One of Celestia's stray beams of sunlight woke me from my slumber. I was very aware of the warmth next to me, but I made no move to identify it. Instead, I instinctively wrapped my arm around its sleeping form, and pulled it into an embrace. Of course this time, I knew who I was sharing a bed with.

Rainbow sighed softly as I pulled her nude form closer to me. I could feel her rhythmic breathing against my chest as she slowly returned to sleep. The memories of the previous night began to fill my mind, all of the sweat, the moaning, the...climaxes, every last detail. The remembrance brought a smile to my lips, and I looked down at Rainbow. Her hair shined in the new morning sun, despite being soiled by the sweat last night. There was a steady, rhythmic motion to her shoulders that caused them to rise and fall with her breathing.

The darkened skin of her nipples stood in direct contrast to the bright linen that was standard on the beds. The familiar soft skin of her lips was pulled into a small grin, and allowed a small stream of drool to escape her mouth. I couldn't shake the fact that even as she slept, Rainbow still remained as one of the most beautiful mares that I've laid eyes on.

My mind was now flooded with all of the emotions that I've experienced over the past month, awake or comatose, and I reached a final conclusion. I was certain that this was the payoff of being in love. A deep love, the kind that no matter what, it'll never die. That was the bond I shared with Rainbow Dash, and I couldn't be happier.

A single emotional tear streaked down my face, obscuring my vision momentarily. As I wallowed in my feelings, Rainbow stirred, and looked up at me. A warm smile played out across her face as she spoke.

"Nmm, morning Legs," she said, sleep heavy on her voice. "Are you crying?"

"What? Me? No way! Are you kidding!" I lamely protested.

She lifted her body up, and planted a kiss on my cheek. Her lips left a tingling sensation as they parted, coaxing more tears from my weakened.

"It's okay babe, I have that effect on ponies," she said.

I nodded, choking back a sob. I didn't want to bear the shame of crying in front of her.

"Hungry?" she asked.

"Yeah, let's eat. I just hope they won't be too crazy," I replied.

She got out of the bed first, and went to my drawers. Out of them, she removed one of the pairs of boxers I had received and a single t-shirt. She put them on, and flipped her hair back.

"You don't mind me borrowing these, right?"

"Uh...um...just keep em. They look better on you anyway."

I lifted my own body out of the bed, and adorned the same outfit, just with pants. As I was fighting to get the belt to stay around my waist, Rainbow had returned to the bed. She began to remove the sheets, and piled them on the floor.

"Hey, wait. What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Oh come on Legs, has it been that long?" she replied.

I shrugged, and gave her a confused look. Rainbow crossed her arms, and gave me a hard look.

"Remember the sex rule? About the sheets?"

"Uh...Oh! Yeah! I'll, um, leave you to that!"

"You're lucky you're cute."

I accompanied Rainbow to the washing machine. She had my sheets in a jumbled mess in her arms, but was determined to get them all there in one trip. I had offered to help her several times, but her stubbornness was one of her better qualities.

I guided her into the room, and opened the top-loading washer for her. She jammed the sheets in as best as she could, added a ludicrous amount of detergent, and slammed the lid shut. She set the dial to Bulk, and allowed the machine to do the work. It whirred to life as the water began to fill the drum.

"There! I think that'll do it!" she exclaimed in triumph.

"I guess so. Let's go," I said back.

We walked to the cafeteria like any couple would have. Our fingers were intertwined, and our palms rubbed against each other. Her shoulder was against mine, and she could never stopped smiling at me. I returned the gesture, nudging her every so often, and when I did, she would giggle softly and her smile would grow.

"Heh, who knew that you could be so mare-like?" I said to her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked back, her tone getting defensive.

"I mean all these giggles, the hand-holding, the pecks on the cheek. I never thought you'd be so...intimate is all."

"Well clearly, you don't know enough about me."

"Well then. Consider this the start of something great."

Rainbow's face lit up at my promise, and she nodded slowly. Her silence said all that needed to be said, and we stopped to share a kiss before facing the cafeteria.

We walked in together, and faced the inevitable team's cheers. The cafeteria erupted into applause as we walked in hand-in-hand.

I noticed Spitfire through the crest of the crowd, her grin besting everyone else's. There was only one reason why. She had taken a chance, risked her own name, on some random stranger to save her teammate. In the end, though, she had gained something much more.

I winked at her, and she shook her head in amusement.

"Alright, alright! Settle down!" she shouted, getting the room's attention.

Their abrupt outburst of sound was quickly turned into silence.

