morning was bright, you cover your eyes, but to no avail, the light still found a way to reach them. You sit up, your eyes adjusting to the light, you stretch your legs and yawn. Your mane starts to itch on your neck, so you reach back with one of your hooves and scratch it. You look around your room, at the blank walls, the cream coloured walls. You roll out of your bed and onto the floor with an audible thump. Your legs don't want to move, but you force them to let you stand. You had a long night last night with your closest friend, Ditzy Doo. She had you run and fly all across Ponyville on a wild goose chase, for her humour of course. Your wings don't hurt all that much, but your legs do as if they'd just been trampled by a dragon. Ditzy had you look for a book called "Many Bubble Types." She told you to receive this book from Twilight Sparkle, the purple unicorn that lived in the library, what she didn't tell you is that she told Twilight tell you that she loaned it to a somepony, but couldn't remember who. So Twilight made you go to everypony she knew to ask for the book, a book which didn't exist. You are wrenched from your thoughts as a staccato knocking comes from your door. You crack your neck, making three pops on each side, and start for the door. You head down the hallway it is filled with paintings of many famous ponies, like Hayvid Tennant, Bob Marely, Buck Norris, Whinny Hendrix, so on, so forth. You don't really walk that fast until you hear the same staccato knocking, same four knocks, same tempo, same pitch. You stop and wait for the next series of knocks, it comes sooner than the last, exactly the same. You sigh deeply. Only one conclusion could be made about who this was, Ditzy Doo. You continue to the door, walking a little faster now, you pray that it's not the pony that wore you out so badly last night. When you get to the door you look through the magnified peephole near the top. Your prayer had served no purpose, it is Ditzy. You look to the far right side of the door, to the brass chain lock. You debate whether or not to undo it before opening the door; you don't. You push down on the handle of the door with your hoof and pull it open. There stands Ditzy Doo, a grey Pegasus with a light yellow mane. Her eyes are amber, actually rather beautiful save one fact: they normally aren't both facing the same way. This fact only seems to bother her when other ponies call her "Derpy" or some other stuff like that. But right now your friend doesn't seem annoyed or angry at something, actually she has a large smile on her face. It was much larger than normal actually, you raise an eyebrow to show that you are questioning this. Ditzy actually manages to focus her eyes before she explains to you what's on her mind. "You know who the Wonderbolts are," She cocks her head to the side, the smile still on her face. "right?" You nod slowly, your curiosity starting to rise, you close the door and undo the chain lock to open it. You open the door to see her face is closer now, you back up a tad. "Yeah, I know who they are, never really seen one of their shows before..." "And you remember my friend Soarin that I keep telling you about?" You lower your eyebrow. "Yes, get on with it." Your friend's happy expression instantly disappears. "Fine, be that way." Her eye drifts away from focus, "Oh by Celesti-... Never mind, anyway, I found out that he's in the Wonderbolts!" Her smile returns as she says this, you can tell that she can't hold back her excitement. Excitement for what though? Her excitement rubs off on you and you feel that a smile is creeping on your face. "Yes, and?" This time your question is out eagerness to know, not out of annoyance. "He invited me to their next show, told me I could bring a friend, he sent me backstage passes and everything!" She squeals with pure excitement, "I haven't seen him in forever, and now I get to see him perform!" She runs up to you and wraps her legs around you in an almost suffocating hug, almost. She squeals once more before letting you go. "So, you want to go?" By now the smile on your face has vanished, you push her slightly and close the door. You turn around, thinking that she will leave, but you hear her four staccato knocks from before. You sigh and turn around, proceeding to re-open the door. When it is open you tell her that you don't want to go. "C'mon, it'll be fun!" Your friend gives you the most pleading face she can, "Please?" You close the door, this time forgetting to lock it, but you don't notice. You turn around and walk through the hallway full of paintings. You stop next to the painting of Hayvid Tennant when you hear the door open behind you. You turn around and see Ditzy in the doorway, almost in tears. "This is v-very imp-portant to me..." A tear runs down her grey cheek. Now you've done it, you made Ditzy cry. Your face drops from an irritated expression to a concerned one. "P-please, come with me." From the pose she was holding, her two front legs more to her left and her back to her right, you could tell she wasn't expecting you to say yes. But... You walk up to her and wrap your legs around her in a hug. "Alright, I'll go with you, please stop crying..." She was silent during the hug and after a few moments you let go of her and back up to see if she stopped crying. She did, but she looks very confused, the tears had stopped but you could tell that they were there in the first place. Both of her eyes are focused on you, but an eyebrow is raised. "What did you just say?" It is now your turn to raise your eyebrow. "I'll... Go with you?" The question she asked confuses you, you really don't know what she was asking or how to answer it. "To the Wonderbolts show..." As you say this she gives you another tight hug, not nearly as tight as the other one. She thanks you multiple times. This hug extends to a full minute, you cough to ask her to stop. She lets go of you, blushing slightly. "Sorry." She looks up at the sky, the sun still low in the sky, but reaching over the mountains. "I have to go, the show is tonight." She looks back at you, her large smile returned now. "I'll meet you here at dusk, 'kay?" Your response is a simple nod, which she giggles at. "Alright I'll see you at dusk then!" She gives you a small salute and flies off, swerving slightly, a sign that shows that her eye became unfocused again. You chuckle to yourself and close the door. You redo the chain lock and head back to your room. As you walk you listen to the sound of your hooves hitting the floor with each step. You arrive inside the room with the blank walls, in the middle is your bed. You lay down on your bed and pull the covers over you. You still have at least 6 hours until the show, and you are off work today, so you close your eyes and drift off into sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A knock at your door wakes you from your peaceful slumber. You sit up and stretch, your limbs not nearly as sore as they were earlier. You hop off of your bed and start into the hallway. You have a feeling that you know who it is, but you still take your time down the hallway. Whoever is at your door knocks again, two knocks, almost legato. You raise an eyebrow, it's not Ditzy Doo, then who is it? Your speed increases slightly as you walk through the hallway. You reach the door and look through the peephole, it's a pale azure, almost white, Pegasus with a navy blue mane. You unlock and open the door. "Hello, I don't believe I've met you before." Your greeting doesn't go unnoticed. "I'm Soarin, Ditzy's friend." He dipped his head in greeting. "She told me this is where her closest friend in Ponyville lived, the one she invited to the show, is that right?" You nod in response, also to have him continue. "I'm here to tell you that we will be meeting down near the Everfree forest before the show, Ditz already knows this. Feel free to come if you want." You smile slightly, "Ditz'll be picking me up before then, so I'll be there." "Alright then, I'll see you there." Soarin grabs the door's handle between two hooves awkwardly, as if he'd been taught to do that, and closes the door as he leaves. You look through the small window next to the door to see the amount of light outside, it was bright, a few small clouds in the sky. It looked like it was noon. You turn around and look at the hallway that holds paintings on it's walls. You wonder if you should go back to sleep or do something else. You stand there for a moment, pondering. You shrug it off and walk through the hallway and into your room. You hop back onto the bed and quickly fall asleep once more.
