Soaring Skies

Chapters

Caught
Out of the Blue
Ponyville Air Show Spectacular!
Rainbow's Date With Destiny
Interlude
Swinging Both Ways
Cloudsdale

Caught

Soaring Skies
by Gallifrey
Edited by Reevsie and shad0wstalker

Chapter One
Caught

Lifting a heavy hoof, Soarin' attempted to swipe the little plastic card he had been given over his locked hotel door.

"Come on! Work, you stupid thing," he grumbled, repeating the action. He heard a satisfying click and the smart wooden door of his private suite opened, his weary joints creaking in tandem with the hinges as he slumped inside.

It's been a long day. Too long, he thought. Canterlot sure doesn't want to give us a break.

It had been a hectic day all round: not just for Soarin', but for the whole Wonderbolts team, especially Spitfire. Not only had they performed a highly ambitious and complex show that day, but there had been a media conference immediately afterwards.
He cast his mind back as he collapsed onto his bed and closed his eyes.

He was sitting on his haunches at a panel with his captain, Spitfire, sitting to his left. The Wonderbolts had no sooner finished their show than the captain and her vice were whisked away to a panel in front of what appeared to be all the press ponies in Equestria. Worn out as they both were, they still managed to put on smiles for the crowd as they began to take pictures, Soarin's perhaps somewhat lacklustre. A blue unicorn stood up.

"On behalf of Equestria Daily, I'd like to personally congratulate you and your team on the stunning show you offered us all today. What are your thoughts on your performance?"

"Can I have some water?" panted Soarin'. He was swelteringly hot under the unforgiving lights, and sweating profusely under his tight flight suit.

Spitfire glanced at him and merely rolled her eyes as she drew a microphone closer to her.

"I think I can speak for the team when I say we are extremely happy with how our flying went today. We wanted to kick off our nationwide tour with a bang, and I think that's what's we got: particularly when Soarin' banged into me half way though, sending me off into that triple corkscrew with Rapidfire." She turned to Soarin', grinning, and winked.

"So that was a complete accident?" said a pegasus in shocked awe.

"Kinda," admitted Soarin', looking around the room. "Any water? No?"

"Yeah, it was, but no matter how good you are at something, mistakes will always creep through; we just try to pull off our mistakes in style, and we usually succeed," Spitfire said with a grin, drawing a chuckle from the crowd.

"So, Spitfire, are you proud of your team today, despite said 'mistake'?"

The yellow mare looked at Soarin', meeting his emerald eyes for a second. She turned back, leaning into the mic for added emphasis.

"I can honestly say, without a shadow of a doubt, I've never been more proud of my team than I am right now."

Soarin' smiled and opened his eyes.

"I need a shower," he mumbled to himself as he hauled his weary body up and plodded to the bathroom. Upon entry, he began peeling off his flight suit, all the while cringing as he felt it cling to his sweaty fur. "This is truly disgusting," he said, nose wrinkled as he tossed it into a washing basket. "They could've at least let us have a shower before the conference, or even before the signings we did after it, but noooo." He continued complaining to thin air as he turned the knob for the shower. Water cascaded over his body and he sighed in content as he felt the stale sweat wash away. His tirade of complaints continued.
"I really need to have a word with Spits and see if she can at least let us have a break after a show. It's ridiculous: two hours of flying and not a second's break before we're thrown into the spotlight."
He sighed, and continued cleaning himself, occasionally breaking out into off key singing and whistling.

Once he was finally squeaky clean and shiny, he returned to the bedroom proper, a towel wrapped around his barrel and mist spilling out behind him.
Sweet Celestia, that feels so much better, he thought, stretching his hooves and cricking his neck.
Drawing his curtains, he sat down on the side of the bed, lying back and relaxing his tired body with his wings spread eagled. He stared blankly at the ceiling, and it stared blankly back, his mind clearing as he breathed slowly and deeply.
After a while, he began to feel bored. He grunted and sat up, pulling his suitcase from under the bed. Flicking the clasps open, he rummaged around it until he found just what he was looking for.
His eyes lit up as they scanned the brand new cover of this month's edition of Playpony. The blue stallion hadn't had chance to read it since he bought the special wet mane edition for that month, but patience is always rewarded. Hooves trembling slightly, he skipped most of the magazine and went straight for the centrefolds. His gaze fell upon a very pretty unicorn who was standing on her hind legs, blue hair hanging against her alabaster coat. Her magenta eyes held a sultry look, and she was licking her lips in a seductive manner. Soarin' admired her, so absorbed that he was completely unaware that he was no longer alone in his room.

Spitfire had opened Soarin's door, and the sight that greeted her made her want to fall down laughing. Soarin' had his back to the door, and hadn't noticed her entry; she watched with amusement as the poor stallion lusted over the magazine. She crept cautiously across the room, sneaking up to him with stealth in her very breath. This was going to be fun.

Oh, what to do? Clear my throat? Shout? Sound shocked? Angry? Jump on him?

She considered her options for a moment, before deciding to do a convoluted mix of all of them.

"Soarin' Windsong, what the fuck are you doing?!" she yelled in a slightly gravelly voice, pouncing over the bed to collide with the suddenly petrified pegasus, who started violently and dropped his magazine.

"Spitfire?! Um, it's not what it looks like I swear! I was... um, reading the articles?" he finished lamely, eyes pinpricks of fear.

Spitfire meanwhile was too busy rolling around on the floor in a fit of giggles to be paying all that much attention.

"Sweet Celestia, your face!" she said breathlessly, standing up and wiping her eyes of the tears of her mirth.

Soarin' merely stood awkwardly, all previous excitement totally obliterated.

"Oh wow, I gotta do that more often," she panted, taking a seat on the bed.

"No you don't," the stallion grumbled, sitting next to her.

"Oh, lighten up Soar," she said, giving him a playful hit on his shoulders.

"Why are you even up here?" he asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"I've been going round, thanking everyone for the effort they put in today. I really am proud of you all," she beamed. "And last, but by no means least, I came to congratulate my best friend."

There was a moment of silence.

"Who?" asked Soarin'.

"You, you dolt!" said Spitfire with exasperation. "It's not like we've known each other since we were foals or anything!"

"Oh, right. And I know that, but you have a lot of friends, Spits, so I didn't know who was top."

"It's you, you big dummy."

Soarin' smiled.

"Thanks, Spits."

"No worries. Anyway, I think we're missing the bigger picture here."

"We are?"

Spitfire nodded and pointed at the issue of Playpony that was crumpled on the floor.

"Well," said Soarin', his cheeks flushing from pale blue to crimson in the blink of an eye. "W-we all get urges don't we? Th-there's nothing shameful about it, it's completely natural," he stammered as he shoved it back into his suitcase.

"If there's nothing shameful, then why are you bright red?" Spitfire teased. She took a certain amount of pleasure from watching him squirm.

"I-I dunno, it is rather warm in here, that might be it..."

Spitfire gave him a quick once over. Soarin' felt as though he was being x-rayed by those warm, amber eyes.
The yellow mare saw how tense he was, she saw how his eyes were not quite meeting hers, that faintest glimmer in their emerald depths, the twitch in his left ear. No other pony would notice anything, but Soarin' had been her good friend for so very long, she knew what was on his mind, he always got like this when it'd been a while.

"How long's it been Soar?" she asked casually.

"Wh-what?!"

"You heard me pony boy, when did you last get laid?"

Soarin' never ceased to be amazed at just how brash and blunt Spitfire could be sometimes.

"'Bout eight months," he mumbled.

Spitfire whistled.

"Whoo, that's pretty long for you. You normally have the pick of the litter, what with all the fangirls you have, not to mention fanboys" she said, giving him a sly wink. "What's got your tail in a knot all of a sudden?"

"I guess I kinda want a relationship, ya know?"

"Aww, is my 'ittle bitty Soary growing up?" Spitfire teased, inching slightly closer to him as she poked him in the chest.

"Maybe I am. I'm not getting any younger, am I?"

"Oh, don't start talking like that. It's depressing."

"Hey, anyway, seeing as how I told you, it's only fair you tell me, right?" said Soarin', turning the tables in one sentence. Now it was Spitfire who was blushing.

"Well?" he pressed, smirking. He turned to lie on his bed, leaning against the headrest, forelegs behind his head, clearly enjoying himself.

"Frou theefs," she murmured, avoiding his gaze.

"I'm sorry, what's that?" he said, putting a hoof to his ear.

"Two weeks!"

"Huh," said the stallion, surprised. "Not long ago then."

"I was drunk," said Spitfire, as though this was an adequate excuse. "Can we change the subject now?"

"Why? This is what you did to me."

"But it's funny with you!" Spitfire whined, pouting.

"Fine, what do you wanna talk about?"

"I wanna talk about what you're going to do about this relationship predicament you're in."

Soarin' paused.

"Well, what do you think I should do?"

Spitfire looked thoughtful for a second, then scooted up the bed, batting one of Soarin's hooves nonchalantly.

"I think you should perhaps ask somepony to go to dinner with you while we're on tour," said Spitfire tentatively. She was blushing, and Soarin' couldn't work out why.

"Where are we headed next?" the stallion asked, looking around for his calendar.

"Ponyville, tomorrow. Jeez, Soar, you need to be more organised."

"Pffft, why organise when you know everything anyway?"

"That's... actually a good point," she conceded.

"So, Ponyville you say? Hmmm."

He stared at Spitfire, seemingly deep in thought. The yellow mare's heart beat slightly faster in anticipation.

"I'll send a letter to Rainbow Dash then, see if she wants to hook up."

"Wait, what?" said Spitfire, feeling her heart now sink horribly in her chest. Soarin' seemed confused.

"You said ask somepony to dinner while we're on tour. We're on tour, and I'm gonna ask Rainbow Dash to dinner!" He flashed a bright smile at his pegasus friend and sprang up off the bed to look for parchment and quills.

"Oh, yeah... of course," murmured Spitfire, head down, her fiery mane swaying in the disturbance caused by Soarin' as he leapt up, "Rainbow Dash."

"Spits, you're a genius!" said the stallion happily, ruffling her hair with a free hoof.

"I-I guess I have my moments, don't I?" she mumbled. She looked up at the excited pegasus. "Soar?" she began.

"Yuh-huh?" he said, pausing in his rush to look at her.

Spitfire held his gaze, wanting to tell him so many things.

"I... I think I'm gonna hit the hay, it's getting late."

"Sure thing, see you tomorrow mornin' pony gal!"

She gave him a weak smile and walked to the door. She loved it when he called her pony gal.

"G'night," she said on her way out.

"Sweet dreams!"

The door shut and Spitfire trudged back to her room. She fell on her bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering just what in Equestria went wrong.

Out of the Blue

Soaring Skies
by Gallifrey

Chapter Two
Out of the Blue

Rainbow Dash twisted in her sleep, eyes flitting frantically under their blue lids. She was dreaming; a good dream too. Flying. She often had dreams about flying, but this was different: she wasn't in the skies, she was above the skies, dancing amongst the stars. As she surfed the melting Milky Way, some of the stars rearranged themselves to form the faces of her friends. Fluttershy had just morphed seamlessly into Twilight Sparkle, when the luminous apparition began to talk.

"Beep!" said Twilight.

"What?"

"Beep!"

"Twilight, you alright?"

"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Rainbow Dash's slightly bloodshot eyes snapped open and she smashed a hoof over her alarm clock to shut it up. With a monumental effort, she sat up, stretching and yawning widely, bleary eyes looking around the bedroom. She rubbed them with her hooves and blinked a few times. Falling back into the warm embrace of her bed, she stretched again because it felt so damn good. She lay on her back for a few minutes, until her tummy decided to have other ideas and began rumbling loudly.
Grumbling that she actually had to move, she rolled to the side until she fell out of bed. Extracting herself from the tangled blue blankets, Rainbow mooched through her house to the kitchen, giving herself a glance in the mirror at the bottom of the stairs: her mane was a mess, and she didn't really care. Passing her front door, she saw that Derpy had already delivered the mail. She scooped the letters up and set them on the table.

"I better have some cereal," she muttered, rummaging through cupboards. "Aha!"

After a few minutes walking back and forth, Rainbow sat down happily in front of a big bowl of Honey Hooves. Remembering that she had letters to address, she drew them closer and began sifting through them.

"Schedule for next week, some crap on wing lotion..."

She turned over the advertisement.

"Fly higher, faster, stronger... simply rub into wing joints once daily..." Her eyebrows raised and she set it down. "Sounds a bit kinky to me." She took another glance at it, then continued through her mail. "A letter from Twilight, again."
She rolled her eyes and opened it, knowing what she was about to read.

Dear Rainbow Dash,

Hey Rainbow, just writing this to remind you about the Wonderbolts' show today, six o'clock, in the park, okay? I'm really excited about it! See you soon.

Twilight

"This is the fifth time this week!" exclaimed the exasperated pegasus, "She knows how much I love the Bolts, how was I gonna forget? If anything, I should be writing these letters to her!"

The last letter looked unusual. It was a sky blue envelope with 'Rainbow Dash, Ponyville, Equestria' written on it in what appeared to be an attempt at elegant hoofwriting. Rainbow turned it over to break the wax seal, pausing when she saw just what the seal was: a winged lightning bolt. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes shrank as she just stared at it, knowing where it had come from. With trembling hooves, the starstruck pegasus broke the wax, drawing the parchment out, and began to read:

Dear Rainbow Dash,

I was just wondering if
Would you be able to
As I'm sure you're aware, we're coming to visit Ponyville tonight. I can't wait. Ponyville is always such a welcoming town, with the best pies! Anyway, that's beside the point. As I'm one hundred percent certain you'll be holding tickets for the show, I'd be delighted if you'd like to come to dinner with me after you've watched the show to catch up and stuff, I haven't seen you in ages! If you're agreeable, meet me by the town hall at eight o'clock. No need to send a reply: I'll grab a sandwich if you don't wanna go, don't worry. Hope to see you there!