"Here's to Leg Sweep! Some random fucking janitor, now an official member of The Wonderbolts family! Welcome to the team Legs!" she exclaimed. "Conditioning begins at three."

Spitfire tossed me a new jacket and a pair of sneakers. The room erupted into cheering once more. A stupid grin began to form on my face as I embrace my new family. Rainbow was cheering next to me, and in the heat of the moment, I pulled her into a deep kiss. I had bent her over, and one of her legs lifted off of the ground. We separated, and I gave her a warm look.

"Here's to life from now on. No Gilda, no coma, nothing. Just us", I whispered to her.

I slipped on my jacket, and put on the sneakers.

Welcome home Legs...welcome home.

The once friendly and merciful Spitfire I had once known, was dead. She was instead replaced by a ruthless, loud, and downright rude drill instructor. Her once calm demeanor was now angry and very intimidating. If I had known Spits would become this, I'd have never tried to anger her.

During this training cycle (Which according to Soarin' was three months long), she was no longer my friend. Any attempts to chat or reason with her were quickly punished with laps or wing ups. After the twenty thousandth lap around the base, I had learned to shut my big mouth.

The mornings were early, much to my displeasure. I was awoken by false gunshots in my room at three, and it was off to the practice field, a full three mile flight. Better yet, it was a race. Depending on whatever place I got, that decided my warm-up. If Spits beat me, 500 laps. If her helper for the day beat me, 250 laps. If I somehow miraculously won, 100, but that was close to never.

Once the torture of the warm-up ended, the real fun began, and that was a whole spectrum of things. It was anywhere from races, endless repetitions of the same tricks, sprints, and even exercises that were based on land. Those were the hardest for the air-head with his head in the clouds.

Soon, the days blended into weeks, and the weeks into months. Each day I could feel my body getting stronger and more responsive. The various flips and spins became more and more habitual, and soon enough, I had a basic mastery of all of them. Even the most complex tricks became just another thought in my mind.

In three months I had transformed myself from employee to celebrity, and my body bore the fruit of my labour. My core had solidified, and was even carved into the shape of a basic six pack. My arms rounded out into larger biceps than ever before, and my calves were no longer just leg flab. What was most impressive, were my refined wings.

Their power was incredible! I could fly at break-neck speeds, but somehow to manage the quickest of stops. Never in my life did I expect to fly with the best of them. What was once a childish dream, was now a tangible reality.

"Wow Legs, I must say I'm impressed!" Spits said.

I looked over at her, surprised at the now resumption of friendly conversations.

"Yeah. I guess...I guess I'm pretty amazed I could even do this," I replied.

Spits walked around me, taking the entirety of my new form.

"Wow Legs, you're hot enough to sleep with me!"

I burned red at her observation. It was a new experience being ogled by mares, one that would take getting used to.

"So how do you feel about perfomance?"

"W-what?!"

"I mean flight-wise, silly colt!"

"Right! I don't know Cap, how do you feel?"

"Well, I say you could perform next week, how about that?"

My face twisted into a smile, and I wrapped her into a hug.

"Oh thanks! I can't wait!"

"Oooooohhh yes~"

"What?"

"Nothing Legs. Go get some rest okay?"

I flew off to my room, still smiling.

I was still riding the euphoria of completing my training when I returned to my room. The feeling of the new me gave me confidence that I never had before. Gone was that self-loathing janitor, now there was just Leg Sweep the life-saver.

The stench of my body odor shocked me out of my mental high, and I opened the door to me room. The whole room was darkened, and the blinds were being held shut. I had tried flicking the light switch, but it was to no avail. I took a few steps into the dark room when someone struck a match. The small dot of flame lit a candle, and I saw it owner.

Rainbow was splayed out on my bed, smiling seductively. Over her breasts, was a black bra that appeared to be a few sizes too big. One of the straps was falling over her arm, revealing some of her nipple. She had nothing to cover her already wet slit, but instead had two, thigh-high stockings pulled over her legs.

"Oh, what is this?" I asked her, pulling off my dirtied shirt.

"Three months is WAY too long to go without sex Legs", she replied.

She got off of the bed, and rubbed her chest against me. Her bra was practically falling off at this point, and I had a full view of both of her breasts. As I was drinking in the view, an ever familiar scent hit my nose. A scent that I knew too well.

"Smells nice", I said to her.

"Welcome to my heat, Legs. And you get to enjoy all of it's benefits", she replied.

I pulled her into a kiss, but she soon threw me to the bed.

"Get ready Legs!"

She jumped onto me, and our tongues soon met. I leaned over to my end table, and blew out the solitary candle burning on it.