Before the ShowThe sun had passed it's climax in the sky and is now descending very slowly, the sky is reddening as dusk approaches with night on it's tail. It is roughly five at the moment, Ditzy will be at your door at any moment. You are in the shower, trying to wake yourself up completely and get rid of this small amount of weariness left over from your many hours of sleep from today, but still thinking of all of these things. You turn the water flow off and wait for it to stop falling on you, when it does you give yourself a brisk shake and flap your wings a few times until you are almost completely dry. You reach up to your mane with a hoof and squeeze out a good amount of the water remaining. You quickly dry yourself off with the softest towel that you have, enjoying the feel of it. You hang up the towel to dry and you hear four staccato knocks, you know instantly who it is. You walk through a different hallway, this one not nearly as long, with musical notes painted on the walls, Beethoofen's 9th. You reach the door and undo the chain lock while using your hoof on the handle of the door. The door swings open with Ditzy in the doorway. Your wall-eyed friend has her usual smile graced upon her face, one of her eyes are looking expectantly at you, the other looking at something in the distance. You think to yourself that she looks somewhat cute but think nothing more of it. She is the first to speak of the two of you, "You ready to go?" is what she begins with. You nod in response, "Alrighty then! Let's go!" You aren't ready, however, for what she does next. She walks around you and grabs your tail in her teeth and starts to drag you. You look back at her, not shocked, not angry, just slightly annoyed. "Ditzy, what are you doing?" You ask her, but all she does is look back at you and giggle. After her giggle she continues to walk, which prompts you to ask again "Ditzy Doo, seriously, what are you doing?" this time no response came from the gray mare. You sigh and spread your wings, there is a slight breeze that you feel flowing through your feathers, it feels good. You make a movement that has come more naturally than blinking to you, you churn your wings up through the air, then back down, creating lift for you to take flight. You flap a few more times, not only making lift, but also thrust, moving you in the opposite direction of what Ditzy Doo wants, but you turn yourself around, dragging her now. You hear a very audible squeak when your friend is lifted into the air, you can feel her flailing below you. She is panicking, forgetting that she has wings altogether. You firmly plant your hoof onto your face at this, making no comment. It takes Ditzy Doo a few moments before she remembers she has wings and you hear the flapping of her wings behind you, you also feel her let go of your tail. Within a few minutes she is next to you and clouts you playfully behind your ear, you chuckle when she does. "Ha, ha, very funny." Despite her tone her face betrays her, as you can tell that she is very close to laughing herself. You develop a very large smile and mock her sarcastically. "I love you too Ditz." You chuckle after you say that. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After a few minutes of flying the two of you arrive at the Everfree Forest, you shudder at the sight of the unnatural place. Trees grew on their own and animals care for themselves without anypony's help, a horrible place it is. You scan the area, looking for blue jumpsuits. It doesn't take you very long to find them, they are at the very edge of the Celestia forsaken place, chatting among themselves. You and Ditz land not too far off and walk the rest of the way. When you get closer you note that there are three of them there. As soon as you are almost right next to them the very pale beige one with a yellow mane, which has brighter yellow streaks, greets you happily, "Hi, so you must be... um..." You introduce Ditzy and yourself to her, her blue eyes widen as she hears your friend's name. "So you're Ditzy Doo?" She asks while looking over at her. "Soarin has been saying that you'll be chatting with us!" She seems to be a very... ecstatic pony. you think to yourself. You don't notice, but as you were thinking that Soarin walked up to you with the other of the Wonderbolts, a yellow Pegasus with an orange mane with lighter orange highlights and sienna eyes, she dipped her head in greeting, specifically targeted to you. You automatically understood that she already knew Ditzy, you reflect her action to her. The yellow mare then spoke, "Shooting Star, no need to be so jumpy." she looks at the two of you, "New recruit." You and your wall-eyed friend nod in feigned understanding. "Anyway, I'm Spitfire," she gestures to the new recruit, "this is Shooting Star, and you already know Soarin." You barely notice that the pale azure Pegasus nods when she says this. You are paying attention to Spitfire, you had a brow raised. Before she can start asking questions you take your attention from her and change it to Shooting Star, you jump in surprise because she's watching you. You shrink away slightly, you ask her if she can stop watching you. She narrows her eyes at you, them only being narrow blue slits, blue slits of suspicion . . . At least you think it's suspicion. She walks up to you and whispers in your ear almost silently, not wanting anyone else to hear. "I'll speak to you after the show." There is a seriousness, an almost coldness, in her voice that sends a shiver down your spine. You look over in the direction of Spitfire, Soarin and Ditz, none of them noticed what just happened. You turn to look at Shooting Star, but she's already walking away, shaking her head, her yellow mane bobbing to and fro. After all of this you are just standing there, obviously confused.