Soarin'

Rainbow Dash flipped over the parchment to see if anything was written on the other side. There was.

Knew you would look on this side. :P

She ran a hoof through her mane and took several deep, steadying breaths.

"Okay, okay. So!" she said, voice cracking. "A Wonderbolt wants to take me to dinner... A Wonderbolt wants to take me to dinner. Soarin' wants to take me to dinner..."
Her insides writhed in excitement.
"Ahahaha!" she cried joyously, jumping up so fast she may as well have been struck with lightning. "This is beyond awesome! I gotta tell the girls!"
With a giggle that she couldn't control, she bolted to her door, spreading her powerful blue wings and streaking off to Ponyville.

The light blue stallion snored loudly, turning over in his sleep. His mouth opened and a rivulet of drool oozed over his pillow and soaked into his cheek fur. A small shaft of sunlight found its way in through the closed curtains, as sunlight always has a mischievous tendency to do. Celestia's little joke.
The sunbeam edged slowly across Soarin's pillow, across the puddle of saliva, across his nostrils, muzzle, and snout, coming to linger on his eyes.
Somepony suddenly started hammering at his door.

"Soarin' Windsong! Wake up you lazy bucker!"

Soarin's eyes snapped open, and they were treated to a blast of bright sunlight. He cursed and rolled over reflexively. The bed disappeared from beneath him, and the floor rushed up to wish him a good morning, not knowing its own strength. With a groan, he picked himself up and scrambled to the door in a less than linear fashion.

"Ah, mornin' Rapid," he said upon opening the door to see his best male friend, Rapidfire, standing before him, grey coat and orange mane damp and shiny from a morning wash.

"Yeah, just had a shower," he said, noticing Soarin's expression of slight confusion. "You been, ah- having a wash of your own?" he asked, chuckling.

"What are you talking about?"

"Look in the mirror, you'll see what I'm on about. Anyway, hurry up, Spitfire wants us out in fifteen minutes."

"What?!" exclaimed the stallion.

"Well, it's partly because she's keen to get moving, but mostly because you've slept in dude. We were all up ages ago."

"That's because nobody woke me up! I asked Spits to wake me up this morning!"

"She must have forgotten; she seems a bit feather-brained today, and we've all given her a bit of space just in case, you know how she is sometimes on tour."
Soarin' nodded.
"Anyway, I won't keep you. You need to get your stuff together, see you in a few minutes bro."

"Yeah," said Soarin' vaguely. Something was odd. Spitfire was only ever in a funny mood for a good reason, and he couldn't fathom what might have happened recently. He pushed it out of his mind for the present and padded to get ready for the day. He was midway through brushing his teeth when he looked in the mirror and winced. His entire left cheek was covered in matted fur and dried slobber. He took a wet flannel and went to town on cleaning it all off. Last of all, he ran a hoof under the tap for a second and drew it all along his mane to give it his signature windswept look even when it wasn't actually being swept by the wind.
Satisfied that he looked suitably handsome and dashing, he gathered his possessions and put them into his suitcase. He took a final sweeping glance of the room and decided to at least put the blankets back onto the bed for courtesy's sake.
Suitcase in teeth, he trotted out of the room and made his way to the lobby, but it was empty. He looked outside and saw Rapidfire waving at him. Backing out of the door, he joined the rest of the Wonderbolts.

"Fleetfoot, give your luggage to um, Solar... no, Sandy, and he'll load it into the taxi for ya," said Spitfire, hovering above all and directing them. "Come on guys, the train for Ponyville leaves in less than twenty minutes! Rapidfire, do a head count please, we don't want anyone sleeping as late as Soarin'. Speak of the devil..."

"Mornin' Spits," he said brightly.

"Morning," she said evenly. "Soar, have you got everything?"

"Yes ma'am!"

Spitfire fluttered over and landed in front of him.

"Now are you sure? Your track record of forgetting things isn't exactly, great..."

"Heh, you don't have to tell me," he said sheepishly, rubbing a hoof behind his head.

The yellow mare leaned in conspiratorially, Soarin' did likewise.

"Just be sure, be completely sure, that your... literature is packed away. The last thing I want is everypony in Equestria knowing my Vice Captain reads porn," she whispered into his ear, giving him a sly wink.

"I'm very sure it's in there," he said confidently, giving an impromptu salute.

"Just double check though," she said, before taking off and resuming the leaving preparations.

Soarin' cautiously opened his luggage, and saw the sultry gaze of a yellow pegasus staring up from a page.

We're all good, he thought, zipping it up quickly.

Spitfire had forgotten what she was doing and floated in the air, tapping her chin with a hoof as the others waited expectantly beneath her.

"I think... I think that's everything, is everyone ready?"

There was a ripple of agreement through all six Wonderbolts and their technical support.

"Then let's get this show on the road!"

Ponyville's fastest mare was zooming through the crisp morning air, on her way to Twilight Sparkle's abode. She had just left Sweet Apple Acres after gleefully telling the cowpony about her unexpected date with a Wonderbolt. Sure, she would've preferred Spitfire, but she knew she shouldn't be ungrateful.
A sudden and intensely pleasant surge of giddiness surged through her form as she soared through sapphire skies, causing her to perform a tight retrograde corkscrew for the sheer joy of it.
The arboreal form of Ponyville library rapidly came into view, and following her tried and tested method of 'how to talk to a Sparkle in the fastest possible way,' Rainbow Dash flew in through the window, deliberately collided with a bookshelf, all the while yelling at the top of her voice:

"TWWWWWWIIIIIIIILLLLLIIIIIIIIIGHHT!"

The cacophony of sound from her shouting and the tumbling of many heavy and ancient books caused a frantic scramble of hooves up the flight of stairs and a door to burst open.

Less than two seconds, way faster than knocking on the door, thought Rainbow smugly, under the weight of many books.

"Rainbow Dash! Goodness, are you alright?" asked a concerned Twilight Sparkle, running up to and prodding the mound of books for any signs of life.

"I'm good," said the pile of books.

"Rainbow, I know you like doing tricks, but must they always end with you knocking my books over?"

"Hey, the tricks choose where they wanna go, ain't my fault!" defended the pile, which caused Twilight to roll her eyes. "Anyway, that's not why I'm here."

"Then why are you here? Speaking of which, you're here! Would you like anything to eat or drink?"

A book in the pile shifted slightly as Rainbow's ears perked up. She pushed up her head so it was finally free of the fallen tomes.

"You got any sandwiches? I could really go for a sandwich right now." Her stomach growled loudly in affirmation.

"I can make some, I'm feeling kinda hungry myself. I skipped breakfast!" Twilight giggled a rebellious giggle as though it were a forbidden activity to skip breakfast. "Can you imagine?"

"Uh sure, crazy times," said a confused Rainbow, as she worked her way out from the books. She often skipped her own breakfast, usually on account of not waking up until lunchtime.

Twilight looked at the fallen books and paused for a moment, wondering whether to tidy them up now or later. Or...

"Spiiiiiike!" she called loudly.

"So Rainbow," began the purple unicorn, setting down a glass of water and meeting Rainbow's eyes. "Why did you come to visit me? Not that I'm complaining or anything!" she added hastily. "Just curious."

"Well," said Rainbow, through a mouthful of delicious cucumber sandwich. "I have the most awesome news ever to tell you."

"Oh?" said Twilight, interest piqued.

Rainbow began the same story she had already told her four other good friends that morning.

"It just came totally out of the blue!" she began dramatically, throwing her forehooves over her head for added emphasis. She then proceeded to take a bite of sandwich.

Twilight waited for a few seconds before asking:

"What did?"

"Hang on, just enjoying this, you make gorgeous sandwiches Twi."

"Thank you Rainbow," said the lavender mare, blushing at the kind words.

"Anyway. Story. Out of the blue. It was a letter, guess who it was from?"

"The Princess?"

"Nope."

"Your parents?" she asked tentatively. Rainbow snorted.

"Not likely."

"The Wonderbolts?"

"Yes!" barked the pegasus instantly, causing Twilight to jump.

"Oh Rainbow, that's fantastic news! When are you joining?"

"Huh? Oh no no no, they haven't asked me to join."

"Oops, sorry," said Twilight meekly, tapping her forehooves together awkwardly.

"This might be even better," Rainbow declared, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"Better than joining them? How so?" asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow, genuinely intrigued as to what could possibly be better for a Rainbow Dash than being accepted.

"Well, you know Soarin'?"

Twilight nodded, bringing the light blue stallion to mind as she took another drink of water.

"He wrote to me asking if I wanted to go to dinner with him!"

Twilight choked.

"Wh-what?!" she spluttered, suddenly looking stricken.

"I know! Awesome right?" said Rainbow happily, not noticing the panicked and hurt expression on her friend's face.

Twilight finished choking and painfully forced her face into one of delight on behalf of the pegasus.

"Th-that's really... really good, Rainbow," she said, grinning a lot wider than the situation really called for. "Fantastic even! When are- when are you meeting him?"

"Tonight, after the show!"

"After the show," Twilight muttered, more to herself than Rainbow, feeling her heart plummet. The unicorn had been so very excited for the Wonderbolts show as well. As soon as she heard about it she had asked Rainbow if she had wanted to come, and even bought her the tickets. Twilight had hoped it would be a special evening for them both. Alas, it seemed not to be, with Rainbow gallivanting off with a stallion immediately after. The purple mare sighed internally as her heart sank a few inches lower in her chest.
"Well, I wish you the best of luck," she said lamely.

"Heh, thanks. Tonight is gonna be amazing!"

"I certainly hope so."

"Anyway, it's been great seeing ya," said Rainbow, getting to her hooves, and glancing at the open window above her, "but I have to go and tell my friends on the Weather Team the good news!"

"Sure."

"Thanks for the food by the way, I'll see you this evening, yeah?"

Twilight nodded.

"See ya around!"

Twilight opened her mouth to bid Rainbow farewell, but she had already gone, out of the window. Slowly, she closed her mouth and licked her lips, it felt somehow comforting.

"Well..." she began, planning to give herself a lecture on how it 'wasn't so big a deal' that the mare she harboured feelings for clearly had plans of her own, but no words came out.

With heavy spirits, heavy hooves, heavy heart and heavy everything else, Twilight dragged herself upstairs, up to her room and locked her door with a snap. She collapsed miserably on her bed, staring through the ceiling and into infinity; for how long she didn't know.
After five minutes, or it might have been five hours, there came a gentle and timid knocking on her door.

"Twilight? Are you alright?" murmured Spike through the thick, wooden barrier.

Twilight didn't answer, instead choosing to roll onto her side, away from the door, mane covering her face as a single silver tear streaked from her eyes.

Ponyville Air Show Spectacular!

Soaring Skies
by Gallifrey

Chapter Three
Ponyville Air Show Spectacular!

A purple train chugged its way through Equestria's vast and varied landscape, dutifully carrying its passengers to the charming town of Ponyville. Not that the train had any say in the matter, but it would have carried its passengers even if it did.

Spitfire slumped lower in her seat, now so far down that she was almost level with the table in front of her. She raised her gaze a few inches to look at Soarin', who was growing restless. He had been sitting in one place for a whole half hour now and was eager to reach Ponyville. He was watching the world go by out of the window of the train, eyes flittering back and forth rapidly as the world flew by, as if to make up for his lack of movement. The stallion kept running a hoof through his rich blue mane, his hind hooves sometimes broke out into tapping, and he occasionally snorted, apparently not aware he was doing so. Spitfire found these little quirks of his endearing; the other Wonderbolts found them irritating, which might have been the reason they were alone in their compartment.
Spitfire somehow descended even lower in her seat, and one of her legs accidentally met Soarin's. Soarin' suddenly turned to look at her and the yellow mare quickly averted her gaze

"How long until we get to Ponyville?" he asked his captain.

"Another three hours, Soar," she said, hauling herself up into a normal sitting position, yawning as she did so.

His mouth opened in horror.

"Three?!"

"I'm afraid so."

Soarin' digested this information, and resumed staring out of the window, an added layer of desperation in his eyes. Spitfire tried to look out the window too, but she found her eyes constantly being drawn to the stallion before her whether she liked it or not. The view outside may have been a stunning landscape of dew sparkling forest, but it was nothing to how stunning he was...

No, stop it, she scolded herself.

The time slinked by, each minute deciding to last at least five before they relinquished their claim to the present to the next minute. After ten of these excruciatingly long minutes, Spitfire couldn't hold herself back any longer.

"Why?" she murmured.

"Hmmm?" asked Soarin', diverting his attention from the pretty scenery to his friend.

"Why did you ask Rainbow on a date tonight?" she asked, carefully not letting her tone slip into accusation.

"Oh come on Spits, I thought that would be obvious!" he said, smiling at her.

"You tell me," she said plainly.
.
"Well, she's fast, athletic, strong, independent, cool, and best of all, she's feisty. I like feisty mares."

Spitfire wanted nothing more than to say, 'so what's the difference between her and me?' but she couldn't bring herself to do it and spoil his day, or fall out with him, or both.

She took a few calming breaths and put on a smile for him.

"Ohhh, didn't think you'd like the feisty ones Soar."

"How could I not? They're hot!" he exclaimed, eyes gleaming.

Spitfire nodded thoughtfully at this. She wondered whether to warn Soarin' about Rainbow's noticeably short temper, at which point, she would be too feisty for him to handle, but held her tongue, she didn't want to sound patronising after all, as everypony who met Rainbow figured it out within five minutes more or less.

