Chapter 7: Gold

“Make peace with your mistakes, and they’ll turn to gold.”

“Wow. That’s, uh… somethin’ else.” Soarin said, raising an eyebrow.

“I’ll say,” agreed Spitfire as she stuck her head in the room. “What was that?”

Daring Do just pointed to the guitar in Braeburn’s hooves. The stallion had a perplexed expression on his face. “That’s, uh… Huh. Ah’ve never heard anythin’ like that before. This tunin’ is… weird. No offense, Darin’.”

The pegasus shrugged. “I was just messing around with it, I didn’t mean to do anything.”

Soarin looked at the guitar, then to Daring. “... what were you doing with a guitar?”

Daring rubbed one forehoof with the other sheepishly. “Braeburn was teaching me how to play it,” she answered.

Soarin’s jaw dropped. “Woah! Dude, you gotta teach me how to play! I’ve always wanted to know!”

Braeburn laughed. “Well, Ah dunno how well it’d go with this here tunin’, but the basic idea is-”

Spitfire flew back into the room, cutting him off. “He’ll have to teach you another time, Soarin’. We’re going to be late.”

Soarin got up from the couch, rolling his eyes. “Spits, we’re supposed to be some of the fastest pegasi in Equestria, how are we going to be late?” Before he could finish his sentence, the fiery maned pegasus had flown out the door. “Great.” Soarin trotted after him, grumbling to himself. “You coming, Daring?”

“Right behind you!” she called. She watched as Braeburn fiddled with the guitar. “Come on, Brae, fix it later.”

“Nah, Ah nearly got it… Ah’ll meet you downstairs.” Daring shrugged and trotted out into the hall. In a split second decision, she climbed the stairs onto the roof. Spreading her wings, she flew up into the air. After climbing for a bit, she let herself drop back towards the ground. She always found a strange thrill in free falling, with the wind howling in her ears and the ground getting closer and closer. Before she hit the ground, she spread her wings, slowing herself down before landing near Soarin, Spitfire, and Braeburn.

“Deserts aren’t that bad,” Braeburn was saying.

“I hate them! The air always feels so dry,” Soarin complained.

“Desert air ain’t gonna kill you,” chuckled Braeburn.

“Not so sure on that,” admitted Daring. “Last time I was in a desert, I got pretty banged up. Ended up stumbling around, half convinced the world was ending. At one point I couldn’t even breathe in, almost like I was drowning on land.”

“See!” exclaimed Soarin. Braeburn just rolled his eyes.

“Say, Soarin, what say we work on our speed trials?” Spitfire interjected with a smirk.

Soarin narrowed his eyes, and his stance dropped. “Deal.”

“Catch me if you can!” In a flash, the two pegasi were off, leaving Daring and Braeburn behind.

“Aren’t they gonna wear themselves out?” asked Braeburn.

“They’ll be fine,” replied Daring. The two began walking, following the blurs of light. A few ponies were strolling along the streets, enjoying the summer night. “Never liked walking in the city at this hour… it just isn’t my place or my time,” she muttered.

“Me neither,” agreed Braeburn. “All these ponies stuck forever chasin’ the right moment, bright-eyed and blamed for everythin’ that goes wrong.”

“Something tells me you’re speaking from experience,” Daring replied, glancing at her companion.

“Might be.” He sighed as a gust of wind sent warm air through the streets.

“Ugh, I hate the summer,” Daring grumbled.

“Maybe it’s just you,” Braeburn chuckled. “Ah know you think life’s fast, but maybe try to slow down a little. Youth ain’t done with you yet.”

The pegasus rolled her eyes and smiled. “Yeah, maybe.” As the two neared their destination, more ponies appeared. One of the ponies nearly ran them over as he ran past.

“Sorry!” he yelled without looking back.

“Geez,” remarked Braeburn. “Talk about slowin’ down.”

“Everypony’s running somewhere,” commented Daring. “We’re no different.”

“Call it runnin’, call it quitin’. Ah just call it movin’ on,” said Braeburn. He glanced at her. “We all need to move on at some point. Sometimes we walk away from somethin’, other times we run away screamin’. Point is, we’re always movin’. Whether we like or not.”

Daring pulled out the folded sheet of paper from her pocket. It was the same one she had shown her a few nights ago. “You just saying that because it’s what I want to hear?”

“Darin’, Ah gave up sayin’ words Ah didn't believe in a long time ago.” He lay a hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t take any offense, but Ah never understood why you were rushin’ everywhere. Ah know you feel like life passes you by fast, but who said it’s now or never? Ah don’t think you’re taking the right advice here.”

“You really believe that, huh?”

“If Ah didn’t keep movin’ on, Ah would have given up a long time ago.” Daring nodded, crumpling up the paper. She tossed it into a trash can and exhaled.

After a moment, she smiled and started walking again. “That felt… good, actually. Like I can finally breathe on my own for once.” The two continued in silence until Daring had a thought. “Braeburn… when we first met, what did you think of me?”

The stallion sighed. “Well… Ah certainly didn’t expect this to happen, that’s for sure. To be honest, Ah didn’t want to meet you. Ah didn’t want to start another friendship only to watch it break down, like everythin’ else in my life. But after what you said… Ah don’t know, Ah figured this time it’d be different. Like it was the start of somethin’ beautiful.”

“Don’t worry, Brae. This time, it will be different. I swear it.” She looked up as a group of pegasi flew high above her in a tight formation.

“Ah’m not worried about my mistakes, Ah’ve made peace with them. And somehow… somehow, they come up from time to time. Not as painful reminders of what Ah did wrong, but memories. Nothin’ more, nothin’ less. Either way, Ah’ve let ‘em go now. They don’t hold much weight to me anymore. Maybe it’s time for you to do the same.”

A group of colts and fillies ran past them, yelling and shouting to each other. “Yeah. Maybe it is. I’m not sure I can ever stop running, but I guess I could look back every once in a while.”

“Ah’m not sayin’ you should stop movin’. Maybe just slow down a little.”

Daring shrugged. “You call it moving, I call it growing up. Any other insightful words you got for me?”

Braeburn squinted, making out the stadium in the distance. “Nah, Ah’m done.”