Odd Smoke: Part 1At this point of day there was no more sun in the sky, the moon just barely rising. You are following Ditzy to the show that she claimed will "blow your mind". Doubtful, very doubtful. The two of you are standing at the front of a crowd, the Wonderbolts brought you to the show before anypony else just to be in the front. Around you everypony is cheering their lungs out, especially the cyan pony next to you. You look over to see if you recognize them, you do. The cyan pony is none other than Rainbow Dash, one of the weather ponies for Ponyville, the biggest fan of the Wonderbolts. Of course she's in the front of the crowd. You look back up to the stage, ready for the show to begin. The stage is dimly lit with lights of gold and red; all around the crowd comes to a staggering hush. You hear Rainbow Dash squeal in joy even before the show starts. You hear a voice come from behind the stage, the announcer. "Fillies and gentlecolts, are you all ready for the best night of your lives?" As he says this the roar of cheering rises up from the almost silence of before. They were obviously ready. "Great! Because the Wonderbolts have a new recruit full of life and energy, put your hooves together for Shooting Star!" The cheers in the crowd, to your surprise, grow even louder than not even six seconds ago. You look up to see your new friend come before the audience right when she flies out from behind the stage. Her yellow mane resembles what she was named after; a shooting star, she does a few tricks and spins by herself before making her landing. There is a large amount of cheering for the newcomer to the Wonderbolts. It was now the announcer's time once more. "Now, welcome our veterans; Soarin' and Spitfire!" The lights start to dim down and you look to the stage, expecting a similar performance to Shooting Star's. A crack of thunder from almost directly above you catches your, and almost everyone else's, attention bringing them to silence. There is a gathering of storm clouds above you, seeming to be holding onto the next. Flashes of lightning are making their own show inside of the thunderclouds, seeming to want to upstage the Wonderbolts. But to your surprise you hear a voice from inside one of the clouds. "Let's go!" Following soon after these words a song that you aren't able to recognize begins to play, a signal for the clouds to change in shape to become a lightning bolt. Out of the cloud two flashes of colour burst, both blue, one holding a streak of darker blue, the other with orange. The two, now recognizable by their colours, twist around each other, leaving behind a helix of smoke and lightning. The lights from the stage shoot up to them, reflecting off their suits and manes more, almost blinding you. You shield your eyes with a hoof and almost in the same second you hear a loud cheer from the crowd, so you look once more. You see Spitfire careening down toward the ground, everyone thinks that she is diving. She isn't. She is obviously falling, blinded by the light that did the same to you. The rainbow-maned pony next to you noticed this as well, so she tries to fly in to save her, but is held down by everyone else in the crowd. You glance at her and back up to Spitfire, almost panicking until you see how high up she is. You let out a sigh of relief and push your way out through the crowd as fast as you can. When you are outside of the crowd you spread your wings and take off. You aren't as fast as any of the Wonderbolts or Rainbow Dash, but still, you will make it to Spitfire in time. You flap your wings as hard as you can, churning the air around them to propel yourself through the air. You look directly in front of you to make sure that you don't crash into any obstacles. To your surprise there aren't any obstacles at all, it's a straight shot to the stage; you take this chance to observe your surroundings. Below you the crowd is still watching Spitfire, expecting her to perform some sort of trick. You look ahead of yourself again to see that Spitfire is falling faster than before. You think that you can fly no faster, but still try, beating down the air underneath your wings with full force, it works. To your surprise you fly much faster than you've flown before. Still looking to Spitfire you notice that there isn't much distance between you and her, so you continue your wingbeats at the same strength and speed, unable to flap any harder. As you get closer you hear the screams of Spitfire and the dissuasive comments of the crowd, Screams first, jeers later. you think. You now are but an inch away from her, you reach out for her with your neck. She notices you. The orange-maned pony reaches out and wraps her hooves around your neck, causing you to drop half a foot from the impact, but you recover. You look at her, she is clinging on for dear life and her eyes are still dilated from the light, causing you to feel sorry for her. You look around for a good place to land, which you find not four seconds after beginning your search, for the crowd had opened up for you. You slow your flight for your descent, holding out your wings in a glide. You take a quick look at Spitfire and ask "Anything hurt aside from the obvious?" She rolls her eyes, "Yes, my eyes obviously, but also my left wing, I think I sprained it or something." She let go of you and dropped to the ground. "Thanks."
Odd Smoke: Part 2You make your landing soon after Spitfire, feeling the ground make contact with your hooves. You nod to the yellow pegasus and reply, "Not a problem Spitfire." You put on a smile, which quickly fades from your face as you start to feel lightheaded. Your knees wobble a bit, making you feel as if you are standing on top of jelly. You don't notice but your body spasms... Until you feel a sudden jolt of pain tear it's way through your entire being. It's is a burning, excruciating pain, but you only mutter one simple word. "Ouch..." You see the world before you begin to rotate to the right when you realize that you are falling, everything seems to slow down in it's rotation as thousands of incomplete thoughts go through your head. after what seems to be five minutes you hear a thud in one of your ears and everything goes dark. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You awake in a comfortable bed in a blindingly white room, all the lights are on, causing it to be even more white. You scan the area for any giveaways as to where you are. Your vision is blurred from hopefully the whiteness of the room, but you still manage to see a yellow and orange blur. You blink four times, your vision clearing with each blink. When your sight is as clear as most days you see that the yellow blur is Spitfire; she is looking at you with a very distressed look on her face, but there's more to her expression than just that... Her mane is down, not like during the show when it was standing straight up, her eyes are dull and glassy, showing just how tired she is; she must have been here for at least a day. Spitfire notices that you are awake and quickly develops an enormous smile; she wraps you in a light hug. "Anything hurt aside from the obvious?" She releases you and lets out a small titter. "I'm hurt?" You ask immediately after processing her question, you look under the covers of the bed for any kind of bandaging or casting. You are about to look at your left wing when you hear Spitfire burst into a fit of laughing, so you look from under the covers. You see the yellow pegasus rolling on the ground with her hooves on her ribs. After a moment she stands up and wipes a tear from her eye, done laughing now. "I was kidding! You weren't hurt too badly," she points to a calendar on the wall, "but you have been unconscious for two and a half days." You examine the calendar only to see that she is right. You look back to her, now only having two questions on your mind, so you ask the first of the two. "Spit, how long have you been here?" "Two and a half days, why?" This left one question. "Why did you stay here for two and a half days? We've only known each other for half a da-" "Three." "Three days!" "Well," Spitfire