"Well, they are hot, it's not like I'm gonna disagree with you there. But seriously, good luck tonight and treat her good, she... she deserves it."

"Thanks, Spits. I'll do my best!" he said, raising a hoof in salute.

Spitfire, with an effort raised the corners of her mouth into a weak smile. As Soarin' resumed staring out the window, Spitfire felt her heart sink yet further. She glanced at Soarin', then she rose to her hooves and left the compartment without another word.

"Spits, where're you going?" asked the stallion, but she didn't answer.

Soarin' was left wondering if he'd said something wrong for a few minutes, until she returned, and not alone.

"This young lady tells me you have a fondness for pies?" croaked an elderly mare with a sugar sweet smile that looked as sweet as the array of tasty treats she had on a trolley.

"Pies?" he said instantly, ears pricking up.

Spitfire gave him a small smile as she sat back down.

I'll treat him good, he deserves it.

"How do I look?!"

"For the fifth time Twilight, you look great!" sighed an exasperated Spike, watching Twilight run around him in a near panic.

The purple mare consulted her extensive check list which, among other things, included: brush mane, clean teeth, wear that nice lavender perfume and file hooves.
Twilight paused in her running for a second.

"Spike, do you think I should put a flower in my mane or not?"

"Twi, am I really gonna be the best judge of that?" asked the dragon, scratching his head.

"Perhaps not, but you're the best I've got!"

She picked up the white lotus flower with her magic and rushed to a mirror and compared how she looked with and without it.

"It looks pretty, that much can be ascertained. But does it look like I'm making an effort, or making too much effort?"

"It looks good Twilight, so what does it matter?"

Why does it matter? Rainbow doesn't care about me, she's seeing Soarin' straight after... no! You can't spoil her evening by being miserable. Be happy for her, and... try, try to get over it.

Twilight's overactive brain didn't get to consider the matter any further however, as a sudden sound cut through the aether of her mind. A knock from the door.

"Coming!"

Twilight opened the door to reveal Rainbow Dash, looking the same as she ever did, though she may have put a brush through her mane. Once. Maybe.

"Hey Twilight, how's it hangin'?"

"How's what hanging?" asked Twilight, nonplussed.

"Never mind, you ready to go? The show starts in like twenty minutes."

"Yup, all ready, I'll get the picnic blanket and we can be off."

She scurried up her stairs to get said blanket, and returned with it bound in her magical aura.

"See you later Spike!" she called on her way out.

"Have a good time!" he replied as she shut the door.

Twilight took a deep breath of the warm evening air and looked around. Ponyville seemed busier than usual under the evening sunlight, with everypony heading in the same direction, towards the park.
Rainbow Dash grinned widely as they walked together; no matter how many times she saw the Wonderbolts, it never grew old for the speedster pegasus.

"So Twi, what you been up to since I saw you this morning?" asked Rainbow, striking up conversation.

Twilight knew the honest answer would have been 'wallowing in self-pity like the pathetic mare I am,' but imagined that would spoil the mood somewhat, so she settled for:

"Reading a book," she said meekly.

"No surprises there," chuckled Rainbow. "What book?"

"Melody for my Mare."

"Bleh, you and your sappy romance novels," said Rainbow teasingly, sticking her tongue out in mock disgust.

"They're not that bad, you should try one out."

"Nah, the only ponies who read them are the ones who can't get laid. I don't need them."

It was a few seconds before Rainbow realised she was walking on her own. She turned to see Twilight standing alone behind her, looking hurt. The pegasus groaned internally.

"Oh, I didn't mean- It's not like- Twi, you know I didn't mean you, right?"

The poor unicorn looked as though she was trying to hold back tears.

"Twilight, I'm really sorry," urged the pegasus, placing a hoof on one of Twilight's shoulders, looking into the wide purple eyes of her friend. She meant it too, and Rainbow hardly ever apologised.

"It's alright," said Twilight with a small sniff, "I know you wouldn't say something like that on purpose."

They continued walking, and Rainbow had to initiate conversation a few times before she managed to banish the awkwardness she had accidentally introduced, by the time they were talking and laughing like normal, they had reached the park.
A gruff looking stallion was at the entrance, Twilight showed him their tickets and he nodded.

"Where should we go?" asked Twilight.

"I reckon by the lake will be our best bet," said Rainbow, making a beeline that Twilight followed.

The purple mare set down the picnic blanket, and the two of them lay down on their backs, ready to enjoy the show.

"You ever seen the Bolts before?" asked Rainbow, putting her forelegs behind her head.

"Only once, and that was a long time ago," said Twilight, tilting her head slightly in Rainbow's direction. "I was just a filly, and Princess Celestia took me to see them as a treat for doing well in my exams one time. I remember her telling me what you could achieve if you chased your dreams, and then pointing to them as they soared through the sky."

"Oh wow, the Princess sounds like a great teacher," said Rainbow quietly.

"She was, and still is," said Twilight, eyes glazing over as she reminisced. "I sometimes wonder where I'd be if she'd never accepted me as her student. Just another nopony I suspect, still, that's no bad thing."

"Nah, you'd still be here, super clever and amazing," said Rainbow, as she looked around for any signs of the show beginning.

Twilight said nothing, but smiled a bittersweet smile at Rainbow's kind words. The loud, amplified and honeyed voice of a certain yellow pegasus mare suddenly boomed out over the park, causing Twilight to jump.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, welcome to the Wonderbolts' air show right here in Ponyville! We hope you all enjoy what we have in store for you this evening, and we have some manoeuvres that we'll perform for you and you only, so yeah, don't say you weren't treated!"

The crowd chuckled appreciatively at Spitfire's words.

"Now, of course, the pleasantries are in order. Let me introduce you to the team! First up, the most agile pegasus in all of Equestria, give it up for Fleetfoot!"

Spitfire sure knew how to work a crowd, applause and cheers erupted as the pale blue maned pegasus flitted out over the audience, seeming to teleport from one area to another rather than actually fly.

"She's like a hummingbird," said Twilight in awe, watching her dart.

"I don't know what one of those is, but I know she's cool!" said Rainbow excitedly.

"Next up, we've got the feistiest mare this side of Canterlot, excluding myself of course, please welcome our newest member, who you might not have seen before, Thunder Wing!

Rainbow grumbled.

"Damn girl totally stole my spot: that should be me! What's she got that I haven't?"

"Now, for what all you mares have waiting for, the stallions! There was another ripple of laughter. "A master of aerobatics, a flier with truly prodigious skill, it's Rapidfire!"

The fiery maned pegasus dashed out into the skies, flying in tight circles around his other team mates who were out there already.

"And a stallion who can rival Fleetfoot in agility, who will incidentally be doing some very tricky stunts with her later on, give it up for Oncoming Storm!
"And now, for a stallion who needs no introduction, but I'm giving him one anyway! He's fast, he's fearless, an aerial ace with a fondness for pie and frankly pretty easy on the eyes too, I'm sure some of you will agree, it's Soarin'!"

"Soarin'," said Rainbow and Twilight simultaneously. Though Rainbow said it with anticipation and admiration while Twilight muttered it with a barely concealed tone of sourness and resentment.

"And there's me, Spitfire, who's pretty fast. So who's ready for a show?!"

The crowd gave a raucous cheer.

I said, who's ready for a show?!

A roar spread through the crowd and Spitfire shot off into the sky to join her team, leaving a crackling fire in her wake. She joined Soarin' and they ascended high into the heavens at an astonishing rate, and raced back down even faster; Spitfire with her trail of fire, Soarin' with a trail of thunder. They catapulted themselves straight at the ground and only banked up at the very last moment, right above Rainbow and Twilight, who could only gasp with wide shiny eyes at the danger and skill that was on display before them.

As all six Wonderbolts finished off their spectacular finale, which involved flying extremely fast and missing each other by the breadth of a feather, all in perfect synchrony, with a few dozen fireworks thrown in too. The crowd erupted and thunderous applause joined the thunderous crackle of their trails. The team landed as one, sweaty, exhausted, but happy with how they had performed.

"Great job guys!" said Spitfire brightly, removing her flight goggles, adrenaline still coursing through her body. "Rapid, I know you were worried about that reverse barrel roll with the clouds, you pulled that off perfectly, so well done on that, now everyone hit the showers, you all stink." She grinned. Soarin' looked around for a clock.

"Spits, what's the time?" he asked, pushing up his flight goggles.

"It's about to hit eight o'clock, why?"

"Already?! Horseapples! I-I'll see ya later!"

"Bye?" she said, completely confused, but Soarin' was already galloping away in the direction of Ponyville town hall. A sneaky idea occurred to Spitfire, and she followed, keeping to the shadows all the while.

"Thanks again for taking me to the show, Twilight," said Rainbow sincerely as they trotted out of the park together.

"It was no trouble, really!" she said, and then added in an undertone. "Just obscenely expensive..."

They reached Ponyville town hall, and it was almost eight o'clock.

"Don't be stupid, seriously, I owe you one, don't think I'll forget."

"Sure. Anyway, I should get going, don't want to be around when your date gets here after all."

Rainbow chuckled.

"'Kay. We'll have to meet up again soon, I'll tell you all about it!"

"I can't wait," said Twilight. She was extremely good at being sarcastic without anypony noticing.

Rainbow raised a hoof in an offer for a hug; Twilight took it and embraced her friend. The studious mare felt her heart beat speed up slightly, her face was full of Rainbow's scratchy mane, she sighed, and got a noseful of Rainbow's sweet scent, which was like freshly fallen rain blended with the finest honey. The moment was bittersweet for Twilight, serving only to remind her that which she could never have. The last thing the unicorn wanted to do was break the hug, but break it she must, and she pulled back.

"See ya later egghead, loving the flower by the way," said Rainbow, her eyes darting upwards and she leaned forward to sniff it. "Mmm, nice!"

"Than- bye- Rain- do you thin-" Twilight stammered. "Ahem! Thank you Rainbow. See you soon!"

She flashed the pegasus a smile and raised a hoof in farewell, and not a moment too soon, as Soarin' approached out of the darkness, looking flustered and a little lost, but his eyes brightened as they fell upon Rainbow Dash.

Meanwhile, Twilight began walking down Ponyville high street at a snail's pace, head bowed.

"Psssst!"

Twilight's head snapped up in alarm, looking around.

"Hello?" she asked, feeling a little silly.

"Over here!" said an urgent voice somewhere to her left.

The unicorn wandered vaguely in the right direction until she saw an agitated looking mare hiding in the darkness, Twilight was fairly sure she recognised her as-

"Hey, name's Spitfire, though you might already know that; and you're Twilight Sparkle right?"

"I am," said Twilight unsurely, wondering what the captain of the Wonderbolts was doing skulking around the streets like this, though she could guess.

"Have you seen Soarin' or Rainbow Dash?" she whispered.

"I've seen both," said the unicorn, with a expression about as cheerful as a thundercloud, "they're over there." She pointed in their direction.

Spitfire slinked out of the shadows, and peered in the direction Twilight was indicating, she saw two blue ponies walking away, in the direction of DeCanter's, Ponyville's classiest restaurant. The fiery Wonderbolt let out a deep sigh.

"I had to see for myself, and I had kinda hoped..." said Spitfire weakly, gazing wistfully at their retreating backs, "that she wouldn't turn up, or he would forget, or something... is that bad of me?" She looked at Twilight, eyes almost pleading for her to say no.

"You too huh?" was Twilight's only response, eyes fixed on Rainbow in the distance.

"Oh, did you have feelings for Soarin' too?"

"Aha," said Twilight mirthlessly. "No, but I do for Rainbow Dash."

"Of course," said Spitfire, facehoofing at her own stupidity, "that makes a lot more sense. I guess we're in the same boat then?"

"Looks like it," said Twilight quietly. Silence took this chance to descend over the pair, leaving each mare to her own thoughts.

"Why does it hurt so much," began Spitfire, all the usual fire and frisk absent from her voice, leaving a hollow intonation in its wake. "Why does it hurt to see them happy with someone else? Why, when every time I see him smile and it's because of her, does it feel like I've been stabbed in the heart? Why am I angry he's not with me? Am I that selfish?"

"No," said Twilight after a second's thought, "the selfish thing to do would be sabotage or manipulation, by doing this, we are letting them go... no- no matter how painful it is." She blinked and a single sparkling tear fell from her eyes.

"Yeah... I guess you're right."

Twilight sniffed.

"Would you like to come back to my house?" asked the unicorn politely, "I was planning to have some tea, and you're welcome to join me."

"Thanks for the offer, but I need some time to myself right now."

"I can understand that."

"Still, it was nice meeting you, Twilight Sparkle," said Spitfire, proffering a hoof.

"Likewise," said Twilight, tentatively bumping her hoof against the pegasus'.

Spitfire gave her a small, sad smile, and then launched herself into the rapidly darkening sky, leaving Twilight Sparkle alone in the night.

Rainbow's Date With Destiny

Soaring Skies
by Gallifrey

Chapter Four
Rainbow's Date With Destiny

"Soarin'?"

"Huh?"

"You alright?"

"Yeah, of course!"

Soarin' had spent the last few seconds staring into the middle distance and gave his head a little shake.
They were sitting at a candlelit table in DeCanter's. The restaurant was dimly lit for a cosy atmosphere; across the room, a grey mare was playing sweet music on a cello. Next to her was an aquamarine unicorn strumming a lyre.

"So," said Rainbow, "where else are you going to on this tour?"

"Well, um, I'm not too sure on the order, but we're going to Appleloosa, Cloudsdale, Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Seaddle, Los Pegasus, Hoofington, Baltimare, and some smaller towns in between I forget the name of."