Tonight was the night. The night where the world would finally learn my name. The stadium was packed full of eager fans waiting to learn the identity of their newest Wonderbolt. I was jittery with excitement. The rumble of the crowd was just as loud here as it was out in the stadium.

Rainbow was leaning against me, whispering words of encouragement in my ear.

"It's okay babe, you'll be fine, I promise."

"I know, I know, it's just jitters is all."

"You're not allowed to be nervous, that's my job."

I squeezed her into a tight embrace, sharing in our fear. I could understand why she was so nervous. Acrobatic flying was a dangerous form of entertainment. Any slip-up, of any degree, could mean the death of my teammate, a spectator, or even me. And where death didn't cover, debilitating injuries filled in for him.

The butterflies only increased as I though of the many painful ways my first show could end. It was almost enough to force me out of performing. ALMOST.

"Alright people! Two minutes! Get your asses in order!" Spits shouted.

The team arranged in the order they would be introduced, with me at the end. Rainbow was ahead of me stretching her wings.

"I hope you don't mind, but I picked your music for you," she said, not turning to me.

"Music?" I asked back.

As far as I could remember, the team all was introduced to the same tune.

"Yeah, all the rookies get their own music on their debut."

"Get ready!" Spitfire shouted.

"LLLLLLLLLLLLADIES AND GENTLEMEN! PLEASE WELCOME YOUR HOMETOWN HEROES! THE WONDERBOLTS!"

The team began to file out of the launch tunnel as their names were called. After Rainbow's name boomed out of the loudspeaker, the rhythmic thumping of the Wonderbolts theme song faded away,leaving the fans to their cheering.

"Okay! Okay! Settle down folks!" Spitfire's authoritative voice came over the loudspeaker. "Tonight's the night you've been waiting for!"

The crowd's cheering evolved into an uproar as they knew their ticket payments were about to pay off.

"Please welcome for the first time, our former janitor, Leg Sweep!"

I burst from the tunnel, the wind rushing over me, and it all slowed down The cheering, the camera flashes, even the wind seemed to lag behind. My eyes shut and my smile grew. I flew to my position in the center of the coliseum, and I was able to catch the last few beats of the song Rainbow picked for my debut: Ocean Avenue by Yellowclop.

I'm sure Spitfire was saying something about me, but sound had yet to register in my mind. All that mattered was the elated faces of the crowd. Each and every pony was cheering for me, rooting for me, loving me. I waved and smiled, doing my best to give the same treatment to each and every one of them.

Sound soon began to return to my mind. The clapping, the triumphant blaring of trumpets, and something else. I could only describe it as a loud cracking sound, almost like lightning.

I turned my head towards the sky, and saw a great fireball hurling to the ground. Most importantly, I could see the mare hanging on to the frame of whatever used to exist.

My mind switched to panic mode, and in a rush of air, I flew up to the fireball. The mare had lost her grip on the only thing securing her life, and fell at a faster pace. I strained my wings to reach her, to reach her before she met her end.

As I got closer to the falling mare, her screams of terror burned deeper and deeper into my mind, reminding me that this wasn't some coltish fantasy, this was real.

I aligned myself under her, and braced myself for the inevitable impact. She fell right into my arms, and I dropped a few feet from the momentum.

"Hey! Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Y-yes I thin-"

In the middle of her sentence, something extremely heavy and extremely hard collided with the back of my head. I dropped the mare, and felt the gut sensation of free falling. My vision was fading into one big blob of colour, and the last thing I could comprehend was how beautiful the stars looked when you fell away from them.

Something in my mind screamed out in panic, and forced my eyes open. I jumped in fear, and attempted to leave my resting place.

"Whoa! Whoa! Easy kid!" somepony yelled at me.

The voice and one other set of arms had me restrained to what I now realized was a bed.

"Legs! Calm down!" the other set of arms exclaimed.

Realizing my struggles were futile, I allowed myself to calm down. My breathing began to return to its regular pace, and the panic I once felt was fading in my mind.

"W-where am I?" I croaked out.

"The hospital," The Arms said. "You had a pretty nasty wreck."

"But we think we know what will make you feel a little better," The Voice said. "Bring her in!"

The door opened, and a mare with a vibrant mane walked in.

"Legs!" she shouted.

She ran over to me, and hugged me while I was sitting up. She had tears flowing from her eyes, but yet wore an elated grin.

Not knowing what to do, I rubbed her head and smiled back.

"This is nice and all," I said

"But who are all of you...exactly."

Author's Note

“I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”

-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
.....and so, here it ends.