begins to explain, "you saved me." She swallows; you can tell that there's more reason, but you don't press her. She might want to explain on her own. She does, so she continues, "Also... I may or may not have been laid off for ditching the show to bring you to the hospital..." You furrow your brow, somewhat confused. That didn't sound like a good reason to be fired. "Oh, come on now," You began to press, "that can't be why you got fired." "It is, I left without telling anypony where I was going, and to everypony else you looked perfectly fine. I tried to explain when I went back, but nopony listened." She smiled sheepishly. "So, i got fired." Her gaze gives off a look of pleading, genuine pleading, not like when somepony that lives between two buildings asks for money to go get a drink with, but sincere pleading. "I lived in the hotel rooms rented out for us, so now I have nowhere to live... Can I live wi-" Before she could finish her question Nurse Redheart enters the room, she is carrying a clipboard in a white saddlebag. Funny, white bag, white room, white pony. You think almost aloud, but you bite your tongue to assure that the words stay private, to not offend her. The nurse stops in her tracks when she sees that you are awake, she smiles at both you and Spitfire. "Glad to see that you're awake." She then grabs something off of her back, something that you never noticed, it was a tray of food. "I brought you food for every meal ever since you went unconscious, upon request of Ms. Spitfire here. She was hoping that you'd awaken sooner than you did." You look at Spitfire, to see if this was true; she had a smile on her face and she nodded, so it was. Nurse Redheart continued, "You know, you have a great fillyfriend in her." Upon hearing this you feel your heart stop, you also see Spitfire's face go red and her eyes become constricted. Your head whips to Ms. Redheart so you can face her and you retort. "She is not my fillyfriend, I am not her coltfriend, we are not together! What gave you that idea?" "Ms. Spitfire of course." You feel your own face become warmer, obviously blushing. In your mind you have a thousand questions, for Nurse Redheart and Spitfire, but you focus on the ones for Nurse Redheart. "Okay, so when do I get out of here?" You are somewhat irritated, which carries to your facial expression and voice. Nurse Redheart sees and hears this, so she becomes a little embarrassed for going off of the word of one pony. "You won't be getting out for another day, tomorrow at lunch, so get plenty of rest."
Asking QuestionsIt is two o'clock in the afternoon at the Ponyville hospital, thirteen hours after you were told to stay at the hospital for another whole day. Turns out that you were hurt, which Spitfire told you you weren't, you had stretched many tendons, muscles and ligaments in your left wing. You had been told to stay off of that wing, not to move it at all, and you haven't moved it once, you just sat there in your bed most of the time but you have not been able to sleep at all during that time. Spitfire left ten hours ago to get some sleep of her own, turns out that she had been awake for the entirety of the time of when you were unconscious. You are currently sipping out of the straw of a juice box, it is apple juice. You feel the sweet liquid flow over your tongue, quenching any thirst that you had. From this sensation of liquid you thought of oceans, fish, and oceanariums. Oceanariums normally have tanks of fish for you to watch, but they also have shows of dolphins and seals performing tricks. Tricks... The show three-ish days ago had tricks in it as well. At that show you saved Spitfire... Why did Spitfire tell Nurse Redheart that you were her coltfriend? "Why did she say that?" You ask aloud, still not caring. There's nopony around to hear it anyway... Or so you think. "Why did who say what?" The response comes from your left, you look to see who had asked that question; it is Rainbow Dash. A pony who was at the show, she saw you save Spitfire... but you barely even know Rainbow, so why is she here? You raise your eyebrow to show your questioning of this, she doesn't catch on. You sigh and ask her with words from your mouth. "Rainbow, what are you doing here?" The cyan pegasus smiles, which you can easily tell is that of a fabrication, and makes her explanation; the fabrication. "Oh, nothing really. I've just come to see my best friend in the entire world!" As she speaks those last seven words, Rainbow Dash points directly at you. You narrow your eyes, meaning for her to know that you know that was a lie, she seems to understand in a heartbeat, but she makes no attempt to correct it for another two hours. After said two hours pass, Rainbow finally breaks under pressure and tells you the truth: "I came to see you because you are obviously the one who saved Spitfire." She grinned, "Unless, that is, there is another pony in Ponyville that looks exactly like you." You roll your eyes, that's exactly why you thought she was here. Rainbow grinned herself at this point. "So, did she sign your cast?" In the same instant that she says this, she makes her way to your left side. "Speaking of, where is your cast?" She places one of her hooves underneath your wing and lifts it sharply... It is the wing you were instructed not to move; you hear a sharp sound, it was a mixture between a crack and a pop, at the same moment you feel pain that resembles being stabbed four times in your shoulder. Within an instant a tear rolls out of your eye, you hear somepony screaming, it sounds like they had just been through the worst pain they had ever felt in their life. They did, the screaming is coming out of your mouth; the pain is pouring through your body as if your blood were made of acid. Rainbow jumps back, obviously knowing that she did something wrong. She looks around before saying that she'll go get Nurse Redheart. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At this point you have to wait yet another two days, all thanks to Rainbow Dash... She was still in the room, but you weren't talking to her at the current moment. The cyan pegasus had apologized at least thirty times, but you just lay there in your bed, staring at the ceiling. It has been twenty minutes since your wing was put back into place and you were given painkillers for the obvious pain that you have felt and were going to feel. Thanks to the painkillers stated previously, the pain has been numbed out almost completely. You are thinking about all the questions that you want to ask Spitfire if you ever see her again, questions like "Why did you tell Nurse Redheart that I am your coltfriend?" and "What are your thoughts about me?". Speak of the devil; directly after your thoughts about the yellow pegasus come to a close, you hear the door open, you know who it is before even hearing her voice, which comes shortly after the door closes. "Hey there guy... Why are you still in here?" She inquires. You give off an audible sigh, you aren't able to sit up, so you stay on your lower back while you speak. "Nothing really, Rainbow Dash popped my wing out of place while my muscles were still healing." You turn your head to glare at the rainbow-maned pony at your side, "I have to stay another two days because of her..." Spitfire hesitates a moment before asking. "You want to know everything, right?" To this you nod as visibly as you can. You heard her sigh. "Alright, I'll tell you everything tomorrow evening..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are still inside your room, it's been twenty-eight hours since the little "incident" with Rainbow, twenty-eight hours since Spitfire told you that she'd come about now... Where was she? You are sitting up now, staring directly at the door, not expecting it to open at this point... But it does, bringing Spitfire in with it. The filly with the flame-coloured mane is smiling at you. You ask her to tell you everything, she makes no attempt to stay silent about any details that she gave her word to tell you about. Spitfire began with this: "I told my boss that I left the team to be with you."