"Busy times ahead then?"

"Heh, yeah, we'll be going for the next two months. Not that we get a break," he grumbled.

"You get time off when it's over though, right?"

"Barely, you get very little time off when you're a Wonderbolt, you know."

"R-really?" asked Rainbow with slight trepidation, thinking her days of napping would be over if she ever got into the Wonderbolts.

"Yup," said Soarin' with a knowing glint in his eyes. "No more naps for you, Miss Rainbow."

Rainbow shuddered at the prospect. Then she snorted. "Miss Rainbow?"

Soarin' blushed.

"I-it seemed appropriate," he stammered.

Much to her surprise, Rainbow giggled. She put a hoof up to her mouth in shock.

"You alright?" asked Soarin', raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I'm fine, I just haven't done that in a... very long time."

Soarin' looked a little puzzled. He glanced over Rainbow's shoulders and smiled.

"Your food, madam and sir," said a polite unicorn waiter, holding two plates in a magical aura.

"Thank you," said Soarin' gratefully, then, on a whim, beckoned the waiter closer. Leaning conspiratorially into his ear, he whispered something, before slipping a few bits into the waiter's pocket.

"Yes sir," said the unicorn as he departed.

"What did you ask him?"

"You'll see," he replied mysteriously.

As Soarin' began eating his pasta, (on Rainbow's recommendation, for she had the same) the blue mare found her eyes raking over his athletic form. He still had his flight suit on, though he had removed it from his head, giving the impression he was wearing a hoodie. The tight suit certainly left nothing to the imagination, and Rainbow found herself wishing the table had been made of glass so she could have taken a peek at the rather more... exciting aspects of the Wonderbolt's anatomy. Her gaze rose to his face, which had rapidly adopted a thin layer of tomato sauce around his muzzle, up to his mane, which looked a little dishevelled from the show, down to his brilliant green eyes, which looked the most tired of all. He needed a good night's sleep, and, if he was a good boy, he might just get it...

The grey mare and the unicorn approached the table. Soarin' acknowledged their presence.

"Ze vaiter said zat you vish for me to play for you?"

"Yes please," said Soarin', "and thanks."

They nodded and began to play a soft, beautiful melody.

"Rainbow," he said through a mouthful of pasta, waving a hoof in front of her face. "You gonna eat any of that?"

Rainbow blinked.

"Oh- oh yeah!" she said, voice cracking out of embarrassment, looking down at her plate of very appetising pasta. "How is it?"

"It's lovely," said Soarin', exercising one of his pick-up lines, "but nowhere near as lovely as you."

Rainbow stared at him blankly.

"You're so cute when you're cheesy," she said, grinning widely.

The stallion merely sat there, usually lines like that got mares, and the occasional stallion, to swoon for him. But then again, Rainbow Dash was no ordinary pony.

The blue mare suddenly took notice of the duo of musicians next to their table.

"Lyra?" she said.

The minty mare looked up from her work, and merely winked at Rainbow, then she jerked her head to Soarin' and continued playing.

"Is that what you said to the waiter?" asked Rainbow in hushed tones.

"Yup," replied the stallion. "Do you like it?"

"D-do I like it? This is the most romantic thing ever!" she squealed, drawing her hooves up to her face. Then catching herself, she coughed and looked sheepishly over at him. "I mean it's awesome! Yeah, that sounds better," she said, fumbling for her fork as she ate.

Tick tock goes the clock,
I took her out to the show,
Tick tock goes the clock,
And Soarin' fell for Rainbow.
Tick tock goes the clock,
It's raining and it's pouring,
Tick tock goes the clock,
And Rainbow fell for Soarin'.

The crisp parchment that the words had been written on suddenly became speckled with teardrops. Twilight Sparkle set her quill down and spun around in her chair. Princess Luna had been wrong; writing poetry when she was upset didn't help at all.
She sighed deeply and abandoned her writing desk, instead venturing downstairs in search of a good book.
Night had fallen, all baby dragons had been put to bed, and every step the lavender mare took seemed very loud in the silent house. She traced a hoof over many, many books, looking for one that even vaguely piqued her interest, to no avail.
Twilight could tell that things were becoming serious, when even books failed to be her salvation.

You could always ask the Princess for some advice? suggested a small, scared voice deep inside Twilight's brain.

Pah, the Princess has more important things to worry about than the trivial whims of a mare like me, said a much louder, much more cynical part of the unicorn's mind.

Twilight decided to give up the books as a bad job, she settled on making a pot of tea instead. Traipsing into her living room, she levitated her wireless out into the kitchen. Setting it on the table she turned it on and started tuning it as several pieces of crockery began floating out of various cupboards. Twilight was exceptional at multitasking, and was both filling the kettle up, and trying to find Radio Hoof on the wireless at the same time. She twiddled the dials while the water heated up, past Vinyl Scratch at Nine, past the Cloudsdale Weather Forecast, until she found what she was looking for, Royal Hour with Princess Celestia, which was due to start in a few minutes.
The kettle whistled loudly, and Twilight hurriedly moved it lest it wake up Spike, which was unlikely, but the principle stood. The unicorn prepared the tea, listening to the news before the show began, which included a section on the Wonderbolts in Ponyville.

"I swear," she growled through clenched teeth, "if I hear one more thing about the bucking Wonderbolt's, I'll-"

Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself down. It wasn't often she lost her temper, and when she did, that was mainly because Spike wouldn't do as he was told. She sighed and tried, tried so very hard, to put all thoughts of the Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash out of her mind as she returned to her living room, wireless, teapot, cups and saucers orbiting around her.
The room was deliciously warm, on account of the fire crackling merrily behind the hearth. Guests often questioned Twilight on the wisdom of having a fireplace, given that she lived in a tree, of all places. To which Twilight would answer, with subtle sardonic undertones, that considering the house was still whole and unburned, she just might have done some magic around the fireplace when she had it installed to prevent such an occurrence.

"Ice Breeze of Trottingham asks if you've decided the general overview for the weather for the coming winter yet?" asked the co-presenter of the radio show.

"What a delightfully appropriate name, said Princess Celestia with a sparkling laugh, "I intend for this winter to have a lot more snow than usual, to make up for last year's rather mild conditions; I will be sending my wishes to Cloudsdale some time in the coming week."

Twilight felt safe and secure when she heard her mentor's soothing voice. Even if she wasn't in the room with her, it still helped Twilight relax. Sipping her tea and gazing at the flames, Twilight felt her whirring brain shift down a gear; from the recesses of her mind, the voice of the Princess rose unbidden, heralding words that were strikingly appropriate at present. Celestia had spoken them to Twilight during one of the deepest conversations the pair ever experienced, where she explained to Twilight the full story regarding her and her sister's banishment. She took the teapot and poured another cup of tea, though not for herself.

Sometimes, it's nice to pretend.

Twilight poured Rainbow Dash some tea, holding on to the smallest, most desperate speck of hope that was floating perilously in the void of harsh reality.
The unicorn pushed the tea across her coffee table, offering it to the cold, empty chair opposite her. She could feel her heartstrings tensing up as the pain hit her full bore at that moment, when she was utterly alone.

Sometimes, it's nice to pretend. Sometimes... it's all we have left.

Twilight Sparkle burst into tears.

Rainbow Dash slurped up the last of her pasta- this was great! Well, it had been great. Soarin’ had become distant in the last ten minutes or so- slipping into almost total silence and staring off in the distance. Rainbow was growing increasingly paranoid, wondering if she’d said something wrong somewhere down the line, but nothing came to mind… Also, he smelled. Pretty bad. The blue mare guessed that he hadn’t showered since the end of his performance, and it showed, or rather, it smelled.

“Soarin’?”

The stallion yawned in response, eyes struggling to stay open as exhaustion swept over him.

“Soarin’.”

“Huh?” he managed, blinking amiably up at her.

“If you don’t wanna be here, you can just say y’know.”

“What? Oh no! I do!”

“Okay,” said Rainbow, slightly unconvinced, but smiling all the same. “Getting Octavia and Lyra to play was really sweet by the way.”

“Do you think? I’m glad you liked it!”

They smiled warmly at each other, but after a few seconds, Soarin’s gaze travelled over Rainbow’s shoulder.
At this point, Rainbow was finding the whole zoning out thing getting old, and her temper, which had a hair trigger, was rising dangerously. She set down her fork louder than was necessary.

"Soarin', seriously, if you're gonna act like this, I may as well-"

"Pie," he said simply.

"What?" she asked irritably.

"Piiiiiiie."

Rainbow jerked her head around, and saw the waiter approaching them with pie and ice cream.

"Oh right, desserts," said Rainbow.

"Pie," Soarin' agreed as it was presented in front of him. The second it hit the table, his muzzle was buried in it.

Rainbow gave the waiter a sheepish grin as he walked off with a mildly concerned expression upon his face.

"Can't you eat that in a more... civilised manner?" Rainbow pleaded as the stallion happily slurped and munched his apple pie by the simple virtue of sticking his face in it.

He reluctantly raised his head, sticky apple syrup running down his face and oozing off his chin. Rainbow looked disgusted and mildly alarmed at the sheer ferocity with which he had eaten the pastry treat: in no more than ten seconds, Soarin' had completely eaten half of it and decimated the rest into an unrecognisable mess.
The stallion looked at the fork next him, and the pie in front of him, his mind in turmoil. Pie never tasted as good from a fork... he tried, he really did, but he couldn't resist the seductive scent wafting into his nose and he plunged his snout back into the delicious mess before him. Other diners were starting to look at them. Rainbow flushed beet red, and she'd had quite enough. She stood up.

"I've had enough of this," she growled dangerously, "now you're starting to embarrass me in front of other ponies. This has gone too far."

Soarin' had only just realised the magnitude of the error he had made eating pie in such a manner in a restaurant of this calibre, and ceased.
Now, even under ordinary circumstances, what went on in Soarin's mind and what came out of his mouth weren't often connected, and his brain couldn't have chosen a worse time to go wrong. Panicking, and trying to remedy the situation, Soarin' blurted the first compliment that came to mind.

"You know, I've never met a girl like you before," he stammered, desperately fumbling over his words. He never did find out why he said something so stupid at that moment.

The next thing he knew, he had been pulled forward violently, a hoof tugging on the front of his flight suit.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" hissed the infuriated mare through clenched teeth, face mere inches from his as she leaned over the table.

"N-n-nothing!" he spluttered, unable to think of a decent reply, and he wouldn't have trusted his mouth to say it even if he did.

"I think this date's over, don't you?" she said shortly. "Th-thanks for the dinner Soarin', I guess I'll see ya around."

And without another word, she turned and stormed out.

Twilight Sparkle sat sobbing miserably in her chair, haunted by images ran through her mind of Rainbow having a great time with Soarin', laughing with Soarin', dancing with Soarin', kissing Soarin'. Her inner demons would not abate, and took malicious joy in poking and prodding her subconscious into throwing up more dark and terrifying thoughts.
The poor unicorn tried wiping her matted cheek fur dry, to no avail, when she heard gentle knocking at her door. She froze. No-one visited her at this hour.

What if it's a burglar? she thought wildly.

"A burglar who knocks?" she said condescendingly to herself.

With quite a lot of effort, Twilight hauled herself up.

"Who is it?" she asked in a weary tone, without opening it.

"Rainbow Dash," came a scratchy voice through the wood, Twilight's heart leapt into her throat in both fear and joy.

Why is she here? Did something go wrong with her date with Soarin'? A blossom of hope burst forth in her chest, before being quickly stamped down by a surge of guilt for hoping such things.

"Soooo, you gonna open the door or what?"

Twilight started and unlocked the door. She was greeted by a rather disgruntled looking pegasus, whose expression immediately softened when she saw the state Twilight was in.

"Hey, Rainb-"

"Twilight? What's up?"

Rainbow stepped into the house and draped a comforting wing over the lavender mare.

"How was your date with Soarin'?" asked Twilight weakly.

"Awful," she said shortly, "but that's not important right now, what's the matter?"

"I- It's fine- I'm okay," Twilight babbled, as Rainbow led her gently back into her living room and sat her down on the sofa, putting a hoof over her shoulders.

"You most definitely are not okay," insisted Rainbow Dash, looking at her tear stained fur and slightly bloodshot eyes. "What in Equestria has got you upset like this... or who? Is it somepony I know?" she said fiercely, punching one hoof into the other, "I'll show them not to mess with you!"

"No," squeaked Twilight, "no, it's nothing like that; it's just me being stupid as usual."

Rainbow looked taken aback.

"I'm sorry, did the smartest pony I know just say, 'being stupid as usual?' Pardon my language Twi, but that's bullshit and you know it!"

Twilight's eyes quavered under Rainbow's determined, but not unfriendly glare.
The pegasus looked around the room for any indication that would help her figure this out. Her eyes fell upon the two cups of tea on the coffee table.

"Are you sure someone hasn't been round who's upset you?" asked Rainbow.

"Yes," sniffed Twilight.

"Then why are there two cups of tea on the table over there?" she asked, pointing.

Twilight was looking everywhere but Rainbow's eyes.

"Like I said: just me being stupid."

"You're being as stubborn as AJ now, seriously, can't you tell me? I might be able to help."

Twilight finally met those beautiful magenta eyes, emanating concern.

You might as well tell her, thought Twilight, it's not like you've got anything to lose.

"Rainbow-" she began awkwardly.

"Yes?" queried the pegasus, eyes darting back and forth between Twilight's own.

"Th-there's something I've been m-meaning to tell you..."

She took a few deep breaths, wondering how to express her feelings in the most effective manner, but the words wouldn't come. There were no words for Twilight to describe.

Rainbow looked expectantly at the unicorn.

"You sure do like keeping me in suspense- mmph!"

Rainbow's sentence never finished, because her lips had just met Twilight's. In a brilliant fit of courage, the unicorn decided to throw her proverbial cards on the table and simply kiss the mare of her dreams and hope for the best. Twilight pulled back, face utterly petrified at what she had just done. Rainbow looked speechless.

"RainbowI'msosorrypleasedon'thatemeforeverIdon'tknowwhatcameovermeandohgoodnesswhathaveIdone mmph!"

Twilight was silenced as Rainbow, in turn, kissed Twilight, running a hoof gently through the purple unicorn's mane.

"All this time?" asked Rainbow quietly.

Twilight nodded.

"Always."

"You should've said!" she exclaimed, "I always thought you were pretty hot, I just assumed you weren't interested."

"R-really?"

"Yuhuh." Rainbow looked over at the cups of tea again. Suddenly, it clicked into place. "That cup," she said slowly.

"Yes," said Twilight simply.

Rainbow smiled, and drew the unicorn close to her, in a warm, fuzzy hug.

Soarin' looked around the restaurant, tapping his forehooves together nervously, cheeks glowing pink. He was alone at his table, with the majority of the establishment staring at him. He coughed and paid for the meal, leaving a pile of bits next to his plates. Standing up, he ambled his way out, trying to go as fast as he could whilst drawing as little attention as possible, which was very difficult for a Wonderbolt with pie all over his mouth and whose date had just stormed out. Slinking out of the restaurant, he wasted no time in bolting into the sky, back to the hotel where the Wonderbolts were staying tonight.

Spitfire jerked her neck back, taking another shot of whiskey. She shuddered as she felt it burn her throat, but sighed contentedly as it ran down into her stomach, where it warmed her up nicely. She was alone at the hotel bar, waiting impatiently for Soarin's return.

Oh for buck's sake, will he ever come back? she began wondering. What if Rainbow invited him back to her house? she thought, her eyes widening in fear. What if they, like, do it?

Thoughts of a similar vein had been running through her mind ever since Soarin' left after the show. All her trepidations proved unfounded however, as she looked across the wide hotel lobby for the forty-fifth time that evening, and did a double take. A rather dishevelled looking pegasus had entered, and was running a weary hoof through his mane.
Spitfire hopped down from her stool and walked up to him in a slightly haphazard manner.

"Hey there Spits," he said heavily, "you alright?"

"Depends, how was it with Rainbow?"

Soarin' looked around, ensuring nopony else he knew was in earshot.

"It was a disaster!" he whispered frantically, wings flittering in agitation. "It was going well until near the end, where I think I- Urgh, can we sit down somewhere? I'm so tired."

"Sure thing pony boy, follow me."

She gave him a teasing flick on the snout with her tail and led the way up to her room on the second floor.

"Get in there, and I'll take care of you," she said innocently enough.

Soarin' stumbled in and collapsed on her bed, vaguely aware that the air smelt pleasantly of honey. He looked up to talk, but Spitfire was nowhere to be seen.

"Spits?"

She walked out of the bathroom, a wet flannel in her hooves.

"Look at you, I can't let you out anywhere can I?" She sat down next to him and flopped the flannel on his muzzle, cleaning the sticky pie residue off him. He squirmed, but allowed her to carry out her task. "Not much of a turn on if I'm honest," she said dryly, "is that why it all went wrong?"

"Partly," he said, "I think I kept kinda zoning out as well, I'm so sleepy right now. That and I said some stupid things."

"Like what? If you don't mind my asking."

"I said, 'you know, I've never met a girl like you before,' and she got all up in my face about it!"

"Well," began the yellow mare, rubbing the back of her neck, "perhaps I should've told you about her temper. She doesn't know when to stop."

"Why didn't you tell me before?!" he whined, falling backwards on the bed.

"I didn't want to spoil your evening," she said desperately. "I'm sorry Soarin'."

He looked up at this.

"Sorry? You don't have to be sorry!" he chuckled, "just warn me next time, pony gal."

"Sure," she mumbled, cheeks tinting pink at the term 'pony gal.' She got up to take the flannel back to the bathroom. She briefly examined her reflection, making sure she was looking her best. She returned to find that Soarin' had actually fallen asleep.
"Poor guy," she said in a low voice. She didn't want to wake him up, so her only alternative was to pull the blankets from beneath him and drape them over his body, all the while softly singing a lullaby to ensure he didn't rise from his slumber. Now, a prim and proper mare would have acted this out with appropriate prudence and respect. Spitfire, however, was by no accounts a prim or proper mare in any way, and couldn't help her eyes wandering as she tucked him in. Her gaze fell longingly on his muscular, athletic form: sleek, lithe and powerful, his bulging flight muscles were impossible to resist, the result of years of determination and hard work. She did however, with a struggle, hold back when it came to the more intimate regions of the pegasus, deciding to give him at least some privacy, even if he wasn't aware of it.
Brushing his deep blue mane out of his eyes, her work was done. She was panting slightly, it had been hard work after all.

"Goodnight, Soarin'," she whispered, leaning over him and kissing him on the forehead. "Sweet dreams."

She traced a hoof gently down his face, and he smiled in his sleep. She briefly wondered what he was dreaming about, and whether she featured anywhere.
With a small sigh, she got into bed next to him, wanting nothing more than to reach out, to curl up next to him, and to fall asleep in his hooves. Alas.
With one last glance at his dreamy face, Spitfire closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

Interlude

Soaring Skies
by Gallifrey

Chapter Five
Interlude

Spitfire woke up groggily the next morning. In a sleepy haze, she vaguely wondered why she was cramped up at the edge of the mattress. She opened her eyes and was greeted by an eyeful of dark blue mane.

"Oh yeah..." she mumbled, sitting up and watching the blankets beside her rise and fall in tandem with Soarin's slow, deep breathing. It was rather hypnotic.
A knock on the door snapped out her drowsy reverie.

"Spitfire?" The voice of Rapidfire floated slowly into her ears. "You in there?"

"Yeah," said Spitfire on the way to the door. "Why wouldn't I be?"

She opened the door to the stallion, who looked concerned.

"'Cause Soarin' sure ain't in his room," he said fretfully, "nopony knows where he is!"

"Oh don't worry," Spitfire chuckled, "he's in here with me."

Rapid looked over her shoulders to see the slumbering stallion. Spitfire saw his eyes widen dramatically.

"Whoa, hold up, you slept with him?"

"What?! No no no!" she spluttered, only just realising how misleading the situation appeared. "He came back yesterday after a date with Rainbow Dash, and he looked a mess, so I cleaned him up and he just fell asleep on my bed! I didn't want to wake him up, so I left him there."

"Okay, that makes sense, but why didn't you just use his key to go and sleep in his room?"

Spitfire faltered.

"I... didn't think of that," she said honestly.

"No, you wouldn't," said Raipidfire with a knowing glint in his eyes. "Listen, Spitfire, I'm here if you ever wanna talk."

Spitfire was about to deny his suspicions, but thought better of it.

"Thanks, Rapidfire," she said sheepishly.

"Now go wake that lazy git up, we've got to get the train to Appleloosa!"

"Okie doke, see ya in a bit."

He nodded in response. Spitfire closed the door and wandered over to the stallion.

"Soarin'," she said gently, nudging his barrel. "Wake up."

"Mrrrrh," he moaned in his sleep.

"Come on." She poked him in between the ribs, eliciting another sleepy groan. "Urgh, I know you're a heavy sleeper, but this is ridiculous!" she jabbed him in the neck a few times, in the barrel again and lightly batted his face, but her efforts were futile. She sighed and sat down, looking at the useless, yet sexy, lump of pony beside her. She knew a way that could wake up any pegasus, and it was suitably devious enough to give her a wicked grin.
"Ohhh, should I, or shouldn't I?" she mused, her eyes narrowing as she wondered whether she was feeling daring enough. After a minute, she shrugged. "Eh, what the hay? At least it'll wake him up."

Spitfire took aim, and pushed a hoof into his back, where his wings joined his body. It also happened to be where a dense network of nerves to his wings ran, and they were very sensitive.

*Pomf!*

Soarin' yelped as he sprang up, wings joining him in said springing. He floundered and collapsed in a heap, under a twisted pile of blankets.

"Well, that's one way to wake you up," Spitfire remarked as Soarin' poked his head out of the tangle, "remind me to do it again some time." She smiled slyly at him.

Soarin' however, was too preoccupied to acknowledge Spitfire's constantly flirty nature.

"I'm so sorry!" he pleaded, trying and failing to fold his stiff wings back, "Oh, this is so embarrassing!"

"It is? I've seen you get wingboners before, you've seen me, what's the problem? It's natural, dude."

"But these are morning ones," he explained with the air that one and one make two.

"I don't follow," said Spitfire confusedly.

"No, I don't expect you would," said Soarin', realisation dawning on his face.

"And why would that be?"

"Well, you're a girl; it's kind of a guy thing."

"Ohhhh! You mean morning wings? I get'cha."

Soarin' nodded.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that, 'cause they're not morning wings," she said casually.

"What do you mean?" asked the puzzled stallion.

"I poked you in the wing joints to wake you up."

"Y-you did?" said Soarin' weakly, surprised that Spitfire had prodded him in such an intimate area. Though after a moment's thought, he shrugged and came to the conclusion that it wasn't all that unexpected from the flirty mare.

"Yup, you wouldn't wake up! It was that, or pour a glass of water on your face, so I chose the more enjoyable route. Now come on, get up and have a shower. I'll have to condemn that flight suit if you don't," she said, flashing him a grin.

Spitfire, having the foresight to predict Soarin's inevitable restlessness on the train journey to Appleloosa, bought a jigsaw of Equestria before they left off.
It had just passed lunch, and Soarin had put all the edge pieces together and was now working on sorting out the land pieces from the sea, all under the placid gaze of Spitfire.

"Soarin'?" said Spitfire, breaking the comfortable silence that had descended upon them, punctuated only by the rhythmic clattering of the train tracks over the wheels.

"Hmmm?" he replied, without looking up.

"What exactly did happen with Rainbow yesterday?"

"'S'like I said," mumbled the stallion, raising his head to look at Spitfire's inquiring gaze. "I said some stupid things and it all fell to pieces after that."

"No, I mean, apart from that bit. That can't have been the whole evening... right?" she added hesitantly.

"Of course it wasn't," he said with a chuckle, piecing the Everfree Forest together. There was a brief pause as he finished. "It was going quite well at one point."

Spitfire waited patiently for him to elaborate, but when no explanation seemed to be forthcoming, she pressed the subject.

"Well?"

"Oh, sorry," he said sheepishly, looking up from his puzzle. "Um, well, at the start of the date, I asked the waiter guy if he could get the two musicians to play by our table, that certainly went down well."

"You smooth bucker," said Spitfire with a sly smile, "that's surprisingly romantic."

"And what does that mean?" asked the blue stallion.

"Just sayin' I didn't think you had it in ya," teased the golden mare, sticking her tongue out.

"Bah, I'll show you."

Anywhere, any time, pony boy, she thought.

"So it was going well?"

"Yeah, she enjoyed the music, we kept up good conversation, the food was great, everything was. Until I started zoning out."

Spitfire rolled her eyes.

"I was so tired, Spits! You know how exhausted you get after a show."

"I'll give you that," the mare conceded.

"This whole business is more difficult than I thought," sighed Soarin', resting his head on a hoof to prop it up.

"What, finding a special somepony?"

"Yuppers."

"You could make it so much easier ya know," said Spitfire with half lidded eyes, a flare of courage suddenly taking light inside her.

"Nah, I doubt it: love's never easy," he said, looking down at his jigsaw.

"Y-yeah, you're right about that..." she mumbled, the fire in her heart sputtering out as soon as it materialised.

"Sweet! I've done the Everfree!" burst out Soarin happily.

Spitfire couldn't help but smile.

"I'm gonna go stretch my legs," she said, "we've got a long haul ahead of us yet."

"No probs, see you in a minute."

Spitfire got up and headed all the way down, through several carriages, to the rear of the train. She opened a door and stepped outside, onto a small platform surrounded by railings. Rearing up, she rested her forehooves on top of the rails, taking in the scenery.
It was a patchwork landscape of dry, sandy areas which were the flatlands, and grassy forested areas which flourished on the hills and mountains. In a few hours, all would be dry and arid, as they headed south towards Appleloosa. Spitfire heard the clatter of the rails change their tone for whatever reason and tried to look around the side of the train, but to no avail. Not that it took long for her to find out the cause, the ground disappeared from beneath the tracks and the train began to travel over Ghastly Gorge. The canyon began to unveil it's majesty to the Wonderbolt, the many layers of rock exposed in the geological rift, the small, sparkling river at the bottom, cutting through the rock with the definition of patience. So entranced by the beautiful scene before her, she wasn't aware that she was no longer alone.

"Pretty ain't it, pony gal?" said Soarin', nudging her in the withers.

Spitfire started at the surprise appearance of her best friend.

"Sure is," said the startled pegasus, regaining her composure.

"Makes you wonder," he said slowly, emerald eyes glazing over as he surveyed the canyon, "about life and stuff."

"Life and stuff?"

"Yeah... like how little time we really have in this world. We live in the faintest sliver of light between two chronological eternities of darkness..."

Spitfire's mouth hung open in shock and awe.

Soarin' turned and looked amiably at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Y-you just said something amazing! About a tiny bit of light between two voids of darkness or something, and with big words!"

"I did? Doesn't sound like something I'd say, Spits."

"Exactly! But it was beautiful! A bit depressing perhaps... but still beautiful!"

Soarin' looked puzzled. He didn't remember saying anything in particular, just looking at the splendour of the ancient canyon, and feeling so very small compared to it.