The Start of an AdventureYour eyes widen in disbelief, Spitfire had basically just told you that you were more important than a job that rolled in bits every hour. 'I left the team to be with you.' were her words that she spoke to you that now left your mind blank. You shake your head, you don't know whether or not you interpreted that right... No way did she feel that way about you... But she did tell Nurse Redheart that you were her coltfriend... And she also told you before that she was fired, not that she left the team! Which one was the lie here? You look up to the orange-maned mare in front of you and collect your thoughts before speaking. "Alright, I don't quite think I heard you right, can you please repeat yourself?" You smile. "I mean, I thought I heard you say that you wanted to stay with me and that's why you don't have your job?" A blush collects on her face, to her it must have been obvious that she'd been misunderstood. She scratches the back of her head lightly with her left hoof. "Sorry, I should have worded that better... What I meant to say is that I told my boss that I wanted to stay in Ponyville and resigned from my position as the captain of the Wonderbolts." A nervous grin grows on her lips. "Doing tricks for other pony's entertainment was starting to get a bit boring, y'know?" You nod, although you have no clue what that would be like... She continues. "And I kind of told him that I'd be staying with you.." You blink a few times before the bag of figurative bricks hit you. She decided to live, without mutual consent, with somepony that she just met at the cost of her job! What kind of pony does that, especially if they have a well paying job? "You didn't decide to ask me first?" "We were going to leave while you were still out... I had to think of something." She sticks out her tongue. "But you don't even know my name!" You had introduced yourself to the other Wonderbolts, but not to her... "I had Rainbow Dash tell me, she's always trying to look for a way to get into the Wonderbolts." "You lied to her and told her that you were still the captain?" "I didn't tell her anything, she just ran away squeeing like a school filly, she'd just done something for her hero!" You hear a snicker leave the ex-Wonderbolt's lips. "It was actually really funny!" You raise an eyebrow while she laughs obnoxiously. "She'll be back in an hour I'd guess." She snorts as she continues to laugh, she is definitely not the most refined pony you had ever met... You sigh deeply and close your eyes. You want to process all of this; Spitfire shakes you lightly and calls out your name, but you pay no mind to her at all. You just lay there, keeping all pressure from your wing, and drift into the black void of sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are now out of the hospital, twenty nine hours after Spitfire had explained everything that happened with her job. You were standing outside of Ponyville Hospital with Spitfire, the pony that you have only known for about a week... The mare that you are letting live with you in your house. You have a feeling that you are going to regret this... But you'll deal with that when it comes to you. You take a deep breath, fresh air. You hadn't smelled fresh air since you were put into the hospital, not that you were forced to, you just didn't want to leave your bed. Spitfire gestures with her hoof away from the hospital. "Lead the way, oh generous one!" Her smile is bigger than Pinkie Pie's at a party, it was kind of off setting... "To your- err... Our house!" She begins to march in place which causes you to snicker slightly. You make a motion with your neck for her to follow you and begin on your way to your house. "Yeah, our house." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are able to see your house from where you are now, just a few yards from it actually. When you get to the door you receive a surprise that is not a pleasant one: the front door is unlocked. You open the door and see that all of your paintings are gone... Okay, one of two things could have happened... You think to yourself. One: Somepony could have come in and robbed me of all of my stuff... Or two: D- You cut yourself off when you see a gray and yellow blur in the corner of your vision. You sigh. It's two. "Yo, Ditz! What happened to all of my stuff?" You call to the mare that you now know is here. You hear her squeak as she shuffles into your full line of sight, she looks kind of depressed... She looks directl-... As close to directly as at you she can. You can see it in her eyes, she is going to make up a story, but you let her do it. "I am so, so sorry... The Cutie Mark Crusaders came in here and tried to get a mayonnaise painting cutie mark..." Spitfire leans to whisper into your ear. "Cutie Mark Crusaders? Mayonnaise painting? What in the name of Celestia is that?" "You'll learn about the CMC later... As for the second thing, I have no clue... I guess we'll just have to listen to find out" You whisper. Ditzy Doo continues with her fable. "The mayo got all over your paintings and ruined the oil in the paint... I couldn't stop them... Sorry..." You smile and shake your head. "Let me guess, you were eating a sandwich after you waxed the floor and slid everywhere, spewing the mayonnaise onto all of the paintings?" She flinches, you hit it right on the mark, she sighs. "Yeah... But..." "But what?" "I just don't know what went wrong!"