"Nah, you must have misheard me, I probably said something silly as usual. Anyway, I'm gonna head back inside, that jigsaw needs doing." He playfully punched her again and made his way back.

Spitfire watched him go, and pondered upon the new facet of Soarin's character that had suddenly revealed itself.

It was mid-afternoon, and Soarin' was snoozing lightly when Rapidfire and Fleetfoot visited their carriage.

"Hey guys," said Fleetfoot pleasantly, sitting next to Spitfire.

"S'up?" said Spitfire lazily, who had her hooves behind her head.

"Not much," said Rapidfire, coming into view, carrying a martini.

Spitfire snapped out of her peaceful state in an instant.

"Rapid!" she barked, slamming her hooves on the table, causing Soarin' to jerk awake.

"What?" he said innocently as Soarin' yawned widely.

"What the hell do you think you're doing with that?!" she exclaimed, pointing at the drink in his hoof.

"Aw, c'mon Spitfire, it's only one!"

"No! We have a show this evening!" she said, glaring at him.

"Yeah, in like six hours!"

Spitfire simply held out a hoof and waited. Eventually, Rapidfire handed the drink over. The golden mare stood up and poured it out the window, much to Rapid's dismay. Spitfire may have been well known for her laid back attitude, but she wasn't team captain for nothing and took her work seriously.

"Urgh, fine!" He slumped down next to Soarin', who was struggling to wake up. Rapid slapped him on the cheeks a few times to aid his return to reality.

"What you got goin' here Soar?" asked Fleetfoot, looking at the puzzle on the table.

"Jigsaw. Spits got it for me in Ponyville," he said happily.

"It's Equestria, right?" asked Rapid, tilting his head slightly.

"Yup, just gotta do the northern half and the seas now."

"Can I help?" asked Rapidfire enthusiastically. This looked like fun.

"Sure, after that nap, I could use a hoof," he chuckled.

The two mares proceeded to watch in amusement as the pair of stallions squabbled over where the pieces were supposed to go. It was a messy but fast process, and within the hour, they had succeeded in completing the map of Equestria.

"So where are we now?" asked Rapid, tracing a hoof between Ponyville and Appleloosa.

"About here," said Spitfire, pointing at a spot about three quarters of the way between the two towns.

"When will we arrive?" asked Soarin'.

"In about two hours," she said. The blue stallion groaned.

"Isn't there any faster way for us to travel?" he groused, looking at his captain desperately.

"Technically, we could fly," said Spitfire, "but then we'd be in no condition to perform- so that's obviously not an option. This is the best we've got pony boy, I guess you'll have to suck it up." She stuck her tongue out at the pouting pegasus as the train steamed on.

Rolling gently into Appleloosa's slightly dusty train station, the Wonderbolt's journey had come to a halt for the time being. The team and their support gathered together as Spitfire hovered above them all.

"Right guys, business as usual tonight: team, we're gonna grab some dinner then start warming up for the show at eight, everypony else, you do your stuff to make tonight amazing. We're gonna do a sweet-ass show as usual, and you can all chill and do whatever the hell you want until tomorrow morning where we'll move out at nine. And no matter what hijinks you get up to, I'm not accepting any excuses alright?" There was a murmur of assent. "Excellent, now come on, let's get something to eat!"

Soarin' had noticed Spitfire's dramatic return to top form since leaving Ponyville. Whereas before she was flustered, and easily lost track of what she was doing, now she was back to being an effective leader. The blue stallion was glad that she was 'back,' but he still wondered what had caused the rapid change in her behaviour.

The airshow for that night was taking place in an area of flatland on the outskirts of Appleloosa. The small pioneer town didn't have any fancy sports arena, so like Ponyville, they improvised with the surrounding landscape.
The Wonderbolts were currently squeezing themselves into their aerodynamic flight suits in a large tent.

"You ready for tonight, Soar?" asked Spitfire, pulling her head through.

"Sure am!" said the stallion enthusiastically, struggling with his trapped wings.

"You sure? You've got some tricky shots to pull off tonight."

"Super sure," he said, finally freeing his wings and reaching into his bag for his flight goggles. "Spits, can I ask you something? I've been meaning to but keep forgetting."

"Of course you can," said Spitfire, experimentally snapping her own goggles over her eyes.

"Why were you so featherbrained the other day?"

Spitfire yelped as she lost the grip on the goggles.

"N-no reason," she said quickly, rubbing her eyes, "just felt a bit under the weather ya know, headache and stuff."

"You managed to perform as fantastically as always with a headache?! Spits, you're unstoppable!"

"Yeah, I guess I am," Spitfire said, sighing inwardly. "You ready to go?"

"Yup," confirmed the stallion, flexing his powerful wings, making the yellow mare's heart flutter.

They walked out onto the dusty plains, and the rest of the Wonderbolts converged on Spitfire. The crew were setting up bright stage lights all around them, to illuminate the Bolts when they were flying. Spitfire had them do a few laps to warm their flight muscles up, then moved them on to loops and corkscrews.
Once she was happy, she had them land and the ponies of Appleloosa were allowed to enter the makeshift stage.
At five to eight, she called them together in the tent for the pep talk.

"Alright guys, I know night shows aren't your favourite, because of the bright lights and all, but do your best as always, and just roll with it." She flashed them all a grin and slapped them on the shoulders on the way out. Soarin' was last to leave, and Spitfire resisted the strong urge to slap his cutie mark instead.

"Spits?" he said, waving a hoof in front of her face, "C'mon pony gal, it's go time."

"Yeah," said the mare vaguely, mind full of plot. She shook her head violently and reality rushed back around her. Her brows furrowed in determination. "Let's go."

Swinging Both Ways

Soaring Skies
by Gallifrey

Chapter Six
Swinging Both Ways

All in all, Spitfire considered as hot water cascaded over her form, it had been a rather good show. Everyone had performed well, nobody cocked up, the crowd loved it: yes, all was well.
The Wonderbolts had taken refuge at a small but homely wooden hotel near the centre of town. The proprietors welcomed them graciously, ensuring that they would leave Appleloosa with the same thought every other pony did: convinced that it was a very hospitable town.

The captain herself was washing up in the shower, steam curling up around her. This was one of her favourite parts of performing, the relaxing shower afterwards. Not only was it a relief to be rid of all the sweat that had accumulated in her suit, but it was just a nice wind down after over two hours non stop aerobatics. The mare shivered slightly as she ran a sponge over her wings... it was no secret that pegasus wings were incredibly sensitive; it aided them in monitoring air currents as they flew. However, it was a secret that Spitfire's were more sensitive than most, though it made sense, being a world class flier would certainly be hindered if her wings couldn't pick out eddies in the air around them.
The golden mare hummed serenely, thinking of all the things she'd let Soarin' do to her wings, when she heard a knocking at her door.

"Just a minute!" she yelled over the sound of rushing water.

She shut the water off, and quickly dried herself off. Taking the towel with her, she walked to the door of her room and opened it, revealing Rapidfire, standing in the corridor.

"Hey Spitfire, Soarin' isn't in there with you is he?"

"Nope," said Spitfire, rubbing the towel through her fiery mane. "Why? Should he be?"

"No, but I thought he might be down here 'cause he's not in his room again."

"Have you asked the others?"

"Yup, nowhere to be seen."

"Maybe he's gone out?" Spitfire suggested.

"He must've done, that or he's playing hide and seek with himself. Wouldn't put it past him."

"Aw, be nice! Would you like to come in?"

"Sure, I wanna talk to you anyways."

"What about?" asked the yellow mare, standing aside to allow him entry.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, you mean Soarin'?"

"Yuhuh," he said, sitting on a chair while Spitfire took a seat on the bed. "Just so I know I'm not barking up the wrong tree here, you do like Soarin' right?"

Spitfire drew breath, then hesitated, trying to say 'yes' was suddenly a difficult task.

"That's a yes if ever I saw one," said Rapid with a faint grin. "Just wanted to be sure, I mean, the signs are as plain as day, but still, a pony can be mistaken."

"They're that obvious?" she asked uncertainly.

"Oh Spitfire, you have no idea! Though, hmmm, obvious to all except the pony that matters. He's as thick as a brick sometimes you know. I've seen the way you look at him, the way you talk to him. I've seen you flirt with him only to have it go straight over his head. Stuff like this only has one solution you know."

"What?" asked Spitfire, curiosity piqued.

"You have to be upfront, direct, and blunt about your intentions! That's the only way the goofball will realise your feelings."

"But I can't just do that! That's not how I roll, I flirt with guys first!"

"And has it got you anywhere with him?" Rapid pressed.

"Well, no..." she admitted.

"There you are then."

"But I like flirting," she pouted.

"Surely you like him more though? And if he says yes, you can flirt all you like and he might even pick up on it!"

Spitfire had to admit, he was putting up a strong argument.

"Okay," she said, a plan taking shape in her mind. "I'll tell him in Cloudsdale; there's a few places I want to visit with him anyway. Sentimental places ya know? For the nostalgia."

"I get'cha," said Rapid, with a smile on his face. "Glad to be of help!"

"No worries, and thanks. Seriously, thanks. I don't know why I never thought of this before, to be honest."

Rapidfire gave her a small smile.

"Love will often cloud your vision and make you do the stupidest of things. Trust me, I know."

Soarin', meanwhile, was slumped in a chair in a bar named The Salt Lick. He wasn't doing all that much, on account of having fallen asleep after his second pint of cider. The regulars kept glancing over in his direction: they knew full well who he was, but were too nervous to try and wake him up- all except one.
A butterscotch stallion sat at the bar was looking across the room at the Wonderbolt with great interest. He, like many others that night, had been to the show and watched in awe. He would not have expected one of their number to visit a humble little bar like this- not in a million years and was still adjusting to the fact that a world famous celebrity was right there in front of him, even if he was fast asleep.
He turned to the bar and tapped the wooden top twice with a hoof.

"Aye, I'll be with ya in a minute Braeburn!" called the bartender, serving another pony.

Braeburn waited patiently and when his turn came he bought two foaming mugs of cider. He approached Soarin's table and sat next to him, deliberately scraping the chair to wake him up; it had no effect. Braeburn prodded him and the pegasus' eyes fluttered open slowly.

"Wassat?" he said, confused. "Where am I? Who are you?"

"Gee friend, jus' how hard were you out of it? Name's Braeburn," he said, proffering a hoof.

"Soarin'" he replied, bumping Braeburn's hoof genially.

Braeburn looked surprised at the gesture, he expected a hoofshake, not this peculiar 'hoof bump' business.

"And yer in The Salt Lick pardner, surely you remember comin' in here? Unless you're more drunk than yer letting on."

Soarin' stretched, cracking the bones in his back one by one, memories returning to his head as he woke up more.

"I do now," he chuckled, yawning. "I'm gonna have to ask Spits if we can have compulsory naps after a show, this is ridiculous. Did you see it?"

"As a matter of fact, ah did! You were all incredible! In all my days I've never seen anythin' like it!"

Braeburn sat beaming at Soarin', and the pegasus smiled as his ego was massaged.

"Thanks dude. That's our job after all, to give everypony a good show: it's nice to know we're good at it."

Soarin' looked up, fully awake now, and took in the earth pony's appearance for the first time. He was... gorgeous. Braeburn took a drink from his mug, unaware that Soarin's eyes were eating up the eye candy set before them.

His eyes are just like mine, thought the blue pegasus. That mane, girly yet not girly at the same time.

His coat was a shiny and healthy golden colour, under which ran many cords of strong muscle, Soarin' guessed that he had an active job and saw plenty of sunshine, and to top it all off, quite literally, was a cowboy hat that Soarin' found endearing.

"This is yours, by the way," said Braeburn, pushing the frosted mug of cider to the pegasus.

"It is?"

"Sure, great way to be neighbourly round these parts, buying drinks," he grinned.

"Sweet! Thanks." Soarin' took a deep draught of the golden liquid, leaving him with a frothy moustache. "So what do ya do Brae?"

"I manage the Appleloosa orchard!" said Braeburn enthusiastically. "We'll be collecting our third harvest in soon, ready to sell them all over Equestria. Ya must have seen some of the trees on the way in?"

Soarin' nodded.

"Cool, what sort of apples do you grow?" asked Soarin' taking another gulp.

"Braeburn mostly," said the earth pony with a faint grin. Soarin' snorted.

"Ironic huh?"

"Sure is," said Braeburn, chuckling, "soil's great for 'em to grow round here ya see."

"Ah right, is that why you're all the way out here in the wilderness?"

"Nope."

Soarin's eyes furrowed slightly.

"Then why are you here?"

Braeburn drew himself up proudly.

"We're here as pioneers, to further Equestria's borders. Beyond this land, it's uninhabited for miles and miles and no-one has laid claim to it. We Appleloosans are leading the way into new lands, full of opportunity! Just a few weeks ago, we found gold in Cinderblock Mountain; gold is so rare in the rest of Equestria, but there's loads out here. But that's not the main reason ah'm here. Ah'm here for the thrill of adventure, of discovering new lands and the secrets they hold... that's what I live for, that's what keeps me going."

Soarin' was stunned into silence at the stallion's impassioned monologue.

"Wow," he said quietly, "that sounds like quite a life."

It didn't happen often, but Soarin' sometimes wished he didn't have to keep travelling all over Equestria and could just settle down, though he always wondered whether it'd get boring. But now a hybrid of the two had presented itself in the form of the humble earth pony in front of him: living the slow life, but in an exciting and pioneering town.

"Mister Soarin'?" said Braeburn, snapping the stallion out of his reverie.

"Sorry, was just thinking."

"About what?"

"N-nothing important." He drained the rest of his mug and set it down. "Now let me buy you a drink."

Braeburn roared with laughter as Soarin' finished telling his joke about the pegasus, the unicorn and the earth pony who walked into a barn.

"Hooo'eee, ain't heard that one before!" he cried, banging the table.

"Really? Everyone else I tell it to tells me to get some *hic* new jokes."

The bar was almost empty, the night was getting on, and Soarin's and Braeburn's table had an impressive array of mugs and glasses. Soarin' looked into his mug, it was empty, a horrifying sight.

"Nah, they just got no sense o' humour is all."

A bell chimed from behind the bar.

"What's *hic* wassat mean?" asked Soarin drunkenly.

"Means last orders, this joint'll be shutting up soon, you wanna get going pardner?"

"Sure *hic*."

Braeburn giggled at Soarin's hiccoughs as they both stood up. Soarin' had thought he was drunk before, now he was standing up, he realised he was- for lack of a better phrase- completely hammered.

"You might- might have'ta lead the way, Brae," stammered the stallion. "The floor's gone all wibbly."

This was in part true, Soarin' was struggling to remain balanced even when stationary, but the main reason he insisted the earth pony go first was so the stallion could have a sneaky look at Braeburn's plot on the way out, and he wasn't disappointed; it might have been his drunken haze: but he swore the earth pony was swaying it on purpose as they left.

"Where you stayin' pardner?" asked Braeburn as they half plodded, half stumbled down the high street.

Soarin' looked around, and was dismayed to realise that he actually had no idea.

"I-I don't know," he said lamely, his breath misting up in the cold desert air before him.

"How in the hay can you not know?!" exclaimed Braeburn.

"I've never been here before," he groaned, hanging his head, "and everywhere looks the same!"

A small spark of an idea floated up in Braeburn's hazy mind.

"Ya could... always stay round mine?" he suggested.

Soarin's head rose slowly as he met the earth pony's eyes.

"You sure you don't mind?"

"Absolutely! There's no way ah'm leaving ya out here in the cold!"

Soarin' shivered. Whether because of the cold or the possible implications this offer entailed, he couldn't tell.

"If it's okay, I'd love to," he said, flashing a flawless smile.

"In that case, follow me pardner."

A long zig zaggy walk later, the two ponies finally reached Braeburn's home.

"Why did you have to live so far from the town centre?" Soarin' grumbled, accidentally bumping into one of Braeburn's flower pots in his garden.

"Ah manage the orchard remember."

"Yeah?"

"Look behind ya, numbskull," he said, fumbling for his keys.

Soarin' turned. And indeed, the silhouettes of the apple trees were shaded against the deepest blue of the night sky. A creaking came from behind him.

"You comin' in?" asked Braeburn.

Soarin' nodded and entered the house.
It was a simple affair, Braeburn didn't like clutter he didn't need. Fancier ponies might have called it minimalist, he called it practical, no faffing around, homely.

"Water?" he offered.

"Please," said Soarin', suddenly realising how dry his mouth was.

Soarin' managed the impressive feat of falling up the stairs while Braeburn fetched two glasses of water.
The blue pegasus looked around on the dark landing to identify which door was to the earth pony's bedroom. To his left there was a door with a plaque on it. He got up to try and read it when something bumped into his rear.

"Whoa nelly, didn' see ya there," said Braeburn apologetically.

The earth pony flicked a light switch and Soarin' could easily read the plaque. 'Brae.'

"You do live alone, right?" asked Soarin'.

"Yeah, why?"

"So why does your room need to have your name on it?"

Braeburn's smile faltered.

"It... reminds me of mah foalhood, that door used to be my bedroom door when ah lived with my parents... memories of when they were still here."

"Oh, um... sorry dude. I didn't mean to bring up unpleasant memories or anything."

"That's the thing," said Braeburn, "there were no unpleasant memories, which if anything, just makes it more painful- funny that, isn't it?"

Soarin' nodded thoughtfully, the sobering thought quite literally sobering him up at that moment.

"Can I ask..." he said hesitantly, "what-"

"Died." said Braeburn sadly, "last year, scouting expedition: we never knew what happened to them or where they were... some kind of feral animal attacked them we imagine." He gazed forlornly at Soarin', then perked back up. "So yeah, that's why the door's there. They wouldn't want me moping about all the time, so I just get on with it ya know. Here's your water by the way."

"Thanks," said Soarin' gratefully, sitting on Braeburn's soft bed and gulping it down.

Braeburn meanwhile knelt down and reached under his bed for his inflatable mattress, accepting the inevitable tedium of blowing it up via a hoof pump.
Some time later, the spare bed was at last ready to sleep in. The tired earth pony sat next to Soarin', rubbing one of his exhausted hind legs.

"All done, y'all can kip on that, should be pretty cosy."

"Not as cosy as your bed though," said Soarin in a low and what was intended to be enticing voice.

"Naw, probably not, but ya can't never expect an inflatable mattress to be as nice as a proper bed..." A frown appeared on Braeburn's countenance. "Hang on, if ah'm the host, you should really be sleeping in my bed."

"Why not both sleep in the bed?" asked Soarin.

"Wouldn't it be a little cramped?" The implication flew straight over Braeburn's head.

"I prefer the word intimate," said the pegasus smoothly, putting one hoof around the eath pony's shoulders.

"What do you mean?" asked the poor oblivious stallion, at a loss for what Soarin' was getting at. Soarin' realised that he would have to just dive in and see what happened.

"I mean," he began, and then his kissed Braeburn full on the lips. His eyes flew open widely at the sudden contact.

Of all the things Braeburn expected to happen today when he woke up, making out with a Wonderbolt was pretty low on the list. In total shock, the earth pony simply succumbed to Soarin's motions. The pegasus stallion ran a hoof up his mane, knocking his hat off, then he pulled back; something was off, but he couldn't tell what.

"You alright?" asked Soarin'.

"Fine," squeaked Braeburn, about an octave higher than normal, he coughed. "Ah'm fine," he repeated, voice back to normal. "Ah'm jus' surprised I guess, and um, sorry an' all, but ah don't swing that way Soarin'."

"You don't?" asked Soarin' levelly, despite feeling like an idiot.

"Nuhuh. I mean, ah don't mind that you do an' all... which is better than you can hope for round here if ah'm honest," he added sheepishly. "Us earth ponies tend to be set in our ways."

"Yeah, I've had a few, shall we say... encounters with earth ponies who aren't cool with who I am before," said the pegasus, leaning down in embarrassment to pick up Braeburn's hat and put it back on his head.

"Ah'm mighty sorry to hear that," said the butterscotch stallion, adjusting it slightly, "still, let's forget that happened. We're both still drunk so somethin' like this was bound ta happen anyways.

"O-okay," said Soarin', scratching the back of his neck, "so I'll just... sleep down here."

"Nope, get in mah bed pardner," insisted Braeburn. "And lighten up! I really don' mind. Flattered if anything."

Soarin sniffed and straightened up.

"Okie doke," he said brightly, the gleam back in his eye. "Thanks Brae."

"Any time," said the earth pony, ruffling Soarin's mane. "Now let's get some shut eye, no doubt you're out early tomorrow?"

"Nine."

"Alrighty, night Soarin."

"Night... Braeburn," the blue stallion mumbled as he drifted off to sleep.

Cloudsdale

Soaring Skies
by Gallifrey

Chapter Seven
Cloudsdale

Spitfire snorted.

The rest of the Wonderbolts stood in silence, all eyes fixed on the agitated golden mare as she paced up and down the rail platform. The low morning Sun was shining on her steely face.

"Rapid?"

"Ten to."

Snort.

The pegasus resumed her pacing, eyebrows growing narrower and narrower as the seconds ticked by.
Spitfire turned and snorted again, to see the stallion himself finally make an appearance.

"Hey Spits," said Soarin' warily as the train rolled into the platform, very conscious that everyone was looking at him.

"Soarin'," she said curtly, jerking her head to the train as it halted. Everyone scrambled on, eager to get out of the way of the imminent fireworks. Soarin' tried to get on too but Spitfire's eyes flared with an intensity to match her mane. The door snapped shut and the yellow mare took this as a cue to approach Soarin', who had been backed into the metaphorical corner.

"What do you think you're playing at?" she growled icily, a remarkable contrast to the fire in her eyes.

Soarin's ears immediately flattened at his friend's tone, but nevertheless, he was at a loss for what he'd done wrong.

"Wh-what do you mean?" he asked.

"Are you serious? Soarin', I'm not in the mood for fucking about."

"Whoa, whoa!" he said defensively. "Have I done something wrong?"

"You really don't have a clue do you?"

Soarin' ruefully shook his head.

Spitfire grabbed his head and pointed it forcibly at the clock on the station wall. Soarin's eyes shrank.

"It's five to TEN!" she yelled, rage finally boiling over. She wasn't called Spitfire for nothing. "The conference tonight in Cloudsdale we were supposed to be having? All rearranged, everypony has had to revolve themselves around you!"

"Ah..."

"I specifically told you we leaving at nine today, no exceptions. But of course! How silly of me! Soarin' Windsong plays by his own rules! You left yesterday without telling anyone, Rapid was looking for you for ages, you could've been anywhere! This morning, still nothing! I was about to launch a search for you! Where the fuck were you?!"

"I-I met a guy called Braeburn," he began, realising how pathetic his excuse was.

"You were too busy seducing stallions," she said with deadly quiet, one of her eyes twitching. This just added insult to injury, not only was he late, it was because he was flaunting with ponies that weren't her. "Get on the train," she said acidly.

"Spitfire, I-"

"Get on the train!"

Soarin' didn't dare argue and slinked his way on, walking right past the rest of the Wonderbolts and hiding in a corner of the train. Spitfire stormed straight past him into the next carriage, slamming the door behind her.

After leaving Soarin' to feel guilty for a few hours, Spitfire finally made an appearance in Soarin's compartment.

"Hey," she said, sitting down opposite him.

"Hey," he mumbled, scared she was going to explode again. The fear must have shown.

"Don't worry, I've calmed down now," she said. She sounded it too, so Soarin' decided to let his guard down a bit.

"Spits, I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened. I was sure I got up in time, Braeburn specifically woke me up at like, eight, how did it take two hours to walk across town?"

He paused for a moment, for a bright pink mare bounced past them, singing in a bright chirpy voice.

"Plot holes, plotty plot plot holes!"

"Hmmm, anyway, what happened last night?" she half asked, half demanded.

"Nothing really. I made a new friend, that's it," said Soarin', resting his head on a hoof.

"I thought you stayed the night with him?"

"I did."

"So... did you get busy or not?" she said bluntly.

"Nope, turned out to be straight."

"Ah, sucks when that happens don't it?"

"You've done it with mares before?"

Spitfire stared blankly at him.

"You do know me, right?" she deadpanned. "There was Saturn Satin just the other month!"

"Oh yeah," said Soarin', his memory returning. He shifted slightly as he felt a familiar stirring sensation between his legs. He furrowed his eyebrows, was it the thought of two mares? Or could it have been... Spitfire?

"Soar?"

"Yeah?" he said, snapping back to reality, feeling slightly uneasy.

"Nothing, you just looked like you were thinking, unusual for you," she said teasingly.

"Hey!"

"You know I'm kidding pony boy. Besides, I wanna apologise."

"For what?"

"For losing my temper earlier," she said quietly, "I was- I was so worried about you, a-anything could've happened."
Soarin' was shocked to see that Spitfire looked on the verge of tears. He reached out a comforting and apologetic hoof, and she took it gently. "I've never been proud of my temper you know. I never told anyone, but that's why I haven't let Dash on the team yet. We all have arguments now and then, can you imagine both of us?" Spitfire shuddered. "The Bolts can only deal with one stubborn, headstrong mare at a time I think."

"Is that why? We were all wondering."

"It's not just that. She can be a little over confident, even for her prodigious skill, and she can't show off like she does now; we're a team of skilled athletes, not show offs. Anyway, I say nopony knows, she knows. I told her when I visited her after the Gala, do you remember? 'Cause we accidentally ignored her because we were so busy and all?"

Soarin' nodded.

"She tries her best," continued Spitfire, "and believe me, it's very difficult, but if she's as determined as I think she is, she'll be able to pull it off. And if she can master herself like that, she can master anything we throw at her, and when she does, she'll most likely be the best flier Equestria's ever produced."

"You really know your stuff don't you? It's like you're training her already!"

"Aha, perhaps it is. I have full confidence in her... we're getting off topic. I'm sorry for yelling at you, but you know what I'm like... more than anyone, to be honest."

"Really?"

"Yes Soarin'," she said earnestly, tightening the grip she had on Soarin's hoof, "you're my best and oldest friend."

They sat in silence, looking into each other's eyes, having a whole conversation with no words at all, until Spitfire broke the spell.

"I-I'm gonna go back, there's some things I have to sort out and stuff... see ya later, yeah?"

"Sure," said Soarin', wondering what the mare had to do.

Leaving a puzzled stallion behind her, Spitfire walked down the train to her seat in another carriage. Reaching into her suitcase, she pulled out a map of Cloudsdale and began planning.

Many, many hours later, the train arrived at Cloudsdale or, more specifically, arrived directly underneath the floating city.
Earth pony and unicorn members of the crew took a flying taxi up, while the pegasi simply flew. The Sun was setting now, setting the sky afire, and causing Soarin' to bump into Spitfire's rump; she blended into the yellow and orange sky like a chameleon. Not that she was complaining if it caused a certain stallion to fly into her rear, and to be honest, he wasn't complaining either.

"Spits? Where exactly is this conference?"

"Cloudsdale Coliseum, duh!" she said, laughing.

"Oh, right."