Special Day: Part 1"...ke up!" You slowly begin to become aware of a voice near you. "...ude! ...ome on, ...ke up!" You are drifting in and out of sleep as whoever is speaking to you starts to shake you. "Yo!" Your eyes shoot open to a yellow blur... A yellow blur that now has a white streak high on it. "Yes! You are finally awake! Took you long enough." You blink a few times to make out the image before you. It's Spitfire standing squarely above you on your bed. The ex-Wonderbolt has a huge grin on her face and is wearing a party hat. You smile in return at the words you know are about to leave her mouth. "Happy birthday dude!" She flaps her wings and jumps off of your bed toward the table at the other end of the room, she picks something up from it with her teeth. You feel a soft rush of air as she turns around and blows into a kazoo that she is holding in between her lips. You chuckle. The two of you have lived with each other for about three months now. It is just past the end of Winter, you'd had good times, and bad over the quarter year thus far... You are actually thinking of asking Spitfire if she had any plans for Hearts and Hooves Day in a couple of weeks, but that could wait. You two are partners in crime, closer than if you were pressed between Big Mac and an apple tree, you didn't want to ruin that. "Thanks Spit," You scratch the back of your head. "but you should be careful 'cause you know what will happen in," "Three," She begins. You nod, "Two," You both sigh and smile simultaneously. "One." As the two of you finish the breath of a word you hear a loud thump on the wall next to the front door. "I'll get it, I mean, it's not my special day, now is it?" Before you can reply she turns and walks out of your room to go let Ditzy Doo in. You smile after her, thinking of the things you could have said... But you let it go. And before you know it, everything fades out to black. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "...ke up!" You hear a voice come from somepony near you... Again "...ude! ...ome on, ...ke up!" This is happening again, really? You think to yourself as you feel a pony, whom you presume you already know the identity of, start to shake you. "Yo!" Your eyes shoot open to a yellow blur... The same yellow blur. You sigh. "Yes! You are finally awake! Thank Celestia! I thought you were dead!" Spitfire is sitting at the foot of your bed with a plate of what you hope is filth from the garbage disposal on a chair next to her. She sees that you are looking at her plate of mysteries and addresses it. "It's breakfast! Dude, you gotta try it! It's apparently some sort of Fillypino food, my cousin gave me the recipe!" She then gives it a skeptical look. "Though I think I may have messed up somewhere in the mix..." She gives a nonchalant shrug. "Oh well. Eat up!" Spitfire stands and scoots the chair around your bed to where it is nearing your head. As the revolting mixture gets closer the reek of it hits your nose, giving you the evil sensation that is a sure cause for retching your guts out. but you resist. You pull off a weak smile simply out of courtesy for Spitfire. "Just remember, it's only been two days, but if you want you can have me cook you breakfast every day!" The yellow mare giggles before twirling around to walk out the door. Leaving you with the plate of pure evil. You let out another sigh, since when did you agree to letting her bring you breakfast for any day? That doesn't really matter now, she already made this... Whatever it is... And you'll just tell her not to do this "nice gesture" for you again. You press down on the bed with your hooves that are on the same side of the bed as "breakfast" and roll yourself out of bed. You land neatly on all four hooves and stretch out your wings. You admire your feathered appendages for a short moment before asking yourself the question "How long will Spitfire be staying with me?" You jump over your bed with your wings reaching outward as you glide to the opposing side. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After the gruesome task of choking down whatever it was that Spitfire seemed to have scraped from the bottom of the refrigerator, you now find yourself walking around Ponyville. You don't even remember agreeing on walking with her, honestly you remember it going somewhat like this: "Bro," You cut her off. "Why are you calling me bro?" She shrugged. "Fine, dude." Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Guess what!" You decided not to respond to her for a few seconds, giving her the dramatic pause you guessed she was hoping for. "What Spit?" "Oh, so you can call me Spit, but I can't call you bro?" "Precisely." "Man, that hurts me right here." She pointed to her center. "Your heart or your spirit?" "Neither! It's my stomach... You ate all of that good looking food so now I'm hungry..." She grinned a wolfish grin. You cleared your throat. "Anyway, what were you saying?" Her grin grew wider and more sly. You had a bad feeling about that... "You're walking with me." "I'm doing wha-" Before you could finish your question Spitfire already had you by the tail and had bolted out the door. You shake your head vigorously. This was your life now you had to get used to it. Every so often, or as your mom used to tell you, you will run into obstacles, you have to deal with them. You look over at the yellow pegasus that is practically the paragon of happiness by herself. Maybe she is your next obstacle?
Special Day: Part 2"Dude! Come on!" Your yellow companion whines. "No Spit, I don't like going in there!" You shake your head vigorously, you are heavily set in your opinion of the building standing in front of you. Spitfire stamps the ground with her two front feet repeatedly like a foal. "Aww, but why not!?" You shake your head. "It just makes me feel uncomfortable..." Following this statement you shudder. Spitfire snickers. "I'm going in, and you can't stop me bro!" "Don't call me bro..." As you say this you look down dejectedly. "Still going in!" The bell on the door rings when Spitfire pushed the door open. "Welcome to Carousel Boutique!" A voice happily chimes when Spitfire opens the door. "This place is evil Spit!" You explain, trying your hardest to stop your friend from being corrupted. "Rarity is a demonic hag-witch out to eat your soul!" "What!?" Comes a loud exclamation from a pony inside. "Please, oh please, tell me that isn't who I think it is!" She pleads in her transatlatting accent. You hear the "clop" of her hooves with each step she takes, until she meets the obstruction that you have for a companion at the door. You take a few steps until you're behind Spitfire in the doorway to see a flash of a white coat on the other side. "Oh my gosh," She starts hyperventilating, "are you Spitfire?" "Umm... Yes, yes I am." The yellow mare puffs out her chest in pride, almost as if she'd never been recognized before. You smile when you realize it's most likely because ponies don't recognize her with a well-kept mane. She smiles as well before speaking again. "I take it that you're the hag-witch, Rarity?" This is followed up by a giggle. Rarity, however, glowers at this. "Okay, no, no, no. I," She puts extra emphasis on herself "am not a hag-witch! Who ever told you this rubbish?" You push your way past Spitfire so that you are face-to-face with the purple-maned mare; you have a huge smile stretching across ear-to-ear. "Hey there evil hag-witch!" She squints back at you and grins. "Oh, why hello Jetlag, having a good time with your inamorata?" You blink a couple times. "Inamo-" You then feel the gears turn into place. "Spitfire is not my fillyfriend! My Celestia!" Spitfire pokes your shoulder with a hoof and you turn around. You see her frowning. "I-I'm not?" She starts sniveling. "No Spit, you aren't." You snicker, you can tell that she's faking. She catches on that you can tell and lets out a chortle. "You told me your name was Streamline, not Jetl-" "Let's not go into that." You scowl and turn back to Rarity. "We'll be leaving no-" Spitfire pushes her way into the dress shop. "Oh no we aren't! I want a dress!" You shake your head; she's lying, but you don't let her