"Come on Soarin', it's only the same place that we've had every conference, like, ever.”

“It might have been a different place,” he defended.

Spitfire shook her head and they finally touched down on the floating sky city.

“Glad to be back home, pony gal?” asked Soarin’, playfully bumping into her, causing her to lose her footing slightly.

“Sure am! I always forget how beautiful it is.”

“Yeah,” said Soarin’ in agreement.

It was indeed beautiful. The unique architecture Cloudsdale harboured gave the whole city a mythic, almost alien feel; yet at the same time, very familiar and comforting, not unlike ordinary clouds. To pegasi, clouds were everything: they were shelter, beds, livelihood, even certain types of food when combined with other ingredients, but Cloudsdale was all of those and far beyond them, an entire city, the jewel in the pegasus race’s crown, a jewel that was now ruby red in the setting sunlight.

“Uh, guys?”

Rapidfire had come over to see what the other two pegasi were gawping at.

“Yeah?” said Spitfire vaguely.

“Aren’t we in a hurry to get to the Coliseum?”

“That’s a point,” Spitfire admitted. “Come on guys, let’s get going.”

All in all, it had been a pretty standard conference, even if it was an hour late... Spitfire did most of the talking, occasionally indulging in teasing Soarin' in front of everypony, she loved watching him squirm:

And making his cheeks light up in the cutest blush...

The golden mare gave her head a little shake. She was walking under cold moonlight down the fluffy yet firm streets of Cloudsdale, and her hooves had carried her all the way to Soarin's abode. Seeing as how they were in their home town, it made sense to go home instead of paying for a hotel. Spitfire considered this a stroke of genius on her part, and she hummed happily, opening the gate to his front garden. With a giddy spring in her step, she approached the door, adjusted the scarf she was wearing, ran a hoof through her mane, and knocked.
A pale blue stallion opened the door with an expression of puzzlement.

"Spitfire? What brings you round here at this hour, is everything alr-" he stopped abruptly. "Is it me or is your mane different?"

Spitfire had indeed styled her mane so that it was no longer windswept, but flowing and floppy, it was a good look.

Spitfire giggled like a school filly at the derpy look on Soarin's face. That was new. She hadn't giggled like that in months, perhaps years.

"Yup, do you like it?"

"Like it? I..."

The golden mare's mane was bathed in moonlight, frosted silver beams that made everything ten times more beautiful, not that she needed it... he swallowed and looked around, feeling flustered.

"I was, um... wondering if you'd like to g-go for a walk with me?" she asked, heart fluttering madly and her cheeks blushing purest silver.

Soarin' just stood there, still trying to fathom why his best friend was spontaneously asking him if he wanted to go for a walk at half past eleven in the evening.

Spitfire chose this moment to bring out the secret weapon she'd been hiding this whole time. She pulled a box out of the saddlebag she was wearing, to reveal the one thing that she knew would make Soarin' putty in her hooves.

"I brought you a present, I think you might like it."

"Piiiiiie..." he said longingly, eyes widening and nostrils flaring, looking at the box.

"Apple: your favourite," she said enticingly. "For you."

"D-did you make this?" he asked, wondering when she could have done so.

"Yup, on the train this afternoon, in the catering carriage," she said, answering his unasked question. "Now, wanna walk?"

"B-but, piiiiie," he said wistfully.

"You can have the pie later, which would you like more right now?"

Soarin' considered. The pie was right there, like right there, but looking at Spitfire, whose eyes were half lidded and inviting, something told him deep inside that he'd be better off accepting Spitfire's offer.

"The walk," he said eventually.

"Sweet, grab your scarf pony boy and we'll get going.

"It's a date, pony gal," he said, scampering up the stairs, leaving Spitfire to wonder whether he'd said that on purpose or not.

Spitfire and Soarin' were roaring with laughter outside their old school, blissfully reminiscing about their school days together.

"And then- and then he ate it!" said Soarin' through stitches of laughter.

Spitfire's face was one of mixed shock and mirth.

"No. Way."

"Yes way, he threw it up again a few minutes later, but seriously Spits, you missed out."

"I wish I was there to see it, why have I never heard this story before?"

"I'd completely forgotten it," said the stallion truthfully, “until just now, I guess seeing the old place again brings that sort of thing back huh?”

“Yeah, we had a lot of good times there,” said Spitfire, looking at the alabaster school fondly. “Of course, we’ve had loads of good times since, as well, with the Bolts and all.”

Soarin’s face fell slightly as their walk slowly lead them to Cloudsdale Park.

“What’s up?” asked Spitfire.

“I was just thinking, about the future and stuff,” replied the pegasus forlornly.

“And what exactly were you thinking?”

“I was wondering whether we’d still be friends after our retirement and stuff… we’re not gonna be in the Bolts forever after all.”

“Soarin’,” she said flatly, “you can be a real clutz sometimes. We’ve been friends for what, twenty years now? We were friends before we could even fly for buck’s sake! Why would we just fall apart like that?”

“I dunno, but if we did…”

“We won’t,” said the mare with such conviction that he dropped the subject. They walked in silence together for a time, taking in their surroundings. Cloudsdale Park was a park unlike any other in Equestria: for a start, it harboured the only airborne lake in the whole country, and with a combination of unicorn magic and earth pony skill, the pegasi had managed to plant and grow trees in the clouds. Up high, the Moon and stars shone their cold light, transforming the whole scene with their aethereal light.
Spitfire had been leading up to this point all evening, the collective effect of months and months of yearning was about to come to a boil; her dreams were either going to come true, or be shattered before her eyes. The heavy weight of this thought bore down horribly on her mind and heart. The golden mare looked out over the mirrored water and saw the beautiful sky reflected in its depths. She smiled; at least it was as perfect an evening as she could hope for.

“Sure is pretty,” said Soarin’, beholding the tranquil greyscale scene with a mild sense of awe.

“Not the best looking thing here though,” said Spitfire serenely, flicking her tail on Soarin’s snout. The stallion caught the faint, sweet scent of honey.

“Hmm, you’re right,” he said vaguely, looking at her rear end.

Spitfire’s eyes widened at these words, hardly daring to believe it. She turned slowly.

“What did you just say?” she asked quietly, though the whisper cut through the silent air like a knife.

Soarin’s cheeks blushed silver in the moonlight.

“Um, ah… er…” he stammered, looking down at his hooves, wondering why he had said that out loud.

“’Cause if you said what I thought you said, you might be in for a treat, pony boy.”

Soarin’ was a stallion of little words at the best of times, but was stunned into silence now.

“Spits, I-“

“You know,” began the mare, sitting down under a willow tree by the lake’s edge, “you’re the only pony who I let call me that…”

“I am?” he asked, sitting down next to her.

“Oh yeah, you’ve called me Spits ever since the day we met, do you remember that day?”

“Can’t say I do,” admitted the stallion sheepishly.

Spitfire’s eyes brightened, that was what she’d hoped he’d say.

“Well then, let me refresh your memory,” she said, scooting a bit closer to him. "Do you remember crashing into me?"

"Nope."

"Well you did; you were learning to fly if I remember correctly. But yeah, you collided with me, I was just minding my own business."

"Did I ever apologise for that?" asked Soarin'.

"I don't think you did, to be honest."

"Well, sorry about that," he said.

"Thanks. Anyway, you crashed into me, can you remember where?"

Soarin' looked around him as the pieces finally fell into place.

"H-here?" he guessed tentatively.

"Spot on, pony boy," grinned the golden mare under silver shadows.

"But... why?"

"Soarin', even you must see it by now," sighed the exasperated mare, booping him lightly on the snout.

"I-I think I do, but I'd like to be sure..."

"Tell me, what do you think?" said Spitfire, attempting to fluster him and succeeding magnificently.

"What I think? I- um, well, that is to say- it's difficult t-" He looked desperately into Spitfire's fiery amber eyes, but she offered no rescue. The stallion took a deep breath. "That you- that y-you like me?"

Spitfire leaned closer to him, tracing a hoof over his chest, causing the stallion to shiver slightly.

"I knew that it was in there somewhere," she whispered into his ear. She paused. "But... do you like me?"

"I-I... I think so... this is so d-different to anything I've felt before."

"You think so? Well, we can't have that can we? Because you, Soarin' Windsong, are not being honest." The mare flashed a grin at his puzzled face. "I may not have eyes on my ass, but I've sure as hay seen you looking at it quite a bit recently."

Soarin's guilty eyes shifted.

"S-sorry," he mumbled.

"Sorry for what?" she asked, dropping her voice to a more sultry tone. "Maybe I wanted you to look," she said with half lidded eyes. "Don't think I haven't been checking out your sexy flank too, pony boy." Spitfire sure knew how to push all his buttons, he'd give her that.
"Soarin'," Spitfire began, her voice dripping over Soarin' like treacle over pudding, "I- I lo-"

She was silenced by a pair of lips pressed softly against hers.

The years had brought many trials and tests for the two ponies, but they had proved inseparable, and now, under the same willow tree where they first crossed paths some twenty years ago, the two ponies shared their first kiss..

Spitfire was in a state of semi-shock, and, a deep warmth radiated from her heart as she felt his lips on hers. It felt almost electric it was so intense, yet it still managed to be tender. Spitfire reached out with a hoof and stroked Soarin's royal blue mane, continuing down, down, until...

*pomf!*

Soarin' could feel Spitfire's smile. He could also feel her hoof caressing his wings.

Oh wow, he thought hazily, drunk with passion as Spitfire pushed him onto his back and leaned over him, breaking the kiss.

"Soarin'," she began again, "I..."

The stallion put a hoof gently on her lips.

"Like it even needs to be said," he whispered. The golden mare chuckled.

"I guess not, not now you can finally see, you have no idea how close I've been to screaming it at you."

Soarin' looked sadly into her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry I'm not very observant," he mumbled.

"Hey, don't be sorry for anything Soar: you mean the world to me." She stroked his mane. "Never change, pony boy."

His expression softened.

"I promise, pony gal."

Some time later, they returned to Soarin's house, wordlessly agreeing that Spitfire was staying over too.
Soarin' looked up at the clock on his kitchen wall and sighed. Two o'clock... neither of them would be getting much sleep tonight.

"What's up?" asked Spitfire, seeing his expression.

"It's really late, and we won't get much sleep.

"Ah, but was it worth it?" asked Spitfire.

"Definitely! I'm gonna make some hot chocolate, want some?"

"Ooh, yes please!" she said enthusiastically. The night had grown a lot colder on their way home, and she kept shivering even after Soarin' chivalrously gave her his scarf.

"Head on up, it won't take long."

Spitfire spent a few minutes sitting on Soarin's bed, looking around his bedroom, illuminated by bright moonlight pouring in through the window. She could tell it was a stallion's room, simply because of how messy it was: bits of paper, books and empty bottles littered the floor. The window sill was taken up by more paper, mugs and spare change. She sniffed the air, it smelt of Soarin': freshly fallen rain and that scent she could only ever describe as 'male'.
It was a cosy little room, and one that looked well lived in, Spitfire loved it.
She pulled back the covers of the bed and was greeted by a certain magazine.

"So, Playpony, we meet again."

It didn't take a genius to figure out what Soarin' might have been doing with such material in his bed.

"You naughty boy," she sniggered, "I wonder if he ever did see the picture of me in it..." she wondered, flicking to the page that featured her and tossing it casually to the end of the bed.
Soarin' entered the room, carrying two mugs, and stopped dead when he saw the magazine.

"You're insatiable aren't you?" Spitfire teased.

"I, um, is that you?" he asked, setting the drinks down with slightly trembling hooves.

"Why don't you take a look?" she said, snuggling under the covers.

Soarin' picked it up and glanced at the title.

'Sexiest mare of the sky'

Underneath was a large picture of Spitfire on her hind legs, leaning against some changing room lockers. She still had her flight suit on, to a degree: it was unzipped so that only her legs and rump were covered up. Soarin' had seen her like this on many an occasion, so he was baffled why he found it so sexy all of a sudden. The yellow mare's mane was sodden and hung in lustrous curls over face and neck. Perhaps it was this that was driving him crazy.
He tore his eyes away from the picture and read the accompanying article. As he approached the end, the interviewer had asked her if she was currently seeing anyone, to which she replied, 'nah, but I have my eye on a certain someone, and I hope he realises or has already realised once he's seen this.'

He looked up at Spitfire, who was blushing furiously.

"Is that, ah, the first time you've seen it?" she asked.

"Yes actually, I don't know how I've not noticed it before now."

"The pages weren't stuck together were they?" asked Spitfire with a grin.

"No!" exclaimed Soarin'. "At least, I don't think so..."

"I'm just kidding, pony boy."

"Oh right," he said, blushing. "When did you do this anyway?"

The golden mare's brows furrowed.

"Must've been about four months now."

"So... you've been playing the long game."

"The very long game," said the mare wearily.

"Oh I'm sorry Spits," he said sincerely, joining her in the bed.

"Doesn't matter, I won in the end," she whispered into his ear, nibbling it lightly, causing the helpless pegasus to shudder with delight. Spitfire laid a hoof over him and drew him closer. "And now I claim my prize."

She closed her eyes and kissed him, deeply and passionately. Soarin' ventured a bite on her bottom lip, which she seemed to enjoy. Spitfire eventually pulled back to look deep into his emerald eyes, they spoke volumes with that gaze.

"I love you," whispered Spitfire, placing a gentle hoof over his heart.

"I love you too, pony gal," he said, doing likewise.

And under the beam of moonlight, under the roof of Soarin's house, under the warm blankets of his bed, and under the loving embrace of the stallion himself, Spitfire drifted slowly and happily to sleep, with the stallion falling after as they dove into the world of dreams together, as one.

The End