know that you can tell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are sitting outside of Carousel Boutique, waiting for the girls to be done playing dress-up and for Spitfire to be done spending YOUR bits when Ditzy Doo comes around wearing her mailbag over her shoulder. "Oh, hey there bro bro!" She has her cute little smile on her face. "How's it going?" You stare at her blankly for a short moment. "Bro br-" You shake your head vigorously. "Never mind, I'm just waiting for Spitfire, she's buying a dress from the hag-witch." Ditzy blinks confusedly a couple times before responding. "Hag-witch... that's Rarity, right?" You smile and nod before you think about her bag. "Ditz, aren't you supposed to be done with your delivery shift by now?" She looks at her courier and flushes. "Oh! Oh! Right!" The mailmare opens her bag and fishes a letter out of it. "Yrr've grrt rr lrrtrrr!" She says in a failed attempt to speak around the piece of postage she has in her mouth. She gives it to you and repeats. "You've got a letter!" She giggles and flies off before you can ask any questions. With the paper now in your hooves you stare at it, it has no return address... That is queer. You neatly open the flap of the envelope and remove its contents: a folded piece of paper. You question whether or not you should read it... you unfold it and read what is inscribed. It reads as such: Streamline, As you may be aware, even though I said we would, we never talked after the show. It's been a week now and I feel that we still need to talk. This is really important, so don't forget please! Remember where we first met? Right outside of Everfree Forest? Meet me there tomorrow night at six, don't make me wait! Also don't tell Spitfire or Ditzy Doo that we're meeting, it's just for you and me. Shooting Star You stare blankly at the page in front of you and ponder the words. "She wants to see me..." You say to yourself. "Who wants to see you?" You jump at the sudden voice behind you and close the letter. You spin around to meet whoever is behind you, it's Spitfire. "Oh! I didn't realize you were there Spitfire! What's up?" You smile nervously. Did she read any of that? "Really?" She scowls. "You're just going to ignore my question dude?" "Oh, huh? What was the question?" "Who wants to see you?" "Oh... umm... my mom." You feel your lips twitching, you don't want to lie to her, but Shooting Star specifically said not to tell her. "My mom wants me to go to Appleloosa to see her." "Oh..." Spit now looks downcast now. "So you're going to be leaving me soon?" You shake your head. "Of course not Spit, I'll write her a letter to tell her that I won't be coming out." She snickers. "Of the closet!" She then opens her wings and takes off. "See you at home! You're taking my dress!" "Dress?" You look down and see a bag with neatly folded blue fabric inside. "Of course Spit, of course." You shake your head and pick up the back "See you at home." You mumble to yourself before walking home.
A Memory in VioletYou yawn as you get comfortable in your bed, the day had been long and you can't wait for some shuteye. Everything that happened... Spitfire dragging you around town, the brief letter from Shooting Star, and seeing Rarity again... Rarity... You close your eyes and drift into sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Jetlag..." A voice says in a disappointed tone. "You told me we'd go to Manehattan today..." This is definitely a dream. "Jetlaaaaag!" The voice whined. "Get uuuuup!" Your eyes flutter open slowly to see the beautiful white unicorn who looks almost as if she is about to cry. "Alright, alright, please stop complaining Rarity." You yawn while shaking your head in a violent manner. At this she seems to perk up, though she still apparently feels the urge to correct you. "I was whining, not complaining, though I doubt you want to hear me complain." Rarity wraps you in her magic and whisks you out of bed. "Now, are we going or not?" Without waiting for an answer the purple-maned unicorn tosses you into the shower and shuts the door. She wanted this. You sigh and shake your head. You did, in fact, promise Rarity that you two would go to Manehattan, however, you promised you would leave after sunset, not after sunrise. You twist the "hot" knob for your shower and wait momentarily for the warm rush of water that flows over you. "You're a little early, don'cha think?" You ask the mare on the other side of the shower door. "I mean, like, a twelve hour difference." "Oh, hardly." She puts plenty of emphasis on the "ah" in hardly. "It's only been eleven hours and a half." You roll your eyes. "Look, Rarity," You say in as little of a chastising tone as you can. "that's not much of a difference." "Yes, yes it is. I would much rather have someone be eleven and a half hours early." You can't see her face, but you know that she is scowling, she's in "Serious Mode". "Being twelve hours early is simply too early." "Oh, you are right dear," You mimic her accent. "however, anything earlier than ten minutes is simply too early." You give yourself the satisfaction of a barely audible chortle. You hear her giggle. "Jetlag, that was actually pretty good." She pounds on the door with a hoof. "Now, hurry and get out of there." "You just threw me in!" "I pushed you i-" "I get it, but you know what I mean." Sometimes her constant correcting gets on your nerves. "Fine, take your time, but we are leaving soon." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are at the train station... funny, it's more green than you recall it ever being. You look to the mare who is selling you your tickets to Manehattan, a cute brown mare who looks no older than you are. You've never met her before, nor do you wish to now, so you pay her no mind. She hoofs you your tickets and you are on your way. "Jetlag!" Rarity whines from next to you. You sigh. 'What now Rarity?" "When is the train going to be here?" You don't answer her question, she'd been doing this for nearly a year; whining, complaining, generally just being annoying to you. You did not wish to speak to her. "Jetlag!" You give no response. "Jetlag!" Not giving in. "Jetlag." You shake your head this time, hoping she gets the message. "Jetlag..." You grind your teeth against each other, if she does that one mo- "Jetlag...?" You snap. "What do you want Rarity!?" You whip to your right to face the white unicorn only to see that she isn't there. You make a full turn, she stopped behind you. "I-I'm sorry Jetlag..." Her face contorts into a devilish smile and her coat becomes a reddish-white, odd... "I didn't mean to disturb you so much." Her mane shifts to black and all of the scenery to the violet her mane used to be. She blinks, her eyes now being two glistening, flickering flames of orange. "What can I do to make it up to you?" Her voice at least two octaves deeper now. "Umm... Rarity, are you alright?" Stupid question, you pound your hoof against your forehead. "Please," She has now lost her accent completely. "I'll do anything for you 'Lag." ...She never called you that. You turn around and start to walk toward the train, however, before you can reach it you are pulled into a swirling dark abyss. There are ponies, what you hope to be ponies, shrieking and wailing all around you, their blood splashing out of seemingly empty spaces into your face. There are manticores lumbering past you in full pelt and a hydra fighting to the death with timber wolves. There is a thundering roar that comes from ahead of you, a giant blue dragon is flying toward you with it's claws outstretched and it's teeth bared. You feel a shiver start at the bases of your hooves and climb to the tips of your ears. You close your eyes and cower before your demise. Before the dragon reaches it's mark, you plummet deeper into the abyss. Down. Down. Down. Until you feel a heavy thump on your chest. Your eyes flutter open to see a phoenix with it's beak in your face. It squawks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your eyes burst open with a start. Your chest is heaving in the wake of your nightmare. A smile breaks on your lips. There she is. Spitfire. "Morning bro! Bad dream?"
A Meeting Awaited by One"What do you mean you have to go out alone today?" Asks the yellow pegasus in front of you. "Are you doing something important today?" She narrows her eyes briefly and develops a wolfish grin. "Or someone?" You feel the heat in your face instantly rise, it's obvious to both parties that you are blushing—hard. "Wh-WHAT?" You exclaim immediately. "How could you even ask that? I-I-I . . ." It's hard for you to imagine, but you are flustered beyond words—literally! You manage to sputter a few sounds before actually saying something. "I-if I were to do anyone it'd be y-." You cut yourself short . . . But you aren't fast enough, you see Spitfire's face redden substantially and her eye become wide, so wide that they look like they might pop out of her head. I'm going to regret this . . . You think. It is now her turn to sputter like a fool. "Wh-wh-wh-WHAT!?" A hoof meets your face at blinding speed followed within the instant by a flash of light. "Jetlag . . . You are such a pervert!" You feel another collision with your face. "I was joking about that and then you bring up your sick fantasy of me!?" You close your eyes tight and brace yourself for the impact of a third blow that doesn't come. You sit there braced until you hear the slamming of your door. You sit there staring at the door for a few brief moments before it swings back open and In comes Ditzy Doo dragging Spitfire in by the tail. She lets go of the flame-maned mare. "Package for my bro bro!" She beams at you. You blink. "I'm still questioning the whole 'bro bro' thing . . . But . . ." You glance at Spitfire. "Why?" Ditzy rolls her eyes, yes, both of her eyes . . . separately. "Well, duh, that's obvious!" You blink a couple more times, pulling your most oblivious face. "I heard all of that and decided that you both needed to apolo-" "I don't need to apologize to a pervert!" Butts in Spitfire. "What did he say?" Asks your gray friend. Spitfire becomes flushed once more. "'If I were to do anyone it'd be you.'" Ditzy smiles at you, a huge, happy smile. "I called it!" You and Spitfire both stare at her. "Huh?" "Oh, nothing Spit, he just totally digs you." Spitfire blushes even harder and is visibly at a loss for words. Once more in the face her hoof goes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your face, despite the fact that it's been nearly four hours since Spitfire assaulted your face, still hurts. "I am starting to debate whether or not letting her stay with me was a good idea." You say to yourself before letting off a sigh. It is six in the evening and you are waiting just outside of Everfree Forest, just like the letter from Shooting Star requested. You are keeping an eye out for the pony that invited you—Shooting Star. Sheshould be here soo-. Your thoughts are cut short by a beige and yellow blur tackling you and kissing you. As soon as it stops you realize that this is the one you were waiting for. "You made it! You actually came!" She says with more glee than you thought anypony could hold besides Pinkie Pie. "I didn't think you'd come! I missed you!" You push her off of you and stare at her in confusion. "What are you talking about? A friend asked me to do something and I did." You smile sweetly to her. "Now what did you want Star?" Her smile widens impossibly. "You!" You blink a couple times. " . . . What?" "Oh, oh, sorry, I mean I want to get with you." You blush with the force of a million of Celestia's glorious suns. "I mean I want to be together with you . . . I'm bad at saying things. That doesn't help your blushing at all. "You WHAT?" She swallows hard before answering. "Well, I like you, like, like like you." She turns the slightest bit red. "I couldn't stop thinking about or dreaming of you for the past week, it's been horrible, not being able to see you." You blink slowly before making an immediate about face and taking your first steps to walking away. "So you'll think about it?" She asks. You stop. "I'm sorry Star, but I don't think of you like that." "What?" Says her now-shuddering voice. You turn on a dime. "Please don't cry . . ." "But, but, but, I like you like that, like . . . Like like you like that kind of like." "I'm sorry Star, but I don't." "It's Spitfire, huh?" She's stopped crying, but still sounds depressed. You stare at her for a few seconds. "What?" "Like, you like Spitfire, like, you like like Spitfire . . . Like that, huh?" You contemplate it for a second before giving your answer. "I . . . I guess I do . . ." "Really?" "I think so . . ." "Like like her like that?" "I . . . Yes." She smiles a wolfish smile. and yells out to whomever is behind the bushes. "You get that?" Who got wha-" Out come Spitfire and Ditzy Doo, Spitfire giving what looks to be roughly twenty bits to Ditzy as if she lost a be-. They were betting? Author's Note Sorry for the hiatus guys! I was working at a Boy Scout summer camp for two months, but I'm back now!
